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Biomedical subjects

C C Kim

Publications and source records attributed to C C Kim.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

Magnetic resonance imaging of the bone marrow after bone marrow transplantation or immunosuppressive therapy in aplastic anemia.

To compare magnetic resonance (MR) images of the bone marrow (BM) after bone marrow transplantation or immunosuppressive therapy in patients with aplastic anemia (AA), MR imaging of BM was reviewed retrospectively in 16 patients (13 males and 3 females, mean age 26 yr) with AA who completely responded clinically after transplantation or immunosuppressive therapy. The signal intensity (SI) of BM was classified into four patterns according to the increasing amount of cellular marrow, i.e., pattern I to IV. SI of MR imaging of BM exhibited an increase of cellular marrows following both transplantation and immunosuppressive therapy. Of the eight patients on transplantation, the SI of the lumbar spinal BM was pattern III in two patients and IV in six on T1-weighted and short tau inversion recovery (STIR) images. In the eight patients with immunosuppressive therapy, the SI of the lumbar spinal BM was pattern II in one, III in five, and IV in two on T1-weighted images and pattern II in one, III in four, and IV in three on STIR images. SI on MR imaging of the lumbar spinal BM showed a more cellular pattern in patients on transplantation than in those on immunosuppressive therapy.

Adolescent↗

Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation for high-risk adult patients with severe aplastic anemia; reduction of graft failure by enhancing stem cell dose.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: The main causes of failure after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) in patients with severe aplastic anemia (SAA) are graft-versus-host disease (GVHD), infection and graft failure, often exacerbated by large numbers of transfusions and prolonged disease duration before transplant. This study retrospectively analyzes the outcome and factors related to survival or graft failure in high-risk patients with SAA receiving HSCT in our institution. DESIGN AND METHODS: Between January 1995 and December 1999, 40 consecutive adult patients who were multi-transfused (more than 40 units of red blood cells +/- platelets) and/or had a 3 years or longer period prior to transplant were enrolled. Their median age was 27.5 years (range, 16 to 43) and 21 (52.5%) were women. All donors were human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-matched siblings. Before transplant, 29 patients (72.5%) received a course of antithymocyte globulin (ATG) and cyclosporin A (CsA). The median interval from diagnosis to transplant was 59 months (range, 2 to 216). The median number of transfusions was 115 units (range, 10 to 480). All patients received a conditioning regimen of cyclophosphamide, ATG, and procarbazine. Our patients received either bone marrow (BM) alone (n=20) or BM+peripheral blood stem cells (PBSC) (n=20) as a stem cell source. T-cells of PBSC were depleted using the CD34 enrichment method. GVHD prophylaxis consisted of CsA and short-term methotrexate. RESULTS: In the BM+PBSC group, neutrophil recovery to 0.5 x 10(9)/L and platelet recovery to 20 x 10(9)/L were achieved more rapidly than in the BM group (p=0.005 and 0.039, respectively). The incidences of graft failure, grade II to IV acute GVHD, and chronic GVHD were 22.5%, 12.8% and 23.1%, respectively. Graft failure occurred in 2 of 20 patients (10%) receiving BM+PBSC and in 7 of 20 (35%) receiving BM alone (p=0.069). Seven of 9 patients who had graft failure received a booster treatment and recovered normal marrow function. GVHD incidence was comparable between the BM+PBSC and BM groups. Six patients (15%) died from graft failure (n=2), interstitial pneumonia (n=2), cyclophosphamide-induced heart failure (n=1), and chronic GVHD followed by pneumonia (n=1). The Kaplan-Meier estimate of survival was 83.7% with a median follow-up duration of 40.5 months (range 8-67). In multivariate analysis only chronic GVHD adversely influenced survival (p=0.042). INTERPRETATION AND CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that HSCT is an effective treatment for multi-transfused SAA patients with prolonged disease duration. It is highly possible that the infusion of a large number of stem cells leads to a reduction of graft failure and a faster speed of engraftment. Booster treatment is successful in achieving engraftment in patients with graft failure.

