A novel tandem duplication in a child with Li-Fraumeni syndrome.

Li-Fraumeni syndrome (LFS) is one of the most common cancer predisposition syndromes that affects both children and adults. Individuals with LFS are at an increased risk of developing various types of cancer over their lifetime including soft tissue sarcomas, osteosarcomas, breast cancer, leukemia, brain tumors, and adrenocortical carcinoma. Heterozygous germline pathogenic variants in the tumor suppressor gene are the known causal genetic defect for LFS.

Systemic Bevacizumab Treatment for Recurrent Respiratory Papillomatosis: Long-Term Follow-Up.

Objectives/hypothesis: Systemic bevacizumab is a new adjuvant therapy for recurrent respiratory papillomatosis (RRP) that has shown promising preliminary results in children. The objective of this study was to report the largest series to date that includes long-term follow-up data on bevacizumab treatment.

Study Design: Retrospective chart review.

Role of Metastatic Site Irradiation in Pediatric Patients With Metastatic Ewing Sarcoma.

Background: The use of radiation therapy to treat metastases in patients with metastatic Ewing sarcoma (MES) has been controversial and variable. The authors report outcomes and patterns of failure after metastatic site irradiation (MSI).

Procedure: A total of 27 pediatric patients with MES were treated with chemotherapy and received radiation therapy to their primary site.

Outcomes After Proton Therapy for Treatment of Pediatric High-Risk Neuroblastoma.

Purpose: Patients with high-risk neuroblastoma (HR-NBL) require radiation to the primary tumor site and sites of persistent metastatic disease. Proton radiation therapy (PRT) may promote organ sparing, but long-term outcomes have not been studied.

Methods And Materials: Sequential patients with HR-NBL received PRT: 2160 cGy (relative biological effectiveness) to primary tumor bed and persistent metastatic sites, with 3600 cGy (relative biological effectiveness) to gross residual disease.

Diagnosis of Beckwith-Wiedemann syndrome in children presenting with Wilms tumor.

Beckwith-Wiedemann syndrome (BWS) is a genetic syndrome associated with overgrowth and cancer predisposition, including predisposition to Wilms tumor (WT). Patients with BWS and BWS spectrum are screened from birth to age 7 years for BWS-associated cancers. However, in some cases a BWS-associated cancer may be the first recognized manifestation of the syndrome.

Pantoprazole, an Inhibitor of the Organic Cation Transporter 2, Does Not Ameliorate Cisplatin-Related Ototoxicity or Nephrotoxicity in Children and Adolescents with Newly Diagnosed Osteosarcoma Treated with Methotrexate, Doxorubicin, and Cisplatin.

Lessons Learned: Using a randomized crossover design and continuous variables such as change in hearing threshold and biomarkers of acute renal injury as short-term endpoints, it was determined that pantoprazole, an organic cation transporter 2 inhibitor, did not ameliorate cisplatin-associated nephrotoxicity or ototoxicity.Cystatin C is a robust method to estimate glomerular filtration rate in patients with cancer. Using a patient-reported outcome survey, all patients identified tinnitus and subjective hearing loss occurring "at least rarely" after cycle 1, prior to objective high-frequency hearing loss measured by audiograms.

Musculoskeletal complications following total body irradiation in hematopoietic stem cell transplant patients.

Total body irradiation (TBI) is commonly used in conditioning regimens for allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) to treat benign and malignant disease. Though life-saving, these therapies place patients at risk for important side effects, including musculoskeletal complications such as short stature, osteonecrosis, slipped capital femoral epiphysis, and the development of benign and malignant bone tumors. With an increasing number of HSCT survivors, there is a growing need for awareness of the musculoskeletal complications of HSCT and TBI.

Team Approach: Osteosarcoma of the Distal Part of the Femur in Adolescents.

Osteosarcoma, while rare, is the most common primary bone cancer and accounts for up to 10% of all new pediatric cancer diagnoses annually in the United States. Most commonly, osteosarcoma affects the distal femur and occurs as a high-grade intramedullary (conventional) subtype. Patients with osteosarcoma are treated with a multi-disciplinary team approach.

Management of Refractory Pediatric Kaposiform Hemangioendothelioma With Sirolimus and Aspirin.

Kaposiform hemangioendothelioma (KHE) is a rare vascular tumor characterized by aggressive local invasion and a syndrome of platelet trapping known as Kasabach-Merritt phenomenon that, through deposition of platelet derived growth factors, may perpetuate the growth of the tumor. Although many cases of KHE are successfully treated with local control or low-intensity chemotherapy, some cases are often refractory even to aggressive treatment. Herein, we describe a patient with a refractory, recurrent KHE despite multiple attempts at local control and intensive chemotherapy, that ultimately was successfully treated with rationally designed and low-intensity combination therapy of sirolimus and aspirin.

