Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: UMLS:C0023467 (acute myeloid leukemia)
 35,200 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

The new fluorinated adenine analog, fludarabine, has been tested for efficacy in many tumor types over the past ten years. Two other similar nucleoside analogs are currently available for commercial use. Cytarabine is used principally as an antileukemic agent, and vidarabine as an antiviral. Unlike vidarabine, fludarabine is resistant to deactivation by adenosine deaminase. Data from Phase I and II trials suggest that fludarabine is potentially effective in a number of leukemias, including acute lymphocytic leukemia, acute nonlymphocytic leukemia, and chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). Unfortunately, the doses required to achieve adequate response in the acute leukemias (greater than 75 mg/m2) were above the maximum tolerated dose, resulting in intolerable granulocytopenia, thrombocytopenia, and a life-threatening neurotoxic syndrome. In CLL: however, the dose required to achieve a satisfactory response is well within tolerated limits. Long-term survival statistics are not yet available, but historical perspective strongly correlates response to other agents with increased survival times. Toxicities seen at dose regimens of 15-40 mg/m2/d for five consecutive days include somnolence, metabolic acidosis, confusion, fatigue, nausea, vomiting, increase in serum creatinine and aminotransferase concentrations, and pulmonary and hepatic abnormalities. Mild to severe hematologic toxicity has been observed at all dose levels.
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PMID:Fludarabine: a review. 206 37

Cerebral aspergillosis is one of the most common mycotic infections in the central nervous system causing different clinical features such as brain abscess, granuloma, meningitis, and encephalitis. Cerebral aspergillosis, however, may lead to a cerebral vascular accident such as intracranial hemorrhage or cerebral infarction. In this report, we present two patients with cerebral aspergillosis accompanied by intracranial hemorrhage. A total of 124 reported cases of cerebral aspergillosis are reviewed to ascertain the pathogenesis of the associated vascular lesion. The first patient was a 9-year-old girl, who developed drowsiness with a headache during the medical treatment for acute myelocytic leukemia. CT disclosed subarachnoid and intraventricular hemorrhage. The autopsy revealed that the aspergillus arteritis was the cause of repeated hemorrhage. The second patient was a 15-year-old boy with allergic purpura and renal failure, who suddenly developed a stupor with convulsive seizure. CT disclosed an intracerebral hemorrhage in the right parieto-occipital area. The patient gradually deteriorated and died in spite of the surgical removal of the hematoma. The autopsy revealed that the hemorrhage was caused by the aspergillus arteritis. Cerebral aspergillosis has two routes of infection to the central nervous system: hematogenous dissemination from the distant site (usually the lung) and direct extension from the contiguous site (usually the paranasal sinuses or orbit). The primary mechanism of neuropathology is different between these two types. Primary cerebral arteritis is most often seen in patients with the former type, whereas primary basal meningitis occurs in the latter. The incidence of clinico-pathological features is different between hematogenous dissemination type and direct extension type.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
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PMID:[Cerebral aspergillosis as a cerebral vascular accident]. 339 19

Twenty-seven patients with acute leukemia have been treated by sequential 6-day courses of thymidine (30 g/m2 by i.v. continuous infusion, days 1 and 4) and 1-beta-D-arabinofuranosylcytosine (ara-C) (200 mg/m2 by i.v. continuous infusion, days 2,3,5, and 6). Of 25 evaluable patients 4 achieved a complete remission: one of 9 for acute myelogenous leukemia; and 3 of 14 in the blastic crisis of chronic myelocytic leukemia. Six minor responses were also observed. Toxicity was mainly hematological and did not appear to be higher than that expected from ara-C alone. However, thymidine infusions gave rise to headache and somnolence. The clinical benefit of such treatment seems to be limited to the blastic crisis of chronic myelocytic leukemia. Parallel cytokinetic and biochemical studies were performed in order to assess the cytokinetic and metabolic changes induced by both drugs and to correlate them with the clinical response. Recruitment of cells into the S-phase fraction was observed following the first thymidine infusion in the two complete responders and in three of the five nonresponders studied. In contrast to this high pretherapeutic levels of S-phase fraction were observed in most minor responders and in some nonresponders with further decrease following the thymidine infusion. Recruitment of cells into S phase therefore appeared to be an important but not sufficient factor for prediction of complete response to ara-C. Responders in contrast to most nonresponders were characterized by a higher intracellular level of ara-C and its metabolites following the first 24-h infusion of the drug. Deoxythymidine triphosphate and deoxycytidine triphosphate pools were also measured before and during treatment in order to assess if nucleotide pool variations induced by the administration of thymidine can in fact correlate with the intracellular alteration in ara-C metabolism and with clinical response. The level of deoxycytidine triphosphate pools before treatment showed marked interpatient variations but did not correlate with response. As expected, thymidine infusion induced a rise in the deoxythymidine triphosphate pool and a decrease in deoxycytidine triphosphate. The pools, however, generally returned promptly to the pretherapeutic level 24 h after the end of the infusion of thymidine. There were no significant differences between responders and nonresponders in the modulation of these pools.
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PMID:Modulation of 1-beta-D-arabinofuranosylcytosine metabolism by thymidine in human acute leukemia. 402 95

