Biomedical subjects

A Chahine

Publications and source records attributed to A Chahine.

7 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2000

Factors predicting for efficacy and safety of docetaxel in a compassionate-use cohort of 825 heavily pretreated advanced breast cancer patients.

PURPOSE: To identify predictive factors for efficacy and safety in advanced breast cancer (ABC) patients treated in the French compassionate-use docetaxel program. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A total of 825 ABC patients treated with docetaxel (100 mg/m(2) every 3 weeks) were source-reviewed and analyzed for prognostic factors associated with overall response rate (ORR), time to treatment failure (TTF), overall survival (OS), febrile neutropenia, mucositis, and severe fluid retention syndrome by univariate and multivariate analysis. RESULTS: The ORR was 22.9% (95% confidence interval, 20.2% to 26.2%). The median TTF and OS were 4.0 and 9.8 months, respectively. By multivariate analysis, secondary anthracycline-resistant disease was significantly associated (P <. 05) with lower ORR and shorter TTF and OS, whereas anthracycline-refractory disease was associated with shorter OS. Poor performance status was associated with lower ORR, shorter TTF, and shorter OS. Liver dysfunction (transaminase levels > 1.5 times the upper limit of normal [ULN] and alkaline phosphatase [AP] level > three times ULN) and time since first relapse less than 24 months were associated with shorter TTF and OS. Other significant correlations included the following: elevated CA 15-3 serum level with lower ORR; more than two involved sites, and minor transaminase and AP level abnormalities with shorter OS; and no previous chemotherapy for ABC with shorter TTF. According to multivariate analysis, ORR, TTF, and OS were not decreased in patients with liver metastases but without liver dysfunction. CONCLUSION: Docetaxel activity was maintained in heavily pretreated ABC patients and in those with liver metastasis; docetaxel must be used cautiously, however, in patients with liver dysfunction in whom high morbidity risk necessitates strict adherence to dose-adaptation guidelines.

Anthracyclines↗

PubMed1994

[Gastrointestinal non-hodgkin's lymphoma: general epidemiology and epidemiologic data based on 100 Lebanese cases seen between 1965 and 1991].

It is classical to separate gastro-intestinal non Hodgkin Lymphomas into two epidemiological profiles: 1--an "occidental" type frequently encountered in West countries (Europe and USA); 2--an "occidental" type which is dominant in the Middle East regions and is distinguished from the occidental type by the following features: the younger age of patients; the rarity of gastric involvement compared to the small intestinal involvement; the prevalence of Immuno Proliferative Small Intestinal Disease within the small intestinal non Hodgkin lymphomas. An epidemiological study was done on 100 cases of digestive non Hodgkin lymphomas seen in Lebanon between 1965 and 1991 in hospitals affiliated with Saint-Joseph University. The statistical analysis of our study leads to several conclusions: 1--the ISPID is disappearing in Lebanon during the last twenty-five years; 2--the site of gastrointestinal involvement is changing with time, the small intestinal involvement becoming more rare and the gastric involvement more frequent. So during this twenty-five years period, there was an occidentalization of the epidemiological profile. This varying pattern with time in the epidemiology of gastrointestinal non Hodgkin lymphomas could be due to changing in the environmental factors like the intestinal bacterial and parasitological infestation.

Adult↗

PubMed1993

Corynebacterium striatum: a diphtheroid with pathogenic potential.

Although nondiphtherial corynebacteria are ubiquitous in nature and commonly colonize the skin and mucous membranes of humans, they rarely account for clinical infection. Corynebacterium striatum has rarely been reported to be a pathogen, causing pleuropulmonary infections and bacteremia in only immunocompromised or anatomically altered patients. We noted C. striatum to be the infecting pathogen or copathogen in six patients. To our knowledge, this report describes the first cases of C. striatum causing infection of exist sites of central venous catheters, thrombophlebitis associated with central venous catheters, conjunctivitis, and chorioamnionitis as well as a possible pathogen contributing to peritonitis and pyogenic granuloma. Unlike Corynebacterium jeikeium, which is highly resistant to beta-lactam agents, aminoglycosides, and quinolones, all strains of C. striatum isolated from the patients described in this report were susceptible to vancomycin and aminoglycosides, and all strains except one were susceptible to penicillin G, imipenem, and ciprofloxacin. C. striatum should be recognized as a potential pathogen in both immunocompromised and normal hosts in the appropriate circumstances, and appropriate antimicrobial therapy can quickly lead to resolution of infection.

Adult↗

PubMed1992

Kinetics of erythrogenesis after bone marrow transplantation.