Proton therapy for pediatric head and neck malignancies.

Purpose: Pediatric head and neck malignancies are managed with intensive multimodality therapy. Proton beam therapy (PBT) may reduce toxicity by limiting exposure of normal tissue to radiation. In this study, we report acute toxicities and early outcomes following PBT for pediatric head and neck malignancies.

Medication contaminants as a potential cause of anaphylaxis to vincristine.

Vincristine (VCR) is a vinca alkaloid and common chemotherapeutic that is used to treat multiple pediatric and adult malignancies. Despite its common use, cases of anaphylaxis to VCR are rare and typically isolated to a single individual. We report a series of eight patients with adverse reactions to VCR over the course of 11 months at a single institution, four of which progressed to anaphylaxis and one of which resulted in cardiac arrest.

Ectopic production of β-hCG by osteosarcoma: a case report and review of the literature.

Ectopic production of β-human chorionic gonadotropin (β-hCG) by nontrophoblastic tumors has been reported but mostly in carcinomas. We report a case of an adolescent female patient with a epithelioid osteosarcoma that was discovered to secrete β-hCG after routine pregnancy testing. Immunohistochemical staining of her primary tumor biopsy demonstrated immunoreactivity for β-hCG.

Proton versus photon radiation therapy for patients with high-risk neuroblastoma: the need for a customized approach.

Background: Proton therapy for treatment for high-risk neuroblastoma may offer sparing of organs at risk (OAR) when compared to intensity-modulated X-ray therapy (IMXT).

Procedure: Double-scattered proton plans and IMXT plans delivering 2,160 cGy to the primary tumor site and other residual disease were developed for 13 consecutive HR-NBL patients. Radiation doses to target volumes and OAR were calculated to determine the optimal modality for each.

Serial transcriptome analysis and cross-species integration identifies centromere-associated protein E as a novel neuroblastoma target.

Cancer genomic studies that rely on analysis of biopsies from primary tumors may not fully identify the molecular events associated with tumor progression. We hypothesized that characterizing the transcriptome during tumor progression in the TH-MYCN transgenic model would identify oncogenic drivers that would be targetable therapeutically. We quantified expression of 32,381 murine genes in nine hyperplastic ganglia harvested at three time points and four tumor cohorts of progressively larger size in mice homozygous for the TH-MYCN transgene.

Lestaurtinib enhances the antitumor efficacy of chemotherapy in murine xenograft models of neuroblastoma.

Purpose: Neuroblastoma, a common pediatric tumor of the sympathetic nervous system, is characterized by clinical heterogeneity. The Trk family neurotrophin receptors play an important role in this behavior. Expression of TrkA is associated with favorable clinical features and outcome, whereas TrkB expression is associated with an unfavorable prognosis.

Ewing's sarcoma.

Progress in the treatment of Ewing's sarcoma, the second most common bone tumour in children and adolescents, has improved survival from about 10% in the period before chemotherapy was introduced to about 75% today for patients with localised tumours. However, patients with metastases still fare badly, and the therapy carries short-term and long-term toxicities. Multidisciplinary care is indispensable for these patients.

Use of rituximab in conjunction with immunosuppressive chemotherapy as a novel therapy for Epstein Barr virus-associated hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis.

Hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis is a rare, life-threatening complication of Epstein Barr virus (EBV) infection. Current treatments are directed at reducing virus-induced immune dysregulation. Addition of agents that eliminate EBV-infected B cells may improve therapeutic efficacy.

PANDAS with catatonia: a case report. Therapeutic response to lorazepam and plasmapheresis.

This is a report of an 11-year-old, prepubertal boy with acute-onset urinary urgency and frequency, obsessions and compulsions related to urination, severe mood lability, inattention, impulsivity, hyperactivity, and intermittent periods of immobilization. Fever, cough, otitis, and sinusitis preceded neuropsychiatric symptoms. Antistreptolysin O and DNAse B antibody titers were elevated, and magnetic resonance imaging revealed bilateral diffuse caudate nuclei swelling.

Calcium-pump inhibitors induce functional surface expression of Delta F508-CFTR protein in cystic fibrosis epithelial cells.

The most common mutation in cystic fibrosis, Delta F508, results in a cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) protein that is retained in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). Retention is dependent upon chaperone proteins, many of which require Ca(++) for optimal activity. Interfering with chaperone activity by depleting ER Ca(++) stores might allow functional Delta F508-CFTR to reach the cell surface.