Ultrastructural and ultracytochemical differences between transient myeloproliferative disorder and megakaryoblastic leukaemia in Down''s syndrome

Ultrastructural and ultracytochemical studies were performed on blast cells from 12 Down's syndrome neonates with transient myeloproliferative disorder (TMD) and 13 Down's syndrome patients with megakaryoblastic leukaemia (MKL), in order to clarify the cytological characteristics of these cells. Average platelet peroxidase-positivity in blast cells of TMD patients was similar to that found in cases of MKL. Blast cells from subjects with TMD contained a number of different granules, namely, alpha granules, those that were myeloperoxidase (MPO)-positive, electron-lucent or basophil-like, and those containing membrane components or ferritin particles. On the other hand, granules found in the blast cells of MKL patients with Down's syndrome included the electron-lucent variety, those with membrane components and a few that were basophil-like, but not alpha and MPO-positive granules nor those containing ferritin particles. A demarcation membrane system was observed in blasts from the TMD group, but not in the MKL group. These findings suggest that blast cells in TMD patients differentiate to megakaryocytes, neutrophils, basphils and erythroblasts, while those in cases of MKL show limited differentiation to immature megakaryocytes, erythroblasts and, sometime, basophils. Such results correspond well with those of culture studies, in which TMD blasts were found to be precursors of various types of blood cells.     

Pretherapeutic nutritional/inflammatory factors as predictors for survival of both early and advanced staged head and neck cancer patients

ObjectivesMalnutrition and inflammation are common in patients with head and neck cancer and are closely associated with prognosis. Although several parameters for evaluating nutritional/inflammatory status have been assessed in relation to the prognosis of patients with head and neck cancer, previous studies primarily included patients with advanced-stage disease. To date, there is no consensus regarding the most reliable parameter for predicting the prognosis of early and advanced-stage head and neck cancer. This study sought to evaluate nutritional/inflammatory prognostic factors before treatment in patients with early and advanced-stage head and neck cancer.MethodsWe retrospectively reviewed medical records of patients treated between 2008 and 2015 at our institution in order to evaluate the effects of nutritional/inflammatory parameters, including C-reactive protein/albumin ratio, modified Glasgow prognostic score, neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio, platelet/lymphocyte ratio, and Geriatric Nutritional Risk Index, on overall survival. Effects of potential risk factors on overall survival were analyzed by computing Kaplan-Meier estimates; curves were compared using the log-rank test.ResultsA total of 164 patients were enrolled. C-reactive protein/albumin ratio, modified Glasgow prognostic score, platelet/lymphocyte ratio, and Geriatric Nutritional Risk Index were found to be statistically significantly correlated with overall survival. Only the Geriatric Nutritional Risk Index remained statistically significant in the multivariate analysis. The three-year survival rates according to the four-group Geriatric Nutritional Risk Index scores for normal, low, moderate, and high risk were 95.5%, 84.3%, 53.8%, and 23.4%, respectively.ConclusionThe Geriatric Nutritional Risk Index is therefore a useful prognostic factor for patients with early and advanced-stage head and neck cancer.     

Scan–rescan and inter-vendor reproducibility of neurite orientation dispersion and density imaging metrics

The reproducibility of neurite orientation dispersion and density imaging (NODDI) metrics in the human brain has not been explored across different magnetic resonance (MR) scanners from different vendors. This study aimed to evaluate the scan–rescan and inter-vendor reproducibility of NODDI metrics in white and gray matter of healthy subjects using two 3-T MR scanners from two vendors. Ten healthy subjects (7 males; mean age 30 ± 7 years, range 23–37 years) were included in the study. Whole-brain diffusion-weighted imaging was performed with b-values of 1000 and 2000 s/mm2 using two 3-T MR scanners from two different vendors. Automatic extraction of the region of interest was performed to obtain NODDI metrics for whole and localized areas of white and gray matter. The coefficient of variation (CoV) and intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) were calculated to assess the scan–rescan and inter-vendor reproducibilities of NODDI metrics. The scan–rescan and inter-vendor reproducibility of NODDI metrics (intracellular volume fraction and orientation dispersion index) were comparable with those of diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) metrics. However, the inter-vendor reproducibilities of NODDI (CoV = 2.3–14%) were lower than the scan–rescan reproducibility (CoV: scanner A = 0.8–3.8%; scanner B = 0.8–2.6%). Compared with the finding of DTI metrics, the reproducibility of NODDI metrics was lower in white matter and higher in gray matter. The lower inter-vendor reproducibility of NODDI in some brain regions indicates that data acquired from different MRI scanners should be carefully interpreted.     

Hyperthermia generated with ferucarbotran (Resovist®) in an alternating magnetic field enhances cisplatin-induced apoptosis of cultured human oral cancer cells

Hyperthermia is a promising anti-cancer treatment in which the tissue temperature is increased to 42–45 °C, and which is often used in combination with chemotherapy or radiation therapy. Our aim in the present work was to examine the feasibility of combination therapy for oral cancer with cisplatin and hyperthermia generated with ferucarbotran (Resovist^®; superparamagnetic iron oxide) in an alternating magnetic field (AMF). First, we established that administration of ferucarbotran at the approved dosage for magnetic resonance imaging provides an iron concentration sufficient to increase the temperature to 42.5 °C upon exposure to AMF. Then, we examined the effect of cisplatin combined with ferucarbotran/AMF-induced hyperthermia on cultured human oral cancer cells (HSC-3 and OSC-19). Cisplatin alone induced apoptosis of cancer cells in a dose-dependent manner, as is well known. However, the combination of cisplatin with ferucarbotran/AMF was significantly more effective than cisplatin alone. This result suggests that it might be possible to reduce the clinically effective dosage of cisplatin by administering it in combination with ferucarbotran/AMF-induced hyperthermia, thereby potentially reducing the incidence of serious cisplatin-related side effects. Further work seems justified to evaluate simultaneous thermo-chemotherapy as a new approach to anticancer therapy.     

High seroprevalence of anti–HTLV-I antibody in rheumatoid arthritis

Objective. To investigate the association between human T lymphotropic virus type I (HTLV-I) infection and rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in Nagasaki, an area highly endemic for HTLV-I infection. Methods. Sera from 113 female patients with RA and 19,796 female blood donors were screened for anti–HTLV-I antibodies with a gelatin particle agglutination kit and confirmed using an immunoblotting kits. Results. The age-adjusted summary odds ratio of HTLV-I infection among RA patients, as compared with blood donors, was 2.8 (95% confidence interval [95% CI] 1.8–4.6). The etiologic fraction, i.e., the proportion of RA in the study population that is attributable to HTLV-I infection, was estimated to be 13.2% (95% CI 5.1–21.2). There was no significant difference in the clinical and laboratory findings between HTLV-I–infected and HTLV-I–uninfected RA patients. Conclusion. These epidemiologic findings support the idea that HTLV-I infection is a risk factor for RA, and suggest that ∼13% of the cases of RA in females living in Nagasaki are associated with HTLV-I infection.