Adolescent↗

Distribution of seven polymorphic markers and haplotypes within the human TNF gene cluster in Koreans.

We examined the distribution of polymorphic elements within the tumor necrosis factor (TNF) gene cluster in 133 normals and in 20 Korean families and compared our data with the results of Caucasians. The genotypes that are shown frequently are TNF a6 (33.8%), TNF b5 (46.6%), TNF c1 (79.3%), TNF d3 (34.6%), TNF e3 (86.5%), TNFB*2 (51.5%), and TNF(-308) A (91.4%). In comparison, TNFa 6 (33.8%), TNFa 13 (4.1%), TNFb 5 (46.6%), TNFd 1 (7.5%), TNFd 3 (34.6%), TNFe 3 (86.5%), TNFe 4 (6.8%), and TNF(-308) A (91.3%) were found more frequently in Koreans than Caucasians (p < 0.01). TNFa 14, TNFa 15, TNFd 8, and TNFe 4 alleles were found only in Korean controls. However, TNFb 6 and TNFb 7 alleles were not found in this study. From the TNF gene of TNFa, TNFb, TNFc, TNFn, TNF(-308), TNFd, and TNFe, 49 different TNF haplotypes were found in 20 Korean families. These data suggest that the TNF microsatellite haplotypes constitute a highly polymorphic system and that will provide useful information on the association between the TNF marker and the immune disease.

Alleles↗

The short-term changes of bone mineral metabolism following bone marrow transplantation.

Organ transplantation is now the treatment of choice for many patients with life-threatening chronic diseases. A new set of side effects unique to these groups of patients has become recognized, and bone disease is one of these complications. However, little is known about the effects of myeloablative treatment followed by bone marrow transplantation (BMT) on bone mineral metabolism. We have prospectively investigated 31 patients undergoing BMT for hematologic diseases. Serum concentrations of calcium, phosphorus, creatinine, gonadotropins, sex hormones, and the biochemical markers of bone turnover were measured. The samples were collected before BMT and 1, 2, 3, 4, and 12 weeks, 6 months, and 1 year after BMT. Bone mineral density (BMD) was measured with dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry before BMT and 1 year after BMT. The serum carboxy-terminal cross-linked telopeptide of type I collagen increased progressively until 4 weeks after BMT. Thereafter, it began to decrease and reached basal values after 1 year. Serum osteocalcin decreased progressively until 3 weeks after BMT. After that, it increased and reached basal values after 3 months. No distinct differences were observed in the serum biochemical turnover markers between males and females, or between patients who received total body irradiation and those who did not. One year after BMT, lumbar spine BMD had decreased by 2.2%, and total proximal femoral BMD had decreased by 6.2%. Eighty-six percent of the women (12/14) went into a menopausal state immediately after BMT. This was caused by high gonadotropin levels and low estradiol levels. In contrast, gonadotropin levels and testosterone levels did not change significantly in the male patients after BMT. In conclusion, the rapid impairment of bone formation and the increase in bone resorption, as shown by the biochemical markers in this study, might play a role in post-BMT bone loss.

Adolescent↗

Liver disease during the first post-transplant year in bone marrow transplantation recipients: retrospective study.

Liver dysfunction is a common problem in BMT recipients and it is important to determine the etiology in order to institute appropriate therapy. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the possible causes of liver dysfunction during the first post-transplant year in BMT recipients and to identify a possible relationship between pre-existing liver dysfunction and viral hepatitis with prognosis after BMT. We reviewed liver status before and after BMT in 130 consecutive patients at the Catholic Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation Center. Liver dysfunction during the first post-transplant year occurred in 85 out of 101 (84. 2%) allogeneic BMT recipients and 13 out of 29 (44.8%) autologous BMT recipients. In allogeneic BMT, GVHD and drug hepatotoxicity were major causes. In autologous BMT, drug hepatotoxicity was the most common cause. Eighteen out of 130 patients (13.8%) had abnormal liver function tests before BMT. These patients did not have an increased risk of post-transplant liver dysfunction, GVHD, and death compared to patients who had normal liver function tests prior to BMT. Nine patients were hepatitis B antigen positive and three patients were anti-HCV positive prior to BMT. There was no significant increase in the incidence of post-transplant liver dysfunction, GVHD, and death in these patients.

