Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0027819 (neuroblastoma)
 27,800 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

We evaluated the causality of the association between intrauterine exposure to phenytoin and postnatal neuroblastoma using an in vitro lymphocyte toxicity assay for phenytoin-induced reactions in an unusual sibship. In addition, we investigated intrauterine phenytoin exposure in a case series of infants and children with neuroblastoma diagnosed over 17 years at our center. The response of lymphocytes from our index case with neuroblastoma exposed in utero to phenytoin was within the normal range, whereas the mother and a sibling with fetal hydantoin syndrome (FHS) exhibited an intermediate toxicity. None of the 188 cases of childhood neuroblastoma diagnosed between 1969 and 1988 had been exposed in utero to phenytoin, indicating that, statistically, the drug cannot be associated with neuroblastoma in more than two cases with this malignancy in our cohort, or in 1.5% of all cases of neuroblastoma. Although our data do not suggest an association between phenytoin in pregnancy and postnatal neuroblastoma, it is still possible that there is an increased risk for neuroblastoma in children with FHS.
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PMID:Neuroblastoma after prenatal exposure to phenytoin: cause and effect? 267 4

Fetal hydantoin syndrome (FHS), a characteristic pattern of altered growth and development, has been well described in recent years in offsprings of epileptic mothers taking phenytoin or other hydantoin anticonvulsants during the gestational period. Recent reports of neuroblastoma in three patients with the FHS further raise the questions of the "oncogenic effect " of hydantoin compounds. A case of melanotic neuroectodermal tumor of infancy (MNTI) has been studied clinically and pathologically including light microscopy, histochemistry, and electron microscopy. This case strengthens the evidence for the teratogenic and oncogenic effects of hydantoin compounds and we believe that it represents the first reported case of FHS associated with MNTI. It would be most important from a clinical standpoint to carefully scrutinize individuals with the FHS for neoplasias. Furthermore, detailed gestational drug history in children with neuroblastoma and other neoplasias should be carefully searched for, with the hope of clarifying the definitive oncogenic effect of hydantoin compounds.
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PMID:Melanotic neuroectodermal tumor of infancy and fetal hydantoin syndrome. 626 27

This paper presents the case report of a 2 year-old boy in whom a grade II fetal alcohol syndrome was diagnosed at 17 months. At 21 months, an embryonal rhabdomyosarcoma of the urinary bladder trigone was found, and the tumour excised. Polychemotherapy was initiated, but bone-marrow depression and death in septicaemic shock followed. The main autopsy findings included the demonstration of tumour remnants in the urinary bladder and prostate, and a severe acute purulent pyelonephritis. This is the fifth case of fetal alcohol syndrome in conjunction with a malignant tumour to be reported in the international literature. These cases do not show any uniformity as to tumour type. No conclusion can as yet be drawn as to whether there is a pathogenetic connection between the fetal alcohol syndrome and the occurrence of malignant tumours (as is the case with the fetal hydantoin syndrome and neuroblastoma), or whether these findings are purely coincidental. Clinicians and pathologists should, however, be advised to look more closely for even minimally pronounced forms of the fetal alcohol syndrome in children with embryonic tumours.
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PMID:[Fetal alcohol syndrome and malignant tumors]. 689 Jul 44

This is the first patient report of maternal ingestion of anticonvulsants associated with the triad of fetal hydantoin syndrome, neuroblastoma, and hemorrhagic disease. The neuroblastoma, a neural crest tumor, is the fourth of such origin reported after in utero exposure to phenytoin, suggesting that phenytoin is a transplacental carcinogen. Infants of epileptic mothers receiving anticonvulsants should be closely examined at birth for the fetal hydantoin syndrome and monitored for hemorrhagic problems. The neural crest tumor may be found at birth or later in childhood.
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PMID:Fetal hydantoin syndrome, neuroblastoma, and hemorrhagic disease in a neonate. 742 Jun 37

There has been considerable debate about the relationship between epilepsy and cancer, in particular whether the incidence of cancer is increased in people with epilepsy and whether antiepileptic drugs promote or protect against cancer. We review available evidence from animal experiments, genotoxicity studies and clinico-epidemiological observations, and discuss proposed mechanisms underlying the association between epilepsy and cancer. A carcinoma-promoting effect has been seen unequivocally in rodent models for phenobarbital and phenytoin; phenobarbital promoted liver tumours and phenytoin caused lymphoid cell and liver tumours in rats. Early human epidemiological studies found an association between phenobarbital and hepatocellular carcinoma, and several subsequent studies suggested an association with lung cancer. An association with brain tumours has also been demonstrated. Phenytoin has been causally implicated in three human cancers: lymphoma, myeloma and neuroblastoma, the latter specifically in the setting of foetal hydantoin syndrome. However, despite considerable long-term pharmaco-epidemiological data being available for both antiepileptic drugs, evidence for human carcinogenicity is not consistent and both are considered only possibly carcinogenic to humans. Valproate, however, has been found to exert an antiproliferative effect on certain cancer cell lines both in vitro and in vivo. A corresponding cancer-suppressive effect has not been studied in human epidemiological studies, though there are now preliminary reports of the use of valproate in human haematological and solid tumours. The anticancer activity of valproate appears to be driven by histone deacetylase inhibition and to be independent of hormone or multidrug protein resistance dependent mechanisms. The newer antiepileptic drugs appear to be safe, as no carcinogenicity has been demonstrated either during regulatory testing or in post-marketing surveillance. Nevertheless, the subject of cancers and epilepsy constitutes a promising agenda for clinical and experimental research in the future.
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PMID:Cancer risk in people with epilepsy: the role of antiepileptic drugs. 1557 65