Hematopoietic stem-cell transplantation for the treatment of severe combined immunodeficiency. (1/24672)

BACKGROUND: Since 1968 it has been known that bone marrow transplantation can ameliorate severe combined immunodeficiency, but data on the long-term efficacy of this treatment are limited. We prospectively studied immunologic function in 89 consecutive infants with severe combined immunodeficiency who received hematopoietic stem-cell transplants at Duke University Medical Center between May 1982 and September 1998. METHODS: Serum immunoglobulin levels and lymphocyte phenotypes and function were assessed and genetic analyses performed according to standard methods. Bone marrow was depleted of T cells by agglutination with soybean lectin and by sheep-erythrocyte rosetting before transplantation. RESULTS: Seventy-seven of the infants received T-cell-depleted, HLA-haploidentical parental marrow, and 12 received HLA-identical marrow from a related donor; 3 of the recipients of haploidentical marrow also received placental-blood transplants from unrelated donors. Except for two patients who received placental blood, none of the recipients received chemotherapy before transplantation or prophylaxis against graft-versus-host disease. Of the 89 infants, 72 (81 percent) were still alive 3 months to 16.5 years after transplantation, including all of the 12 who received HLA-identical marrow, 60 of the 77 (78 percent) who were given haploidentical marrow, and 2 of the 3 (67 percent) who received both haploidentical marrow and placental blood. T-cell function became normal within two weeks after transplantation in the patients who received unfractionated HLA-identical marrow but usually not until three to four months after transplantation in those who received T-cell-depleted marrow. At the time of the most recent evaluation, all but 4 of the 72 survivors had normal T-cell function, and all the T cells in their blood were of donor origin. B-cell function remained abnormal in many of the recipients of haploidentical marrow. In 26 children (5 recipients of HLA-identical marrow and 21 recipients of haploidentical marrow) between 2 percent and 100 percent of B cells were of donor origin. Forty-five of the 72 children were receiving intravenous immune globulin. CONCLUSIONS: Transplantation of marrow from a related donor is a life-saving and life-sustaining treatment for patients with any type of severe combined immunodeficiency, even when there is no HLA-identical donor.  (+info)

Optimal thrombolytic strategies for acute myocardial infarction--bolus administration. (2/24672)

Optimal strategies for thrombolysis in myocardial infarction (TIMI) are still being sought because the TIMI 3 flow rates achievable using standard regimens average approximately 60%. Double bolus administration of recombinant tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) is a novel approach with potential for earlier patency combined with ease of administration. We reviewed total patency rates, TIMI 3 patency rates, mortality, stroke and intracranial haemorrhage rates in the major trials of accelerated infusion tPA/bolus tPA/reteplase in acute myocardial infarction. A direct comparison was performed with results of two recent trials of double bolus (two 50 mg boli, 30 min apart) vs. accelerated infusion tPA: the Double Bolus Lytic Efficacy Trial (DBLE), an angiographic study, and the COBALT Trial, a mortality study. The DBLE trial showed equivalent patency rates for accelerated infusion and double bolus administration of tPA. Reviewing other angiographic trials, total patency and TIMI 3 patency rates achievable with double bolus tPA were comparable to those with accelerated infusion tPA or bolus reteplase administration. The COBALT study demonstrated a 30-day mortality of 7.53% in patients treated with accelerated infusion tPA compared with 7.98% for double bolus tPA treated patients. The small excess in mortality with double bolus treatment was confined to the elderly; in those < or = 75 years, mortality rates were 5.6% and 5.7%, for double bolus and accelerated infusion, respectively, and rates for death or non-fatal stroke were 6.35% and 6.3%, respectively. Comparison with other trials demonstrated mortality, stroke and intracranial haemorrhage rates with double bolus treatment similar to those associated with either accelerated infusion tPA or bolus reteplase treatment. Double bolus administration of tPA to patients with acute myocardial infarction is associated with total patency, TIMI 3 patency, mortality, stroke and intracranial haemorrhage rates similar to those associated with either accelerated infusion of tPA or bolus reteplase.  (+info)