Adult↗

Expression of functional markers in acute nonlymphoblastic leukemia.

Multidrug resistance parameters, tissue infiltration parameters, receptors for colony-stimulating factors (CSFr) and cell cycle parameters were analyzed using flow cytometry in 145, 109 initial and 36 relapsed or refractory, acute nonlymphoblastic leukemia (ANLL) patients to find out clinically more reliable functional parameters. Lung resistance-associated protein (LRP) was most frequently expressed in ANLL (44.1%) followed by P-glycoprotein (PGP) (35.9%) and multidrug resistance-associated protein (MRP) (8.3%). LRP and PGP were expressed more frequently in relapsed or refractory ANLL than initial ANLL cases. Complete remission rate after standard chemotherapy falls in PGP-positive cases (p = 0.001). CD44-positive ANLL cases relapsed more frequently. The organ tropism is different depending on the infiltration parameters, vascular cell adhesion molecule to splenomegaly, matrix metalloprotease-2 to hepatomegaly and to extramedullary infiltration other than spleen, liver or lymph node. The percentage of the granulocyte-macrophage-CSFr expression was high in M4 and M5, and granulocyte-CSFr-positive ANLL showed less extramedullary infiltration (p = 0.007) and more PGP expression. Ki-67 was expressed significantly less in refractory ANLL than initial ANLL and DNA topisomerase IIalpha was expressed significantly more in the surviving patients group. In conclusion, analysis of these new functional parameters could help to predict and overcome the clinical behavior of each ANLL at the time of diagnosis.

Adolescent↗

Additional stem cell therapy for graft failure after allogeneic bone marrow transplantation.

In this study we retrospectively evaluated the effect and outcome of a boost dose of donor stem cells without additional chemotherapy or total body irradiation. Between March 1983 and August 1999, 20 of 788 (2.5%) patients receiving allogeneic bone marrow transplantation (BMT) were treated with an additional boost dose of donor cells. The reasons for the use of the boost treatment were primary graft failure (early rejection; n = 7), secondary graft failure including late rejection (n = 10), refractory pure red cell aplasia caused by the remaining recipient cells producing anti-erythrocyte antibodies (n = 2), and donor lymphocyte infusion induced pancytopenia (n = 1). The patients were aged from 17 to 48 years (median age 31 years). The underlying diseases of the patients were severe aplastic anemia in 12 patients, acute myelogenous leukemia in 3, acute lymphocytic leukemia in 3, and chronic myelogenous leukemia in 2. The donors were human leukocyte antigen-identical siblings in 18 cases, 1 mismatched related donor, and 1 unrelated donor. The cell source was bone marrow in 6 cases and peripheral blood progenitor cells in 14. The median interval between BMT and the boost treatment was 7 weeks (range 1-124). No conditioning regimen was given prior to the boost treatment for 11 patients, while 4 received total nodal irradiation (TNI) plus antithymocyte globulin (ATG), 3 ATG alone, and 2 TNI plus steroid. The median infused booster mononuclear cell dose was 2.55 x 10(8)/kg (range 0.28-37.0). Fifteen (75%) patients achieved a hematological recovery. After the boost treatment, 6 of 20 (30%) patients developed acute graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) > or = grade II, 3 of whom had had prior GVHD. Five (31.3%) of the evaluable 16 patients developed chronic GVHD. The GVHDs were easily controlled using immunosuppressive agents except in the case of 1 patient. Five patients died after the boost treatment; 2 within 30 days, 2 within 60 days, and 1 after 32 months. The causes of death were: 3 engraftment failures, 1 late rejection, and 1 infection following GVHD. With a median follow-up of 31.5 months (range 6-92), the Kaplan-Meier method estimated that the overall survival rate 1 and 3 years after the boost treatment was 80 and 71%, respectively. The survival of patients with primary graft failure was determined to be significantly lower compared to that of patients with secondary graft failure, using the log rank test (p = 0.0176). Disease category, stem cell source, conditioning prior to a boost treatment, and year of boost treatment did not have an influence on survival. We conclude that the reinfusion of donor stem cells is frequently successful in achieving engraftment with rare occurrence of fatal GVHD. Furthermore, relatively good long-term survival was demonstrated.

