Design of the VIALE-M phase III trial of venetoclax and oral azacitidine maintenance therapy in acute myeloid leukemia.

Prevention of relapse is a major therapeutic challenge and an unmet need for patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Venetoclax is a highly selective, potent, oral BCL-2 inhibitor that induces apoptosis in AML cells. When combined with azacitidine, it leads to prolonged overall survival and rapid, durable remissions in treatment-naive AML patients ineligible for intensive chemotherapy.

6-month follow-up of VIALE-C demonstrates improved and durable efficacy in patients with untreated AML ineligible for intensive chemotherapy (141/150).

VIALE-C compared the safety and efficacy of venetoclax or placebo plus low-dose cytarabine (+LDAC) in patients with untreated AML ineligible for intensive chemotherapy. Overall, 211 patients were enrolled (n = 143, venetoclax; n = 68, placebo). At the primary analysis, the study did not meet its primary endpoint of a statistically significant improvement in overall survival (OS), however, ~60% of patients had been on study for ≤6-months.

Venetoclax plus low-dose cytarabine in Japanese patients with untreated acute myeloid leukaemia ineligible for intensive chemotherapy.

Background: In a multinational phase 3 trial (VIALE-C), venetoclax plus low-dose cytarabine prolonged overall survival vs placebo plus low-dose cytarabine in patients with newly diagnosed acute myeloid leukaemia ineligible for intensive chemotherapy, although it was not statistically significant. Herein, we assess the benefit of venetoclax plus low-dose cytarabine in the Japanese subgroup of VIALE-C patients (n = 27).

Methods: VIALE-C, a randomized (2:1), double-blind study (NCT03069352), enrolled untreated patients (≥18 years) with acute myeloid leukaemia.

Hantaviruses and hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, Maranhao, Brazil.

To confirm circulation of Anajatuba virus in Maranhao, Brazil, we conducted a serologic survey (immunoglobulin G ELISA) and phylogenetic studies (nucleocapsid gene sequences) of hantaviruses from wild rodents and persons with hantavirus pulmonary syndrome. This virus is transmitted by Oligoryzomys fornesi rodents and is responsible for hantavirus pulmonary syndrome in this region.

[Clinical and laboratory profile of children living with vertically transmitted HIV/AIDS in a city in northeastern Brazily].

Introduction: Vertical transmission constitutes the main route for child infection by the HIV-1 virus (human immune deficiency virus). This study aimed to investigate the clinical and laboratory evolution of children with vertically transmitted HIV/AIDS.

Methods: This was a retrospective descriptive study based on data gathered from the medical records of all the children who were seen at a specialized care unit between January 1998 and June 2006.

An outbreak of bat-transmitted human rabies in a village in the Brazilian Amazon.

During 45 days without electrical power, 57 individuals (8.7% of the population) from the village of Antônio Dino (municipality of Turiaçu, Northeastern Brazil) were attacked by bats and 16 died from human rabies. The aim of the study was to analyze the factors associated with bat attacks and the development of human rabies.

Bilateral renal metastases from osteosarcoma: A case report and review of the literature.

Improvements in multimodal therapy for osteosarcoma (OS) have increased event-free and overall survival. But have also led to a greater number of recurrences in uncommon sites. We report a young adult with OS who developed late bilateral renal relapse.

Clinical case report: Dengue hemorrhagic fever in a patient with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome.

A person diagnosed with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome in 2000 and who received highly active antiretroviral therapy developed co-infection with dengue virus in 2003. In the course of the co-infection, he developed fever, thrombocytopenia (13,700 cells/mm3), petechia, and hypoalbuminemia, which are compatible with the World Health Organization criteria for a case of dengue hemorrhagic fever. Human immunodeficiency virus was not detected 30 days before co-infection and 10 days afterwards.

Childhood carcinoid tumors: description of a case series in a Brazilian cancer center.

Context And Objective: Carcinoid tumors are very rare both in children and adults. About 85% of these tumors develop in the gastrointestinal tract. The objective of the present study was to describe our experience with children treated of carcinoid tumors, and investigate the frequency morphological findings and results.

Results of the Brazilian Osteosarcoma Treatment Group Studies III and IV: prognostic factors and impact on survival.

Purpose: To evaluate the impact of chemotherapy and surgery on the outcome of osteosarcoma (OS) of the extremities and to identify prognostic factors in Brazilian patients.

Patients And Methods: A total of 225 patients with metastatic and nonmetastatic OS of the extremities were enrolled and assessed in two consecutive studies designed and implemented by the Brazilian Osteosarcoma Treatment Group.

Results: The 5-year survival and event-free survival rates for the 209 assessable patients were 50.

Newly recognized hantaviruses associated with hantavirus pulmonary syndrome in northern Brazil: partial genetic characterization of viruses and serologic implication of likely reservoirs.

Following the occurrence of the first laboratory-confirmed cases of hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS) in Maranhao State, Brazil, rodents were trapped and rodent materials screened by ELISA for antibodies to Sin Nombre and Andes hantaviruses. Antibody-positive samples were tested by RT-PCR, amplified products were sequenced, and phylogenetic trees were constructed for comparison with known hantaviruses. From 104 rodent blood samples collected (40 Bolomys lasiurus, 52 Holochilus sciureus, 12 Oligoryzomys fornesi, and one Proechimys guyannensis), 21 (20.

Hantavirus infection in Anajatuba, Maranhao, Brazil.

In 2000, the first outbreak of hantavirus pulmonary syndrome was recognized in the Brazilian Amazon (Maranhao State). An epidemiologic study identified a 13.3% prevalence of hantavirus-specific immunoglobulin G.

Treatment of pediatric myelodysplastic syndromes and juvenile myelomonocytic leukemia: the Brazilian experience in the past decade.

Background: Therapy strategies for myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) and juvenile myelomonocytic leukemia (JMML) vary considerably.

Objective: To review the treatment of Brazilian children who were diagnosed with MDS or JMML in the past decade and reported to the Brazilian Cooperative Group on Pediatric Myelodysplastic Syndromes (BCG-MDS-PED).

Results: Of 173 children reported to the BCG-MDS-PED from January 1997 to January 2003 with a suspected diagnosis of MDS or JMML, 91 had the diagnosis confirmed after central review of the bone marrow aspirate and biopsy.

[Space expansion of the American visceral leishmaniasis in São Luis, Maranhão, Brazil].

The space occupation and the expansion of American visceral leishmaniasis (AVL) were described in the municipality of São Luis, Maranhão, Northeast Brazil. AVL medical notes from the Fundação Nacional de Saúde as well as official documents about the space occupation were analyzed from September 1982 to December 1996. AVL cases were more likely to occur in recently settled suburbs and tended to follow the same spatial pattern observed for land occupations secondary to migratory fluxes.