110 research outputs found
COVID-19′s Pandemic Effects on Bike Sharing Systems: A New Reality for Urban Mobility?
On 11 March 2020, the World Health Organization made the assessment that a new disease (COVID-19) caused by a novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) could be characterized as a pandemic. From that point, a chain reaction of events and difficult decisions requiring action was launched. National governments all over the world announced partial or total quarantine lockdowns in an effort to control the virus’ spreading in order to save as many lives as possible. The effects of the pandemic were multifaceted and transport was not excluded. The current paper examines data regarding the level of usage (provided by the administrator) of bike-sharing systems in three case studies/medium-sized Greek cities (Igoumenitsa, Chania, and Rhodes) and through a statistical analysis identifies if there is a correlation between the implemented measures and the modal choice of the residents. The main results and conclusions of this analysis reveal that the level of usage of these specific bike-sharing systems was significantly increased during the lockdown period compared to the situation before the lockdown and the pandemic in general
Neutropenia with fatal outcome in a multiple sclerosis patient 23 days after alemtuzumab infusion
A 47-year-old Caucasian female with relapsing- remitting Multiple Sclerosis, received alemtuzumab after a serious relapse. She had ceased receiving any treatment during the previous year. 23 days after alemtuzumab infusion she developed severe early neutropenia, which resulted in septic shock by Staphylococcus aureus and death. This is the first report of alemtuzumab infusion-related death due to early neutropenia in non-immunocompromised MS patients. We suggest that the long existing safety guidelines for alemtuzumab infusion in B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia might be also beneficial in the MS setting. Weekly blood test for the first two months after the first infusion could prevent major infections. © 201
EFFECTIVE TREATMENT OF DISEASE-RELATED ANEMIA IN B-CHRONIC LYMPHOCYTIC-LEUKEMIA PATIENTS WITH RECOMBINANT-HUMAN-ERYTHROPOIETIN
Nine B-chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (B-CLL) patients suffering from
anaemia, due to no obvious cause except their disease, were treated with
recombinant human erythropoietin (r-HuEPO). The treatment protocol
provided a closed label phase of 3 months duration, during which the
patients received r-HuEPO or placebo in a ratio of 2:1, followed by an
open label phase, also of 3 months duration, during which r-KuEPO was
administered to all patients three times a week s.c. r-HuEPO was given
at a dose of 150 U/kg of body weight with an escalation of 50 U/kg up to
a maximum of 300 U/kg three times a week. Complete response was achieved
in 5/9 (55%) patients and partial response in 3/9 (33%). The response
obtained was independent of the pretreatment serum EPO levels, the
duration of anaemia, the concomitant administration of chemotherapy, the
presence of splenomegaly, or the degree of bone marrow infiltration by
lymphocytes. It appears that r-HuEPO is very effective in reversing the
disease-related anaemia of B-CLL patients
Spontaneous remission of acute myeloid leukemia associated with GnRH agonist treatment
Spontaneous remission of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) in adults is a
rare but well documented phenomenon. This study reports on a 64-year-old
male patient with acute myelogenous leukemia (AML-M4, according to the
French-American-British classification) that was developed on a
background of chronic myelomonocytic leukemia (CMML) and then underwent
remission after treatment with the gonadotropin-releasing hormone
agonist (GnRH agonist) triptorelin for presumed prostate cancer.
Remission persisted for at least 4 years before the patient was lost to
follow-up. To the author’ knowledge, this is the first report of
remission in an AML-M4 case associated with hormone manipulation.
Possible mechanisms of this phenomenon are discussed
Correction of disease related anaemia of B-chronic lymphoproliferative disorders by recombinant human erythropoietin: Maintenance is necessary to sustain response
Thirty three B-chronic lymphoproliferative disorder (B-CLD) patients
[22 with B-chronic lymphocytic leukemia (B-CLL), 5 with small
lymphocytic lymphoma (SLL) and 6 with lymphoplasmacytic lymphoma (LPL)]
with anaemia (Ht <32%) of no other cause but their disease, received
recombinant human erythropoietin (r-HuEPO). The treatment protocol
provided r-HuEPO in a dose of 150 U/kg sc. thrice weekly for 3 mo. After
1.5 mo of r-HuEPO administration, if response was not satisfactory,
r-HuEPO dose escalation was utilised by giving incremental doses of 50
U/kg more than the previous dose up to a maximum dose of 300 U/kg tiw.
After maximal response, half of the responding patients discontinued
therapy, while the other half received maintenance therapy at a dose of
150 U/kg sc./w. Oral iron was given throughout the study. Pretreatment
EPO levels were determined in all patients. A complete response (CR) was
defined when Ht was >38% and a partial response (PR) when there was an
increase of the Ht >6% from the initial value was achieved.
