[International conference on tropical medicine "Medicine and health in the Tropics" September 11 to 15 2005. Meningococcus meningitis].
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Publications and source records attributed to P Carrara.
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Forty-three consecutive patients with de novo and untreated non M3 AML aged 60 or less entered the study. The mean age of patients was 50 (range 15-60). The induction regimen (FLAG-Ida) included fludarabine (30 mg/sqm), Ara-C (2 g/sqm) on days 1-5, and idarubicin (10 mg/sqm) on days 1, 3, 5. G-CSF (300 mcg/day) was administered s.c. 12 hours before starting fludarabine and was continued for five days. HDT with stem cell rescue was planned for all patients in first CR after one course of high dose Ara-C (HDAC) consolidation and in good clinical conditions. Forty-two (98%) patients were evaluable for response. One patient died during induction (2%). CR was achieved in 35 patients (82%). Twenty-three patients, 66% of those achieving CR, underwent autologous (N = 17) or allogeneic (N = 6) transplantation. With a median follow up of 24 months, the average median duration of CR is 17 months (range 3-66) and the median survival is 20 months (range 1-83). Overall the 5 year projected disease free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) were 37% and 43%, respectively. Among patients who underwent stem cell transplantation DFS and OS were 53% and 69%, respectively. The median time to PMN recovery (> 0.5 x 10(9)/l) was 17 days (range 10-28) and 50 x 10(9)/l platelets were reached at a median of 17 days (12-38). In conclusion FLAG-Ida regimen is effective, low toxic and improves feasibility of stem cell transplant.
Acute myeloid leukaemias (AML) evolving from a myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) or secondary to chemoradiotherapy frequently display unfavorable biologic characteristics. This may explain the lower remission rate obtained with conventional chemotherapy. Recently, the association of Fludarabine with intermediate dose Ara-C has produced interesting results particularly in high risk AML patients. Here, we report on 42 secondary AML patients treated with a combination of Fludarabine, intermediate dose Ara-C, G-CSF with or without an antracycline (FLANG, FLAG-IDA or FLAG). Overall, complete remissions (CR) were documented in 14 patients (33%) and partial responses (PR) in 12 (29%), while 10 patients proved resistant (24%). Six patients (14%) died early. The presence of a prognostically unfavorable karyotype had a negative impact on the CR rate (20% compared to 50% for patients with an intermediate prognosis karyotype, p 0.05). Patients treated with FLAG, FLANG and FLAG-IDA had similar CR rates. At the time of this analysis, after a mean follow-up of 12 months, the mean duration of CR is 16 months (range 3-66) and the mean survival is 11 months (range 1-67). The median time to granulocyte recovery (neutrophils > 0.5 x 10(9)/l) was 20 days (range 12-39) and 50 x 10(9)/l platelets were reached at a median of 26 days (range 9-56). Taken together, these Fludarabine containing regimens proved to be an effective and tolerable treatment for patients with secondary AML. Patients above 70 years of age may also benefit from this therapy, however the problem of treating patients with adverse chromosomal abnormalities still remains unresolved.
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Detection of PML-RAR alpha transcripts by RT-PCR is now established as a rapid and sensitive method for diagnosis of acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL). Although the majority of patients in long-term clinical remission are negative by consecutive reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) assays, negative tests are still observed in patients who ultimately relapse. Conversion from negative to positive PCR has been observed after consolidation and found to be a much stronger predictor of relapse. This study reports on 47 APL patients to determine the correlation between minimal residual disease (MRD) status and clinical outcome in our cohort of patients. DESIGN AND METHODS: The presence of PML-RAR alpha t transcripts was investigated in 47 APL patients (37 adults and 10 children) using a semi-nested reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction to evaluate the prognostic value of RT-PCR tests. RESULTS: All patients achieved complete clinical remission (CCR) following induction treatment with all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA) and chemotherapy (CHT) or ATRA alone. Patients were followed up between 2 and 117.6 months (median: 37 months). Relapses occurred in 11 patients (9 adults and 2 children) between 11.4 and 19 months after diagnosis (median: 15.1 months) while 36 patients (28 adults and 8 children) remained in CCR. Seventy-five percent of patients carried the PML-RAR alpha long isoform (bcr 1/2) which also predominated among the relapsed cases (9 of 11) but did not associate with any adverse outcome (p= 0.37). For the purpose of this analysis, minimal residual disease tests were clustered into four time-intervals: 0-2 months, 3-5 months, 6-9 months and 10-24 months. INTERPRETATION AND CONCLUSIONS: Children showed persisting disease for longer than adults during the first 2 months of treatment. At 2 months, 10 (50%) of 20 patients who remained in CCR and 4 (80%) of 5 patients who subsequently relapsed were positive. Patients who remained in CCR had repeatedly negative results beyond 5.5 months from diagnosis. A positive MRD test preceded relapse in 3 of 4 tested patients. The ability of a negative test to predict CCR (predictive negative value, PNV) was greater after 6 months (>83%), while the ability of a positive test to predict relapse (predictive positive value, PPV) was most valuable only beyond 10 months (100%). This study (i) highlights the prognostic value of RT-PCR monitoring after treatment of APL patients but only from the end of treatment, (ii) shows an association between conversion to a positive test and relapse and (iii) suggests that PCR assessments should be carried out at 3-month intervals to provide a more accurate prediction of hematologic relapses but only after the end of treatment.
