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Jamie Robyn

Publications and source records attributed to Jamie Robyn.

7 recordsLinked to original sources

Treatment of systemic mastocytosis.

It is an exciting time in the treatment of systemic mastocytosis. Major advances in the past 2 decades have helped to define the molecular abnormalities associated with this disease and to delineate pathways involved in its pathogenesis. This has directly translated into the development of novel targeted therapies. These therapies hold great promise to patients and health care providers that a "cure" for systemic mastocytosis may someday be obtainable.

Antineoplastic Agents↗

Systemic mastocytosis.

Systemic mastocytosis is a fascinating disease with diverse clinical features. There have been numerous advances in understanding the basis of clinical manifestations of this disease and of its molecular pathogenesis in the last several decades. The development of methods to study mast cell biology using cell culture and murine models has proven invaluable in this regard. Clarification of the roles of mast cells in various biological processes has expanded our understanding of their importance in innate immunity, as well as allergy. New diagnostic methods have allowed the design of detailed criteria to assist in distinguishing reactive mast cell hyperplasia from systemic mastocytosis. Variants and subvariants of systemic mastocytosis have been defined to assist in determining prognosis and in management of the disease. Elucidation of the roles of the Kit receptor tyrosine kinase and signal transduction pathway activation has contributed to development of potential targeted therapeutic approaches that may prove useful in the future.

Animals↗

Multilineage involvement of the fusion gene in patients with FIP1L1/PDGFRA-positive hypereosinophilic syndrome.

Myeloproliferative hypereosinophilic syndrome (MHES) is a disorder characterised by male predominance, marked eosinophilia, splenomegaly, tissue fibrosis, elevated serum tryptase and the presence of the FIP1L1/PDGFRA fusion gene in peripheral blood mononuclear cells. The characteristic hypercellular bone marrow with dysplastic eosinophils and spindle-shaped mast cells suggest that multiple lineages may be involved in the clonal process. To determine which haematopoietic lineages are involved in MHES, we purified cells of specific lineages from patients with MHES and used nested reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), quantitative RT-PCR and fluorescence in situ hybridisation to analyse the purified cell populations for the presence of the fusion gene. The fusion gene was detected in eosinophils, neutrophils, mast cells, T cells, B cells and monocytes. These results suggest that the mutation arises in a pluripotential haematopoietic progenitor cell capable of giving rise to multiple lineages. The basis for the preferential expansion of eosinophils and mast cells remains unclear.

Antigens, CD↗

Imatinib-responsive hypereosinophilia in a patient with B cell ALL.

Hypereosinophilia is a rare presenting sign of acute lymphocytic leukemia. A 29-year-old male was diagnosed with idiopathic hypereosinophilic syndrome with respiratory symptoms. Although his peripheral blood eosinophilia decreased in response to treatment with imatinib mesylate, a follow-up bone marrow showed a diffuse infiltrate of myeloperoxidase-negative blasts. He was subsequently diagnosed with CD10 positive precursor B lymphoblastic leukemia. This case underscores the importance of follow-up bone marrow examination in patients who demonstrate imatinib mesylate-responsive eosinophilia.

Adult↗

Molecular remission and reversal of myelofibrosis in response to imatinib mesylate treatment in patients with the myeloproliferative variant of hypereosinophilic syndrome.

We recently described a subset of patients with a myeloproliferative variant of hypereosinophilic syndrome (MHES) characterized by elevated serum tryptase levels, increased atypical mast cells in the bone marrow, tissue fibrosis, and the presence of the fusion tyrosine kinase, FIP1L1-PDGFRalpha, which is a therapeutic target of imatinib mesylate. Seven patients with MHES were treated with imatinib mesylate (300-400 mg daily). Clinical improvement and resolution of eosinophilia was observed in all patients, although cardiac dysfunction, when present, was not altered by therapy. Reversal of bone marrow pathology, including increased cellularity, the presence of spindle-shaped mast cells, and myelofibrosis, was evident in all patients at 4 to 8 weeks following initiation of therapy. This was accompanied by a decrease in activated eosinophils and mast cells in the peripheral blood and bone marrow, respectively. Serum tryptase levels declined rapidly to normal levels in all patients and remained in the normal range throughout therapy. Molecular remission, with disappearance of detectable FIP1L1/PDGFRA (F/P) transcripts, was achieved in 5 of 6 patients tested. The lack of reversal of cardiac abnormalities and persistence of the F/P mutation in some patients suggests that early intervention with higher doses of imatinib mesylate may be desirable in the treatment of patients with MHES.

Adult↗

HLA-DR15 (DR2) is overrepresented in myelodysplastic syndrome and aplastic anemia and predicts a response to immunosuppression in myelodysplastic syndrome.

The extent and importance of autoimmune mechanisms in myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) and the role of immunosuppression in the treatment of this disease are not well defined. We report overrepresentation of HLA-DR2 and its serologic split HLA-DR15 in both MDS and aplastic anemia (AA). Four clinically and ethnically defined patient groups were analyzed. The HLA-DR15 antigen frequencies among North American white MDS patients (n = 72) and AA patients (n = 59), who received immunosuppressive treatment at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), were 36% and 42%, respectively. These antigen frequencies were significantly higher than that of the control population of 240 North American white NIH blood donors typed for HLA antigens by the same molecular technique (HLA-DR15, 21.3%, P =.01 for MDS, P <.001 for AA). Among North American white patients reported in the International Bone Marrow Transplant Registry (IBMTR), 30% of 341 MDS patients and 33% of 364 AA patients were positive for HLA-DR2. These antigen frequencies were higher than those reported for the general North American white population (HLA-DR2, 25.3%, P =.089 for MDS, P =.01 for AA). The DR15 and DR2 frequencies were significantly increased in MDS refractory anemia (RA) (P =.036 and P =.01, respectively) but not MDS refractory anemia with excess blasts. In the NIH MDS patients, HLA-DR15 was significantly associated with a clinically relevant response to antithymocyte globulin (ATG) or cyclosporine immunosuppression (multivariate analysis, P =.008). In MDS with RA, DR15 may be useful as a guide to pathophysiology, prognosis, and treatment.

Adult↗