Parathyroid hormone-related protein (PTHrP) and hypercalcaemia.
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Cytogenetic investigations of neoplastic cells during the past 25 years have revealed more than 600 acquired, recurrent, balanced chromosome rearrangements, and it has been established that every tumor type, studied in a sufficient number to permit conclusions, may be subdivided on the basis of specific, and even pathognomonic, abnormalities. At the molecular level, the balanced rearrangements exert their action through one of two alternative mechanisms: Deregulation of one gene by relocation to an immunoglobulin or T-cell receptor gene, or the creation of a hybrid gene by the fusion of parts of two genes. At present, nearly 100 genes have been found to be involved in neoplasia-associated chromosomal rearrangements, the great majority in hematological disorders. At the same time, the clinical usefulness of various cytogenetic abnormalities as diagnostic and prognostic aids has been increasingly appreciated. The identification of a recurring chromosome abnormality can assist in the diagnosis and subclassification of a malignant disease and, hence, in the selection of the appropriate treatment. The karyotype is also an independent prognostic factor. In hematological neoplasms, where the knowledge of chromosome abnormalities still is much more complete than is the case with solid tumors, cytogenetic analysis now plays an integral part in the diagnostic work-up of individual patients. Data obtained during recent years strongly suggest that corresponding breakthroughs will be achieved in solid tumors within a not-too-distant future.
The immune system is a complex arrangement of cellular interactions that preserve the integrity of a organism by elimination of all elements judged dangerous. However, the development of tumours in immunocompetent patients suggests the existence of an imbalance that favours tumour cells against the immune response. What are the different possibilities for reversing this process to drive an efficient antitumour response? We discuss, focusing on the haematological features, classic immunity (ie, antigen-specific and HLA-restricted immunity). We address the central issues of tumour antigen presentation and recognition and their possible clinical use. Last, we discuss non-HLA-restricted immunity, which does not require the recognition of specific antigens and relies on particular cell populations such as natural killer cells.
The most common cause of Pancoast syndrome is bronchogenic carcinoma. Other less common causes are solid tumor metastases, other chest tumors, infections, and hematologic neoplasms. Pancoast syndrome due to lymphoma is very rare, and cases described in the literature are essentially associated with non-Hodgkin lymphomas. In a review of the literature we found a single case of Pancoast syndrome secondary to a Hodgkin lymphoma; however, the syndrome manifested during recurrence of disease in that patient. We report a case of nodular sclerosis Hodgkin lymphoma which first manifested clinically as Pancoast syndrome and which was initially diagnosed by bronchial biopsy.
The serum alpha-tocopherol levels were determined in a group of 182 patients with hematological neoplasms: 87 lymphoid or myeloid leukemias, 65 lymphomas and 30 myelomas. The levels did not differ from those of controls, when compared either globally or for diagnosis. Low alpha-tocopherol serum levels were observed in 6 patients (3.3%).
Despite modern technologies such as immunophenotyping and molecular probing cytomorphological examination of stained peripheral blood smears by microscopy remains the mainstay of diagnosis in a large variety of diseases. Although technically simple morphological analysis requires considerable skill. Early diagnosis in several hematological diseases is important (for example acute promyelocytic leukaemia associated frequently with disseminated intravascular coagulation), in order to initiate adjusted therapy. Further, referral of the patient to tertiary care centers is only justified after a solid diagnosis is obtained. Many disorders can be diagnosed by pathognomonic blood smears. The present article is a short overview of important hematological disorders, which are associated with blast cells in the peripheral blood. Important morphological cell characteristics are illustrated by microscopic pictures.
Both hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis and hypereosinophilic syndrome have been associated with hematologic neoplasms and are respectively related to an overproduction of the cytokines Thelper 1 (Th1) and Th2 by tumor cells or reactive cells. To our knowledge, this is the first time a case of a peripheral T-cell lymphoma consecutively associated with both paraneoplastic conditions has been reported. Importantly, in this case when the lymphoma exclusively involved the bone marrow, severe paraneoplastic systemic damage, a CD8+ suppressor/cytotoxic phenotype and a hypereosinophilia not related to high levels of interleukin (IL)-5 was found. Interestingly, progression of the lymphoma coincided with an increase in the serum levels of several Th2 cytokines and IL-2, a decrease in tumor necrosis factor and granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor levels and the onset of a hypereosinophilic syndrome.
Clinical, pharmacologic, and immunologic effects of 2'-deoxycoformycin (dCF) were evaluated in 15 patients with advanced malignancies. Toxicity was less severe with a low dose (4 mg/m2) of dCF, but this dose still resulted in suppression of cellular adenosine deaminase activity, skin test reactivity, and lymphocyte responses to mitogens. Improvement in cutaneous T cell lymphoma plaques was seen after dCF. Further investigations of antitumor efficacy with the use of this low dosage schedule should continue in patients with hematologic neoplasms, and additional preliminary studies of the combination of an adenosine deaminase inhibitor with an adenosine analog should also be considered.
