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Georgia Lahr

Publications and source records attributed to Georgia Lahr.

6 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2005

Identical phenotype in patients with somatic and germline CD95 mutations requires a new diagnostic approach to autoimmune lymphoproliferative syndrome.

In a patient with a somatic mutation in the CD95 gene, the long-term evolution of the clinical phenotype was indistinguishable from that of patients with autoimmune lymphoproliferative syndrome caused by germline CD95 mutations. A new diagnostic algorithm for autoimmune lymphoproliferative syndrome is suggested incorporating studies on sorted TCRalpha/beta+CD3+CD8-CD4- T cells.

Algorithms↗
PubMed2003

The role of microsatellite instability in cervical intraepithelial neoplasia and squamous cell carcinoma of the cervix.

OBJECTIVES: This study was conducted to define the role of microsatellite instability (MSI) in cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) and squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) of the cervix. We also tested the validity of using markers recommended for MSI study in colonic carcinoma by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) for cervical neoplasm. METHODS: Twenty normal cervical, 24 low-grade CIN (CIN-L), 59 high-grade CIN (CIN-H), and 93 SCC tissues were examined for MSI after microdissection. A polymerase chain reaction based MSI detection was performed using five markers recommended by the NCI for colonic cancer (panel one) as well as five other markers (panel two) found to be informative in earlier studies. High-frequency MSI (MSI-H) was defined as instability in > or = 2 of 5 loci if one panel was used and > or = 30% of loci when more than five loci were used. Low-frequency MSI (MSI-L) was diagnosed if instability was noted but did not meet the criteria of MSI-H. Findings were correlated with clinicopathologic information. RESULTS: The combined use of panel one and two markers showed no MSI in normal cervical or CIN-L tissue, MSI-L in 1 CIN-H (1.7%), MSI-L in 16 (17.2%), and MSI-H in 11 (11.8%) SCC, respectively. The NCI-recommended panel alone detected 19 of 27 MSI-positive SCC. MSI-positive was not related to patient age, disease stage, and tumor grade. The overall survival of MSI-positive patients was significantly worse than that of microsatellite stable patients (P = 0.02). An increasing trend of MSI-H rate with higher disease stages was noted (P = 0.035) but MSI-H was not associated with poor prognosis. CONCLUSIONS: The NCI recommended panel of markers might not be useful in MSI study for SCC and using more than five markers improves the MSI detection. MSI is rare in cervical dysplasia but is present in a subset of SCC. The association between MSI-positivity and prognosis awaits future confirmation.

Adult↗
PubMed2002

Heterogeneous proliferative potential of occult metastatic cells in bone marrow of patients with solid epithelial tumors.

Bone marrow is a major homing site for circulating epithelial tumor cells. The present study was aimed to assess the proliferative capacity of occult metastatic cells in bone marrow of patients with operable solid tumors especially with regard to their clinical outcome. We obtained bone marrow aspirates from 153 patients with carcinomas of the prostate (n = 46), breast (n = 45), colon (n = 33), and kidney (n = 29). Most of the patients (87%) had primary disease with no clinical signs of overt metastases [tumor-node-metastasis (TNM)-stage UICC (Union Internationale Contre le Cancer) I-III]. After bone marrow was cultured for 21-102 days under special cell culture conditions, viable epithelial cells were detected by cytokeratin staining in 124 patients (81%). The cultured epithelial cells harbored Ki-ras2 mutations and numerical chromosomal aberrations. The highest median number of expanded tumor cells was observed in prostate cancer (2,619 per flask). There was a significant positive correlation between the number of expanded tumor cells and the UICC-stage of the patients (P = 0.03) or the presence of overt metastases (P = 0.04). Moreover, a strong expansion of tumor cells was correlated to an increased rate of cancer-related deaths (P = 0.007) and a reduced survival of the patients (P = 0.006). In conclusion, the majority of cancer patients have viable tumor cells in their bone marrow at primary tumor diagnosis, and the proliferative potential of these cells determines the clinical outcome.

Bone Marrow Cells↗
PubMed1995

Expression of the Neural Cell Adhesion Molecule NCAM by Peptide- and Steroid-Producing Endocrine Cells and Tumors: Alternatively Spliced Forms and Polysialylation.

The adhesive properties of neural cell adhesion molecules (NCAMs) can be modified by alternative splicing of the primary transcript or by posttranslational modifications, such as sialylation. In this article, we describe distinct forms of alternative splicing and posttranslational modification of the extracellular domain of NCAM of various endocrine tissues and derived tumor cells of the rat and of steroid- and peptide-hormone producing endocrine cells in humans. NCAM-140 is the major isoform expressed in the rat adrenal gland, adenohypophysis, and in granulosa and granulosa-lutein cells. NCAM-180 is predominant in the neurohypophysis. Polysialylated NCAM is expressed in different endocrine tissues and tumor cells of the rat. Different amounts of NCAM mRNA containing the "extra-exon" VASE at the exon 7/8 splice boundary were detected in endocrine cells of rats. Human granulosa cells in culture undergo luteinization. During this process, the VASE-containing NCAM isoform is supplemented by an alternatively spliced isoform without this insert. Thus, modifications of NCAM may be important for adhesive interactions in normal and neoplastic endocrine cells. In addition, the differential expression and the alternative splicing of NCAM during luteinization of granulosa cells raise the possibility that NCAM could be involved in folliculogenesis and the formation of the corpus luteum in humans.

Journal Article↗