Actuarial Analysis↗

Topotecan-based combination chemotherapy in patients with transformed chronic myelogenous leukemia and advanced myelodysplastic syndrome.

BACKGROUND: Patients with transformed chronic myelogenous leukemia(CML) and advanced myelodysplastic syndrome(MDS) have poor prognosis. The aim of this study is to evaluate the feasibility of second chronic phase induction in accelerated phase(CML-AP) or blastic crisis of CML(CML-BC) and remission induction in advanced MDS by combining topoisomerase I inhibitor (topotecan) with topoisomerase II inhibitor(mitoxantrone). METHODS: Twenty-four evaluable patients were entered on this study with a median age of 34 years. Eighteen patients with transformed CML(7 CML-AP, 11 CML-BC) and 6 patients with advanced MDS were treated. Topotecan was administered as 1.5 mg/m2/day by continuous infusion over 24 hours daily for 5 days every 4 to 8 weeks until remission. To enhance the tumoricidal effects, mitoxantrone(12 mg/m2/day, Days 1-3) was added. RESULTS: Eight patients(33%) achieved a complete remission(CR). Four of 7 patients with CML-AP(57%), 2 of 4 patients with CML-lymphoid blastic crisis (-LBC)(50%) and 2 of 6 patients with advanced MDS(33%) had CR lasting more than 45 days(45 to 400 days). There was no CR in the patients with CML-myeloid blastic crisis(-MBC). The dose level of 1.5 mg/m2/day(7.5 mg/m2/course) of topotecan was well tolerated in all patients. Mucositis occurred in 69% of patients (severe in 5%) and diarrhea in 67%(severe in 8%). In addition, there were no new or unexpected toxicities in the patients who were treated at this dose(7.5 mg/m2/course). In patients who recovered their neutrophil count, the absolute neutrophil count(ANC) remained below 500/microL for a period of 13 to 58 days(median 21 days) and the time to ANC recovery was associated with pretreatment severity of bone marrow fibrosis(mainly CML patients). Likewise, in the patients who recovered unsupported platelets, the platelets remained below 20,000/microL for a period of 0 to 37 days (median 19 days). CONCLUSION: The combination of topotecan-mitoxantrone has shown modest activity in CML-AP, CML-LBC and advanced MDS with acceptable toxicities.

Adult↗

Effects of mixed chimerism and immune modulation on GVHD, disease recurrence and survival after HLA-identical marrow transplantation for hematologic malignancies.