Emergent immunoregulatory properties of combined glucocorticoid and anti-glucocorticoid steroids in a model of tuberculosis. (3/24672)

In Balb/c mice with pulmonary tuberculosis, there is a switch from a protective Th1-dominated cytokine profile to a non-protective profile with a Th2 component. This switch occurs while the adrenals are undergoing marked hyperplasia. Treatment with the anti-glucocorticoid hormones dehydroepiandrosterone or 3 beta, 17 beta-androstenediol, during the period of adrenal hyperplasia, maintains Th1 dominance and is protective. We investigated the effects of these hormones as therapeutic agents by administering them from day 60, when the switch to the non-protective cytokine profile was already well established. Given at this time (day 60), doses that were protective when given early (from day 0) were rapidly fatal. A physiological dose of the glucocorticoid corticosterone was also rapidly fatal. However when the corticosterone and the anti-glucocorticoid (AED or DHEA) were co-administered, there was protection, with restoration of a Th1-dominated cytokine profile, enhanced DTH responses, and enhanced expression of IL-1 alpha and TNF alpha. Therefore this combination of steroids has an emergent property that is quite unlike that of either type of steroid given alone. It may be possible to exploit the ant-inflammatory properties of glucocorticoids while preserving a Th1 bias, by combining glucocorticoids with DHEA or suitable metabolites.  (+info)

Intensive weekly chemotherapy is not effective in advanced pancreatic cancer patients: a report from the Italian Group for the Study of Digestive Tract Cancer (GISCAD). (4/24672)

Twenty-two patients, with locally advanced unresectable and/or metastatic pancreatic carcinoma, received weekly administration of cisplatin 40 mg m(-2), 5-fluorouracil 500 mg m(-2), epidoxorubicin 35 mg m(-2), 6S stereoisomer of leucovorin 250 mg m(-2) and glutathione 1.5 mg m(-2), supported by a daily administration of lenograstim at a dose of 5 microg kg(-1). Nineteen patients were men and three were women. Median age was 63 years (range 47-70). At study entry, pain was present in 15 out of 22 patients (68%) with a mean value of Scott-Huskisson scale of 27.6+/-23.8, whereas a weight loss >10% was present in 15 patients. After eight weekly treatments, three partial responses were achieved for a response rate of 13% (95% CI 0-26%), five patients had stable disease and 14 progressed on therapy. Pain was present in 9 out of 22 patients (40%) with a mean value of Scott-Huskisson scale of 12.3+/-18.4. Eight patients (36%) (three partial response and five stable disease) had a positive weight change. Toxicity was mild: WHO grade III or IV toxicity was recorded in terms of anaemia in 7 out of 188 cycles (3.7%), of neutropenia in 9 out of 188 cycles (4.7%) and of thrombocytopenia in 3 out of 188 cycles (1.5%). Median survival of all patients was 6 months. The outcome of this intensive chemotherapy regimen does not support its use in pancreatic cancer.  (+info)

Early death during chemotherapy in patients with small-cell lung cancer: derivation of a prognostic index for toxic death and progression. (5/24672)

Based on an increased frequency of early death (death within the first treatment cycle) in our two latest randomized trials of combination chemotherapy in small-cell lung cancer (SCLC), we wanted to identify patients at risk of early non-toxic death (ENTD) and early toxic death (ETD). Data were stored in a database and logistic regression analyses were performed to identify predictive factors for early death. During the first cycle, 118 out of 937 patients (12.6%) died. In 38 patients (4%), the cause of death was sepsis. Significant risk factors were age, performance status (PS), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) and treatment with epipodophyllotoxins and platinum in the first cycle (EP). Risk factors for ENTD were age, PS and LDH. Extensive stage had a hazard ratio of 1.9 (P = 0.07). Risk factors for ETD were EP, PS and LDH, whereas age and stage were not. For EP, the hazard ratio was as high as 6.7 (P = 0.0001). We introduced a simple prognostic algorithm including performance status, LDH and age. Using a prognostic algorithm to exclude poor-risk patients from trials, we could minimize early death, improve long-term survival and increase the survival differences between different regimens. We suggest that other groups evaluate our algorithm and exclude poor prognosis patients from trials of dose intensification.  (+info)

