Reemergence of JAK2 V617F clone heralds extramedullary leukemia relapse after BMT for transformed essential thrombocytosis.
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Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to A K Lie.
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We prospectively investigated the morphological and ciliary function abnormalities in 19 consecutive Chinese patients undergoing hemopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) and studied their relationship with pulmonary complications. The percentage of structural ciliary abnormalities preceding HSCT was comparable to normal controls, but increased up to 1-year post-HSCT. However, the abnormalities did not correlate with ciliary or pulmonary function. Ciliary beat frequency (CBF) for patients undergoing autologous and allogeneic SCT was lower than that of matched controls, with a further decline at one year. There was, however, no significant change in pulmonary function for the whole cohort. There was considerable variation in CBF and ciliary abnormalities in all cases during 3-month interval assessments. Regular ciliary assessment did not predict the only two patients who eventually suffered from bronchiolitis obliterans (BO). We conclude that structural and functional ciliary abnormalities are common in recipients of HSCT, and predict post-HSCT deterioration. However, there is no evidence to show that CBF monitoring may be of prospective benefit.
OBJECTIVE: To compare DNA-based and mRNA-based methods for detection of high-grade cervical neoplasia in Norway. METHODS: HPV prevalence was analyzed in 383 women with positive index cytology, selected from gynecology clinics. All patients were investigated by a new PAP smear, histology, and two commercially available HPV tests: Hybrid Capture II (Digene, Gaithersburg, MD) and the Pre Tect HPV-Proofer (NorChip AS). Cases with positive DNA test and negative mRNA test and cases with high-grade histology and negative HPV tests were retested with PCR and sequencing. We regarded the infection as latent or transient if sequencing revealed an HPV type included in both assays. RESULTS: High-risk HPV was detected in 99.7% of the histological confirmed high-grade lesions (CIN2+) (290/291). The DNA test was positive in 95% (275/291), and the mRNA test was positive in 77% (225/291) of the histological confirmed high-grade lesions. All invasive carcinomas were mRNA positive. The DNA test was significantly more often positive in benign and low-grade lesions, some of which were found to be false positive due to cross-contamination with unrelated types. High-grade histology was detected in 83% of women with normal cytology and positive mRNA test. Latent or transient infections were detected in 11 low-grade and 12 high-grade preinvasive lesions. Sequencing revealed high-risk HPV types included only in the DNA test in 35 high-grade preinvasive lesions, HPV 52 and 58 were the most prevalent HPV types. CONCLUSIONS: These HPV tests have the potential to improve the detection rate of high-grade cervical neoplasia, with some limitations. The mRNA test seems to be more appropriate for risk-evaluation. Larger scale, population based studies are necessary to evaluate the predictive values of HPV testing in Norway.
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AIMS: To examine the prognostic relevance of the expression of the Bcl-2, Bcl-xL, and Bax proteins in stage IB squamous cervical carcinoma (SCC). METHODS: In total, 220 patients who underwent radical hysterectomy and bilateral lymphadenectomy at the Norwegian Radium Hospital for stage IB SCC between 1987 and 1993 were studied. Immunohistochemistry using monoclonal antibodies against Bcl-2, Bcl-xL, and Bax was used to examine protein expression. Ten patients who underwent hysterectomy for uterine prolapse served as controls. RESULTS: Cytoplasmic expression of Bcl-2, Bcl-xL, and Bax was low (< 5% positive cells) in 159 of 220 (73%), 193 of 220 (87%), and 39 of 220 (18%) tumours, respectively, and high (> or = 5% positive cells) in 61 of 220 (27%), 27 of 220 (13%), and 181 of 220 (82%) tumours, respectively. In univariate analysis, all classic clinicopathological parameters but none of the investigated proteins were associated with prognosis. In multivariate analysis, only deep stromal invasion was independently related to survival. CONCLUSION: Bcl-2, Bcl-xL, and Bax were not independently associated with prognosis in stage IB SCC.