BACKGROUND: The success of allogeneic bone marrow transplantation(allo-BMT) is affected by underlying disease relapse. Although mixed chimerism(MC) is not necessarily a poor prognostic factor, several groups have suggested that MC is associated with an increased risk of disease relapse. There is evidence that patients with MC benefit from additional immunotherapy if the treatment is started in minimal residual disease status(mixed chimerism status), not in frank hematological relapse. The purposes of this study are to evaluate 1) the risk for relapse or graft rejection in correlation to persistent MC status after allo-BMT, and 2) the possibility of preventing relapse by immune modulation treatments (withdrawal or rapid taper-off of post-transplant immuno-suppression, additional interferon treatment, or the administration of donor lymphocytes) in hematologic malignancies. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Of 337 allogeneic donor-recipient pairs between March 1996 and August 1998, 12 patients who showed persistent or progressive MC and who received immune modulation treatments were evaluated. Twelve patients, median age 31 years(range 9 to 39 years), received an allo-BMT for: acute myelogenous leukemia(AML, n = 5), chronic myelogenous leukemia(CML, n = 4), acute lymphocytic leukemia(ALL, n = 3). Serial polymerase chain reaction(PCR) analysis of YNZ 22-, 33.6-minisatellites or Y chromosome-specific PCR analysis at short term intervals(pre- and post-transplant 1, 3, 6, 9, ... months) was performed. Once MC was detected, immune modulation treatments on the basis of increasing MC in an early phase of recurrence of underlying disease were started. RESULTS: Nine of 12 patients converted to complete chimerism(CC) (AML 5/5, CML 3/4, ALL 1/3). Four of 9 CC patients developed graft-versus-host disease(GVHD) grade < or = 2 during immune modulation. All were treated successfully with steroids. Three patients who were not converted to CC showed relapse of underlying diseases or graft failure. CONCLUSION: The results demonstrate that, in patients with hematologic malignancies after allo-BMT, persistent MC is associated with relapse of underlying diseases or graft failure. Furthermore, when patients receive early immune modulation treatment, MC can be changed to complete donor pattern chimerism and ultimately prevent relapse.

Adolescent↗

Necrotizing enterocolitis: experience of 27 cases from a single Korean institution.

Necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) can involve any site in the gastrointestinal tract and is a fatal complication of immunosuppression. To characterize NEC, clinical and radiological characteristics were analyzed. A total of 27 cases of NEC were identified from January 1993 to August 1998, and medical records were reviewed. NEC was diagnosed by clinical and radiological criteria, and other mimicking conditions were excluded. Of the NEC cases, 22 (81.5%) occurred in patients with underlying hematologic malignancy. All patients complained of abdominal pain and fever at the time of inclusion. Escherichia coli was the most common pathogen identified. The most common finding by computed tomography was single-layered diffuse bowel wall thickening with variable density. Other findings were ascites, fascial thickening, pneumatosis, and mesenteric lymphadenopathy. Of the patients, 25 were treated with antimicrobials with or without recombinant hematopoietic growth factors, and 2 were treated with surgery because of perforation and profound bleeding. Among the 12 patients who died, NEC was the direct cause of death in 7 patients. In conclusion, computed tomography is an effective tool for early diagnosis of NEC. Bowel rest, broad-spectrum antimicrobials, and recombinant hematopoietic growth factors are important aspects of treatment. Surgery should be reserved for complicated cases.

Adolescent↗

Language supports for children's understanding of numerical fractions: cross-national comparisons.

This study examined Croatian, Korean, and U.S. children's knowledge of numerical fractions prior to school instruction. The research is part of an ongoing project examining the influence of language characteristics on mathematical thinking and performance. The part-whole quantitative relation denoted by numerical fractions may be easier to understand in East Asian languages like Korean. In these languages, the concept of fractional parts is embedded in the mathematics terms used for fractions. The results from this study suggest that the Korean vocabulary of fractions may influence the meaning 6- to 7-year-old children ascribe to numerical fractions and that this results in children being able to associate numerical fractions with corresponding pictorial representations prior to formal instruction.

Child↗

Effectiveness of rotor off fraction in allogeneic murine bone marrow transplantation with complete disparity of major histocompatibility.