Peritoneal cytology in the surgical evaluation of gastric carcinoma. (6/24672)

Many patients undergoing surgery for gastric carcinoma will develop peritoneal metastases. A method to identify those patients at risk of peritoneal recurrence would help in the selection of patients for adjuvant therapy. Peritoneal cytology has received little attention in the West, but may prove a useful additional means of evaluating patients with gastric cancer. The aims of this study were to evaluate sampling techniques for peritoneal cytology in patients with gastric cancer, to assess the prognostic significance of free peritoneal malignant cells and to discover the effect of the operative procedure on dissemination of malignant cells. The study is based on 85 consecutive patients undergoing surgical treatment of gastric cancer and followed up for 2 years or until death. Peritoneal cytology samples were collected at laparoscopy, and at operation prior to resection by intraperitoneal lavage and serosal brushings. After resection, samples were taken by peritoneal lavage, imprint cytology of the resected specimen and post-operatively by peritoneal irrigation via a percutaneous catheter. Malignant cells were diagnosed by two independent microscopists. Preoperative peritoneal lavage yielded malignant cells in 16 out of 85 cases (19%). The yield of free malignant cells was increased by using serosal brushings (by four cases) and imprint cytology (by two cases); all of the cases had evidence of serosal penetration. One serosa-negative case exhibited positive cytology in the post-resection peritoneal specimen in which the preresection cytology specimen was negative. Survival was worse in the cytology-positive group (chi2 = 25.1; P< 0.0001). Among serosa-positive patients, survival was significantly reduced if cytology was positive, if cases yielded by brushings and imprint cytology were included (log-rank test = 8.44; 1 df, P = 0.004). In conclusion, free peritoneal malignant cells can be identified in patients with gastric cancer who have a poor prognosis; the yield can be increased with brushings and imprint cytology in addition to conventional peritoneal lavage. Evaluation of peritoneal cytology by these methods may have a role in the selection of patients with the poorest prognosis who may benefit most from adjuvant therapy.  (+info)

Second-line treatment for primary central nervous system lymphoma. (7/24672)

Failure after first-line treatment was reported in 35-60% of immunocompetent patients with primary central nervous system lymphoma (PCNSL). There are currently no reports focusing on salvage therapy. This review analyses prognostic factors and the efficacy of salvage therapy by focusing on data from papers reporting results of first-line treatment in 355 cases. The study group consisted of 173 patients presenting treatment failure. The interval between failure and death (TTD) was compared for age at relapse (< or =60 vs. >60 years), type of failure (relapse vs. progression), time to relapse (< or =12 vs. >12 months) and salvage treatment (yes vs no). Median TTD was similar in younger and older patients (P = 0.09). Relapsed patients had a longer TTD than patients with progressive disease (P = 0.002). Early relapse led to a shorter TTD than late relapse (P = 0.005). Median TTD was 14 months for patients who underwent salvage therapy and 2 months for untreated cases (P<0.00001). A multivariate analysis showed an independent prognostic role for salvage therapy and time to relapse. Age and type of failure had no predictive value. Salvage therapy significantly improves outcome and, possibly, quality of life. As many different treatments were used conclusions cannot be made regarding an optimal treatment schedule.  (+info)

Treatment of advanced pancreatic cancer with the long-acting somatostatin analogue lanreotide: in vitro and in vivo results. (8/24672)

Fourteen patients with metastatic pancreatic adenocarcinoma were treated with the long-acting somatostatin (SST) analogue lanreotide. No objective response was obtained, and the median survival was 4 months (range 1.8-7 months). Pancreatic cancer could not be visualized by means of SST-receptor (R) scintigraphy in our patients. In vitro data also demonstrated absence of SSTR2 expression, suggesting pancreatic cancer not to be a potential target for treatment with SST analogues.  (+info)

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