Evaluation of mortality, prognostic parameters, and treatment efficacy in mycosis fungoides.

Background And Objectives: Mycosis fungoides (MF), the most common primary cutaneous T-cell lymphoma, is characterized by a variable clinical course, presenting either as indolent disease or showing fatal progression due to extracutaneous involvement. Importantly, the lack of prognostic models and predominantly palliative therapy settings hamper patient care. Here, we aimed to define survival rates, disease prediction accuracy, and treatment impact in MF.

Comparison of Permethrin-Based Treatment Strategies against Scabies in Infants and Young Children.

Objective: To optimize the permethrin-based therapies for scabies infestations in infants and young children, the efficacies of 3 different regimens were evaluated.

Study Design: The retrospective analysis encompassed 85 infants and children aged <4 years with scabies. The children had received either topical permethrin 5% on the entire body on days 1/8, on days 1/8/15, on days 1/8/15 plus interim applications restricted to hands and feet on days 2/3/4//9/10/11, or alternative treatments.

Human dirofilariosis in Austria: the past, the present, the future.

Background: Dirofilariosis is a vector-borne parasitosis caused by filarial nematodes of the genus Dirofilaria. In humans, who represent accidental hosts, dirofilariosis is mostly caused by Dirofilaria repens and Dirofilaria immitis. In Austria, the first reported case occurred in 1978.

Long-term Therapeutic Success of Intravenous Rituximab in 26 Patients with Indolent Primary Cutaneous B-cell Lymphoma.

Systemic monotherapy with rituximab is a well-known treatment approach for primary cutaneous follicle centre lymphoma and primary cutaneous marginal zone lymphoma. Both have excellent prognosis despite high relapse rates. To investigate the long-term effectiveness and clinical outcome of intravenous rituximab at a dose of 375 mg/m2 once weekly, data for 26 patients (17 primary cutaneous follicle centre lymphoma and 9 primary cutaneous marginal zone lymphoma) were analysed retrospectively.

Clinical diversity and treatment approaches to blastic plasmacytoid dendritic cell neoplasm: a retrospective multicentre study.

Background: Blastic plasmacytoid dendritic cell neoplasm (BPDCN) is a rare, aggressive type of haematologic precursor malignancy primarily often manifesting in the skin. We sought to provide a thorough clinical characterization and report our experience on therapeutic approaches to BPDCN.

Methods: In the present multicentric retrospective study, we collected all BPDCN cases occurring between 05/1999 and 03/2018 in 10 secondary care centres of the German-Swiss-Austrian cutaneous lymphoma working group.

Patients' Illness Perception as a Tool to Improve Individual Disease Management in Primary Cutaneous Lymphomas.

The Revised Illness Perception Questionnaire (IPQ-R) has been shown to assess illness perception reproducibly in primary cutaneous T-cell lymphomas (CTCL). Illness perception reflects patients' individual concepts of understanding and interpretation of the disease, influencing illness behaviour and health-related quality of life (HRQOL). This study investigated the clinical relevance of the relationships between illness perception, illness behaviour, and HRQOL in CTCL and cutaneous B-cell lymphomas (CBCL).

High expression of Dicer reveals a negative prognostic influence in certain subtypes of primary cutaneous T cell lymphomas.

Background: Aberrant expression of microRNAs (miRNAs) has been implicated in oncogenesis of various tumors and primary cutaneous T cell lymphomas. Dicer, a ribonuclease III-like enzyme is essential for miRNA processing.

Objective: We initiated a retrospective study to characterize the alterations in the expression profile of Dicer in patients with primary cutaneous T cell lymphomas (CTCL).

Dermal infiltrates of cutaneous T-cell lymphomas with epidermotropism but not other cutaneous lymphomas are abundant with langerin⁺ dendritic cells.

Background: The Langerhans cell (LC) hypothesis suggests that cutaneous T-cell lymphomas (CTCL) are diseases of chronic T-cell stimulation by LC-mediated antigen presentation.

Objective: To investigate a broad panel of CTCL and cutaneous B-cell lymphomas (CBCL) for the spatial association of langerin(+) dendritic cells (DC) with T and B cells in the skin, respectively.

Methods: Fifty-five specimens of CTCL and 10 of CBCL were double-stained with monoclonal antibodies against langerin and CD3 or CD20, respectively, and evaluated by confocal laser scan microscopy.

Prognostic relevance of hypoxia inducible factor-1alpha expression in patients with melanoma.

Overexpression of hypoxia inducible factor (HIF)-1alpha has been found in several human cancers and is thought to correlate with aggressive disease and poor response. A retrospective analysis was carried out on 89 patients with primary cutaneous melanoma. HIF-1alpha expression was assessed by immunohistochemistry in formalin-fixed, paraffin wax-embedded tumour sections.

Somatostatin receptor scintigraphy in primary cutaneous T- and B-cell lymphomas.

