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)

This article highlights the surgeon's role in childhood cancer especially as it relates to local control of solid tumors, research, and surgical supportive care. There is a trend toward preresection chemotherapy, and rarely, radiotherapy. This may allow safer, less extensive, and function-preserving delayed resection in neuroblastoma, hepatoblastoma, bone tumors, and nephroblastoma in selected patients without negatively affecting outcome. Ultimately, complete resection for most tumors, even advanced neuroblastomas, significantly improves survival. Organ transplantation allows complete resection with good survival in children with otherwise nonresectable liver tumors. In non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, resection should not be attempted, except for localized disease and if complete resection is possible. Second-look procedures have limited value in lymphoma, but have an important role in germ cell tumors. The differentiation of typhlitis from appendicitis is critical in the neutropenic patient to avoid life-threatening complications. Studies of venous access devices show a clear benefit of totally implantable devices in preventing dislodgment and decreasing the rate of infection. Neuroblastoma models are fertile soil for research into tumor biology and novel treatment modalities. Surgeons continue to play crucial roles in childhood oncology.
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PMID:Pediatric surgical oncology. 839 39

In this study of cancer in offspring we demonstrate that factors linked to horticulture and use of pesticides are associated with cancer at an early age, whereas factors in animal husbandry, in particular poultry farming, are associated with cancers in later childhood and young adulthood. Incident cancer was investigated in offspring born in 1952-1991 to parents identified as farm holders in agricultural censuses in Norway in 1969-1989. In the follow-up of 323,292 offspring for 5.7 million person-years, 1,275 incident cancers were identified in the Cancer Registry for 1965-1991. The standardized incidence for all cancers was equal to the total rural population of Norway, but cohort subjects had an excess incidence of nervous-system tumours and testicular cancers in certain regions and strata of time that could imply that specific risk factors were of importance. Classification of exposure indicators was based on information given at the agricultural censuses. Risk factors were found for brain tumours, in particular non-astrocytic neuroepithelial tumours: for all ages, pig farming tripled the risk [rate ratio (RR), 3.11; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.89-5.13]; indicators of pesticide use had an independent effect of the same magnitude in a dose-response fashion, strongest in children aged 0 to 14 years (RR, 3.37; 95% CI, 1.63-6.94). Horticulture and pesticide indicators were associated with all cancers at ages 0 to 4 years, Wilms' tumour, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, eye cancer and neuroblastoma. Chicken farming was associated with some common cancers of adolescence, and was strongest for osteosarcoma and mixed cellular type of Hodgkin's disease. The main problem in this large cohort study is the crude exposure indicators available; the resulting misclassification is likely to bias any true association towards unity.
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PMID:Cancer in offspring of parents engaged in agricultural activities in Norway: incidence and risk factors in the farm environment. 854 94

Because paediatric solid tumours are usually highly chemosensitive, conventional-dose adjuvant chemotherapy has improved survival rates for the majority of paediatric patients. However, high-dose regimens are being explored for the treatment of tumours not curable by, or resistant to, conventional treatment. The use of high-dose melphalan and the BACT regime have produced encouraging results in neuroblastoma and Ewing's sarcoma, and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma respectively. Haematopoietic growth factors have also emerged as useful adjuncts both to conventional therapy and in megatherapy with bone marrow transplantation (BMT). Thus, granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) (filgrastim) given to children with disseminated neuroblastoma receiving intensive chemotherapy significantly reduced the duration of febrile neutropenia and led to significantly fewer cycles of chemotherapy requiring antibiotic support. Studies are currently underway to compare the use of autologous BMT with that of peripheral blood progenitor cell (PBPC) rescue in children with solid tumours receiving high-dose chemotherapy. The studies will explore the reduction in thrombocytopenia achievable with PBPC and also the effect of filgrastim on the duration of neutropenia and fever. It seems that haematopoietic growth factors have an important supportive role to play in the treatment of paediatric solid tumours.
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PMID:New strategies for the application of high-dose chemotherapy with haematopoietic support in paediatric solid tumours. 875 Jan 39