Sixteen of the 22 B-CLL patients had Rai stage III disease and 6 stage
IV, with a median duration of anaemia 27 months (6-38); twelve of them
were receiving chlorambucil while the rest were on no treatment. Of the
SLL and LPL group, 4 patients had Ann Arbor stage III disease and 7
stage IV with a median duration of anaemia 24 months (5-36); 8 patients
were on chlorambucil. Complete response was achieved in 50% of the
B-CLL group and 54% of the SLL and LPL group, with an overall response
rate of 77 and 81% respectively. All patients on maintenance therapy
had a continuous response, while all patients. in whom rHuEPO was
discontinued, relapsed. No correlation was found between patients: with
low or high pretreatment serum EPO levels; those receiving concomitant
therapy or not; those with B-symptoms or not; those with a non-diffuse
or diffuse bone marrow infiltration pattern: and with splenomegaly or
not. Life quality was significantly improved and no major side effects
were encountered. We conclude from our study that r-HuEPO is very
effective in correcting disease-related anaemia in B-CLD, resulting in
down-staging of Rai stage III patients and that maintenance therapy is
necessary. Whether the correction of anaemia improves patients’ overall
survival, still remains to be seen
B-chronic lymphocytic leukemia: Practical aspects
B-CLL is the most common adult leukemia in the Western world. It is a
neoplasia of mature looking B-monoclonal lymphocytes co-expressing the
CD5 antigen (involving the blood, the bone marrow, the lymph nodes and
related organs). Much new information about the nature of the neoplastic
cells, including chromosomal and molecular changes as well as mechanisms
participating in the survival of the leukemic clone have been published
recently, in an attempt to elucidate the biology of the disease and
identify prognostic subgroups. For the time being, clinical stage based
on Rai and Binet staging systems remains the strongest predictor of
prognosis and patients’ survival, and therefore it affects treatment
decisions. In the early stages treatment may be delayed until
progression. When treatment is necessary according to well-established
criteria, there are nowadays many different options. Chlorambucil has
been the standard regimen for many years. During the last decade novel
modalities have been tried with the emphasis on fludarabine and
2-chlorodeoxyadenosine and their combinations with other drugs. Such an
approach offers greater probability of a durable complete remission but
no effect on overall survival has been clearly proven so far. Other
modalities, included in the therapeutic armamentarium, are monoclonal
antibodies, stem cell transplantation (autologous or allogeneic) and new
experimental drugs. Supportive care is an important part of patient
management and it involves restoring hypogammaglobulinemia and
disease-related anemia by polyvalent immunoglobulin administration and
erythropoietin respectively. Copyright (C) 2002 John Wiley Sons, Ltd
Systemic mastocytosis accompanied by a non-secretory plasma cell dyscrasia and nephrotic syndrome-level proteinuria in a 76-year-old patient
We report here the interesting case of a 76-year-old man with severe proteinuria who was diagnosed with systemic mastocytosis accompanied by a clonal non-mast-cell lineage haematological disorder (a non-secretory plasma cell dyscrasia). This is a unique report of systemic mastocytosis with a non-secretory plasma cell dyscrasia and nephrotic syndrome. The pathophysiological relevance between these entities along with the probability of occult amyloidosis is discussed. Copyright © 2013 S. Karger AG, Basel
Tumor-infiltrating and circulating granulocytic myeloid-derived suppressor cells correlate with disease activity and adverse clinical outcomes in mycosis fungoides
Purpose: Cutaneous T cell lymphomas (CTCL) are rare and histologically diverse lymphoproliferative neoplasms, with mycosis fungoides (MF) representing the most common disease subset. Given the emerging role of myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSC) as a clinically applicable biomarker in solid tumors, we sought to investigate the presence of tumor-infiltrating and circulating MDSC in early- and advanced-stage MF patients and evaluate their prognostic significance in patient overall survival. Methods: Tumor-infiltrating MDSC were assessed immunohistochemically with Arginase-1 in 31 MF and 14 non-MF skin punch biopsies. Circulating MDSC were assessed with flow cytometry in freshly isolated PBMC from 29 MF patients. Granulocytic MDSC (G-MDSC) were defined as CD11b+CD14−CD15+ and monocytic MDSC (M-MDSC) were defined as CD11b+CD14+HLA-DRlow/-. Results: MDSC infiltration occurred in approximately one-third (35.5%) of CTCL lesions, with a predilection for non-MF lesions (p < 0.05). The predominant morphology of MDSC was granulocytic. Although in MF lesions the presence of MDSC infiltrates did not correlate with clinical stage, it conferred significantly worse overall survival outcomes (p < 0.05). Circulating G-MDSC were significantly higher in MF patients compared to healthy donor controls (p < 0.0001), while M-MDSC did not show any statistically significant difference. G-MDSC were significantly higher in patients with active disease compared to patients who were in partial remission (p < 0.01). As with tumor-infiltrating MDSC, clinical stage did not correlate with circulating G-MDSC levels, while prospective overall survival analysis showed that patients with high levels of circulating G-MDSC have significantly inferior outcomes (p < 0.01). Conclusions: This study shows that G-MDSC could represent a novel and easily assessable biomarker in MF, which mirrors disease activity and can predict patient subgroups with aggressive clinical features. © 2019, Federación de Sociedades Españolas de Oncología (FESEO)
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