28 consecutive patients (age 15-58 years) with refractory acute leukaemia (24 AML, 4 ALL) have been treated with high or intermediate dose cytosine arabinoside (AraC). Twenty patients received AraC at a dose of 3000 mg/m2, twice daily for 6 days (13 patients AraC alone, 7 patients AraC and doxorubicin) and 8 patients received AraC at a dose of 1000 mg/m2, twice daily for 6 days and daunorubicin. 10 of the 20 patients treated with high dose AraC achieved a complete remission (50%) and 2 a partial remission. No patients in the intermediate dose AraC group achieved a remission (p = 0.05). Toxicity of these protocols was acceptable. Vomiting, headache, somnolence, fever, conjunctivitis, and minor cardiac arrhythmias were found most frequently. The pancytopenic period ranged from 16-30 days for the high dose protocol and 14-23 days for the intermediate dose protocol. Sophisticated isolation and blood banking facilities are required in this period. Median duration of remission was 6 months. Results obtained are in favour of the high dose protocol in refractory leukaemia. Only a large dosage increment of AraC can overcome refractoriness of leukaemic blast cells.
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PMID:Experience with intermediate and high dose cytosine arabinoside in refractory acute leukaemia. 635 50

High-dose cytarabine (HDARA-C) at doses ranging from 1000 to 3000 mg/m2 administered as 30-min iv infusions was used in 12 patients with acute leukemia. HDARA-C toxicity was marked by nausea, vomiting, and somnolence; fever occurred in one patient. Myelosuppression was brief and reversible; the wbc count nadir occurred between Days 10 and 15 after treatment. In this study of a limited number of patients, no reliable conclusions could be drawn about antileukemic activity. However, (a) HDARA-C appeared to be a well-tolerated regimen in acute myeloblastic leukemia in complete remission; (b) a clear improvement was obtained in a patient with central nervous system leukemia; and (c) a sharp but transient decrease in peripheral blast cell counts was seen in two patients with acute myeloblastic leukemia. Cytarabine distribution was bi- or tri-compartmental; plasma final half-life was greater than 4 hrs in six patients. Pharmacokinetic parameters were not correlated with serum deoxycytidine deaminase activity. HDARA-C crosses the blood-brain barrier and may be useful in the prophylaxis against and treatment of central nervous system leukemia.
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PMID:High-dose cytarabine in acute leukemia: toxicity and pharmacokinetics. 685 Jun 54

Twenty-one patients with leukemia and lymphoma refractory to conventional therapy were treated with thymidine (dThd) at a dose of 75 g/m2/day for 48 h by continuous intravenous (IV) infusion, followed by cytosine arabinoside (ara-C) on an escalating dose schedule of 25-625 mg/m2/day for 48 h by continuous IV infusion. Toxicity included somnolence (1 patient), mucositis (2 patients), and myelosuppression (19 patients). One patient died prior to completion of therapy. Because of the patient population studied (mainly consisting of patients with leukemia refractory to conventional therapy) and the prevalence of myelosuppression prior to therapy, a median toxic dose was not evaluable. Therapeutic responses included a partial remission in a patient with acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) refractory to ara-C. An additional six patients with acute leukemia refractory to ara-C transiently cleared their peripheral blood of blasts, and a decrease in circulating blasts was noted in two other patients. Biochemical studies conducted on the peripheral blasts of two patients confirmed an enhancement by dThd of the incorporation of ara-C into the DNA of circulating blasts.
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PMID:A phase I-II study of combination therapy with thymidine and cytosine arabinoside. 688 25

