Treatment of Childhood Acute Myeloid Leukemia in Bulgaria.

Background: During the last four decades the prognosis of childhood acute myeloid leukemia (AML) has been substantially improved due to an increase in complete remission (CR) rates, event-free survival (EFS) and reduced early mortality. The relapsed AML still remains a therapeutic challenge.

Aim: To report the AML treatment results of the Bulgarian pediatric oncohematological centers.

Cerebellar Degeneration as a Rare Paraneoplastic Syndrome in a Child With Hodgkin Lymphoma.

We report a rare case of cerebellar degeneration as a paraneoplastic syndrome in an 8-year-old boy with Hodgkin lymphoma that presented during first-line treatment. Antibodies against Purkinje cells (anti-Tr antibodies) were detected in the serum of the patient. After successful treatment of the lymphoma, the cerebellar symptoms resolved partially.

Diagnosis and treatment of pleuropulmonary blastoma-single center experience.

Pleuropulmonary blastoma (PPB) is a rare and potentially aggressive intrathoracic disembryonic neoplasm typically occurring in children less than 6 years of age. We assessed the relative incidence, clinical characteristics, treatment outcome, and the prognostic factors for long-term survival in patients with PPB treated at our institution over a 25-year period, and compared these data with reports in the literature. From 1985 to 2010, 11 children (4 males and 7 females), with a median age of 5.

Successful mobilization of peripheral blood stem cells in children with cancer using plerixafor (Mozobil) and granulocyte-colony stimulating factor.

This paper describes the successful mobilization of peripheral blood stem cells for autologous transplantation in three children with malignant diseases by using plerixafor (Mozobil; Genzyme Corporation, Cambridge, MA) and granulocyte-colony stimulating factor (G-CSF) after failed previous mobilizations. A median sixfold increase in the number of circulating CD34+ cells after plerixafor treatment as compared with the baseline level was observed. An optimal CD34+ cell count for transplantation with one or two leukapheresis sessions was achieved.