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Biomedical subjects

J A Hansen

Publications and source records attributed to J A Hansen.

At least 73 records · Page 4Linked to original sources

Bone marrow transplants from unrelated donors for patients with chronic myeloid leukemia.

BACKGROUND: Chronic myeloid leukemia can be cured by marrow transplantation from an HLA-identical sibling donor. The use of transplants from unrelated donors is an option for the 70 percent of patients without an HLA-identical sibling, but the morbidity and mortality associated with such transplants have been cause for concern. We analyzed the safety and efficacy of transplants from unrelated donors for the treatment of chronic myeloid leukemia and identified variables that predict a favorable outcome. METHODS: Between May 1985 and December 1994, 196 patients with Philadelphia chromosome-positive chronic myeloid leukemia in chronic phase received marrow transplants from unrelated donors. RESULTS: The median follow-up was 5 years (range, 1.2 to 10.1). Graft failure occurred in 5 percent of patients who could be evaluated. Acute graft-versus-host disease of grade III or IV severity was observed in 35 percent of patients who received HLA-matched transplants, and the estimated cumulative incidence of relapse at five years was 10 percent. The Kaplan-Meier estimate of survival at five years was 57 percent. Survival was adversely affected by an interval from diagnosis to transplantation of one year or more, an HLA-DRB1 mismatch, a high body-weight index, and an age of more than 50 years. Survival was improved by the prophylactic use of fluconazole and ganciclovir. The Kaplan-Meier estimate of survival at five years was 74 percent (95 percent confidence interval, 62 to 86 percent) for patients who were 50 years of age or younger who received a transplant from an HLA-matched donor within one year after diagnosis. CONCLUSIONS: Transplantation of marrow from an HLA-matched, unrelated donor is safe and effective therapy for selected patients with chronic myeloid leukemia.

Adolescent↗

Growth hormone preferentially induces the rapid, transient expression of SOCS-3, a novel inhibitor of cytokine receptor signaling.

Four members (SOCS-1, SOCS-2, SOCS-3, and CIS) of a family of cytokine-inducible, negative regulators of cytokine receptor signaling have recently been identified. To address whether any of these genes are induced in response to growth hormone (GH), serum-starved 3T3-F442A fibroblasts were incubated with GH for various time points, and the expression of the SOCS gene family was analyzed by Northern blotting. GH stimulated the rapid, transient induction of SOCS-3 mRNA, peaking 30 min after the initiation of GH exposure and declining to basal levels by 2 h. Expression of the other SOCS genes (SOCS-1, SOCS-2, CIS) was also up-regulated by GH, although to a lesser extent than SOCS-3 and with differing kinetics. SOCS-3 expression was also strongly induced in 3T3-F442A cells treated with leukemia-inhibitory factor (LIF), with weaker induction of SOCS-1 and CIS being observed. The preferential induction of SOCS-3 mRNA was also observed in hepatic RNA isolated from the livers of mice that had received a single supraphysiological dose of GH intraperitoneally. Co-transfection studies revealed that constitutive expression of SOCS-1 and SOCS-3, but not SOCS-2 or CIS, blocked GH-induced transactivation of the GH-responsive serine protease inhibitor 2.1 gene promoter.

3T3 Cells↗

Intravenous immunoglobulin and the risk of hepatic veno-occlusive disease after bone marrow transplantation.