Two distinct regions of minimal deletion (RMD) have been identified at 6q25-q27 in non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (RMD-1), and at 6q21-q23 in acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL; RMD-2) by loss of heterozygosity and fluorescence in situ hybridization studies. In this study, 30 overlapping yeast artificial chromosomes (YACs), 1 expressed sequence tag, and 11 novel YAC ends were identified using bidirectional YAC walks between markers D6S447 (proximal) and D6S246 (distal) in RMD-2. The genes AF6q21, human homologue of the Drosophila tailless (HTLX), CD24 antigen, the Kruppel-like zinc finger BLIMP1, and cyclin C (CCNC), previously mapped to 6q21, were accurately positioned in a telomere-to-centromere orientation. Approximately 3.5 Mb were found to separate the BLIMP1 (adjacent to D6S447) and AF6q21 genes (telomeric to D6S246). Deletions of 6q were investigated in 21 cases of ALL using the newly characterized YAC clones in dual-color fluorescence in situ hybridization studies. A region centromeric to D6S447 (containing marker D6S283) and a region telomeric to marker CHLC.GGAT16CO2 (and containing marker D6S268) were identified as distinct and nonoverlapping regions of deletion in ALL.
The t(12;21)(p13;q22) translocation, resulting in the fusion of the ETV6 and AML1 genes, occurs in 20-25% of paediatric B-lineage acute lymphoblastic leukaemias (ALL). The identification of the fusion product has important prognostic and therapeutic implications as the translocation has been associated with a favourable clinical outcome. The aim of this study was threefold: (i) to assess the frequency and clinical association of the fusion gene in patients with and without a cytogenetically detectable chromosome 12 and/or 21 abnormality or failed cytogenetic results, (ii) to characterize alternative forms of ETV6/AML1 transcripts, and (iii) to use ETV6/AML1 as a molecular marker for the investigation of minimal residual disease (MRD). ETV6/AML1 fusion was detected in 22 (39%) of 56 cases studied by reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). ETV6/AML1 fusion was found in nine out of 16 (56%) cases with a cytogenetically visible chromosome 12 abnormality, but also in nine out of 29 patients (31%) without a chromosome 12 abnormality or patients with failed cytogenetics (four out of 11 patients, 36%), making this the most common cytogenetic abnormality in childhood ALL. Alternatively spliced ETV6/AML1 forms were investigated in 14 of the positive patients. Exon 5 of ETV6 was fused in frame to all AML1 exons, except exon 4. Fusion to exon 6 of AML1 resulted in one amino acid change. The presence of ETV6/AML1 was associated with a lower white blood cell count (Student's t-test; P = 0.009) and common (c)ALL phenotype (chi(2) test; P > 0.001), but no better disease-free survival. Our study shows that (i) RT-PCR is the most effective approach for the detection of t(12;21) in childhood ALL, (ii) the association of ETV6/AML1 and chromosome 12 and/or 21, seen in 56% of our cases, further confirms existing data, (iii) overall survival of patients with t(12;21) was not better than other cytogenetics groups, and (d) MRD analysis using ETV6/AML1 fusion is specific, but not sensitive enough to avoid false negative results.
