Key issues in lung cancer chemoprevention trials of new agents.

Lung cancer is a major health problem world-wide. Former heavy smokers retain a significant risk for lung cancer after smoking cessation. With a large population of current and former smokers at risk, an alternative cancer control strategy such as chemoprevention needs to be developed to reduce lung cancer mortality especially for smokers who have followed medical advice to give up smoking.

Acute myelogenous leukemia complicated by acute necrotizing ulcerative gingivitis due to Aspergillus terreus.

Infections caused by Aspergillus terreus are rare but have been associated with a poor outcome in immunocompromised patients due to frequent resistance to conventional antifungal therapy. This report describes a case of a woman who developed acute necrotizing ulcerative gingivitis (ANUG) due to A. terreus during induction chemotherapy for acute myelogenous leukemia.

Treatment of elderly Hodgkin's lymphoma patients with a novel 5-drug regimen (ODBEP): a phase II study.

Elderly patients with Hodgkin's lymphoma (HL) have a worse outcome than young patients. In an effort to improve the outcome in elderly HL patients, we used a 5-drug chemotherapy regimen called ODBEP (vincristine, doxorubicin, bleomycin, etoposide, prednisone) from 1986-1995. We hoped that by increasing dose intensity through delivery of treatment without delays, and increasing the number of non-cross-resistant chemotherapeutic drugs that were selected for minimal cumulative myelotoxicity, we might improve the cure rate in elderly patients with Hodgkin's lymphoma.

A randomized phase IIb trial of anethole dithiolethione in smokers with bronchial dysplasia.

Background: Results from preclinical studies have suggested that the organosulfur compound anethole dithiolethione (ADT) may be an effective chemopreventive agent for lung cancer. We conducted a phase IIb study to determine the effects of ADT in smokers with bronchial dysplasia.

Methods: One hundred twelve current and former smokers with a smoking history of at least 30 pack-years and at least one site of bronchial dysplasia identified by an autofluorescence bronchoscopy-directed biopsy were randomly assigned to receive placebo or ADT at 25 mg orally thrice daily for 6 months.

Analysis of secondary chromosomal alterations in 165 cases of follicular lymphoma with t(14;18).

Follicular lymphoma is characterized by the t(14;18) in up to 85% of cases. Almost all cases display evidence of secondary chromosomal alterations at initial diagnosis. The influence of recurrent secondary changes on disease progression has not been fully determined.

Regimen-related toxicity and non-relapse mortality with high-dose cyclophosphamide, carmustine (BCNU) and etoposide (VP16-213) (CBV) and CBV plus cisplatin (CBVP) followed by autologous stem cell transplantation in patients with Hodgkin's disease.

This analysis compares the regimen-related toxicity (RRT) and overall non-relapse mortality (NRM) in Hodgkin's disease patients conditioned with either CBV (cyclophosphamide, BCNU (carmustine), and VP16-213 (etoposide)) (26 patients) or CBVP (CBV + cisplatin) (68 patients) followed by autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT). CBVP included a continuous infusion rather than intermittent doses of etoposide, a lower BCNU dose and the addition of cisplatin. RRT and NRM were determined for each regimen and compared; risk factors for each were examined by multivariate analysis.

Incidence of second neoplasms in patients with MALT lymphoma: no increase in risk above the background population.

Background: Lymphomas of mucosa associated lymphoid tissue (MALT) are a special type of extranodal lymphoma, possibly related to chronic antigenic stimulation. Increased cancer susceptibility may also contribute to the development of MALT lymphoma (MALToma). It has been suggested that patients with MALToma have an increased incidence of other malignancies.

Sex-related differences in bronchial epithelial changes associated with tobacco smoking.

Background: Lung cancer is the most common cause of cancer death in North American women. Because smoking-related changes in the bronchial epithelium and in lung function have not been studied in detail in women, we used fluorescence bronchoscopy-directed biopsy to determine the prevalence of high-grade preinvasive lesions in former and current smokers of both sexes.

Methods: Spirometry, white-light bronchoscopy, and fluorescence bronchoscopy were performed in 189 women and 212 men older than 40 years of age who had smoked 20 pack-years or more (pack-years = number of packs of cigarettes smoked per day x number of years of smoking).

Second malignancies in patients with hairy cell leukemia in british columbia: a 20-year experience.

The purpose of this study was to compare the relative risk of second malignancies in a cohort of patients with hairy cell leukemia (HCL) against the normal population. Potential effects of type of treatment and duration of follow-up and the site distribution of cancer were also examined. Between 1976 and 1996, 117 patients were diagnosed with HCL in British Columbia who were referred to the British Columbia Cancer Agency (BCCA) for treatment.

t(11;18)(q21;q21) is the most common translocation in MALT lymphomas.

Background: Low grade malignant lymphomas arising from mucosa associated lymphoid tissue (MALT) represent a distinct clinicopathological entity. The cytogenetic findings and molecular genetics of MALT lymphomas remain minimally defined. Cytogenetic studies infrequently constitute part of the diagnostic work-up of MALT lymphomas, most commonly due to small biopsy size and their extranodal localization.

Bone marrow involvement in T-cell-rich B-cell lymphoma.

We describe the histologic and immunohistochemical findings in specimens from bone marrow (BM) biopsies performed for staging purposes in 13 patients with a previous tissue-based diagnosis of T-cell-rich B-cell lymphoma (TCRBCL). Bone marrow involvement was found in 8 (62%) of 13 cases and was often paratrabecular. The histologic appearance was not pathognomonic of TCRBCL, with the differential diagnosis including Hodgkin's disease and peripheral T-cell lymphoma.

Clinical utility of heteroduplex analysis of TCR gamma gene rearrangements in the diagnosis of T-cell lymphoproliferative disorders.

We conducted this study to assess the clinical utility of heteroduplex analysis of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) products for Tgamma gene rearrangements in the diagnosis of T-cell lymphoproliferative disorders (LPDs) using a single set of consensus primers. This method was used to study 103 cases using fresh or frozen tissue. These included 62 cases of T-cell LPDs, 25 cases of B-cell LPDs, 3 cases of anaplastic large cell lymphomas of undefined lineage, and 13 cases of reactive disorders.