22q11.2 deletion syndrome (22q11.2DS) is one of the most common congenital malformation syndromes resulting from disrupted embryonic development of pharyngeal pouches.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAdrenocortical carcinoma (ACC) is a rare cancer in childhood. ACC is frequently associated with germline variants, with founder effects especially due to the p.Arg337His mutation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNeutropenia is a hematological condition characterized by a decrease in absolute neutrophil count (ANC) in peripheral blood, typically classified in adults as mild (1-1.5 × 10/L), moderate (0.5-1 × 10/L), or severe (< 0.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHemophilia A (HA), a rare recessive X-linked bleeding disorder, is caused by either deficiency or dysfunction of coagulation factor VIII (FVIII) resulting from deleterious mutations in the F8 gene encoding FVIII. Over the last 4 decades, the methods aimed at determining the HA carrier status in female relatives of HA patients have evolved from phenotypic studies based on coagulation tests providing merely probabilistic results, via genetic linkage studies based on polymorphic markers providing more accurate results, to next generation sequencing studies enabling highly precise identification of the causative F8 mutation. In parallel, the options for prenatal diagnosis of HA have progressed from examination of FVIII levels in fetal blood samples at weeks 20-22 of pregnancy to genetic analysis of fetal DNA extracted from chorionic villus tissue at weeks 11-14 of pregnancy.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCongenital defects of neutrophil number or function are associated with a severe infectious phenotype that may require intensive medical attention and interventions to be controlled. While the infectious complications in inherited neutrophil disorders are easily understood much less clear and explained are autoimmune and autoinflammatory phenomena. We survey the clinical burden of autoimmunity/autoinflammation in this setting, search for common patterns, discuss potential mechanisms and emerging treatments.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFVenetoclax, the best established BH3-mimetic, is a practice-changing proapoptotic drug in blood cancers in adults. In paediatrics the data are fewer but exciting results were recently presented in relapsed or refractory leukaemias demonstrating significant clinical activity. Importantly, the in-terventions could be potentially molecularly guided as vulnerabilities to BH3-mimetics were re-ported.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAn assay for neutrophil-specific antibodies is frequently used in the workup of chronic severe neutropenia and is suggestive of autoimmune, or sporadically alloimmune neutropenia, rather than severe congenital neutropenia (SCN). We analyzed a neutropenia consortium database for the outcomes of antibody testing initiated before receiving genetic diagnosis in Polish SCN cohort. Test results, performed in a single reference laboratory, were available for 14 patients with ELANE-mutated SCN or cyclic neutropenia, and were frequently positive (36%).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDyskeratosis congenita (DC) is a bone marrow failure syndrome with extrahematopoietic abnormalities. DC is a paradigmatic telomere biology disorder (TBD) caused by germline mutations in genes responsible for telomere maintenance including TERT. Cryptic TBD is a bone marrow failure syndrome due to premature telomere shortening but without additional symptoms, frequently clinically indistinguishable from severe aplastic anemia (SAA) or hypoplastic myelodysplastic syndrome.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBMC Cancer
June 2022
Although isolated central nervous system (CNS) relapses are rare, they may become a serious clinical problem in intensively treated patients with high-risk neuroblastoma (NBL). The aim of this study is the presentation and assessment of the incidence and clinical course of isolated CNS relapses. Retrospective analysis involved 848 NBL patients treated from 2001 to 2019 at 8 centres of the Polish Paediatric Solid Tumours Study Group (PPSTSG).