We have investigated the diagnostic value of fluorescence in situ hybridisation (FISH) to detect t(11;14) and trisomy 12 in 53 cases with a B cell leukaemia difficult to classify on clinical and laboratory grounds. These cases were initially diagnosed by morphology and immunophenotype and in 33 of them, on tissue histology, as follows: chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL), 20, 18 of them with atypical features; B cell prolymphocytic leukaemia (B-PLL), two; mantle-cell lymphoma (MCL), 15; splenic lymphoma with villous lymphocytes (SLVL), five; lymphoplasmacytic lymphoma, six; follicular lymphoma, one and, four cases remained unclassifiable. FISH demonstrated BCL-1 rearrangement in the circulating cells from 15 cases classified as: MCL (10), atypical CLL (three) and B-PLL (two). A definitive diagnosis of MCL was made on review of the spleen histology in one out of the three atypical CLL with BCL-1 rearrangement. Trisomy 12 was detected in eight cases which included four atypical CLL, one typical CLL, two MCL and one unspecified B cell lymphoma by histology and morphology. One of the MCL had both trisomy 12 and BCL-1 rearrangement and the other was CD5+, CD23+ and had a CLL score of 3, suggesting the latter diagnosis. Our findings demonstrate that FISH analysis is useful to clarify the nature of the disease in patients presenting with a B cell leukaemia in which the diagnosis is difficult by conventional methods. FISH established with certainty the diagnosis of MCL by showing BCL-1 rearrangement in over two-thirds of cases in which this was suspected, including blastoid forms, and confirmed the diagnosis of most cases of atypical CLL.
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Distinction between B-cell chronic leukemias can be difficult due to overlap in cell morphology and immunologic features. We investigated, by quantitative flow cytometry, the expression of CD79b, CD5 and CD19 in cells from a variety of B-cell disorders to see whether this analysis adds further information useful to the diagnosis and characterization of these diseases. DESIGN AND METHODS: Peripheral blood cells from 6 normal individuals were used as reference controls. The diseases of the 63 patients investigated comprised: 29 chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), six of them with atypical morphology, 6 B-cell prolymphocytic leukemia (PLL), 12 splenic lymphoma with villous lymphocytes (SLVL) and 16 mantle-cell (Mc) lymphoma in leukemic phase. The study was carried out by triple immunostaining with directly conjugated monoclonal antibodies (MoAb) against CD79b, CD5 and CD19 and quantitative estimation of the antigens per cell assessed with standard microbeads (Quantum Simply Cellular). RESULTS: Compared to normal B-cells, the number of CD19 molecules was significantly lower in cells from all of the B-cell disorders except PLL. The intensity of CD5 in leukemic B-cells was significantly higher in CLL cells, including atypical cases, and Mc lymphoma than in normal B-cells, whilst PLL and SLVL had values similar to those of normal B-lymphocytes. CD79b was expressed at lower levels in all types of leukemic cells compared to normal B-lymphocytes but differences were statistically significant in CLL, Mc lymphoma and SLVL. The number of CD79b molecules per cell was significantly lower in typical CLL than in the remaining B-cell diseases whilst the comparison of CD5 and CD19 intensity between CLL and non-CLL samples failed to show any statistically significant difference. INTERPRETATION AND CONCLUSIONS: Distinct antigen density patterns for the various conditions emerged from this analysis: Typical CLL was characterized by moderate CD5 and weak or negative CD79b expression. Mc lymphoma showed an homogeneous pattern, characterized by similar expression of CD5 than CLL but significantly stronger expression of CD79b whilst PLL and SLVL had weak CD5 and moderate CD79b expression. Atypical CLL had an intermediate pattern of CD79b antigen expression ranging from weak to moderate with bright CD5. Unlike CD5 and CD79b, CD19 did not discriminate the various B-cell disorders but only between normal and leukemic cells.
GM-IVA is a short and effective induction therapy of non M3 de novo AML including GM-CSF (300 mcg 12 hrs before starting therapy), Ara-C (250 mg/sqm c.i. x 3 days), VP16 (100 mg/sqm x 3 days) and idarubicin (12 mg/sqm x 3 days); it was followed by a fludarabine containing salvage protocol (FLANG). Patients <60 years of age achieving CR received 2 courses of FLANG and autologous or allogeneic BMT when possible. Patients >60 years of age in CR received a second course of GM-IVA. Twenty-one consecutive patients (mean age 64, range 29-85) entered the study. Three patients (14%) died during induction therapy. After one course of GM-IVA, CR was achieved in 12 patients (57%). Two further patients were salvaged with FLANG therapy so that the final CR rate was 14/21 (67%). In elderly patients the final CR rate (62%) is noteworthy, considering that 6 patients were >70 years of age and 3 were >80. All three patients >80 achieved CR (lasting 5 to 7 months). The median time of granulocyte and platelet recovery was 15 days. Our scheme was well tolerated. In the group of elderly patients 3 out of 14 died during induction (21%) and 4 life-threatening infections were observed (28%). The short duration of cytotoxic therapy and perhaps the use of G-CSF contributed to a reduction of the hospitalization period (median of 22 days), thus providing major savings on induction costs and allowing for better utilization of beds as well as significantly improving patients' quality of life.