To determine the kinetics of bone marrow erythrogenesis after bone marrow transplantation, the authors counted reticulocytes (by blood smear and flow cytometry) and compared those data with neutrophil and platelet recovery in 23 consecutive bone marrow transplant patients. The earliest indication of marrow recovery after allogeneic and autologous bone marrow transplantation was defined as the second increasing cell count after the lowest recorded count, provided that the trend continued upward. Recovery of marrow function was detected earlier in 10 of 23 patients using reticulocyte counts than by either neutrophil or platelet count alone. Specifically, in 8 of these 10 patients, recovery of erythropoiesis was determined earlier by flow cytometric examination than by the blood smear method. On the other hand, combining the data using the earliest value of platelet, neutrophil, and reticulocyte counts indicated that the mean day of recovery in our patient population was determined to be 12.1 +/- 4 days after marrow infusion. In patients undergoing autologous and allogeneic bone marrow transplantation, serial neutrophil and reticulocyte count determinations are complementary in early clinical detection of successful engraftment.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1991

Inhibition of the activation of Hageman factor (factor XII) by soluble human placental collagens types III, IV, and V.

The initial step in the formation of thrombin via the intrinsic pathway is the activation of Hageman factor (factor XII). Some, but not all, studies have shown that this activation may be brought about by collagen. We examined the effect of three types of soluble human placental collagen on Hageman factor. Collagen types III, IV, and V did not appear to activate Hageman factor under the conditions tested. To the contrary, these collagen species inhibited activation of Hageman factor by glass or ellagic acid. These studies suggest that some types of collagen may play an inhibitory role in blood coagulation.

Blood Coagulation↗

PubMed1991

Fibrinolysis, thrombocytopenia, and coagulation abnormalities complicating high-dose interleukin-2 immunotherapy.

High-dose interleukin-2 (IL-2) immunotherapy can cause hypotension, respiratory distress, interstitial edema, and thrombocytopenia, similar to endotoxic shock. We have observed that IL-2 has no direct effect on coagulation factors in vitro, but it has been observed to alter the coagulant properties of vascular endothelium. Accordingly, we investigated the possibility that IL-2 infusions initiate plasma fibrinolysis and disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC). We studied the clinical course, platelet count, and coagulation profile in response to IL-2 infusion in seven patients, two with metastatic melanoma and five with metastatic renal cell carcinoma. Every patient experienced hemodynamic instability and thrombocytopenia, and one patient suffered an unusual complication, mesenteric thrombosis. No patient had appreciable changes in the prothrombin time or the partial thromboplastin time, nor did factors V or VIII decline in the two patients observed. In four patients examined, we found decreased titers of Hageman factor (factor XII), high molecular weight kininogen, prekallikrein, and plasma thromboplastin antecedent, as if these had been consumed by reactions of the intrinsic pathway of thrombin formation. Circulating D-dimer fragments were found in the plasma of every patient at some point during each infusion cycle, and we observed decreased titers of plasminogen in the four patients just mentioned, suggesting that IL-2 infusions initiated fibrinolysis. Taken together, the clotting factor derangements and related toxicity phenomena cannot be ascribed firmly to DIC. Activation of the intrinsic (contact) system of coagulation, however, may provide one link between the vascular endothelial surface alterations caused by IL-2 infusions and the development of the systemic toxicity that resembles septic shock.

Adult↗

PubMedDate not supplied

[Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma of the digestive system. General epidemiology and epidemiological data concerning 100 Lebanese cases seen between 1965 and 1991].

It is classical to separate gastro-intestinal non Hodgkin lymphomas into two epidemiological profiles: an "occidental" type frequently encountered in West countries (Europe and USA) and an "occidental" type which is dominant in the Middle East regions and is distinguished from the occidental type by the following features: the younger age of patients, the rarity of gastric involvement compared to the small intestinal involvement, the prevalence of Immuno Proliferative Small Intestinal Disease within the small intestinal non Hodgkin lymphomas. An epidemiological study was done on 100 cases of digestive non Hodgkin lymphomas seen in Lebanon between 1965 and 1991 in hospitals affiliated with Saint-Joseph University. The statistical analysis of our study leads to several conclusions: the ISPID is disappearing in Lebanon during the last twenty-five years; the site of gastrointestinal involvement is changing with time, the small intestinal involvement becoming more rare and the gastric involvement more frequent. So during this twenty-five years period, there was an occidentalization of the epidemiological profile. This varying pattern with time in the epidemiology of gastrointestinal non Hodgkin lymphomas could be due to changing in the environmental factors like the intestinal bacterial and parasitological infestation.

Adult↗