Background: Monitoring and repeated staging is of substantial importance in many patients with primary cutaneous T-cell lymphomas (CTCL). For primary cutaneous B-cell lymphomas (CBCL), extensive initial staging is the mainstay for correct diagnosis.

Aim: To evaluate the value of somatostatin receptor scintigraphy using the radiolabeled somatostatin analog (111)In-pentetreotide in comparison to conventional imaging methods for the staging of patients with primary CTCL and primary CBCL.

Rituximab monotherapy for primary cutaneous B-cell lymphoma: response and follow-up in 16 patients.

Background: We have carried out a retrospective analysis to evaluate the therapeutic value of the anti-CD20 antibody rituximab in 16 consecutive patients with primary cutaneous CD20+ B-cell lymphomas.

Patients And Methods: Sixteen patients (4 females, 12 males) with a median age of 54 years received systemic therapy with rituximab 375 mg/m(2) once weekly for four or six consecutive weeks. Eleven patients had primary cutaneous follicle center cell lymphoma and five patients had a primary cutaneous marginal zone B-cell lymphoma.

Molecular cytogenetic evidence of t(14;18)(IGH;BCL2) in a substantial proportion of primary cutaneous follicle center lymphomas.

In contrast to nodal follicular lymphoma, limited data exist on genetic changes in primary cutaneous follicular lymphoma (primary cutaneous follicle center lymphoma according to WHO-EORTC). The detection rate of the BCL2 rearrangement, representing the characteristic t(14;18)(q32;q21) underlying follicular lymphoma, by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) has been reported to vary over a wide range (0%-41%), and only a few cases have been studied by molecular cytogenetic techniques such as fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH). In this study, 27 primary cutaneous follicle center lymphomas were analyzed by FISH and the results compared with those obtained by PCR.

Somatostatin receptor scintigraphy with 111In-DOTA-lanreotide and 111In-DOTA-Tyr3-octreotide in patients with stage IV melanoma: in-vitro and in-vivo results.

The overexpression of somatostatin receptors (SST-Rs) on various tumour cells provides the molecular basis for the successful use of radiolabelled SST analogues in clinical oncology. The objective of the study was to evaluate the tumour binding of In-1,4,7,10-tetraazacyclo-dodecane-N,N',N'',N'''-tetraacetic acid-lanreotide (In-DOTA-LAN) and In-DOTA-tyrosine-octreotide (In-DOTA-Tyr-OCT) in patients with stage IV melanoma. In addition, we evaluated the potential antiproliferative effect of SST analogues, together with an assessment of the functionality of SST-Rs, on four melanoma cell lines.

Selective immunohistochemical staining shows significant prognostic influence of lymphatic and blood vessels in patients with malignant melanoma.

Few data on the influence of lymphatic microvessel density (LMVD) on survival in patients with melanoma are available. The aim of this study was to assess LMVD and blood microvessel density (MVD) in tissue samples from 120 patients with melanoma. LMVD was stained with an antibody staining for podoplanin, and blood MVD was assessed by CD31 (PECAM-1)-immunostaining.

Complete remission of chronic plaque psoriasis and gastric marginal zone B-cell lymphoma of MALT type after treatment with 2-chlorodeoxyadenosine.

A 58-year-old woman with a 15-year history of chronic plaque psoriasis was diagnosed with gastric marginal zone B-cell lymphoma of mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT) type. Topical treatment and ultraviolet radiation for therapy of psoriasis had been of limited efficacy. The patient received intravenous treatment with 0.

Randomized phase II study of irinotecan plus mitomycin C vs. oxaliplatin plus mitomycin C in patients with advanced fluoropyrimidine/leucovorin-pretreated colorectal cancer.

Introduction: Irinotecan and oxaliplatin are two new agents with promising activity in advanced colorectal cancer. Based on preclinical and clinical evidence that both drugs might act synergistically with mitomycin C, a randomized study using a 'pick the winner' design was undertaken to determine the effectiveness and tolerance of these two combination schedules in patients with fluoropyrimidine/leucovorin-pretreated advanced colorectal cancer.

Patients And Methods: Sixty-four patients with metastatic colorectal cancer, who progressed while receiving or within 6 months after discontinuing palliative chemotherapy with fluoropyrimidines/leucovorin were enrolled onto this study.

Beta-2-microglobulin levels in patients with extranodal B-cell lymphoma of the mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT)-type: a retrospective analysis.

Background: Serum levels of beta-2 microglobulin (B2M) have been reported as a predictor of clinical outcome, prognosis and tumor burden in patients with various types of lymphomas. In case of lymphoma of the mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT)-type, no clear data exist to define the role of B2M in terms of staging or prognosis. In a retrospective analysis we investigated the serum B2M-levels in patients suffering from histologically verified MALT-type lymphoma in correlation to stage and response to treatment.