Seasonal trends in month of diagnosis have been reported for childhood acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL). This seasonal variation has been suggested to represent an underlying viral aetiology for these malignancies. Some studies have shown the highest frequency of diagnoses in the summer months, although this has been inconsistent. Data from the Children's Cancer Group and the Pediatric Oncology Group were analysed for seasonal incidence patterns. A total of 20,949 incident cancer cases diagnosed in the USA from 1 January 1989 through 31 December 1991 were available for analyses. Diagnosis-specific malignancies available for evaluation included ALL, acute myeloid leukaemia (AML), Hodgkin's disease, NHL, rhabdomyosarcoma, neuroblastoma, retinoblastoma, osteosarcoma, Wilms' tumour, retinoblastoma, Ewings' sarcoma, central nervous system (CNS) tumours and hepatoblastoma. Overall, there was no statistically significant seasonal variation in the month of diagnosis for all childhood cancers combined. For diagnosis-specific malignancies, there was a statistically significant seasonal variation for ALL (P = 0.01; peak in summer), rhabdomyosarcoma (P = 0.03; spring/summer) and hepatoblastoma (P = 0.01; summer); there was no seasonal variation in the diagnosis of NHL. When cases were restricted to latitudes greater than 40 degrees ('north'), seasonal patterns were apparent only for ALL and hepatoblastoma. Notably, 33% of hepatoblastoma cases were diagnosed in the summer months. In contrast, for latitudes less than 40 degrees ('south'), only CNS tumours demonstrated a seasonal pattern (P = 0.002; winter). Although these data provide modest support for a summer peak in the diagnosis of childhood ALL, any underlying biological mechanisms that account for these seasonal patterns are likely complex and in need of more definitive studies.
Parainfluenza virus type 3 (PIV3) is associated with a high mortality rate in BMT recipients with lower respiratory tract infections. We describe nine patients with hematological malignancies (five having undergone either allogeneic or autologous stem cell transplantation) identified as having PIV3 infection during a 2-month period in a Hematology Unit. Four patients with infiltrates on chest radiograph received intravenous ribavirin therapy; all survived. The infection was community-acquired in two patients, while nosocomial origin of the disease was evident, or presumed, in the remaining seven. The policy implemented to control the spread of PIV3 was as follows: (1) nasopharyngeal samples for antigen detection were obtained from all patients presenting with respiratory symptoms; (2) all diagnosed (or suspected) PIV3-positive hematological patients were nursed following contact isolation precautions, preferably in the Infectious Diseases Unit; and (3) staff were given further education on hospital hygiene. Our experience shows that it may be possible to avoid mortality for PIV3 lower respiratory tract infection in immunocompromised patients by early commencement of intravenous ribavirin. It is also possible, even without closing the ward, to contain nosocomial spread of PIV3 by implementing systematic nasopharyngeal sampling for rapid diagnostics, and by strict adherence to cohorting and contact isolation precautions.
ETS variant gene 6 (ETV6)/translocation, ETS, leukemia (TEL)-involving chromosomal translocations are frequently observed in various hematologic neoplasms. We describe here a novel ETV6-involving translocation, t(12;13)(p13;q14), found in the case of acute lymphoblastic leukemia, in which ETV6 fused with a previously unknown gene, named Twelve-thirteen Translocation Leukemia gene (TTL), at 13q14. TTL was weakly but ubiquitously expressed in normal human tissues as detected by reverse transcribed-PCR. Three TTL splicing forms were identified, TTL-T from a human testis cDNA library, with an open-reading frame of 402 bp encoding 133 amino acids (aa), and TTL-B1 and -B2 from a human brain cDNA library. These proteins have no homology to known proteins. In leukemic cells from the patient, both reciprocal fusion transcripts, ETV6/TTL and TTL/ETV6, were expressed. The predominant fusion transcript, TTL/ETV6-1, encodes a predicted 530 aa fusion protein containing 89 aa of the N-terminal TTL fusing to the helix-loop-helix domain and ETS-binding domain of ETV6. Although the function of TTL is yet to be elucidated, our findings will provide another insight into the molecular pathogenesis of leukemia having ETV6-involving translocations.
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Proviral insertions at the viral insertion site Lvis1 occur frequently in B- and T-cell leukemias and lymphomas in AKXD mice and activate two nearby genes, the divergent homeobox gene Hex and the kinesin-related spindle protein gene Eg5. To determine whether Hex misexpression results in the altered differentiation or neoplastic transformation of hematopoietic lineages, we have transplanted mice with bone marrow cells transduced with retrovirus containing the Hex coding region. High levels of Hex expression in hematopoietic precursor cells inhibit contribution to mature blood cell lineages by these precursors. Hex bone marrow transplant recipient mice also develop hematologic neoplasms that appear to originate in the bone marrow. The tumors have clonal rearrangements of the TCR locus, are Thy1+, and are CD4+CD8+, CD4-CD8-, or mixed, indicating tumor origin from a precursor T-cell population. Tumors in transplant mice contain clonal and transcriptionally active Hex proviral insertions, demonstrating a causal role for Hex misexpression in the onset of these neoplasms. Our results demonstrate that Hex can act as a T lineage oncogene when misexpressed in hematopoietic precursor cells.