View Article and Find Full Text PDF18q deletion syndrome (OMIM #601808) results from a deletion of a part of a long arm of 18 chromosome and is characterized by mental retardation and congenital malformations. We present an exceptional case of a 12-year-old girl with severe phenotype of 18q deletion syndrome, frequent infections, type 1 diabetes, autoimmune thyroiditis, and vitiligo. At first, the patient was diagnosed with selective immunoglobulin A (sIgAD) which explained her susceptibility to both infections and autoimmunity.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWhile the management of childhood neutropenia associated with a modifiable factor should be appropriate for the primary cause, there are misconceptions regarding the management of severe congenital neutropenia, immune neutropenia and cases classified as "idiopathic". Antibiotic prophylaxis or granulocyte-colony stimulating factor (G-CSF) are prescribed by specialists in pediatric hematology or immunology, whereas immunization may be conducted by primary care physicians should clear recommendations by provided. There is a belief that severe neutropenia, as an immunodeficiency, is associated with compromised effectiveness and increased rate of complications of immunization.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFToxocariasis is one of the most common zoonoses, with high seroprevalence in apparently healthy individuals. Neuroblastoma is an aggressive childhood cancer. The cure rates are improving due to dose-dense chemotherapy, progress in surgical practice, myeloablative therapy with autologous stem cell transplantation, and recently, anti-GD2 immunotherapy.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPeripheral blood hematopoietic stem cell mobilization is widely performed in a variety of clinical facilities and is believed to be a safe outpatient procedure. In this report, we describe a child with neuroblastoma who developed an extremely severe acute lung injury after granulocyte colony-stimulating factor was used for peripheral hematopoietic stem cell mobilization. A 3-year-old boy with a medical history of patent foramen ovale and secundum atrial septal defect was diagnosed with an MYCN-amplified neuroblastoma and treated with chemotherapy.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: Female hemophilia is an intriguing rare disorder and few larger reports on its genetic etiology are available. While historically the diagnosis was satisfactorily reached by factor VIII activity assays, the clinical and potentially therapeutic heterogeneity of female hemophilia calls for comprehensive molecular diagnosis in each case. Currently, the genetic investigations are not a part of routine, state-funded, diagnostics in Poland, and thus molecular epidemiological data are missing.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAmplification of the oncogene is the most unfavorable genetic factor in neuroblastoma patients. However, knowledge about the clinical impact of low-level multiplication of is still insufficient. Therefore, we aimed to investigate the disease course in patients with different copy number status of .
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: L-asparaginase (L-asp) remains one of the key components of acute lymphoblastic leukemia therapy. Immune reactions to the drug are associated with its diminished activity. The aim of the study was to determine the level of IgM, IgG and IgE-class anti-L-asp antibodies during the induction and reinduction phases of acute lymphoblastic leukemia therapy and their influence on L-asp activity.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAim Of The Study: presentation of the uncommon paraneoplastic syndromes related to the gastrointestinal tract that may occur in children with neuroblastic tumors and their impact on the disease course.
Material And Methods: Retrospective analysis of three cases of patients mainly with digestive tract-related symptoms, who were originally admitted to the gastroenterology department from 2013 to 2016 and were finally diagnosed with neuroblastic tumors.
Results: The clinical data analysis showed that the symptoms from gastrointestinal tract were dominant in analyzed subjects.
There are clear gaps in our understanding of genes and pathways through which cancer cells facilitate survival strategies as they become chemoresistant. Paclitaxel is used in the treatment of many cancers, but development of drug resistance is common. Along with being an antimitotic agent paclitaxel also activates endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFElectrolyte abnormalities are hallmark metabolic disturbances during the treatment of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). Hyponatremia is an ominous laboratory sign in the setting of neoplasia. We analyzed the incidence, risk factors, associations, specific interventions and outcomes of severe hyponatremia in a single-center series of children with ALL.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWhile cancer has been long recognized as a disease of the genome, the importance of epigenetic mechanisms in neoplasia was acknowledged more recently. The most active epigenetic marks are DNA methylation and histone protein modifications and they are involved in basic biological phenomena in every cell. Their role in tumorigenesis is stressed by recent unbiased large-scale studies providing evidence that several epigenetic modifiers are recurrently mutated or frequently dysregulated in multiple cancers.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWe have recently described a severe haemophilia A and moyamoya (SHAM) syndrome caused by Xq28 deletions encompassing F8 and the BRCC3 familial moyamoya gene. The phenotype includes haemophilia A, moyamoya angiopathy, dysmorphia and hypertension. The genetic analysis of the family of our SHAM patient demonstrated carrier state in proband's mother and sister.
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