17 patients (age 15-58 years) with refractory acute leukaemia (14 AML, 3 ALL) were treated with high dose cytosine arabinoside (AraC) at a dose of 3000 mg/m2, twice daily for 6 d (13 patients with AraC alone, 4 patients with AraC and doxorubicin). 9 patients achieved complete remission (53%) and 2 a partial remission. Although sophisticated isolation and blood banking facilities are required during the pancytopenic period, the toxicity of this treatment was acceptable. Vomiting, headache, somnolence, fever, conjunctivitis and cardiac arrhythmias were found most frequently. The unexpected pulmonary failure in 3 patients was worrisome. The duration of remissions was from 1 to 12 months. Results obtained with high dose AraC are satisfactory and hold promise for the treatment of patients with previously untreated AML.
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PMID:High dose cytosine arabinoside in the management of refractory acute leukaemia. 695 4

High doses of Cytosine-arabinoside (Ara-C) (1 to 3gm/m2 every 12 hours during 48 hours) were administered monthly to 5 acute myeloid leukemia patients during complete remissions subsequent to relapses and reinduction treatment. Plasma Ara-C was measured using a radioimmunoassay and exhibited kinetics compatible with a bi- or tri- compartimental model. Tolerance was good, with mainly gastrointestinal toxicity and somnolence. The duration of remissions was relatively long, taking into account that these were second or third remissions.
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PMID:High doses of cytosine arabinoside (HD-Ara-C) as reinforcement during remission of acute myeloid leukemia. 696 22

A 16-year-old girl with refractory AML received unmanipulated BMT from an unrelated donor. Leukemia relapse occurred 82 days later. The patient was then treated with IL-2 1.8 x 10(6) U/m2 for 5 days per week and 2.5 MU/m2 IFN-alpha three times per week. Toxicities included fever, skin rash, somnolence and a generalized seizure. Treatment was stopped after 2 weeks. Acute GVHD developed at the end of therapy and the patient's leukemia went into remission. She died of fungal pneumonia 30 days later. We conclude that a combination of cytokines may be useful in treating relapsed leukemia after BMT.
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PMID:Treatment of leukemia relapse after bone marrow transplantation with interferon-alpha and interleukin 2. 777 25

Epigenetic mechanisms underlying tumorigenesis have recently received much attention as potential therapeutic targets of human cancer. We designed a pilot study to target DNA methylation and histone deacetylation through the sequential administration of 5-azacytidine followed by sodium phenylbutyrate (PB) in patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) or myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS). Ten evaluable patients (eight AML, two MDS) were treated with seven consecutive daily subcutaneous injections of 5-azacytidine at 75 mg/m2 followed by 5 days of sodium PB given intravenously at a dose of 200 mg/kg. Five patients (50%) were able to achieve a beneficial clinical response (partial remission or stable disease). One patient with MDS proceeded to allogeneic stem cell transplantation and is alive without evidence of disease 39 months later. The combination regimen was well tolerated with common toxicities of injection site skin reaction (90% of the patients) from 5-azacytidine, and somnolence/fatigue from the sodium PB infusion (80% of the patients). Correlative laboratory studies demonstrated the consistent reacetylation of histone H4, although no relationship with the clinical response could be demonstrated. Results from this pilot study demonstrate that a combination approach targeting different mechanisms of transcriptional modulation is clinically feasible with acceptable toxicity and measurable biologic and clinical outcomes.
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PMID:Pilot study of combination transcriptional modulation therapy with sodium phenylbutyrate and 5-azacytidine in patients with acute myeloid leukemia or myelodysplastic syndrome. 1635 41


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