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Biomedical subjects

M J Lacher

Publications and source records attributed to M J Lacher.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1988

Lack of evidence of circulating retroviral antibodies in patients with classic Hodgkin's disease.

Because of the T-cell abnormalities observed in Hodgkin's disease and the growing number of Hodgkin's disease cases observed in association with the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), concern has been expressed that a retrovirus may be the primary cause of Hodgkin's disease. We examined plasma specimens from 17 patients with Hodgkin's disease that were drawn in 1979. Because serum containing antibodies to either human T-lymphotropic virus type I (HTLV-I) or HTLV-II precipitate the major core protein, p24, of HTLV-I, lack of reactivity to HTLV-I p24 in all the specimens demonstrated absence of antibodies to HTLV-I or -II. None of the specimens was reactive to human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) by ELISA. None of the specimens were reactive on Western blot assays for HTLV-I or -II or HIV-1. Lack of evidence of cross-reacting antibodies to prototype strains of those retroviruses in specimens drawn before the AIDS epidemic suggests that classic Hodgkin's disease is not the result of infection with one of the known human lymphocytotropic retroviruses or a closely related agent.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1988

Bone mineralization in women following successful treatment of Hodgkin's disease.

PURPOSE: Women with Hodgkin's disease in whom a cure has been achieved may be at risk for osteoporosis because of therapy-induced premature menopause. Our objective was to gather information regarding the integrity of bone mass in such long-term cancer survivors. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Bone mineral density was measured using photon absorptiometry in five groups of women: 11 patients with Hodgkin's disease and ovarian failure (Group I); six patients with Hodgkin's disease and ovarian failure who received estrogen replacement (Group II); 15 patients with Hodgkin's disease and normal ovarian function (Group III); 16 premenopausal control subjects (Group IV); and 11 postmenopausal control subjects (Group V). All patients with Hodgkin's disease were in remission and had completed treatment more than five years earlier. RESULTS: Subjects in Group I were found to have significantly decreased radial (p = 0.0009), lumbar spine (p = 0.002), and femoral neck (p = 0.0001) bone mineral density measurements compared with those in subjects in Group IV; the bone mineral density measurements at all sites of subjects in Group I were no different than those of subjects in Group V. Subjects in Group III had bone density measurements that were similar to those in Group IV, although the radial bone mineral density value was significantly lower (p = 0.0004). Determination of serum gonadotropins and estradiol was consistent with the menstrual status defining the five groups. No secondary causes for decreased bone mineral density values could be detected, since the mean serum levels of parathyroid hormone, calcium, phosphorus, and vitamin D metabolites were similar among the groups, and all prolactin levels were normal. CONCLUSION: We have identified a new population of patients with a high risk of osteoporosis, and these results emphasize the importance of treatment-related ovarian failure in the pathogenesis of osteoporosis.

Adult↗
PubMed1987

Semen cryopreservation and artificial insemination for Hodgkin's disease.

Seventy-nine men with Hodgkin's disease were treated with chemotherapy protocols at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and had pretreatment semen analysis performed at the area semen bank. The patients were evaluated to determine: the quality of pretreatment semen, the effect of treatment on spermatogenesis, and the success rate of artificial insemination after semen cryopreservation. Pretreatment sperm concentration, fresh motility, fresh progression, postthaw motility and postthaw progression were all significantly decreased in men with Hodgkin's disease compared with normal controls. Posttreatment semen analysis in 44 men showed azoospermia in 80%, sperm concentration, less than or equal to 10 X 10(6)/mL in 11%, and sperm concentration greater than 10 X 10(6)/mL in 9%. Eleven couples attempted artificial insemination using cryopreserved semen, thus far resulting in three pregnancies. Semen cryopreservation and artificial insemination offer a partial solution to posttreatment azoospermia in this population, but further methods are needed to minimize gonadal toxicity without compromising therapy for Hodgkin's disease.

Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols↗
PubMed1986

Pregnancies and menstrual function before and after combined radiation (RT) and chemotherapy (TVPP) for Hodgkin's disease.

The menstrual cycle, pregnancies, and offspring were evaluated before and after initial combined radiation (RT) and chemotherapy with thiotepa, vinblastine, vincristine, procarbazine, and prednisone (TVPP), in 34 women between the ages of 18 and 44 (median 26.5 years) treated for Stage II and Stage III Hodgkin's disease. The median range of follow-up is 83.1 months (range 40.5-140). After therapy 94.1% (32/34) continued to menstruate. Two of the four patients over the age of 35 ceased to menstruate. All patients under the age of 35 continued to menstruate (30/30). Age at the time of diagnosis was the only factor affecting change in menses with a significant probability (p = .001) that women greater than 30 years of age will experience some change in menstrual pattern. Seventeen pregnancies occurred in 12 women after therapy; 2 had 4 elective abortions; 10 delivered 12 children with normal physical development; 1 will deliver six months from now. Twelve of thirteen patients who wanted to become pregnant have conceived. The ability to become pregnant and deliver normal children after intensive treatment with combined radiation and chemotherapy (RT/TVPP) was comparable to the patients' pretreatment record.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1981

Abnormal phytohemagglutinin-induced T-cell proliferative responses in Hodgkin's disease.

Optimal conditions were established for evaluating the phytohemagglutinin-induced proliferative responses of purified peripheral blood T lymphocytes. This assay was utilized to determine whether T cells (in the absence of monocytes and serum inhibitory factors) from patients with Hodgkin's disease were defective in their ability to proliferative in response to optimal (50 microgram/ml) and suboptimal (25 and 12.5 microgram/ml) concentrations of phytohemagglutinin. T cells from 6 of 12 untreated patients exhibited 6-day proliferative responses below the range of 15 control subjects using optimal mitogen concentrations, and 9 of 12 patients exhibited subnormal responses using lower concentrations. Kinetic analyses indicated that the abnormal T-cell proliferative responses were characterized by peak proliferation occurring at day 4 or 5, rather than day 6. The observed abnormalities were not related to elevations in the proportions of T cells bearing surface receptors for IgG (T gamma Cells). Our results suggest that intrinsic functional T-cell defects contribute to the impaired immunity associated with Hodgkin's disease.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1981

Effectiveness of methyl-GAG (methylglyoxal-bis[guanylhydrazone]) in patients with advanced malignant lymphoma.

We treated 51 patients with advanced malignant lymphoma refractory to conventional therapy with methyl-glyoxal-bis(guanylhydrazone) (methyl-GAG) at doses ranging from 400 to 800 mg/sq m. Therapy was started on a weekly schedule and was switched to every other week in responding patients at the onset of toxicity. Partial responses were observed in 6 of 13 evaluable patients with Hodgkin's disease (46%), 5 of 10 patients with diffuse poorly differentiated lymphocytic lymphoma (50%), 2 of 4 patients with nodular poorly differentiated lymphocytic lymphoma (50%), and 3 of 13 patients with diffuse histiocytic lymphoma (23%). Two of six patients with mycosis fungoides showed objective improvement in cutaneous disease. Toxicity was generally mild and included muscular weakness, myalgia, mucositis, and diarrhea; two patients developed bronchospasm following drug infusions. We conclude that methyl-GAG has major antitumor activity when administered on this schedule to patients with advanced malignant lymphoma. The low degree of toxicity, unique mechanism of action, and minimal myelosuppressive effects suggest that methyl-GAG will prove useful in future trials of combination chemotherapy regimens for the treatment of lymphoma.

Adult↗