The aims of the present study were to find the frequency of the most common BRCA1 mutations in women with ovarian tumours identified from a population-based cancer registry and in the general population, to estimate the relative risk of ovarian tumours among the mutation carriers, and to explore the value of using CA125 as a prediagnostic test. The study was designed as a nested case-control study within a cohort mainly consisting of participants in population-based health examinations. The data files of The Cancer Registry of Norway and the Janus serum bank were linked to identify cases with ovarian cancer and borderline tumours. Hereditary BRCA1 mutations were determined using archived serum samples and capillary electrophoresis. Altogether 478 ovarian cancer patients and 190 patients with borderline tumours were identified, and 1421 and 568 matching controls were selected. Odds ratios (OR) of developing ovarian cancer and borderline tumours in the presence of BRCA1 mutations and CA125 level were derived from conditional logistic regression models. Among the 478 ovarian cancer patients, 19 BRCA1 mutations were identified (1675delA, 1135insA, 816delGT and 3347delAG), none among the patients with borderline tumours. Only two of the 1989 controls were BRCA1 mutation carriers (0.10%). The risk of ovarian cancer among the mutation carriers was strongly elevated (OR=29, 95% CI=6.6-120). CA125 was a marker for ovarian cancer, but the sensitivity was low. This study showed that BRCA1 mutation carriers have a very high risk of ovarian cancer. However, since the prevalence of BRCA1 mutations in the Norwegian population was low, the proportion of ovarian cancers due to BRCA1 mutations seemed to be low, about 4%. The sensitivity of using CA125 only as a screening test for ovarian cancer was low.
This case-control study based in Nordic serum banks evaluated the joint effects of infections with genital human papillomavirus (HPV) types, and Chlamydia trachomatis in the aetiology of cervical squamous cell carcinoma. Through a linkage with the cancer registries, 144 cases were identified and 420 controls matched to them. Exposure to past infections was defined by the presence of specific IgG antibodies. The odds ratio (OR) for the second-order interaction of HPV16, HPV6/11 and C. trachomatis was small (1.0) compared to the expected multiplicative OR, 57, and the additive OR, 11. The interactions were not materially different among HPV16 DNA-positive squamous cell carcinomas. When HPV16 was replaced with HPV18/33 in the analysis of second-order interactions with HPV6/11 and C. trachomatis, there was no evidence of interaction, the joint effect being close to the expected additive OR. Possible explanations for the observed antagonism include misclassification, selection bias or a true biological phenomenon with HPV6/11 and C. trachomatis exposures antagonizing the carcinogenic effects of HPV16.
Several prospective studies with invasive carcinoma as endpoint have supported Human Papillomavirus as a cause of cervical carcinoma. However, the largest study used seroepidemiology and did not analyse presence of Human Papillomavirus DNA in the subsequent tumour. Linkage of serum bank registries and cancer registries had identified 196 women with a registered cervical carcinoma after donation of a serum sample. For the present study, biopsies for 127 cases could be located, verified to contain invasive carcinoma and be amplified by PCR. Three control women who had remained alive and without cervical carcinoma during an equal length of follow-up had been matched to each of the case women and tested for HPV antibodies. Presence of Human Papillomavirus DNA in the tumours was analysed by general primer and type specific PCR. HPV16-seropositive women had a relative risk of 4.4 (95% CI: 2.2-8.8) to develop cervical carcinoma carrying HPV16 DNA. By contrast, there was no excess risk for Human Papillomavirus 16-seropositive women to develop cervical carcinoma devoid of HPV16 DNA. Prediagnostic HPV16 seropositivity was strongly correlated with later HPV16 DNA positivity of the tumour (P<0.001) and prediagnostic HPV18 seropositivity correlated with HPV18 DNA in the tumour (P<0.03). The link between prediagnostic seropositivity and type of viral DNA in the cancer implies that the carcinogenic effect of infection with these viruses is dependent on persistent presence of type-specific viral DNA.