The retinoblastoma family members--pRb, pRb2/p130 and p107--are tumor suppressor genes involved in controlling four major cellular processes: growth arrest, apoptosis, differentiation and angiogenesis. Molecular genetic studies have identified abnormalities of these tumor suppressor genes in a large proportion of human cancers. These genetic alterations have emerged as significant factors in the pathogenesis and progression of many types of tumors and are therefore likely to provide relevant information to assess risk in cancer patients. There is a pressing clinical need to identify prognostic and predictive factors for patients with cancer, because there is an undeniable importance in being able to determine which patients will have a favorable outcome without further therapy (prognostic factor) and which will need some additional treatment (predictive factor). This review examines the predictive and/or prognostic role of each retinoblastoma family member in human cancer.
This paper reviews the available data for cell production rates of human tissues and tumours, measured in vivo using halogenated pyrimidine labelling and laser cytometry. The technique has now been widely evaluated, and we draw general inferences from the proliferative data over a broad range of tumour and tissue types. Estimates of the S-phase duration, the time taken for DNA synthesis in cycling cells, are consistent over a narrow range with a median value of around 10 hours, notwithstanding the constraints of the experimental and statistical technique, in normal tissues and tumours. This suggests that Ts values may be a species-specific constant. The more easily measured labelled S-phase fraction, or labelling index, shows much greater intra and intertumour variation within any one tumour class. It may thus be a surrogate for time dependent measurements to a first order approximation. The cell production rate, described by the potential doubling time (Tpot), is remarkably rapid in most tumours, a median value of the order of 5 days, and much faster than clinical volume doubling times for most lesions. The rapid cell production rates in normal tissues and tumours highlight the importance of cell loss in the growth and modelling of biological structures. Cell production rate measurements do not adequately describe the biological aggressiveness of tumours. They may be used to refine adjuvant strategies for radiotherapy and chemotherapy in experimental research. Dynamic halogenated pyrimidine labelling has provided unique and valuable insights into the living biology of human tissues and tumours.
IMiDs are structural and functional analogues of thalidomide that represent a promising new class of immunomodulators for treatment of a variety of inflammatory, autoimmune, and neoplastic diseases. The discovery of the antiangiogenic and T-cell co-stimulatory functions of IMiD compounds has led to the investigation of these agents for treatment of hematologic neoplasms such as multiple myeloma and myelodysplastic syndromes, as well as certain solid tumors. The second-generation IMiDs, such as lenalidomide and CC-4047, exhibited a greatly enhanced potency for immunomodulation and antiangiogenesis in nonclinical studies when compared with the parent compound, thalidomide. In clinical studies, the IMiDs appear to have reduced sedative and neurotoxicity effects, which are often associated with long-term thalidomide dosing. The precise mechanism of action of IMiDs in the treatment of specific diseases is not entirely clear and may differ for various diseases depending on their underlying pathobiologies. Although IMiDs have similar effects on inflammatory cytokine secretion, T-cell modulation, angiogenesis, and expression of adhesion molecules, each IMiD has a unique potency profile for these activities, which may ultimately indicate selective applicability of specific IMiDs for distinct diseases and conditions. Clinical trials of lenalidomide, the primary second-generation IMiD, have shown clinical benefits in both myelodysplastic syndrome and multiple myeloma and a better safety profile than that of thalidomide, with no evidence of teratogenicity. It is anticipated that lenalidomide and other IMiD compounds will become important alternatives to thalidomide because of their more potent anti-inflammatory and anticancer properties, as well as their improved side-effect profiles.
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Patients undergoing allogeneic bone marrow transplantation who are seropositive for cytomegalovirus are vulnerable to serious cytomegalovirus infection, presumably because of reactivation of latent endogenous virus and severe immunosuppression. We administered intravenous acyclovir from 5 days before to 30 days after allogeneic marrow transplantation for hematologic neoplasms in an effort to prevent cytomegalovirus infection and disease in patients seropositive for cytomegalovirus before transplantation. Eighty-six patients seropositive for both cytomegalovirus and herpes simplex virus before transplantation received acyclovir, whereas 65 patients seropositive only for cytomegalovirus served as controls (acyclovir is the standard prophylactic agent against herpes simplex virus in this setting). The probability that cytomegalovirus infection would develop within the first 100 days after transplantation was 0.70 among acyclovir recipients and 0.87 among control patients at medians of 62 and 40 days after transplantation, respectively (P = 0.0001 by log-rank test). Invasive cytomegalovirus disease developed in 19 acyclovir recipients (22 percent) and 25 control patients (38 percent) (P = 0.008). Survival within the first 100 days after transplantation was better among acyclovir recipients (P = 0.002). Acyclovir prophylaxis was associated with a relative risk of 0.5 or less for the development of cytomegalovirus infection or disease or for death within the first 100 days after transplantation (P less than or equal to 0.04), in proportional-hazards regression analysis. We conclude that prophylaxis with intravenous acyclovir significantly reduced the risk of both cytomegalovirus infection and cytomegalovirus disease in seropositive patients after allogeneic bone marrow transplantation and that it was also associated with significantly improved survival.