G-CSF-mobilized haploidentical peripheral blood stem cell transplantation in children with poor prognostic nonmalignant disorders

PubMedID: 17722073Haploidentical hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) is currently one of the alternative curative treatment options for some nonmalignant but also for malignant diseases. However, concerns regarding its safety cause delays in time and a successful outcome. Between 2000 and 2005, twenty-one children with poor prognostic nonmalignant disorders, 13 boys and 8 girls, with a median age of 12 months, underwent 28 haploidentical peripheral HSCT. Immunomagnetic bead depletion device (CliniMACS) was used for indirect T-cell depletion. Indications for transplant were severe combined immunodeficiency (n = 16), osteopetrosis (n = 2), MDS (n = 1), amegakaryocytic thrombocytopenia (n = 1), and aplastic anemia (n = 1). Five patients (24%) had lung infection at the time of transplantation. The patients received a median of 25.67 × 106 G-CSF-mobilized peripheral CD34+ progenitor cells and a median of 4.19 × 104 T-lymphocytes per kilogram of body weight with a T-cell depletion rate of median 4.59 logs. The rate of total engraftment was 66.6%. Median times for leukocyte and platelet engraftment were 14 and 16 days, respectively. The 6-year projected survival was 32% for all patients and 29.76% for patients with severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID). The rates of transplant-related mortality, graft failure, and severe GvHD were 14.2, 33.4%, and 8.3%, respectively. Infection was the main cause of death. The poor outcome may be explained with the poor prognostic factors of our patients such as the type of SCID in most cases (T-B- SCID), the median age over 6 months and the presence of lung infection in some children at the time of transplantation. © 2007 Wiley-Liss, Inc

The value of postoperative radiotherapy in renal cell carcinoma: A single-institution experience

Aim: To evaluate the efficacy of postoperative irradiation in renal cell carcinoma

CA-125; a new marker for diagnosis and follow-up of patients with tuberculous peritonitis

Background. Most malignancies with peritoneal infiltration, especially ovarian cancers and chronic liver diseases associated with ascites give rise to high serum CA-125 levels. Tuberculous peritonitis is another cause for high serum CA-125 levels

A case of advanced scalp angiosarcoma successfully treated with combination chemotherapy of adriamycin, cisplatin and ifosfamide

Scalp angiosarcoma is a rare and highly malignant tumour originating from endothelial cells of vessels and occurring predominantly in elderly men. Its prognosis is poor and the 5-year survival rate of patients is reported to be 12–33% [1]. Complete surgical excision with wide margins remains the cornerstone of therapy for localised tumours. Additional radiotherapy may provide improved local control. Given the rarity of this tumour, an optimum chemotherapy regimen has not yet been defined for metastatic cases. Here we report a case of scalp angiosarcoma with local recurrence and distant metastases which was successfully treated with a combination chemotherapy consisting of adriamycin, cisplatin, ifosfamide and mesna (APIM). A 24-year-old man presented to a plastic surgeon in January 2005 with a painless nodule on the scalp measuring 3 cm in diameter. Surgical total excision of the nodule was carried out, providing a negative surgical margin (2 cm). The diagnosis of angiosarcoma was confirmed pathologically. An X-ray of the scull, magnetic resonance imaging of the brain and computed tomography of the neck, thorax and abdomen revealed no evidence of local or distant metastases at the time of diagnosis. The patient was not given any adjuvant therapy. Five months after the surgery, the patient developed two new angiosarcoma lesions (1.5 and 2 cm in diameter) on different sites of the scalp. In addition, computed tomography of the neck and chest revealed conglomerate lymph nodes on the left side of the neck and five small metastatic nodules, up to 1.5 cm greatest dimension in bilateral lung fields

Phase II study of loading-dose ibandronate treatment in patients in breast cancer and bone metastases suffering from moderate to severe pain

WOS: 00020885200158