Obesity and hypertension among children after treatment for acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

Background: The purpose was to determine the prevalence and treatment-related risk factors for obesity and hypertension among childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) survivors treated with contemporary therapy.

Methods: In a single-center longitudinal study, serial body mass indices (BMI) and blood pressure (BP) measurements of children ages 2-20 at time of ALL diagnosis and enrolled on pediatric cooperative group trials from 1993-2003 were abstracted from medical records and converted to population-referenced z-scores.

Results: Among 165 study participants, BMI z-scores increased significantly between diagnosis (median age 4.

Timing of menarche among survivors of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia: a report from the Childhood Cancer Survivor Study.

Background: The objective of this study was to determine risk factors associated with abnormal timing of menarche among survivors of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL).

Procedure: Self-reported age of menarche was determined among 949 female ALL survivors participating in the Childhood Cancer Survivor Study (CCSS), a cohort of 5-year survivors of common pediatric cancers diagnosed from 1970 to 1986, and compared with 1,128 siblings.

Results: The majority of survivors (92%) and siblings (97%) reported menarche between the ages of 10 and 16.

Exploration of whole-genome responses of the human AIDS-associated yeast pathogen Cryptococcus neoformans var grubii: nitric oxide stress and body temperature.

Cryptococcus neoformans var grubii is an opportunistic basidiomycete yeast pathogen that is a significant cause of HIV/AIDS-related deaths worldwide. We describe a whole-genome oligonucleotide microarray for this pathogen. These arrays have been used to elucidate the transcriptional responses of the genome to heat shock as well as to two conditions relevant to human infections: body temperature and nitric oxide (NO) stress produced by the NO donor DPTA-NONOate.

Decreased adult height in survivors of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia: a report from the Childhood Cancer Survivor Study.

Objective: To determine risk factors associated with reduced adult height in survivors of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL).

Study Design: This was a cross-sectional study. Attained adult height was determined among 2434 ALL survivors participating in the Childhood Cancer Survivor Study, a cohort of 5-year survivors of common pediatric cancers diagnosed from 1970 to 1986, and compared with 3009 siblings.

Parallel beta-helix proteins required for accurate capsule polysaccharide synthesis and virulence in the yeast Cryptococcus neoformans.

The principal capsular polysaccharide of the opportunistic fungal pathogen Cryptococcus neoformans consists of an alpha-1,3-linked mannose backbone decorated with a repeating pattern of glucuronyl and xylosyl side groups. This structure is critical for virulence, yet little is known about how the polymer, called glucuronoxylomannan (GXM), is faithfully synthesized and assembled. We have generated deletions in two genes encoding predicted parallel beta-helix repeat proteins, which we have designated PBX1 and PBX2.

Maternal and perinatal characteristics in relation to neuroblastoma.

Background: Neuroblastoma is the most common malignancy among infants, but risk factors remain poorly understood. Because most patients present in the first few years of life, it has been hypothesized that prenatal and perinatal exposures may contribute to the pathogenesis of neuroblastoma.

Methods: A population-based case-control study was conducted by using linked birth and cancer registry records from 1980 to 2004 in Washington State.

Blood transfusions as a risk factor for non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in the San Francisco Bay Area: a population-based study.

The incidence of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) has risen dramatically over the past 50 years. In the search for new risk factors, blood transfusions have been investigated and shown to be associated with subsequent lymphoma in some studies. The authors tested this association in a population-based, case-control study conducted between 1988 and 1995 in the San Francisco Bay Area of California.