Myelofibrosis in children: experience at a single tertiary care center in India.

The authors describe 10 cases of myelofibrosis diagnosed and managed at their center over 16 years. There were 2 and 8 cases, respectively, of primary and secondary myelofibrosis. All patients presented with fever, pallor, hepatosplenomegaly, and/or lymphadenopathy.

Pattern of relapse in childhood ALL: challenges and lessons from a uniform treatment protocol.

This retrospective analysis of 254 children less than 15 years of age treated with MCP-841 protocol from June 1992 to June 2002 was undertaken to identify the pattern of relapse and determine management lacunae. Two hundred twenty-three (87.8%) children achieved a complete remission of whom 40 (17.

Pontomedullary hemorrhage due to vascular malformation of basilar artery after treatment for acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

In this letter the authors describe an acute lymphoblastic leukemia survivor with pontomedulary hemorrhage due to basilar artery malformation. Pathogenesis and management are discussed.

Low apoptotic index & bak expression in EBV-associated childhood classical Hodgkin lymphoma.

Background & Objective: Association of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) with Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) is particularly high in low-income countries, and resistance to apoptosis might play a role in pathogenesis and survival. Data from previous studies are not consistent, and none is available in children. Thus this study was undertaken on Indian children with classical Hodgkin lymphoma to assess the significance of bcl-2, bak and p53 expression, and apoptotic index in relation with EBV status and treatment outcome with chemotherapy alone.

Proliferative index and CD15 expression in pediatric classical Hodgkin lymphoma.

Background: This study was conducted to assess the clinical and prognostic significance of lack of CD15 expression, proliferative index (PI), and expression of tumor suppressor protein p53 in pediatric classical Hodgkin lymphoma (CHL).

Procedure: Pre-treatment lymph node (LN) biopsies were studied by immunohistochemistry for immunophenotyping of the lymphoma and with Ki-67 (PI) and p53 antibodies. Expression of CD15 antigen on the Hodgkin and Reed-Sternberg (H-RS) cells, proliferation, and apoptosis parameters were correlated with clinical stage, response to chemotherapy alone, overall (OS) and failure-free survival (FFS).

Hodgkin's lymphoma in Indian children: prevalence and significance of Epstein-Barr virus detection in Hodgkin's and Reed-Sternberg cells.

Aim: This study was done to document the prevalence of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) in Hodgkin's lymphoma (HL) in children of North India.

Methods: 145 previously untreated children diagnosed with HL from 1991 to 2003 were included. Lymph node (LN) biopsies were studied and classified using World Health Organisation (WHO) classification.

Epidemiology of childhood Hodgkins disease: is it different in developing countries?

Childhood Hodgkins Disease (HD) is a lymphoma that displays characteristic epidemiological, clinical and pathological features according to various geographic areas, particularly according to the socio-economic level of a given country. India presents a similar sex, age and subtype distribution as other emerging countries: high male-to-female ratio, younger age at presentation, high proportion of advanced stages and presence of constitutional symptoms, predominance of mixed cellularity type of HD. The etiology of HD is still the subject of controversy and investigation, but it may occur as a sequel of a viral infection during early childhood, such as Epstein-Barr virus (EBV).

Atypical pyoderma gangrenosum as a manifestation of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

Pyoderma gangrenosum is a neutrophilic dermatosis that may occur idiopathically or in association with various systemic diseases and malignancy. Although the association of this entity with myeloid malignancies is well known, its association with lymphoid malignancy is extremely rare. We describe atypical pyoderma gangrenosum in association with acute lymphoblastic leukemia in a 2-year-old child, an occurrence not reported before.

Current strategies in the treatment of childhood Hodgkins disease.

Dramatic changes in the treatment of childhood Hodgkins disease have taken place during the past three decades. Contemporary combined modality treatment regimens produce durable disease-free survival in 90 to 100%of patients with early disease and in 70 to 85%of patients with advanced disease. Studies using chemotherapy alone also report high survival rates, and current studies are few to highlight the superiority of chemo-radiotherapy vs.

Hodgkin's disease in Indian children: outcome with chemotherapy alone.

Background: To assess the efficacy of chemotherapy alone, using four cycles of COPP alternating with four cycles of ABVD in all stages of childhood Hodgkin's disease (HD).

Procedure: Between January 1991 and February 2001, 148 previously untreated patients were investigated, treated, and analyzed for remission and survival.

Results: There were 134 boys and 14 girls with a median age of 8 years, 75% were less than 10 years old.

Significance of splenomegaly in childhood Hodgkin disease.

Objectives: Spleen involvement in childhood Hodgkin disease (HD) has not been described extensively. The authors' purpose was to study the clinicoradiologic features and prognostic significance of splenomegaly and that of splenic involvement in childhood HD.

Methods: One hundred forty-one children presenting with HD between January 1991 and February 2001 and treated with chemotherapy alone (4 COPP/4 ABVD) were included in the study.

Visual outcome in macular retinoblastoma treated with primary chemotherapy.

In this prospective clinical study, we treated 8 patients (8 eyes, 11 tumors) of macular retinoblastoma with chemotherapy alone, with the aim of avoiding visual loss because of retinal damage by radiation or adjuvant therapy and to assess their final visual outcome. The mean basal dimension of the tumor was 5.0 +/- 2.