BACKGROUND: Cervical cancer is the third most frequent cancer among women worldwide. Human papillomavirus (HPV) infection is a necessary risk factor and the first step in cervical carcinogenesis. MATERIAL AND METHODS: This article reviews the current literature concerning the possibility of preventing cervical cancer by HPV testing and vaccination. RESULTS: HPV testing cannot replace cytology, but will reduce false negative cytology and may improve the screening programme for cervical neoplasia. It has not yet been incorporated in any national cervical cancer screening program, but trials are ongoing in Scandinavia and in the Netherlands. The cost-effectiveness of HPV testing in screening has to be proven and whether it can affect the recommended screening-intervals. Therapeutic and prophylactic vaccines for HPV associated disease are in progress. Evaluating the clinical trials that are ongoing will take several years. Several anti-HPV vaccines are now in clinical trials; Norway will also participate. Therapeutic vaccines against cervical cancer have so far not been successful, but anogenital dysplasias and condylomas may be more susceptible. Prophylactic vaccines against HPV 6, 11, 16 and 18 have been evaluated in clinical phase I and II trials, and phase III trials are in progress. INTERPRETATION: HPV testing improves the specificity and sensitivity of cervical cytology and it can be used to clarify cases with atypical cells of undetermined significance (ASCUS) and low-grade intraepithelial neoplasia. In the near future it may also be included in the cervical cancer screening programme for women above the age of 30. The first results in clinical vaccine trials are encouraging, and final conclusions about the effectiveness of these vaccines may be achieved in five years' time.
CYP2C9 polymorphisms reported in Caucasians (Arg144Cys in exon 3 and Ile359Leu in exon 7) are extremely uncommon in Chinese persons. The genotype of CYP2C9 in this population was characterized to investigate its relation with the interindividual variation in warfarin dosages. Eighty-nine Chinese patients receiving warfarin were recruited. Target sequences in CYP2C9 in exons 1, 4, and 5 were amplified by polymerase chain reaction, followed by direct sequencing. Polymorphisms at 4 positions were demonstrated in exon 4. Heterozygosities for 608TTG>GTG (Leu208Val), 561CAG>CCG (Gln192Pro), 537CAT>CCT (His184Pro), and 527ATT>CTT (Ile181Leu) existed at frequencies 0.75, 0.20, 0.10, and 0.09, respectively. Seventeen patients (frequency, 0.19) were homozygous for Val208. The common genotypic combinations at these loci are Ile181/His184/Gln192/Leu208Val (n = 50), Ile181/His184/Gln192/Val208 (n = 15), Ile181/His184/Gln192/Leu208 (n = 4), Ile181/His184/Gln192Pro/Leu208Val (n = 6), Ile181/His184Pro/Gln192Pro/Leu208Val (n = 4), and Ile181Leu/His184/Gln192Pro/ Leu208Val (n = 4). At codon 208, heterozygous Leu208Val and homozygous Val208 appeared to have a lower warfarin dose requirement than the homozygous Leu208. Patients who are heterozygous for Ile181Leu had a higher warfarin dose requirement than the homozygous Ile181. Amplified sequences in exons 1 and 5 did not exhibit polymorphism. In conclusion, Chinese patients showed genetic polymorphisms of CYP2C9 in exon 4 and at codon 208; most were heterozygous Leu208Val and homozygous Val208. Homozygous Leu208, a common allele in Caucasians, is uncommon in this cohort. The significance of these CYP2C9 polymorphic alleles remains to be determined.