We investigated the long-term pulmonary sequelae of 38 children surviving 3 to 11.5 years (median 7 years) after high-dose chemotherapy (HDC) and autologous bone marrow transplantation (ABMT) without TBI. This cross-sectional study included patients with neuroblastoma (21), non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (7), Ewing's sarcoma (5), rhabdomyosarcoma (3), medulloblastoma (1) and ALL (1). They were asked and examined for clinical signs and underwent a physical examination with chest X-ray; 33/38 had pulmonary function tests (PFT) performed. No obstructive disease was found. Fifteen out of 32 evaluable PFT (47%) were abnormal with a pulmonary restrictive syndrome in 10, and borderline values in five patients. Four of these 15 patients were symptomatic with exertional dyspnea and two of four had abnormal chest X-rays. The etiology was mainly multifactorial, associating HDC with thoracic radiotherapy +/- scoliosis/kyphosis +/- previous thoracotomy +/- post-ABMT interstitial pneumonitis. Only 3/10 patients with a restrictive syndrome had HDC containing BCNU or busulfan as the only risk factor for lung disease. We conclude that the prevalence of late pulmonary sequelae after ABMT without TBI is moderate and rarely due to HDC alone, since most abnormal PFT can be explained by heavy pretreatment prior to ABMT. As symptoms are scarce even in advanced disease, repeated testing and very long-term follow-up are needed.
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PMID:Long-term pulmonary sequelae after autologous bone marrow transplantation in children without total body irradiation. 875 Feb 68

Population-based data from the Texas Cancer Registry were used to describe the incidence of cancer in 1990 among Texas residents younger than 20 years. A total of 788 primary malignant neoplasms were diagnosed. Higher incidence of all cancers was observed among Texas Anglo children compared with Hispanics or African-Americans, and lower rates of central nervous system (CNS) neoplasms were seen among Hispanics. Compared with national data, significantly fewer cases of all cancers combined, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, neuroblastoma, and CNS neoplasms were seen in Texas Hispanics. The overall incidence of leukemia and acute nonlymphocytic leukemia (ANLL) was highest in Hispanics compared with other Texas children, and a three-fold statistically significant excess of ANLL was evident in Hispanic females compared with national whites. In summary, the incidence of cancer in Texas Hispanic children and adolescents differs from that seen in other racial and ethnic groups. Incidence data for Texas provide additional insight into the descriptive nature of childhood and adolescent cancers.
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PMID:Incidence of childhood and adolescent cancer in Texas. 876 50

There has been much progress in the cytogenesis, and molecular biology of bone tumours such as Ewing sarcoma and osteosarcomas, greatly improving diagnostic possibilities and prognosis. Ewing's sarcoma is an indifferentiated sarcoma with round cells which usually occurs in children or adolescents. Ewing's sarcoma corresponds to 6% of all bone tumours. Histologically Ewing's sarcoma belongs to a group of small round cell tumours including neuroblastoma, embryon and alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. Differential diagnosis is difficult. Cytogenetic examinations can now differentiate Ewing's sarcoma from other small round cell tumours. There is a specific 11:12 translocation (q24; q12) which can be used as a marker.
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PMID:[Cytogenetics of bone sarcomas]. 878 22

The occurrence of multidrug resistance (MDR) is one of the main obstacles in the successful chemotherapeutic treatment of cancer. MDR cell lines are resistant to the so-called naturally occurring anti-cancer drugs, such as anthracyclines, Vinca alkaloids and epipodophyllotoxins, but are not cross-resistant to alkylating agents, antimetabolites and cisplatin. So far, three separate forms of MDR have been characterized in more detail: classical MDR, non-Pgp MDR and atypical MDR. Although all three MDR phenotypes have much in common with respect to cross-resistance patterns, the underlying mechanisms certainly differ. Atypical MDR is associated with quantitative and qualitative alterations in topoisomerase II alpha, a nuclear enzyme that actively participates in the lethal action of cytotoxic drugs. Atypical MDR cells do not overexpress P-glycoprotein, and are unaltered in their ability to accumulate drugs. In this review we will focus on classical and non-Pgp MDR. The molecular mechanism of classical and non-Pgp MDR is transcriptional activation of membrane-bound transport proteins. These transport proteins belong to the ATP-binding cassette (ABC) superfamily of transport systems. The classical MDR phenotype is characterized by a reduced ability to accumulate drugs, due to activity of an energy-dependent uni-directional, membrane-bound, drug-efflux pump with broad substrate specificity. The classical MDR drug pump is composed of a transmembrane glycoprotein (P-glyco-protein-Pgp) with a molecular weight of 170 kD, and is, in man, encoded by the so-called multidrug resistance (MDR1) gene. Typically, non-Pgp MDR has no P-gly-coprotein expression, yet has about the same cross-resistance pattern as classical MDR. This non-Pgp MDR phenotype is caused by overexpression of the multidrug resistance-associated protein (MRP) gene, which encodes a 190 kD membrane-bound glycoprotein (MRP). MRP probably works by direct extrusion of cytotoxic drugs from the cell and/or by mediating sequestration of the drugs into intracellular compartments, both leading to a reduction in effective intracellular drug concentrations. For the classical MDR phenotype, evidence is accumulating that it plays a role indeed, in clinical drug resistance, especially in some hematological malignancies (acute myeloid leukemia, multiple myeloma and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma) and solid tumors (soft tissue sarcomas and neuroblastoma). The association of MRP with clinical drug resistance has not been elaborated, yet, and studies on MRP expression in human cancer have just begun. We found that overexpression of MRP, as determined by RNase protection assay as well as by immunohistochemistry, occurs in several human cancers, among which are cancer of the lung, esophagus, breast and ovary, and leukemias. Further studies are indicated to establish whether elevated MRP expression at diagnosis is an unfavorable prognostic factor for clinical outcome of chemotherapy.
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PMID:Molecular mechanisms of multidrug resistance in cancer chemotherapy. 888 Aug 78

