Publications by authors named "Maria S Felice"

High-dose methotrexate is an effective and safe therapy. It is included in the treatment regimens of various hematologic and oncologic diseases. The acute and severe toxicity of this chemotherapeutic agent is unusual.

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Background: Inborn Errors of Immunity (IEI) comprise several genetic anomalies that affect different components of the innate and adaptive responses, predisposing to infectious diseases, autoimmunity and malignancy. Different studies, mostly in adults, have reported a higher prevalence of cancer in IEI patients. However, in part due to the rarity of most of these IEI subtypes (classified in ten categories by the Primary Immunodeficiency Committee of the International Union of Immunological Societies), it is difficult to assess the risk in a large number of patients, especially during childhood.

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The outcome of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection in cancer pediatric patients was initially uncertain. The objective of this study was to describe the characteristics and outcome of cancer patients and hematopoietic stem cell transplant recipients from 0 to 19 years with detectable SARS-CoV-2 from April 23, 2020, to April 30, 2022, treated in a tertiary-level hospital in Argentina. A total of 348 cases were registered in 339 patients.

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Article Synopsis
  • - The study analyzed 6,187 pediatric patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), focusing on minimal residual disease (MRD) assessment through flow cytometry (FCM) and the effects of different methotrexate (MTX) doses on survival rates.
  • - Key findings revealed that 5-year event-free survival (EFS) rates were 75.2%, with variations based on risk groups: standard risk (90.7%), intermediate risk (77.9%), and high risk (60.8%).
  • - Results indicated that MRD could be effectively assessed with FCM, and that while both MTX doses tested were similarly effective, the augmented treatment protocol showed no significant survival benefits over the standard
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The infiltration of leukemia cells into the skin, known as leukemia cutis, is a rare presentation of this disease and accounts for a diagnostic challenge. The main differential diagnoses include infections, other neoplastic diseases with skin involvement and histiocytic disorders, among others, as they entail different prognostic and therapeutic approaches. Here we describe two patients who were initially diagnosed with leukemia cutis, whose final diagnosis was of non-malignant diseases.

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Children with Down syndrome (DS) are at an increased risk of developing clonal myeloproliferative disorders. The balance between treatment intensity and treatment-related toxicity has not yet been defined. We analyzed this population to identify risk factors and optimal treatment.

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An association of deletions in the IKZF1 gene (IKZF1del) with poor prognosis in acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) has been demonstrated. Additional deletions in other genes (IKZF1plus) define different IKZF1del subsets. We analyzed the influence of IKZF1del and/or IKZF1plus in the survival of children with ALL.

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Background: Retinoblastoma survivors in low- and middle-income countries are exposed to high-intensity treatments that potentially place them at higher risk of early subsequent malignant neoplasms (SMNs).

Methods: We followed 714 (403 [56.4%] nonhereditary and 311 [43.

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Acute leukemias are the most common neoplasm in pediatric patients. Currently, 80% of children with diagnosis of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) are cured with conventional chemotherapy, but 20% of them will have a recurrence of the disease. Measurable Residual Disease (MRD) has been described as an important prognostic factor that allows evaluating the response of patients to treatment.

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Background: Infant acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is an infrequent disease characterized by clinical and biological features related to poor prognosis. Adapted therapies were designed without a clear consensus regarding the best treatment options. We aimed to compare the outcome between infant ALL cases receiving Interfant versus BFM-based protocols.

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Introduction: Since the beginning of COVID-19 pandemic, it is known that the severe course of the disease occurs mostly among the elderly, whereas it is rare among children and young adults. Comorbidities, in particular, diabetes and hypertension, clearly associated with age, besides obesity and smoke, are strongly associated with the need for intensive treatment and a dismal outcome. A weaker immunity of the elderly has been proposed as a possible explanation of this uneven age distribution.

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Acute leukemia is the most frequent malignant disease in childhood. Acute lymphoblastic leukemia represents 75% and acute myeloblastic leukemia 25% of them. Erythroleukemia is a rare entity, corresponding to less than 5% of acute myeloblastic leukemia.