Polyoma BK virus (BKV) is frequently identified in the urine of bone marrow transplantation (BMT) patients with hemorrhagic cystitis (HC). However, viruria is common even in asymptomatic patients, making a direct causative role of BKV difficult to establish. This study prospectively quantified BK viruria and viremia in 50 BMT patients to define the quantitative relationship of BKV reactivation with HC. Adenovirus (ADV) was similarly quantified as a control. More than 800 patient samples were quantified for BKV VP1 gene with a real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction. Twenty patients (40%) developed HC, 6 with gross hematuria (HC grade 2 or higher) and 14 with microscopic hematuria (HC grade 1). When compared with asymptomatic patients, patients with HC had significantly higher peak BK viruria (6 x 10(12) versus 5.7 x 10(7) genome copies/d, P <.001) and larger total amounts of BKV excreted during BMT (4.9 x 10(13) versus 7.7 x 10(8) genome copies, P <.001). There was no detectable increase in BK viremia. Binary logistic regression analysis showed that BK viruria was the only risk factor, with HC not related to age, conditioning regimen, type of BMT, and graft-versus-host disease. Furthermore, the levels of ADV viruria in patients with or without HC were similar and comparable with those of BK viruria in patients without HC, suggesting that the significant increase in BK viruria in HC patients was not due to background viral reactivation or damage to the urothelium. BK viruria was quantitatively related to the occurrence of HC after BMT.
Acute graft versus host disease (GVHD) occurred in a patient after cadaveric liver transplantation from an HLA disparate donor. Immunosuppression resulted in a remission, but chronic GVHD with a scleroderma-like syndrome ensued. This was further complicated by immune hemolytic anemia and thrombocytopenia (Evan's syndrome). Semi-quantitative microsatellite analysis of circulating lymphoid cells showed that T cells were predominantly of donor origin, thereby explaining the chronic GVHD. The marrow hematopoietic cells remained recipient, so that the immune cytopenias were expected to be alloimmune in nature. However, the red cell antibodies were shown to have anti-C and anti-e specificity, with both the donor (R1R1) and recipient (R1r) possessing the C and e antigens. Therefore, the immune hemolysis might be considered both alloimmune and autoimmune. The patient finally died of sepsis. This case illustrates that chronic GVHD due to stable donor T cell engraftment may rarely occur in liver transplantation despite HLA disparity. Immunosuppression may result in dysregulation of T cell functions, leading to alloimmune and autoimmune problems.
BACKGROUND: Oncogenic human papillomaviruses (HPVs), especially HPV type 16 (HPV-16), cause anogenital epithelial cancers and are suspected of causing epithelial cancers of the head and neck. METHODS: To examine the relation between head and neck cancers and HPVs, we performed a nested case-control study within a joint Nordic cohort in which serum samples were collected from almost 900,000 subjects. Samples collected at enrollment from 292 persons in whom squamous-cell carcinoma of the head and neck developed, on average, 9.4 years after enrollment and from 1568 matched controls were analyzed for antibodies against HPV-16, HPV-18, HPV-33, and HPV-73 and for cotinine levels as a marker of smoking habits. Polymerase-chain-reaction (PCR) analyses for HPV DNA were performed in tumor tissue from 160 of the study patients with cancer. RESULTS: After adjustment for cotinine levels, the odds ratio for squamous-cell carcinoma of the head and neck in subjects who were seropositive for HPV-16 was 2.2 (95 percent confidence interval, 1.4 to 3.4). No increased risk was observed for other HPV types. Fifty percent of oropharyngeal and 14 percent of tongue cancers contained HPV-16 DNA, according to PCR analysis. CONCLUSIONS: HPV-16 infection may be a risk factor for squamous-cell carcinoma of the head and neck.