Counterflow centrifugal elutriation (CCE) has been a highly efficient physical method for separating T cells from bone marrow (BM) without impairing cell function and yield. To investigate the usefulness of CCE, the hematopoietic potential as well as the level of T cell contamination in rotor-off (R/O) fraction of BM was studied using a murine bone marrow transplantation (BMT) model [C3H/He (H-2k)-->BALB/C (H-2d)]. The total recovery of cells after CCE procedure was 71.4%. Morphologically, R/O fraction contained abundant mononuclear cells and a few lymphocytes. The numbers of colony forming unit for granulocyte/monocyte (CFU-GM), Sca-1+ cells, and T cells were compared among four fractions of CCE (fractions at flow rate of 17, 25, 28 mL/min, and R/O fraction). The number of CFU-GM per 10(5) nucleated cells in each fraction were significantly higher in R/O fraction (331.3 +/- 34.4) compared to unfractionated marrow (UM) (21.1 +/- 1.3) and fraction of 17 mL/min (FR 17) (23.7 +/- 2.2 ) (chi2 = 0.0044). Neither fraction of 25 mL/min (FR 25) nor fraction of 28 mL/min (FR 28) contained CFU-GM colonies. The concentration of Sca-1+ cells in R/O fraction was significantly higher (1.96-fold) than UM (p < 0.05), and 80.0 +/- 10.1% of Sca-1+ cells in UM were recovered in R/O fraction; 88.1% of Thy-1.2+ T cells were eliminated in R/O fraction (p < 0.05). Mice receiving UM after lethal irradiation (875cGy) suffered from severe graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) and all five died within 7 days after BMT procedure (Group A). Of interest, mice receiving mixture of R/O fraction with lymphocyte-rich fraction (FR 25 plus FR 28) to equalize T cell number as UM, developed severe GVHD and four out of five died (probability of survival; 20%) (Group B). Mice receiving R/O fraction had mild GVHD and four out of five survived for at least 90 days (probability of survival; 80%) (Group C). In group C, probability of survival (p = 0.0006) was higher, and severity of GVHD (p = 0.0043) and progression rate of GVHD (p = 0.02) was lower. In conclusion, the elutriated R/O fraction cells of BM have the advantages of stable engraftment and tolerable GVHD in murine allogeneic BMT with complete major histocompatibility disparity. This could be directly applicable to patients with high risk of GVHD and graft failure in upcoming clinical trials.

Animals↗

The Enterococcus faecalis pyr operon is regulated by autogenous transcriptional attenuation at a single site in the 5' leader.

The 5' end of the Enterococcus faecalis pyr operon specifies, in order, the promoter, a 5' untranslated leader, the pyrR gene encoding the regulatory protein for the operon, a 39-nucleotide (nt) intercistronic region, the pyrP gene encoding a uracil permease, a 13-nt intercistronic region, and the pyrB gene encoding aspartate transcarbamylase. The 5' leader RNA is capable of forming stem-loop structures involved in attenuation control of the operon. No attenuation regions, such as those found in the Bacillus subtilis pyr operon, are present in the pyrR-pyrP or pyrP-pyrB intercistronic regions. Several lines of evidence demonstrate that the E. faecalis pyr operon is repressed by uracil via transcriptional attenuation at the single 5' leader termination site and that attenuation is mediated by the PyrR protein.

5' Untranslated Regions↗

Behenoyl cytarabine-associated reversible encephalopathy in a patient with acute myelogenous leukemia.

We report a case of reversible encephalopathy syndrome in a 16-year-old girl with acute myelogenous leukemia (AML), who is undergoing during consolidation chemotherapy composed of BH-AC (N4-behenoyl-1-beta-D-arabinofuranosyl cytosine) and idarubicin. On the 6th day of chemotherapy, she was in a drowsy state following generalized tonic clonic seizure lasting 20 minutes. MR images revealed extensive cortical and subcortical white matter brain edema. Alertness returned over the 24 hr following by the discontinuation of BH-AC and intravenous administration of diphenylhydantoin, although she complained of intermittent headaches and visual disturbance. She gradually recovered from these symptoms during subsequent 7 days. Previously noted abnormal signal intensities have nearly disappreared on follow-up MRI obtained on the 22nd day after the first seizure. She was discharged without any neurologic sequela. This case suggests that BH-AC, a derivative of cytosine arabinoside (1-beta-D-arabinofuranosylcytosine) could be a cause of reversible encephalopathy syndrome.

