1,721,079 research outputs found

    EPSTEIN-BARR VIRUS IN MONITORING THE RESPONSE TO THERAPY OF ACQUIRED IMMUNODEFICIENCY SYNDROME-RELATED PRIMARY CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM LYMPHOMA

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    To evaluate the value of Epstein-Barr virus DNA (EBV-DNA) assay in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) for monitoring the response to treatment in acquired immunodeficiency syndrome-related primary central nervous system lymphoma (AIDS-PCNSL), 9 human immunodeficiency virus-infected patients with biopsy-proven AIDS-PCNSL who underwent multimodal therapy were investigated for EBV-DNA detection in CSF by semiquantitative nested polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Tumoral tissue expression of bcl-6 oncogene protein and of EBV-encoded latent membrane protein (LMP-1) was also investigated. The 2 patients who had a response to chemotherapy showed a reduction of mean EBV-DNA concentration values after chemotherapy and displayed a large noncleaved morphology and a BCL-6+/LMP-1- phenotype. Conversely, the 4 patients with progressive disease after chemotherapy showed increasing mean values of EBV-DNA and displayed an immunoblastic morphology and a BCL-6-/LMP-1+ phenotype. No significant changes were observed for patients with stable disease. EBV-DNA burden reduction was significantly associated with prolonged survival. These results suggest that EBV-DNA monitoring might be helpful in predicting response to chemotherapy and in segregating distinct biological and prognostic categories of AIDS-PCNSL

    Systemic granulomatous reaction secondary to treatment of bladder cancer with bacillus calmette-guerin

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    Intravesical instillation of Bacillus Calmette-Guérin is the elective treatment for transitional cell and in situ bladder carcinoma. Severe complications occur very seldom, but must be known and promptly recognized. We describe the case of a 48-year-old man, treated with chemo-immunotherapy ten years before for a follicular lymphoma, who developed a systemic granulomatous reaction after his twelfth intravescical BCG instillation for bladder cancer

    ANALYSIS OF HUMAN HERPESVIRUS TYPE-8 INFECTION IN AIDS-RELATED AND AIDS-UNRELATED PRIMARY CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM LYMPHOMA

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    Human herpesvirus type 8 (HHV-8) has been proposed as a pathogenetic factor for immunosuppression-associated primary central nervous system lymphoma (PCNSL). To verify this hypothesis, HHV-8 infection was investigated in 31 persons with PCNSL (16 AIDS-related, 15 AIDS-unrelated) and in 30 persons with systemic B cell non-Hodgkin's lymphomas (B-NHL; 15 AIDS-related, 15 AIDS-unrelated). All subjects with PCNSL scored negative by single-step polymerase chain reaction (PCR), suggesting a tumor virus load of <100 viral copies/200,000 human haploid genome equivalents (HHGE). By applying Poisson assumptions to nested PCR, 16 of 31 persons with PCNSL were devoid of HHV-8 sequences: 1 subject with AIDS and PCNSL had 1-100 viral copies/200,000 HHGE, and 14 with PCNSL had <1 viral copy/200,000 HHGE. Similarly, 10 of 30 persons with systemic B-NHL were devoid of HHV-8 sequences; 20 had <1 viral copy/200,000 HHGE. The extremely low levels of infection rule out a role of HHV-8 in PCNSL pathogenesis and are consistent with HHV-8 infection of bystander cells contaminating the tumor clon

    Quercetin and tamoxifen sensitize human melanoma cells to hyprthermia.

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    Hyperthermia produces regression of human cancer. Because hyperthermia has produced only limited results, attention has focused on searching for substances able to sensitize tumour cells to the effects of hyperthermia. The flavonoid quercetin has been reported to be a hyperthermic sensitizer in ovarian and uterine cervical tumours and in leukaemia. Quercetin and tamoxifen inhibit melanoma cell growth. We therefore investigated whether quercetin and tamoxifen can sensitize M10, M14 and MNT1 human melanoma cells to hyperthermia. We observed that both quercetin and tamoxifen synergize with hyperthermia (42.5 degrees C) in reducing the clonogenic activity of M14 and MNT1 and in inducing apoptotic cell death in all three cell lines. As revealed by flow cytometric and Northern blot analyses, quercetin and tamoxifen reduced heat shock protein-70 expression at both protein and mRNA levels. Our results suggest that quercetin and tamoxifen can be usefully combined with hyperthermia in the therapy of recurrent and/or metastatic melanoma

    Well-differentiated thyroid cancer with a minor poorly differentiated component: clonal heterogeneity through the prognostic role of CXCR4 and BRAF analysis

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    Well-differentiated thyroid cancer with a minor poorly differentiated component: clonal heterogeneity through the prognostic role of CXCR4 and BRAF analysi
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