Recent reports using historical controls or registry cohorts suggest, respectively, either an increase in the mortality or a decrease in the incidence of hepatic veno-occlusive disease (VOD) with the administration of intravenous immunoglobulin (i.v.Ig) after bone marrow transplantation. These divergent results prompted us to conduct a retrospective analysis of two randomized clinical trials conducted at our center to determine the effect of i.v.Ig infusions on the development and severity of VOD. Patients were randomized to receive (n=318) or not to receive (n=315) i.v.Ig prophylaxis after human leukocyte antigen-identical sibling (n=414), mismatched or unrelated (n=178), or autologous or syngeneic (n=41) marrow transplantation. To determine the relationship of i.v.Ig to the development and severity of VOD, a single observer reviewed data displays created for each patient for grading VOD without knowledge of patient i.v.Ig use. In this analysis, VOD was defined as hyperbilirubinemia > or =2.0 mg/dL before day 20 and abrupt weight gain > or =2% before day 14 posttransplant in the absence of other causes of liver disease. Hepatic VOD developed in 235 (37%) of the 633 randomized patients. No evidence for VOD was found in 230 (36%) patients. The remaining 168 (27%) patients were classified as having liver disease of uncertain etiology. Hepatic VOD was judged to be severe in 63 (10%) and mild or moderate in 172 (27%) patients. The number of patients developing any VOD or severe VOD was similar between those randomized to i.v.Ig prophylaxis and untreated controls (115 vs. 120 and 32 vs. 31, respectively). Logistic regression models identified several covariates as significant (p < 0.01) factors associated with the development of severe VOD. Increased risk occurred with elevated pretransplant serum aspartate aminotransferase (odds ratio [OR] = 2.64) and earlier year of transplant (OR = 3.73); decreased risk occurred with autologous or twin donors (OR = 0.09) and acute myeloid leukemia (OR = 0.39). The development of any VOD was associated with an elevated pretransplant alkaline phosphatase (OR = 4.1), pretransplant use of vancomycin (OR = 1.6) or amphotericin (OR = 3.0), posttransplant use of cyclosporine (OR = 2.5), older patient age (OR = 1.03), and obesity (OR = 0.78). We concluded from the controlled trials of 633 patients that the administration of i.v.Ig did not influence the development or severity of VOD after bone marrow transplantation.

Bone Marrow Transplantation↗

HLAs and risk of acute graft-vs.-host disease after marrow transplantation from an HLA-identical sibling.

We explored the relationship between individual human leukocyte antigens (HLAs) and the risk of acute graft-vs.-host disease (GVHD) after allogeneic marrow transplantation from HLA-identical siblings. If the repertoire of polymorphic peptides encoded by minor histocompatibility loci is limited such that certain major histocompatibility complex molecules might not present any peptides that cause GVHD, then certain HLA alleles should be associated with a relatively reduced risk of GVHD and others should be associated with a relatively increased risk. Contrary to results reported in previous studies, we found no convincing evidence for associations between HLA antigens and risk of acute GVHD after HLA-identical marrow transplantation. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that the variety of minor histocompatibility antigens is not constrained by the repertoire of peptides collectively encoded by minor histocompatibility loci.

Bone Marrow Transplantation↗

Definition of the gene encoding the minor histocompatibility antigen HA-1 and typing for HA-1 from genomic DNA.

Recipient mismatching for the minor histocompatibility antigen HA-1 has been associated with acute graft-versus-host disease after allogeneic marrow transplantation. Two polymorphic nucleotides near an exon-intron junction of the gene encoding this minor histocompatibility antigen have been identified. In this study, we determined the genomic DNA sequence of the intron downstream from this polymorphic exon. Based on this sequence, primers were designed to amplify the genomic HA-1 gene sequence, and analysis of restriction fragment length polymorphisms was used to assign the HA-1 genotypes of 160 unrelated probands and a paired sibling for each proband. Among probands, the HA-1H allele frequency was 0.441, and the HA-1R allele frequency was 0.559. The distribution of HA-1 genotypes showed close fit with Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. Likewise, the number of sibling pairs with disparity for HA-1 alleles showed close fit with predictions based on Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. These results provide a simple and well validated method for future studies correlating HA-1 disparity with clinical outcome after allogeneic marrow transplantation.

Alleles↗

Allogeneic peripheral blood stem cell transplantation may be associated with a high risk of chronic graft-versus-host disease.

Chronic graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) is likely caused by donor T lymphocytes. Because unmodified blood stem cell grafts contain one log more T lymphocytes than unmodified marrow grafts, we evaluated the incidence of chronic GVHD in previously reported 37 blood stem cell recipients and 37 computer-matched historical control marrow recipients (Bensinger et al, Blood 88:2794, 1996). All patients have been followed until death, relapse, or occurrence of chronic GVHD or for a minimum of 2 years. In a univariable proportional hazards regression model, the relative risk of developing clinical chronic GVHD (includes clinical limited and clinical extensive disease) by 2 years posttransplant among the peripheral blood stem cell recipients compared with the marrow recipients was 2.22 (95% confidence interval, 1.04 to 4.74; P = .039). For clinical extensive chronic GVHD, the relative risk was 2.37 (95% confidence interval, 1.07 to 5. 29; P = .035). In multivariable analyses, considering also the covariables of patient age, patient cytomegalovirus serostatus, and donor cytomegalovirus serostatus, the relative risks of clinical chronic GVHD and clinical extensive chronic GVHD were also greater than 2 (P < .05). We conclude that the transplantation of unmanipulated filgrastim-mobilized blood stem cells may result in a relatively high incidence of chronic GVHD.