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Genetic abnormalities provide vital diagnostic and prognostic information in pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) and are increasingly used to assign patients to risk groups. We recently proposed a novel classifier based on the copy-number alteration (CNA) profile of the 8 most commonly deleted genes in B-cell precursor ALL. This classifier defined 3 CNA subgroups in consecutive UK trials and was able to discriminate patients with intermediate-risk cytogenetics.

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Introduction: Children with Down syndrome (DS) more commonly have acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) and a lower survival rate than those without Down syndrome (WDS). We analyzed the clinical, demographic, and biological characteristics and treatment response of children with DS-ALL versus those WDS-ALL. Patients and methods: Patients with ALL between January 1990 and November 2016.

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Several conventions have been established in order to define and characterize Mixed Phenotype Acute Leukemia (MPAL). However, megakaryocytic markers have not been included in the definition of MPAL neither in the European Group for the Immunological Characterization of Leukemias (EGIL) proposal nor in any of the WHO Classification of Tumors issues. We report four pediatric acute leukemia (AL) cases (prevalence: 0.

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Article Synopsis
  • A study of 233 children with ambiguous lineage leukemia (ALAL) aimed to define treatment strategies, as previous definitions had lacked clear therapy recommendations.
  • Results showed that acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL)-type treatments led to a significantly higher five-year event-free survival (EFS) rate (80%) compared to acute myeloid leukemia (AML)-type treatments (36%) and combined types (50%).
  • The findings recommend using ALL-type treatment for most pediatric ALAL patients, particularly those with CD19 leukemia, while AML-type treatment is advised for a minority, and transplantation shows no overall benefit except for certain poorly responding patients.
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Eighty percent of children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) survive with current treatments. Neurotoxicity is an infrequent adverse event. We describe clinical presentations of neurological toxicity, phases of treatment when these adverse events were more frequent and patients ́ outcome.

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Article Synopsis
  • - Childhood acute leukemias and lymphomas have high survival rates, but can lead to second neoplasms (SN), with 1% of patients developing SN over nearly 30 years of study.
  • - Among the 34 patients with SN, the most common types included acute leukemias and various solid tumors, with a significantly longer latency period for solid tumors compared to hematological malignancies.
  • - Treatment of SN, considering previous therapy doses, resulted in a 67.6% complete remission rate, indicating that patients can have survival rates similar to those diagnosed with new cancers.
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Objective: Prospective analysis of clinical characteristics and long-term treatment results of a pediatric cohort with Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) treated in a single institution with ABVD and restricted radiotherapy (RT).

Patients And Methods: Between September 2000 and December 2015, 165 new consecutive assessable patients with HL were registered at our institution. Lymphocyte predominant nodular HL was excluded.

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Chemotherapy regimens and clinical support advances have improved survival in children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. The after-effects of treatment are a reason for concern, including damage to the immune system induced by immunosuppressive therapy which is reflected in the loss of antibody protection provided by prior immunizations. Our goal was to assess the presence of measles, rubella, and tetanus protective antibody titers among patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia after completing chemotherapy.

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The association between mature-B phenotype and MLL abnormalities in acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is a very unusual finding; only 14 pediatric cases have been reported so far. We describe the clinical and biological characteristics and outcome of five pediatric cases of newly diagnosed B lineage ALL with MLL abnormalities and mature immunophenotype based on light chain restriction and surface Ig expression. Blasts showed variable expression of CD10/CD34/TdT.

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Childhood acute myeloid leukemia (AML) achieves event-free-survival (EFS) rates of ∼50%. Double induction phase has been introduced for improving these results. Four consecutive protocols for AML treatment were evaluated to assess the impact of the addition of a second induction course in our setting.

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The purpose of the current study was to evaluate the cytogenetic findings in 1,057 children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) referred to the cytogenetics laboratory at the Hospital de Pediatría Dr. Juan P. Garrahan, between 1991 and 2014.

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Patients with Down's Syndrome have a higher risk of developing acute megakaryoblastic leukemia (AML). Ten per cent of newborn infants with this syndrome have transient abnormal myelopoiesis (TAM), indistinguishable from AML, which generally remits spontaneously. A high incidence of GATA-1 gene mutations was described in both groups of patients.

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