Latest Research
All publications from the Cancer3.AI database, newest first.
Impact of early tacrolimus exposure on outcomes after allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation for acute myeloid leukemia and myelodysplastic syndromes.
Jäger P, et al
A new retrospective study published in Annals of Hematology examined whether the amount of tacrolimus — a key immunosuppressive drug — that patients receive in the early weeks after a stem cell transplant influences their chances of survival or cancer relapse. Researchers followed 122 adults with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) or myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) who underwent matched-unrelated donor transplants between 2014 and 2021, all receiving the same combination of immunosuppressive drugs. After a median follow-up of over five years, five-year overall survival was 68% and event-free survival was 43%, but neither early nor later tacrolimus exposure levels were linked to survival, relapse, non-relapse mortality, or graft-versus-host disease rates. Instead, patient characteristics such as older age, female donor, AML diagnosis, and not being in complete remission at the time of transplant were the factors that predicted worse outcomes. The findings suggest that adjusting tacrolimus doses to hit specific blood-level targets is unlikely to meaningfully improve patient outcomes in this transplant setting. Clinicians may achieve greater benefit by focusing on risk-adapted tapering strategies and minimal residual disease-guided interventions rather than tacrolimus dose optimization.
Annals of hematology
Source →High serum ferritin is associated with genetic instability in myelodysplastic neoplasms.
Ganster C, et al
A new study published in the Journal of Cancer Research and Clinical Oncology investigated whether iron overload, measured through serum ferritin levels, is linked to genetic instability in patients with myelodysplastic neoplasms (MDS), a group of bone marrow disorders that can progress to leukemia. Researchers analyzed 51 MDS patients divided into three groups based on ferritin levels and assessed multiple markers of genomic damage, including chromosomal abnormalities, gene mutations, DNA double-strand breaks, and telomere length. The study found that elevated ferritin was associated with greater chromosomal abnormalities, more somatic mutations in MDS-relevant genes, higher levels of DNA damage, and shorter telomeres specifically in granulocytes. Importantly, early markers of genetic instability such as DNA breaks and telomere shortening were already detectable at moderately elevated ferritin levels above 275 µg/L, well below the threshold of 1000 µg/L currently used to trigger iron chelation therapy. These findings suggest that iron overload may actively drive disease progression in MDS by damaging the genome, and that clinicians may need to reconsider when to begin iron-reducing treatments to prevent long-term genetic harm in their patients.
Journal of cancer research and clinical oncology
Source →Self-reported late effects and chronic fatigue, information needs and follow-up in long-term survivors of Hodgkin lymphoma-a cross-sectional study.
Willumsen LH, et al
A Norwegian cross-sectional study examined the long-term health consequences experienced by survivors of Hodgkin lymphoma (HL), focusing on their knowledge of late effects, need for lifestyle and rehabilitation information, and desire for structured follow-up care. Among 304 respondents treated between 1997 and 2006, 72% reported experiencing at least one late effect, with 40% reporting three or more, highlighting the substantial health burden faced by this population decades after treatment. Approximately 64% of survivors expressed a need for information on lifestyle and rehabilitation, while 58% wanted dedicated follow-up care for late effects. Chronic fatigue emerged as a key factor associated with both the need for information and the need for follow-up care, alongside lower education level, physical inactivity, and prior radiotherapy. These findings underscore that a large proportion of Hodgkin lymphoma survivors are not having their informational and follow-up needs met, and that those experiencing chronic fatigue may particularly benefit from structured survivorship programmes. The study contributes important evidence to ongoing discussions about how best to organize long-term cancer survivorship care for this growing patient group.
Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer
Source →Targeted therapy in early-stage classical Hodgkin lymphoma.
Aoki T, et al
A new publication in the journal Blood examines the role of targeted therapies in the treatment of early-stage classical Hodgkin lymphoma, a cancer of the lymphatic system that most commonly affects young adults. The study explores how newer agents, such as brentuximab vedotin and checkpoint inhibitors, may improve outcomes compared to conventional chemotherapy and radiation approaches in patients with limited-stage disease. Findings suggest that incorporating targeted therapies into first-line treatment regimens can achieve high rates of remission while potentially reducing long-term toxicities associated with traditional treatment. These results are clinically significant because early-stage Hodgkin lymphoma is highly curable, yet current standard treatments carry risks of late effects including secondary cancers and cardiovascular disease. The research offers a framework for optimizing therapy in this patient population by balancing efficacy with quality of life considerations.
Blood
Source →Safety and efficacy of currently used drug therapies for treatment of lymphomas in patients with Sjögren's disease, a scoping review.
Suludere MA, et al
A new scoping review published in Expert Opinion on Drug Safety examined the evidence on drug treatments for lymphomas occurring in patients with Sjögren's disease, an autoimmune condition that carries a significantly elevated risk of B-cell lymphoma. Researchers searched PubMed and Embase for studies published between January 1995 and August 2025, focusing on pharmacologic therapies for non-Hodgkin B-cell lymphomas in this patient population. The review found that rituximab, an antibody targeting the CD20 protein on B-cells, provides reliable early disease control with limited side effects in localized, low-burden lymphoma, while more aggressive or widespread disease typically requires combining rituximab with chemotherapy. For indolent lymphomas, combination immunochemotherapy regimens can improve disease control, though safety data across specific regimens remain sparse and inconsistently reported. The authors conclude that current evidence supports a personalized treatment approach with rituximab as the cornerstone therapy, but stress that the field is held back by small, heterogeneous patient cohorts and poor standardization of reported outcomes. They call for prospective studies specifically designed for Sjögren's disease-associated lymphoma that capture both blood cancer and autoimmune disease activity using uniform endpoints.
Expert opinion on drug safety
Source →