Chronic Disease↗

Marrow transplants from unrelated donors for treatment of Philadelphia chromosome-positive acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

Transplantation of marrow from unrelated donors was investigated in patients with Philadelphia chromosome-positive (Ph1+) acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) who lacked a suitable family donor. Eighteen patients underwent transplantation at our center between 1988 and 1995. The median patient age was 25 years (range, 1.7 to 51 years). Seven patients were in first complete remission, 1 in second remission, 3 in first relapse, and the remaining 7 had more advanced or chemotherapy refractory leukemia at transplant. All patients were conditioned with cyclophosphamide and total body irradiation followed by marrow transplants from closely HLA-matched, unrelated volunteers. Posttransplant graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) prophylaxis included methotrexate with either cyclosporine or FK506. Graft failure was not observed. Severe (grades III-IV) GVHD appeared in 6 of 17 evaluable patients and chronic extensive GVHD in 7 of 13 patients at risk. Five patients had recurrent ALL after transplantation and another 4 died from causes other than leukemia. Six patients transplanted in first remission, 2 in first relapse, and 1 in second remission remain alive and leukemia-free at a median follow-up of 17 months (range, 9 to 73 months). The probability of leukemia-free survival at 2 years is 49% +/- 12%. These data indicate that unrelated donor marrow transplantation is an effective treatment option for patients with early stage Ph1+ ALL without a family match and suggest that in such patients an unrelated donor search should be initiated as soon as possible after diagnosis.

Adolescent↗

Transplantation of marrow cells from unrelated donors for treatment of high-risk acute leukemia: the effect of leukemic burden, donor HLA-matching, and marrow cell dose.

Transplantation of hematopoietic stem cells from an HLA-compatible unrelated volunteer is an option for patients with acute leukemia lacking a family match. However, criteria for patient and donor selection and the most effective transplant procedures, including the number of hematopoietic cells, remain to be defined. We tested factors influencing outcome of 174 patients with primary acute leukemia receiving non-T-cell depleted marrow from unrelated donors. Median patient age was 20 years (range, 0.5 to 54 years). A multivariable analysis found that leukemia in remission at the time of transplantation was associated with improved leukemia-free survival (relative risk [RR] of treatment failure: 0.5, confidence interval [CI]: 0.3 to 0.7), and presence of blasts in the peripheral blood, as opposed to marrow involvement only or isolated extramedullary relapse, was associated with impaired outcome (RR of treatment failure: 2.5, CI: 1.7 to 5.0). The use of donors with a limited HLA-mismatch was associated with decreased leukemic relapse (RR: 0.5, CI: 0.3 to 0.9) but no improvement in leukemia-free survival compared with HLA-matched unrelated donors. Transplantation of a marrow cell dose above the median value of 3.65 x 10(8)/kg was associated with faster neutrophil (RR: 1.5, CI: 1.1 to 2.0) and platelet (RR: 4.5, CI: 2.7 to 7.5) engraftment, and decreased incidence of severe acute graft-versus-host disease (RR: 0.6, CI: 0.4 to 0.9). In patients transplanted in remission, the use of a marrow cell dose above the median translated into less nonleukemic death (RR: 0.2, CI: 0.1 to 0.4) and better leukemia-free survival (RR of treatment failure: 0.3, CI: 0.2 to 0.6). Transplant in remission with a high dose of marrow cells was associated with the best outcome in both children and adults.

Acute Disease↗

Marrow transplantation for chronic myeloid leukemia: the influence of plasma busulfan levels on the outcome of transplantation.

The influence of busulfan (BU) plasma concentration on outcome of transplantation from HLA identical family members for the treatment of chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) was examined in 45 patients transplanted in chronic phase (CP) (n = 39) or accelerated phase (AP) (n = 6). All patients received the same regimen of BU, 16 mg/kg orally and cyclophosphamide (CY), 120 mg/kg intravenously. Plasma concentrations of BU at steady state (C(SS)BU) during the dosing interval were measured for each patient. The mean C(SS)BU was 917 ng/mL (range, 642 to 1,749; median, 917; standard deviation, 213). Of patients with C(SS)BU below the median, seven (five of 18 in CP and two of four in AP) developed persistent cytogenetic relapse and three of these patients died. There were no relapses in patients with C(SS)BU above the median. The difference in the cumulative incidence of relapse between the two groups was statistically significant (P = .0003). C(SS)BU was the only statistically significant determinant of relapse in univariable or multivariable analysis. The 3-year survival estimates were 0.82 and 0.64 for patients with C(SS)BU above and below the median (P = .33). There was no statistically significant association of C(SS)BU with survival or nonrelapse mortality, although the power to detect a difference in survival between 0.82 and 0.64 was only 0.24, similarly C(SS)BU above the median was not associated with an increased risk of severe regimen-related toxicity. We conclude that low BU plasma levels are associated with an increased risk of relapse.