To determine the clinicopathologic and prognostic features of chronic idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP) in adult Chinese patients, we conducted a retrospective analysis of 220 patients seen at a single center over a 40-year period. The female-to-male ratio was 4:1, with a mean age of 42.1 +/- 1.3 years, a mean platelet count of 33.7 +/- 2.3x10(9)/l, and a mean follow-up of 116 +/- 7 months. Initial steroid treatment was required in 142 patients, 67 of whom (47.2%) achieved complete remission (CR). At 470 months, 46% patients remained in CR. Splenectomy was performed in 37 patients: in 23 patients due to primary steroid refractoriness and in 7 patients due to disease relapse following initial CR with steroids. In seven patients, data on response to steroids prior to splenectomy were not available. Splenectomy for steroid nonresponders resulted in an inferior CR rate (13 of 23, 56%) as compared with that for relapses after steroid treatment (7 of 7, 100%) (P<0.05). Compared with patients with negative antinuclear antibody (ANA), those who were ANA positive had similar responses to steroids, but significantly shorter remission after splenectomy (P<0.01). In conclusion, Chinese patients with ITP could maintain long-term remission after steroid therapy and splenectomy. In addition, primary steroid refractoriness and positive ANA were bad prognostic factors of the subsequent response to splenectomy.
Bone marrow transplantation (BMT) recipients, particularly those with chronic graft-versus-host disease (GVHD), suffer from respiratory tract problems, including bronchiolitis obliterans (BO) and recurrent lower respiratory tract infections. Minute cilia beat continuously on the surface of respiratory mucosa, and this beating maintains the sterility of the lower respiratory tract. Dysfunction of respiratory cilia could lead to development of recurrent respiratory tract infections, which are also features of BMT recipients, although ciliary function has not been systematically studied among these subjects. We have, therefore, investigated the ciliary beat frequency (CBF) of 36 Chinese patients who had undergone allogeneic BMT. The CBF was significantly lower in the BMT group compared to controls (P < 0.001). The reduction in CBF was more severe in patients with cGVHD and BO compared with their counterparts (P = 0.048 and P = 0.077, respectively). There was a correlation between CBF with forced expiratory flow rate FEF (P = 0.024) and forced expiratory volume FEV (P = 0.044). We conclude that abnormal ciliary clearance is a common feature after allogeneic BMT, particularly among patients with BO and cGVHD. Further studies are indicated to evaluate this important phenomenon, which could be an important cause of the susceptibility for BMT recipients to respiratory infections.
A post-transplantation lymphoproliferative disease (PTLD) of recipient origin was identified in one of 376 consecutive cases of allogeneic bone marrow transplantation (BMT). This occurred in a 36-year-old woman who received an allogeneic BMT for acute myeloid leukaemia in relapse. At 15 months after BMT, recipient haematopietic and leukaemic cells were found in the bone marrow, which disappeared on withdrawal of immunosuppression. However, severe graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) necessitated the continuation of immunosuppression, leading to the occurrence of PTLD in the liver and lung 12 months afterwards. Fluorescence in situ hybridisation showed that the neoplastic cells were of recipient origin. Although the PTLD also responded completely to withdrawal of immunosuppression, the patient finally died from the complications of GVHD. This case of late onset PTLD post-BMT showed features similar to those in solid organ transplantation, in that the tumour was of recipient origin and responded well to the withdrawal of immunosuppression. Of further interest is that recipient lymphoid regeneration had accompanied autologous haematopoietic regeneration and become a target for subsequent neoplastic transformation.
Vitiligo is an autoimmune disease caused by T-lymphocyte-mediated destruction of melanocytes. We describe two patients with generalized vitiligo caused iatrogenically after donor lymphocyte infusion (DLI) for leukaemia relapse over 3 years after bone marrow transplantation (BMT). Neither the sibling donor nor the recipient had vitiligo or other autoimmune diseases, and vitiligo did not occur after the first BMT. DLI was accompanied by skin graft-versus-host disease in both cases, which was controlled with immunosuppression. However, over several months, progressive generalized and persistent skin depigmentation occurred in both patients. Peripheral blood molecular studies showed the complete disappearance of host haematolymphopoiesis. The specific destruction of melanocytes in both patients was therefore probably mediated by new alloreactive lymphocytes infused from the donors.