Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0000737 (abdominal pain)
 31,184 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Sequential chemotherapeutic regimens, primarily used in the treatment of hematopoietic malignancies, and employing ara-C as a basic antineoplastic agent induce mucosal alterations in the entire gastrointestinal tract. These are characterized by surface and glandular epithelial atypia, immaturity, and necrosis. Glandular regeneration is characteristically delayed leading to a state of intestinal aproliferative cytopenia. Other toxic intestinal changes include telangiectasia of blood vessels and the formation of intramural hematomas. Intestinal infections develop frequently and are complicated by peritonitis, liver abscesses, pneumatosis cystoides in testinalis and sepsis. These intestinal lesions are accompanied by a predictable clinical syndrome which begins concomitantly with ara-C infusions and is characterized by diarrhea, ileus, abdominal pain, hematemesis and melena, severe hypokalemia, hypocalcemia and a protein-losing enteropathy. Additional toxic manifestations induced by ara-C include transient weight gains, fever elevations and severe bone marrow depression. The genesis of the intestinal lesions is linked to the three day dose schedule of ara-C infusions which insures both arrest of the cycling intestinal cells in the S-phase and a high cytotoxic index. The severity of these lesions is markedly augmented by prior treatment with ara-C and cyclophosphamide which causes synchronization and probable recruitment of intestinal stem cells, respectively.
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PMID:Cytosine arabinoside induced gastrointestinal toxic alterations in sequential chemotherapeutic protocols: a clinical-pathologic study of 33 patients. 70 32

Recombinant interferon alfa (rIFN-alpha) was given to 31 children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) in first on-therapy marrow relapse as the sole treatment (30 megaunits/m2/d intravenously x 10 days) before standard four-drug reinduction and during multiagent continuation therapy (30 megaunits/m2 subcutaneously x 3 consecutive days every 3 weeks). After 10 days of rIFN-alpha, there were two partial remissions (PRs); seven additional patients had either greater than or equal to 25% reduction in the percentage of marrow blast cells or hypoplastic marrow. Two patients had progressive disease with an increase in leukocyte counts. All patients experienced influenza-like symptoms, and there were isolated instances of severe abdominal pain and personality change. Dose-limiting toxicity comprised grade III/IV transaminase elevation (two patients) and syncope with personality change (one patient). Twenty-three of 31 children (74%) subsequently achieved marrow remission using standard agents. One patient was taken off study during teniposide (VM-26) and cytarabine (ara-C) consolidation due to toxicity. Continuation therapy including rIFN-alpha pulse was well tolerated in the remaining children; only one patient required rIFN-alpha dosage reduction (for CNS toxicity). rIFN-alpha toxicity did not necessitate reductions in doses of standard chemotherapy agents or significant delays in therapy. Five patients remain in remission at 26+ to 36+ months; 13 patients relapsed in marrow, one in the meninges (7 months), and one in meninges, mediastinum, and lymph nodes (2 months). Two children were removed from study for marrow transplant. In summary, high-dose rIFN-alpha alone had a modest antileukemic effect. In contrast to the clinical experience with combined rIFN-alpha and chemotherapy in adults, rIFN-alpha given in a pulse-like manner throughout continuation therapy did not compromise the intensity of the standard chemotherapy regimen.
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PMID:Recombinant interferon alfa given before and in combination with standard chemotherapy in children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia in first marrow relapse: a Pediatric Oncology Group pilot study. 201 19

High doses of cytosine arabinoside (ara-C) were administered by continuous infusion to 24 patients with acute leukemia in relapse or blast phase of chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML). Ara-C was infused at a dose rate of 250 mg/M2/hr for 36 to 72 hr. The major toxicities were myelosuppression, diarrhea, and abdominal pain. Other toxicities included pulmonary edema, neurotoxicity, and liver function abnormalities. The gastrointestinal toxicity was dose-limiting and a phase II dose was established at 250 mg/M2/hr for 60-72 hr. Four patients treated with this dose schedule had objective responses. Two patients with CML in blast phase returned to chronic phase and have remained stable without maintenance therapy for 12 and 18 months. Two patients with acute myelogenous leukemia in relapse entered complete remissions which continued unmaintained for 4 and 6 months. Steady-state plasma ara-C levels ranged between 7 and 24 x 10(-6) M, while ara-U levels were as high as 4.5 x 10(-4) M. There was no detectable accumulation of ara-C or ara-U during the infusion period. These findings would suggest that the continuous infusion of high dose ara-C may be useful in the treatment of acute leukemia and CML in blast crisis.
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PMID:Prolonged high dose ARA-C infusions in acute leukemia. 328 17

Acute abdominal pain is a frequent diagnostic and therapeutic challenge in hematologic patients. We report on the very rare case of organ endometriosis with acute abdominal symptoms in a 43-year-old female patient with AML-M5, starting 4 days after induction chemotherapy with idarubicin, ara-C, and etoposide. The patient presented with an acute abdomen with clinical findings of acute cholecystitis, subileus, and local pain in the right upper abdomen accompanied by severe diarrhea. Probably due to impaired intestinal resorption, menstrual bleeding occurred despite regular administration of lynestrenol. Ultrasound examination of the abdomen disclosed a tumor with poor echoes in the pouch of Douglas, a subcapsular splenic hemorrhage, and a thickened gallbladder wall with surrounding edema. A cystic adnex tumor was confirmed by endovaginal ultrasound. Based on history and the findings on ultrasound, an endometriosis was diagnosed, and the LHRH agonist (nafarelin) was administered nasally in combination with lynestrenol. Following this medication the abdominal pain ceased, supporting the diagnosis of endometriosis. Nasal administration of an LHRH agonist in the following cycles of chemotherapy was effective in preventing further abdominal discomfort and vaginal bleeding. LHRH agonists should be given to patients with known endometriosis before starting myeloablative chemotherapy to prevent painful hemorrhage from endometriosis.
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PMID:Acute abdomen due to endometriosis as a diagnostic and therapeutic challenge in the treatment of acute myelocytic leukemia. 903 12