Adult↗

Stem cell transplantation for secondary acute myeloid leukemia: evaluation of transplantation as initial therapy or following induction chemotherapy.

The purpose of this report is to describe the results of stem cell transplantation as initial treatment for secondary acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Forty-six patients (median age 42 years) with secondary AML (17 therapy-related, 29 myelodysplasia-related) who had not received remission induction chemotherapy underwent allogeneic (n = 43) or syngeneic (n = 3) transplantation. The 5-year actuarial disease-free survival was 24.4%, and the cumulative incidences of relapse and nonrelapse mortality were 31.3% and 44.3%, respectively. Lower peripheral blood blast count was associated with a lower risk of relapse (P = .05) and shorter time from AML diagnosis to transplant was associated with a lower risk of nonrelapse mortality (P = .02) and improved disease-free survival (P = .026). Patients with therapy-related secondary AML tended to have lower disease-free survival (P = .16) and a higher relapse rate (P = .16) than patients whose leukemia was not therapy-related. The results of these 46 previously untreated patients were compared to 20 patients (median age 36 years, 12 therapy-related, 8 myelodysplasia-related) transplanted with chemotherapy-sensitive disease after induction chemotherapy (first complete remission [n = 6], second complete remission [n = 3], first untreated relapse [n = 11]). We found no statistically significant difference in outcome between these 2 groups of patients. These results suggest that prompt transplantation should be considered after diagnosis of secondary AML or, if possible, high-risk myelodysplasia, particularly in patients with low peripheral blast counts. Innovative transplant strategies are needed to reduce the high risks of relapse and nonrelapse mortality seen in this patient population.

Adolescent↗

Association of HLA-C disparity with graft failure after marrow transplantation from unrelated donors.

Disparity for HLA-A or HLA-B antigens increases the risk of marrow graft rejection, but the relevance of HLA-C is unknown because typing methods have not been sufficiently accurate for clinical use. We designed a matched case-control study and employed DNA sequencing methods to evaluate the role of HLA-C disparity in 21 patients who experienced graft failure (cases) following transplantation with unmanipulated marrow from either HLA-A, B serologically matched, DRB1 matched (n = 14) or single locus mismatched (n = 7) unrelated donors. For each case, two patients who successfully engrafted were selected as controls based on similarity for factors known or suspected to influence engraftment. The estimated odds ratio (OR) of graft failure for an HLA-C mismatch relative to match (univariable model) was 5.2 (95% CI, 1.4, 19; P = .01). Serologically undetectable HLA-A or HLA-B allele disparity was also associated with graft failure. The association between HLA-C disparity and graft failure remained significant even after accounting for the contribution of HLA-A and/or HLA-B allele disparity (OR 4.0; 95% CI, 1.1, 15; likelihood ratio test P = .03). These results show that HLA-C functions as a transplantation antigen and that HLA-A and HLA-B allele mismatches are biologically important. Molecular-based methods for pretransplant assessment of class I compatibility should be implemented for the selection of unrelated marrow donors.

Bone Marrow Transplantation↗

A comparative study of HLA-DRB typing by transcription-mediated amplification with the hybridization protection assay (TMA/HPA) versus PCR/SSOP.