Thirteen consecutive adult patients with primary refractory (n = 5) or relapsed (n = 8) acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) were treated by an induction schedule (FLAG) consisting of Fludarabine (30 mg/sqm/d) plus high dose Cytarabine (HD-ara-C: 2 g/sqm/d) (d 1-5) and G-CSF (from d O to polymorphonuclear recovery). Patients achieving complete remission (CR) were administered a second FLAG course as consolidation and were then submitted to an individualized program of post-remission therapy, depending on the patient's age and performance status. CR was achieved in 8/12 evaluable cases (67%). The median CR duration was 22.5 w. CR attainment was significantly related to the co-expression of lymphoid and myeloid antigens. ALL/My+ patients achieved CR in 6/6 evaluable cases vs. 2/6 for ALL/My+. In vitro 3H ara-C incorporation into cellular DNA resulted significantly increased by Fludarabine (in 7/9 tested cases) and, furthermore, by the association of Fludarabine G-CSF in 5 evaluable ALL/My+ cases; in contrast, no effect of G-CSF addition to Fludarabine was observed in 4 ALL/My. Myelosuppression was observed in all patients: the median time to neutrophils > 0.5 x 10(9)/1 was 16.3 d (range 13-22) and 16.2 d (range 9-29) to platelets > 20 x 10(9)/1. Nonhematological toxicity was minimal. In conclusion, FLAG is an active and tolerable combination in refractory ALL, particularly in cases with myeloid antigen expression where G-CSF appears to improve efficacy, probably increasing ara-C incorporation into the DNA of leukemic cells.
Fifty-three consecutive cases of adult CD30+ anaplastic large cell lymphoma (ALCL) have been analyzed. Thirty-six were classified as Hodgkin's disease like variety (HL) (67%) and seventeen as so-called common type (CT) (33%). All cases strongly expressed the CD30/Ki-1 antigen; the neoplastic cells expressed CD15, CD45 and EMA in 60%, 44% and 33% of cases, respectively; T. B and null phenotypes were found in 37%, 17% and 46% of cases. Bulky mediastinal, B symptoms, and extranodal disease at diagnosis were present in 36%, 49% and 25% of cases. EBV encoded latent membrane protein (LMP-1) was found in 10 cases. Of the 13 tested cases only 4 expressed a weak positivity of the CD40 molecule, in a fraction of the tumor cells; in the same cases CD21 was never found. Patients were treated with various protocols; of the 50 evaluable patients, 39 (78%) obtained a complete remission (CR), 3 (6%) a partial remission (PR) and 8 (16%) did not respond. The projected overall disease free survival (DFS) at 36 months is 70%. Only patients with advanced disease stage (III-IV) showed a statistically decreased DFS and survival. Only symptomatic and extranodal disease significantly appeared to influence survival. This study confirms the good outcome of this group of lymphomas and differs from other reports for some clinical (lower percentage of advanced stage, extranodal disease and skin infiltration) and pathological (HL/CT ratio and immunophenotype) features.
Twenty-eight patients with poor prognosis acute myeloid leukemia (AML) received therapy with two courses of fludarabine 30 mg/m2/day + ara-C 2 g/m2/day (days 1-5) and G-CSF 5 mg/kg/day (FLAG) (from day 0 to polymorphonuclear recovery). Eighteen patients were considered 'refractory' (eight primarily resistant, five relapsing within 6 months of initial remission, or at a second relapse; five relapsing after an autologous bone marrow transplantation procedure. Ten cases were defined 'secondary' AML (diagnosis of AML made after a preexisting diagnosis of: myelodysplastic syndrome: five cases; myelodysplastic syndrome after therapy for breast cancer: one case; previously untreated, and concomitant, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma: two cases; Hodgkin's disease treated with chemoradiotherapy: one case). Overall, 15 patients (58%) achieved a complete remission (CR). Two patients died of infection during induction, and 11 had resistant disease. Analyzing the data in relation to selected host and disease characteristics, the response varied widely. The highest CR rates (89%) were obtained in secondary AML; in particular, two cases of 'second-primary' (concomitant with low-grade non-Hodgkin's lymphoma) AML obtained CR for both diseases. Refractory AML differed widely for response: high CR rate (75%), although with short mean CR duration for primary resistance AML, and very poor response (11% CR) for relapsed (early, second, after ABMT) cases. Interestingly, a slow kinetic of leukemic growth in vivo before FLAG administration was significantly related to the response and outcome (p = 0.0002). Hematological and nonhematological toxicities were acceptable. In conclusion, the FLAG regimen has significant antileukemic activity and acceptable toxicity especially in secondary AML, both with and without coexisting lymphoid malignancy.