We investigated the in vitro antitumor activity of monocytes derived from autologous bone marrow transplanted (ABMT) patients treated in vivo with granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF). Thirty-four patients (17 female, 17 male), median age 42 (range 3-57) years, were enrolled in the study. Fourteen patients were diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL), eight with Hodgkin's disease (HD), nine with breast cancer and three with neuroblastoma. Six patients who did not receive GM-CSF post-ABMT served as controls. We assessed cytotoxicity, antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC), expression of the activation antigen CD16, and cytokine production by an enriched population of monocytes (> 90% CD+14) pre-, during and post-GM-CSF administration. Within the group of patients receiving treatment, ADCC was significantly higher during in vivo GM-CSF administration than post-therapy (P < 0.05) and in 50% of these patients, ADCC increased during in vivo GM-CSF administration over pretreatment values. In addition, in vivo GM-CSF administration caused the monocytes to secrete elevated levels of tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) and GM-CSF (P < 0.05). We conclude that GM-CSF augments monocyte-mediated cytotoxicity post-ABMT, and therefore may have a role in controlling minimal residual disease post-transplant.
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PMID:Granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor dependent monocyte-mediated cytotoxicity post-autologous bone marrow transplantation. 891 16

In the framework of the ITACARE project, a cooperative investigation conducted on the data from the Italian population-based cancer registries, survival of patients with childhood malignant neoplasms was studied. The study included 1,768 cases diagnosed at age 0-14 plus 29 osteosarcoma cases diagnosed at age 15-19. Cases were collected over the period 1978-1989, or more limited periods for some participating registries. A total of 1,138 cases were from the Childhood Cancer Registry of Piedmont and 659 from the registries operating in the provinces of Varese, Parma, Modena, Forli and Ravenna, Florence, Latina, Ragusa and in the cities of Genova and Torino (the last contributed only for bone neoplasm diagnosed at age 15-19). Overall 5-year survival was 54% for malignancies diagnosed in 1978-1981, 60% for the period 1982-1985; and 69% for the period 1986-1989. The range among registries of 5-year survival for cases diagnosed in 1986-1989 was 55-78%. Most diagnostic categories presented an improved prognosis for the cases diagnosed more recently. For cases diagnosed in 1986-1989, 5-year survival was: 74% for acute lymphatic leukaemia, 40% for acute non-lymphatic leukaemia, 65% for central nervous system neoplasms (76% for astrocytoma, 75% for ependymoma and 85% for medulloblastoma), 66% for osteosarcoma, 55% for Ewing's sarcoma, 87% for Hodgkin's disease, 64% for non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, 74% for rhabdomyosarcoma, 64% for neuroblastoma, 78% for nephroblastoma and 100% for retinoblastoma. Italian survival was similar to that observed in other population-based surveys in the UK and USA.
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PMID:Survival of childhood cancer patients in Italy, 1978-1989. ITACARE Working Group. 915 68

Solid malignant tumours (n = 263) excluding brain and spinal cord tumours in children up to 14 years of age were studied. Retinoblastoma (27%) constituted the largest group followed by Wilms' tumour (14.1%) and lymphoma (13.7%). Most patients (55%) were of less than 5 years age and maximum incidence of embryonal tumours was found in this age group; other tumours were more frequent in higher age. A male preponderance was noted (male to female ratio as 1.6:1). Amongst lymphoma, 61% were non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and rest were Hodgkin's disease; 2 cases of Burkitt's lymphoma were found. Other notable tumours encountered in the study were embryonal rhabdomyosarcoma (n = 14), hepatoblastoma (n = 9), neuroblastoma (n = 7), Ewing's sarcoma (n = 21), osteogenic sarcoma (n = 19) and germ cell tumours (n = 14).
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PMID:Pattern of solid malignant tumours in children--a ten-year study. 935 72


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