To evaluate alternative human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-DNA typing methods, we used a system of transcription-mediated amplification (TMA) with a probe hybridization protection assay (HPA) in a microtiter plate format developed by Chugai Pharmaceutics Ltd. (Tokyo, Japan) to perform intermediate-level DRB typing for 502 individual samples. Two hundred fifty-two samples submitted to our Clinical Immunogenetics Laboratory were prospectively tested concurrently with a locally developed intermediate-level DRB polymerase chain reaction/sequence-specific oligonucleotide probe (PCR/SSOP) assay in a double-blind fashion. In addition, 250 retrospective samples of archived frozen cells or DNA from clinical and research panels, previously typed by allele-level DRB1 PCR/SSOP, were chosen to include 66 distinct DRB1 alleles representing Caucasian, American Black, Asian, and Native American ethnic groups. Among the prospectively typed samples, except for four samples with a TMA/HPA microplate handling problem, a single TMA/HPA allele assignment (1/462 alleles = 0.2%) was discordant with PCR/SSOP. Among the 250 retrospective samples, a single HPA probe for codon 57 aspartic acid consistently cross-reacted with the codon 57 valine sequence of DRB1*0807. However, TMA/HPA identified six samples with previous PCR/SSOP typing errors, all of which involved identification of sequences at codons 67-71 in samples heterozygous for two DR52-associated DRB1 alleles. Assay turnaround time from sample preparation to results was 11 h for 24 samples or 6-7 h for 1-4 samples. In summary, we found the TMA/HPA DRB typing system to provide rapid, reliable, and accurate HLA-DRB typing results. The current TMA/HPA methodology could be improved by use of a molded plastic cold block to provide more consistent and secure microtiter plate cooling than the current water/ice slurry. Nevertheless, this methodology, based on a microtiter plate format but without the usual plate washing steps of the traditional ELISA, has superior potential for microplate handling and reagent distribution with a robotics system and a work surface incorporating microplate heating and cooling units.

Alleles↗

HLA homozygosity and the risk of graft-versus-host disease.

We explored the relationship between HLA homozygosity and risk of graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) after allogeneic marrow transplantation from an HLA-genotypically identical sibling. If the variety of minor histocompatibility antigens is decreased by the restricted diversity of major histocompatibility complex (MHC) molecules capable of presenting allogeneic peptides in HLA-homozygous individuals, then the risk of GVHD should be decreased in comparison to HLA-heterozygous marrow transplant recipients. Contrary to expectations, we found that HLA-homozygous individuals and HLA-heterozygous individuals have comparable risks of GVHD. We propose that the unexpectedly high incidence of GVHD in HLA-homozygous individuals can be explained by determinant density effects that enable certain peptide-MHC complexes to function as minor antigens on HLA-homozygous antigen-presenting cells but not on HLA-heterozygous antigen-presenting cells. Thus the variety of minor antigens expressed by the two types of cells might be similar, despite the differences in the diversity of HLA molecules.

Adolescent↗

Hematopoietic stem cell transplants from unrelated donors.

Transplantation of hematopoietic stem cells is now well established as life-saving therapy for patients with several different genetic and acquired diseases. This has been possible largely because of the identification of HLA as the human major histocompatibility system and the application of new technologies for improving the accuracy of HLA typing and matching. Clinical advances including the development of more effective immune suppression therapy and improvements in supportive care have also been critically important. The lack of HLA-identical sibling donors for most patients and the extensive polymorphism of HLA genes have necessitated establishing very large registries of HLA-typed volunteers. With more than 3 million donors now available worldwide, the number of patients identifying HLA matches has increased substantially. Despite a higher incidence of graft-versus-host disease (GVHD), the results of unrelated donor transplants are favorable when performed under optimal conditions with a well-matched donor. In order to provide transplants for all patients, improved methods for GVHD prophylaxis are needed that will make it possible to safely perform transplants even across limited degrees of HLA disparity.

Animals↗

The role of GH receptor tyrosine phosphorylation in Stat5 activation.

Stimulation of GH receptors leads to rapid activation of Jak2 kinase and subsequent tyrosine phosphorylation of the GH receptor. Three specific tyrosines located in the C-terminal domain of the GH receptor have been identified as being involved in GH-stimulated transcription of the Spi 2.1 promoter. Mutated GH receptors lacking all but one of these three tyrosines are able to mediate a transcriptional response when transiently transfected into CHO cells together with a Spi 2.1 promoter/luciferase construct. Similarly, these GH receptors were found to be able to mediate activation of Stat5 DNA-binding activity, whereas the GH receptor mutant lacking all intracellular tyrosines was not. Synthetic tyrosine phosphorylated peptides corresponding to the GH receptor sequence around the three tyrosines inhibited Stat5 DNA-binding activity while their non-phosphorylated counterparts were ineffective. Tyrosine phosphorylated GST-GH receptor fusion proteins specifically bound to Stat5 in extracts from COS 7 cells transfected with Stat5 cDNA. This binding could be inhibited by tyrosine phosphorylated peptides derived from the GH receptor. This study thus demonstrated that specific GH receptor tyrosine residues, in their phosphorylated state, are involved in transcriptional signaling by directly interacting with Stat5.

Amino Acid Sequence↗