Diagnosis of intestinal graft-versus-host disease and thrombotic microangiopathy after allogeneic stem cell transplantation.

Severe diarrhea is a serious complication after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). Acute graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) has been one of the major causes of diarrhea after HSCT, which is triggered by donor-derived cytotoxic T-lymphocytes. On the other hand, intestinal thrombotic microangiopathy (TMA) sometimes coexists with acute GVHD, and intensified immunosuppression to treat acute GVHD could exacerbate intestinal TMA, presumably through the vascular endothelial cell damage.

Allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplant following chemotherapy containing l-asparaginase as a promising treatment for patients with relapsed or refractory extranodal natural killer/T cell lymphoma, nasal type.

The prognosis of advanced extranodal NK/T cell lymphoma (ENKTL) is poor. Allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplant (allo-HSCT) has been suggested to be a promising treatment for this disease, but its utility has yet to be established. Here we retrospectively analyzed five cases of ENKTL treated with allo-HSCT in our institute.

Plasma cell leukemia maintaining complete remission by syngeneic stem cell transplantation combined with low-dose thalidomide maintenance therapy.

Plasma cell leukemia (PCL) is a rare variant of multiple myeloma, which is very aggressive and resistant to chemotherapy. We report a case of PCL successfully treated with syngeneic peripheral blood stem cell transplantation followed by low-dose thalidomide. As of March 2009, the patient has maintained CR for 39 months posttransplant.

Stanniocalcin-1 as a novel marker to detect minimal residual disease of human leukemia.

Stanniocalcin is a glycoprotein hormone that regulates the calcium level in fish. We found that mRNA of human stanniocalcin 1 (STC-1) is detectable in phytohemagglutinin-stimulated T cells and in most human leukemia cell lines, suggesting a role of STC-1 for cell proliferation. This finding prompts us to study the usefulness of STC-1 for monitoring acute leukemia.

Natural killer cell lymphoma of the parotid gland.

The majority of all parotid lymphomas are of the non-Hodgkin type and of B-cell origin. Primary natural killer cell lymphomas of the parotid gland are extremely rare. We present a case of natural killer cell lymphoma in a 34-year-old woman.

Altered expression of retinoblastoma protein-interacting zinc finger gene, RIZ, in human leukaemia.

The retinoblastoma protein-interacting zinc finger gene (RIZ), a member of the nuclear protein methyltransferase superfamily, is characterized by the presence of the N-terminal PR domain. The RIZ gene encodes for two proteins, RIZ1 and RIZ2. While RIZ1 contains the PR (PRDI-BF1 and RIZ homologous) domain, RIZ2 lacks it.

Nucleotide alteration of retinoblastoma protein-interacting zinc finger gene, RIZ, in human leukemia.

The retinoblastoma protein-interacting zinc finger gene (RIZ) is a zinc-finger type DNA binding protein and is postulated as a member of the nuclear protein-methyltransferase superfamily. RIZ gene encodes for two proteins, RIZ1 and RIZ2. While RIZ1 contains the N-terminal PR (PRDI-BF1 and RIZ homologous)-domain, RIZ2 lacks it.