Pantethine (P), a coenzyme A precursor, was administered to cholesterol-fed rabbits (0.5% cholesterol diet + 1% pantethine) for 90 days. At the end of treatment, plasma total cholesterol levels were reduced 64.7% and the HDL/total cholesterol ratio increased in P-treated animals; a significant rise of the apo A-I/A-II ratio was detected in HDL. VLDL lipid and protein levels were, on the other hand, reduced by P. The cholesterol-ester content of both liver and aortic tissues was not significantly affected by P. Although the total aortic area with evident plaques was reduced only 18.2%, the microscopical examination of sections from the major vessels of P-treated animals, showed a reduction in the severity of lesions, both in the aorta and in the coronary arteries. These findings suggest that P, in addition to significantly lowering plasma cholesterol levels in rabbits on an experimental diet, may modify lipid deposition in major arteries, possibly by affecting lipoprotein composition and/or exerting an arterial protective effect.
Female rats fed a 1.2% cholesterol diet with animal proteins (casein) develop a significant hypercholesterolemia, with a marked increase of very low density lipoprotein (VLDL)-associated cholesterol. Substitution of soy proteins for casein in the diet counteracts the increase of both total and VLDL cholesterol. Studies of liver receptor activity were carried out with both casein and soybean-cholesterol diets, to define the site of action of soy proteins. Binding of a cholesterol-rich lipoprotein fraction (beta-VLDL) to hepatic membranes is normal when a soybean-cholesterol diet is administered, and markedly reduced with casein-cholesterol. The activity of receptor-linked enzymes, HMG-CoA reductase, cholesterol 7 alpha-hydroxylase and acyl-CoA:cholesterol O-acyltransferase (ACATase), is differently affected by the two diets. HMG-CoA reductase activity is reduced by both diets with, however, significantly higher enzyme activities in the soybean-cholesterol-fed group. Both 7 alpha-hydroxylase and ACATase activity levels are significantly raised by casein-cholesterol but are in a normal range with soybean-cholesterol. These findings suggest that the hepatic receptor regulation of cholesterol metabolism is differently affected by animal and vegetable proteins in the diet.
The biofeed-back technique is based on the concept of the voluntary control of visceral functions and derives from the clinical application of the theory of operative conditioning. After a brief mention of general concepts and the various application fields of biofeed-back, a personal proposal for the use of this technique in the treatment of oesophageal dysfunctions of psychosomatic origin with the aid of oesophageal manometry is put foward.
In order to assess the risk of complete AV block in patients with intraventricular conduction disturbances who undergo general anesthesia, 20 patients with various conduction defects (7 LBBB, 1 RBBB and 1st degree AV block, 1 incomplete RBBB, 9 RBBB + LAH and 2 RBBB + LPH) were studied by means of His bundle recording and corrected sinus node recovery time (CSNRT) before and after the subministration of thiopental (0.2 g I.V.), succinylcholine (1 mg/kg I.V.), Fluothane (1%) and Ethrane (1.6%). Nineteen patients displayed signs of dizziness or syncope; both the sinus rate and the CSNRT, did not undergo significant variations. A slight and not significant variation of intranodal conduction during sinus rhythm was observed after Fluothane administration (AH was prolonged by 8%). A less evident negative dromotropic action of thiopental and Ethrane was only revealed by atrial pacing. No significant variations were demonstrated in His-ventricular conduction after administration of the various drugs. The maximum average increase (1.5%) of the H-V interval was observed after administration of succinylcholine. Acute AV block distal to the His bundle appeared in three patients after succinylcholine administration.
This study was undertaken to assess the risk of developing complete heart block during general anesthesia in patients with bundle branch block. His bundle electrograms were recorded during sinus rhythm and after atrail pacing in 11 patients (5 LBBB, 2 RBBB, 3 RBBB and LAH, 1 RBBB and LBH) before and after administration of Pentothal 0.20 g e.v., Succinylcholine 1 mg/kg e.v., and breathing of fluothane 1%or Ethrane. Minimal effects on sinus functions and A-V node conduction was observed during anesthesia; Fluothane only increased slightly AH intervals (+11%). Both Fluothane and Ethrane effects on HV conduction was insignificant. In 9 patients HV intervals increased of 5% after Succinylcholine; 2 patients developed a complete heart block distal to his after the drug. Possible causes of the complete heart block are discussed and a direct effect of Succinylcholine is hypothesized.
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