Primary chemotherapy with the Rosen T10 protocol before conservative surgery in limb primitive osteosarcomas: results about 56 cases

We report the results of a prospective Tunisian study using primary chemotherapy followed by conservative surgery in primitive limb osteosarcoma. From January 1988 to January 1998, 56 patients affected by limb osteosarcoma entered in a prospective study of neoadjuvant chemotherapy with the T10 protocol before surgery with a conservative intent. Initial work-up include: clinical exam with tumor measurements, chest and limb X-rays, limb CT-scan or MRI, chest CT-scan, bone scintigraphy and hematological and renal biological exams. Patients receive pre- and post-operative chemotherapy according to the T10 modified protocol. Fifty-six patients (33 M/23 F) with a mean age of 19 years (8 to 28) are included. Mean clinical and radiological tumor size is around 14 cm. Main histologic type is classic osteosarcoma (50% of cases) and 10 patients (9%) presented with initial metastasis; 42 patients on 56 receive the whole pre-operative protocol. Treatment is well tolerated excluding 18 episodes of mucositis, 29 of leucopenia (< grade 3), 7 of thrombopenia (< grade 3), 4 of cutaneous toxicity, 2 of pulmonary toxicity and 3 of nausea-vomiting. We observe 36% of good histological responders and 64% of bad responders to primary chemotherapy, 27 patients on 49 operated (53%) have a conservative surgery and 18 (47%) a radical surgery. With a median follow-up of 51 months (8 to 128), 29 patients remain alive free of disease (15/17 GR and 14/30 BR), 2 are alive with disease, 2 died by toxicity, 14 died by progressive disease and 9 are lost to follow-up with evolutive disease. Five year disease-free survival is 55% for the 46 non metastatic patients. In univariate analysis, seric alkaline phosphatase level (p = 0.0014) and histological response to chemotherapy (p = 0.0218) are significant factors for prognosis.     

New Contrast Enhancement Method for Multiple Sclerosis Lesion Detection

Journal of Digital Imaging - Multiple sclerosis (MS) is one&nbsp;of the most serious neurological diseases. It is the most frequent reason of non-traumatic disability among young adults. MS is...     

Ion release and enamel remineralizing potential of miswak,propolis and chitosan nano-particles based dental varnishes

Purpose

Natural products can have an important role in caries control through their inherent biological abilities.

A Novel <Emphasis Type="Italic">SYNJ1</Emphasis> Mutation in a Tunisian Family with Juvenile Parkinson’s Disease Associated with Epilepsy

We investigated the effect of a set of SNPs within 5 genes identified by GWASs as possible risk genes for schizophrenia (SCZ) in two independent samples, comprising 176 SCZ patients and 326 controls of Korean origin and 83 SCZ patients and 194 controls of Italian origin. The PANSS was used to assess psychopathology severity and antipsychotic response (AR). Several clinical features were assessed at recruitment. In the Korean sample, the SP4 gene haplotype rs2282888-rs2237304-rs10272006-rs12673091 (p?=?0.02) was associated with SCZ. In the Italian sample, PPP3CC rs11780915 (genotypic: p?=?0.006; allelic: p?=?0.001) and rs2249098 (genotypic: p?=?0.0004; allelic: p?=?0.00006) were associated with SCZ, as well as the PPP3CC rs11780915-rs10108011-rs2249098 and the ZNF804A rs7603001-rs1344706 haplotypes (p?=?0.03 and p?=?0.02). Several RORA variants were associated with AR in both the samples, although only the haplotype rs1020729-rs1871858 in the Korean sample survived to the statistical correction (p?=?0.01). Exploratory analyses suggested that: (1) PPP3CC, ST8SIA2, and SP4 genes may modulate psychotic symptoms, and (2) RORA and ZNF804A genes may influence AR. Our results partially support a role for these genes in SCZ and AR. Analyses in well phenotyped samples may help to refine the role of the genes identified by GWASs.     

Donor- but not host-derived interleukin-10 contributes to the regulation of experimental graft-versus-host disease

IL-10 is a key immune-regulatory cytokine, and its gene polymorphisms correlate with severity of clinical GVHD. IL-10 is made by a variety of donor and host cells, but the functional relevance of its source and its role in the biology of acute GVHD are not well understood. We used preclinical models to examine the relevance of IL-10(-/-) in donor and host cellular subsets on the severity of GVHD. IL-10(-/-) in host tissues or in the donor grafts did not alter donor Teff-mediated severity of GVHD. Furthermore, neither host-derived nor donor Teff-derived IL-10 was required for regulation of GVHD by WT CD4(+)CD25(+) donor Tregs. By contrast, Treg-derived IL-10, although not obligatory, was necessary for optimal reduction of GVHD by mature donor Tregs. Importantly, IL-10 from donor BM grafts was also critical for optimal donor Treg-mediated suppression of GVHD. Together, these data suggest that IL-10 does not contribute to the induction of GVHD severity by the Teffs. However, donor BM graft and Treg-derived IL-10 are important for donor Treg-mediated suppression of GVHD.