Biomedical subjects

S Bigner

Publications and source records attributed to S Bigner.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed1997

Secondary cytogenetic changes in acute promyelocytic leukemia--prognostic importance in patients treated with chemotherapy alone and association with the intron 3 breakpoint of the PML gene: a Cancer and Leukemia Group B study.

PURPOSE: To examine, in newly diagnosed patients with acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL), the prognostic significance of secondary cytogenetic changes and the relationship between such changes and the two major promyelocytic leukemia-retinoic acid receptor alpha (PML-RAR alpha) mRNA types. PATIENTS AND METHODS: One hundred sixty-one patients with t(15;17)(q22;q11-12) enrolled onto Cancer and Leukemia Group B (CALGB) protocol 8461, a prospective study of cytogenetics in acute myeloid leukemia (AML), were studied. Eighty of these 161 patients were treated solely with chemotherapy and evaluated for response to treatment and survival. PML-RAR alpha mRNA type was determined using reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) in 56 patients. RESULTS: The incidence of secondary cytogenetic abnormalities was 32%. Among 80 patients treated with chemotherapy, the presence of a secondary chromosome abnormality was associated with longer complete remission (CR) duration (median, 29.9 v 15.7 months; P = .03) and longer event-free survival (EFS) duration (median, 17.0 v 12.2 months; P = .03). There was no difference in overall survival (P = .28). In a separate group of 56 patients with both cytogenetic and molecular data, 32 had the type L PML-RAR alpha transcript (intron 6 PML breakpoint). Of these 32 patients, four (12.5%) had chromosome changes in addition to t(15;17), whereas 12 of 20 patients (60%) with the type 5 PML-RAR alpha transcript (intron 3 PML breakpoint) had secondary cytogenetic changes (P < .001). CONCLUSION: (1) Secondary cytogenetic changes do not confer a poor prognosis in APL patients treated with anthracycline/cytarabine (Ara-C)-based chemotherapy; and (2) A highly significant relationship exists between the PML-RAR alpha 5 isoform (intron 3 PML genomic breakpoint) and secondary cytogenetic changes in APL.

Adolescent↗

PubMedDate not supplied

CT-guided stereotaxis using a modified conventional stereotaxic frame.

Computed tomographic (CT)-guided stereotaxic procedure have become established in a few major centers but a single optimal system has not yet emerged. At Duke University Medical Center, availability of a stereotaxic frame with design features that lend themselves to CT adaptation made modification of this unit, rather than construction of a new dedicated frame, cost-effective. As other centers may seek to modify available stereotaxic equipment in a similar way, this report documents the modifications ans the early clinical experience in four patients in whom CT-guided stereotaxic biopsy procedures were performed.

Adolescent↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Carcinoma of ovarian and other origins in effusions. Immunocytochemical study with a panel of monoclonal antibodies.

One of the more difficult challenges in cytopathology may be distinguishing malignancy from reactive conditions in effusions. Furthermore, it is frequently impossible to determine the primary site of the tumor on the basis of cellular morphology alone. In the present study we sought to construct a panel of antibodies that might distinguish carcinoma of the ovary from other metastatic tumor types as well as aid in the distinction between benign and malignant effusions. One hundred twenty-four cases of effusions (80 malignant and 44 benign) were examined with seven monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) (Ber-EP4, OV-TL3, OV-TL23, ID-3, SH9, H23 and D-14). Sensitivities for the seven MAbs ranged from 11% to 75%, with specificity of 43-100%. No single antibody could reliably distinguish carcinoma from reactive conditions, but Ber-EP4 combined with H23 detected 87% of malignant effusions, with a false-positive rate of 2%. Although these antibodies did not differentiate ovarian carcinoma from other types of malignancies, when used together they are highly accurate in distinguishing benign from malignant effusions.

Antibodies, Monoclonal↗