Adolescent↗

Acute lymphoblastic leukemia with maturation--a new entity with clinical significance.

The diagnosis of 'ALL with maturation' (ALLm) is proposed. One hundred and one patients with untreated ALL were entered into this study. The diagnosis of ALLm was made when more than 20% of all nucleated elements in the bone marrow showed maturation beyond prolymphocytes by light microscopic examination. The mature-appearing leukemic cells showed the same immunophenotype to remaining lymphoblasts. The number of ALLm cases was 19 (18.8%). The mean age at presentation of ALLm was 29 +/- 18, older than that of 18 +/- 16 of the remaining typical ALL (ALLt) (P = 0.015). Remission was induced with daunorubicin, vincristine, prednisone and L-asparaginase. Only two of 19 ALLm patients achieved CR after 4 weeks induction chemotherapy. In contrast, 57 of 82 (69.5%) ALLt patients achieved CR after the same induction chemotherapy. There was no significant difference in immunophenotype of ALLm compared with ALLt. Labeling index of DNA topoisomerase IIalpha (TopoLI) was studied by immunohistochemistry. Initial TopoLI of ALLm (221 +/- 147) was much lower than that of ALLt (609 +/- 262, P = 0.005). Furthermore, the remaining leukemic cells after chemotherapy were not labeled with anti-DNA topoisomerase IIalpha. The P53 protein was expressed in nine of 18 ALLm cases (50.0%) and P-glycoprotein was not expressed in ALLm cases. Twelve of 19 ALLm cases were studied for carrying bcr/abl fusion by karyotyping and/or fluorescent in situ hybridization. Only two cases revealed bcr/abl fusion. In conclusion, ALLm is a separate entity of ALL which has a very poor clinical course and is independent of other prognostic factors. The morphologically mature leukemic cells are in resting GO phase.

ATP Binding Cassette Transporter, Subfamily B, Mem↗

Psoriasiform eruption triggered by recombinant granulocyte-macrophage colony stimulating factor (rGM-CSF) and exacerbated by granulocyte colony stimulating factor (rG-CSF) in a patient with breast cancer.

Colony-stimulating factors (CSFs) are commonly used for the treatment of neutropenia following chemotherapy and for the mobilization of peripheral blood stem cells (PBSC). We recently experienced a rare case of a new onset of psoriasiform eruption by GM-CSF (granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor) which was exacerbated by G-CSF (granulocyte colony-stimulating factor) in a patient with breast cancer. A 36-year-old woman had received neoadjuvant chemotherapy (cyclophosphamide, epirubicin and 5-fluorouracil), modified radical mastectomy and adjuvant chemotherapy with paclitaxel and mitoxantrone followed by GM-CSF administration for the treatment of locally advanced breast cancer. She had developed a psoriatic skin lesion on face and both upper arms during leukocyte recovery in spite of no previous history of psoriasis. Next, the chemotherapy course was complicated by a flare of mild psoriatic skin lesion, although CSF was changed into G-CSF due to GM-CSF-associated psoriasis. Subsequently, she had had high-dose chemotherapy and autologous peripheral blood stem cell transplantation for consolidation therapy. GM-CSF was administered for the mobilization of PBSC and post-transplant period, but psoriatic skin lesion did not appear. During 6 months after PBSCT, psoriasiform eruption did not appear.

Adult↗

Esophageal aspergillosis after bone marrow transplant.

The prolonged immune suppression associated with bone marrow transplants predisposes to fungal infections including Aspergillus. Disseminated aspergillosis occurs in up to 60% of patients with invasive pulmonary aspergillosis; sites of involvement include the brain, gastrointestinal tract, kidney, liver, thyroid, heart, and spleen. There is only one report of isolated esophageal aspergillosis. A recent acute myelogenous leukemia patient had isolated esophageal aspergillosis after bone marrow transplantation which was successfully treated with amphotericin B.

Adult↗