The economic burden of caregiving on families of children and adolescents with cancer: a population-based assessment.

Background: Childhood cancer represents a relevant economic burden on families. The preferred tool to investigate family expenditure is the retrospective questionnaire, which is subject to recall errors and selection bias. Therefore, in the present study the economic burden of caregiving on families of children and adolescents (0-19 years of age) with cancer was analysed using administrative data as an alternative to retrospective questionnaires.

Acute hemorrhagic edema of infancy: a troubling cutaneous presentation with a self-limiting course.

Acute hemorrhagic edema of infancy (AHEI) is an unusual form of leukocytoclastic vasculitis with dramatic distinguishing skin lesions that occurs in infants ages 4 to 24 months old. The disease presents with skin eruptions that usually start with large (1-5 cm), symmetrically distributed, hemorrhagic lesions in a characteristic cockade pattern. The lesions are typically located on the lower extremities, face (in particular the ears, cheeks, and eyelids), and gluteal area.

A complex karyotype including a t(2;11) in a paediatric ependymoma: case report and review of the literature.

Ependymomas are glial tumours representing approximately 5-10% of all intracranial tumours and are the third most common primary brain tumour in childhood. Only a few karyotypic studies on paediatric ependymomas have been published and no specific chromosomal aberration has been specifically related to this type of cancer. We performed cytogenetic analysis of an ependymoma in an 11-year-old boy.

Inhibition of heat shock proteins (HSP) expression by quercetin and differential doxorubicin sensitization in neuroblastoma and Ewing's sarcoma cell lines.

Neuroblastoma (NB) and Ewing's sarcoma (ES) represent the most common extracranial solid tumors of childhood. Heat shock proteins (HSP) are elevated in cancer cells and their over-expression was correlated to drug-resistance. In this work we identified the HSP by a sensitive proteomic analysis of NB and ES cell lines, then, we studied the HSP response to doxorubicin.

Flow cytometric evaluation of circulating CD34+ cell counts and apoptotic rate in children with acquired aplastic anemia and myelodysplasia.

Objective: Identification of a rapid and noninvasive test for the follow-up of aplastic anemia (AA) patients during immunosuppressive therapy (IST) to evaluate its functional effect on hematopoietic progenitors (HPC) and for early detection of progression to myelodysplasia or relapse.

Materials And Methods: Absolute count and apoptotic rate (AR) of peripheral blood (PB) CD34+ cells were evaluated by three-color flow cytometry for CD45, CD34, and annexin V in cord blood (CB), normal children, and adults, as well as in pediatric patients with AA at diagnosis and during IST, Fanconi anemia (FA), chronic immune cytopenia, and refractory anemia with excess blasts (RAEB).

Results: In normal subjects, the AR of PB CD34+ cells showed a progressive increase (p < 0.