Tumor of the heart diagnosed by magnetic resonance imaging.

A case of liposarcoma metastatic to the heart is presented. This is a very rare entity and only three prior case reports could be found. Magnetic resonance imaging was successfully used to visualize the tumor. These images compared favorably with a two-dimensional echocardiographic study and postmortem examination.

Neoplastic complications of HTLV-III infection. Lymphomas and solid tumors.

Neoplastic disease arose in 29 of 200 patients infected with human T lymphotropic virus type III (HTLV-III) seen at a suburban hospital. Seventeen patients had Kaposi's sarcoma, one of whom also had colon carcinoma. Nine patients had lymphoproliferative disorders (seven lymphomas, one T suppressor cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia, and one multiple myeloma), including three with concomitant Kaposi's sarcoma and one with colon cancer. One other patient had colon cancer, one had a seminoma, and one had pancreatic cancer. Kaposi's sarcoma as a complication of AIDS occurred mainly in homosexuals (17 of 42 homosexuals, one of 17 drug abusers, one of five heterosexually promiscuous patients, and one of six patients who had previously received transfusions). The high-grade lymphomas did not show a predilection for any particular AIDS risk group. Three of four solid tumors arose in elderly AIDS patients. Twenty-five of 75 patients with CDC-defined AIDS had a neoplastic disorder (26 are still alive and may yet demonstrate malignancy). Few other diseases of man have been associated with as high an incidence of neoplastic transformation as occurs with HTLV-III infection.

Syndrome of severe skin disease, eosinophilia, and dermatopathic lymphadenopathy in patients with HTLV-II complicating human immunodeficiency virus infection.

Two intravenous drug users dually infected with human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) and human T-cell leukemia virus type II (HTLV-II) developed an unusual severe dermatitis characterized by progressive brawny induration, fissuring, and ulceration of the skin, with an associated CD8 cell infiltration in one patient. Both patients had persistent eosinophilia. Lymph node biopsy revealed dermatopathic lymphadenopathy, an unusual pathologic finding in HIV-1 infection but one seen in association with mycosis fungoides and other skin disorders. Two new isolates of HTLV-II virus were established from these patients and were identified as HTLV-II by Southern blotting. This type of skin disease and lymph node pathology has not been found in other intravenous drug users who have been infected with HIV-1 alone or in patients in other risk groups for HIV-1 infection. HTLV-II may play a role in this unique new disease pattern in patients infected with HIV-1.

Human coagulation factor FVIIa (recombinant) in the management of limb-threatening bleeds unresponsive to alternative therapies: results from the NovoSeven emergency-use programme in patients with severe haemophilia or with acquired inhibitors.

This open-label, emergency-use study evaluated the efficacy and safety of activated human coagulation factor VIIa (recombinant) (rFVIIa) (NovoSeven; Novo Nordisk Pharmaceuticals, Inc., New Jersey, USA) in treating limb-threatening joint or muscle bleeds in 17 patients with haemophilia A or B and six patients with acquired inhibitors to factor VIII or factor IX. All patients had previously failed on one or more alternative therapies. rFVIIa administration was effective or partially effective in controlling joint or muscle bleeds in 34 out of 35 (97%) bleeding episodes; in 23 patients, 14 of 17 (82%) muscle bleeds and 16 of 18 (89%) joint bleeds were effectively controlled. These findings suggest that rFVIIa is an effective and well-tolerated therapeutic option in the management of joint or muscle haemorrhage in patients with haemophilia and in patients with acquired inhibitors.

Symptomatic improvement associated with combined estramustine and vinblastine chemotherapy for metastatic prostate cancer.

We evaluated the effectiveness of combination chemotherapy using estramustine and velban for metastatic prostate cancer. Patients with progressive metasatatic prostate cancer and rising prostate-specific antigen (PSA) values were evaluated between 1992 and 1994. All treatment was given on an outpatient basis. Vinblastine, 4 mg/m2 i.v., was given weekly for 6 weeks with a 2-week rest period. Estramustine, 10 mg/kg orally, was given in three divided doses for 6 weeks with a 2-week rest period between cycles. Of 15 patients, six (40%) had a response, in which a 25% decrease in PSA was associated with subjective improvement. There were no complete responses. Five partial responders had less pain. Median duration of response or time to progression was 9 months. Survival was 11.7 months for responders, 13.2 months for nonresponders. The combination of estramustine and velban is an effective therapy in progressive metastatic prostate cancer as measured by a decrease in PSA and improvement of symptoms.

A frameshift mutation at the NH2 terminus of the nucleoprotein gene does not affect generation of cytotoxic T lymphocyte epitopes.

BALB/3T3 cells infected with a retroviral vector encoding the influenza virus nucleoprotein (NP) gene are efficiently lysed by CTL generated in BALB/c mice (H-2d background). Cells transduced with a mutant form of NP which contains a frameshift mutation at its NH2 terminus (NPm) do not express biochemically detectable levels of protein but nevertheless present Ag to CTL with high efficiency. Cold target inhibition studies indicate that the same CTL epitope(s) are recognized in cells harboring NP or NPm. L929 cells transduced with the NPm gene also present Ag efficiently to CTL raised in C3H mice (H-2k background). Cells engineered to express 5- to 15-fold lower levels of wild-type NP were not capable of presenting Ag to CTL, arguing against the notion that CTL are able to lyse cells expressing very low levels of Ag which might have resulted from suppression of the frameshift mutation in NPm. Implications to the mechanism of epitope generation in class I MHC-restricted immune responses are considered.

Phase I trial of the combination of daily estramustine phosphate and intermittent docetaxel in patients with metastatic hormone refractory prostate carcinoma.

BACKGROUND: To apply our preclinical findings of cytotoxic synergy with the combination of estramustine phosphate (EP) and docetaxel as the basis of treatment of hormone refractory metastatic prostate cancer in man. To determine the optimal dosage and the toxicities of these two agents for future trials. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Seventeen patients with hormone refractory metastatic prostate cancer who were ambulatory with performance status < or = 2, normal marrow, renal and hepatic function were entered. Prior exposure to EP or a taxane were exclusion factors. EP was given orally at a dose of 14 mg/kg of body weight daily with concurrent docetaxel administered every 21 days as an intravenous infusion over 1 hour with dexamethasone 8 mg. PO BID for five days. EP dosages were kept static; docetaxel dosages were explored in a minimum of three patients per level for dosages of 40, 60, 70, and 80 mg/m2. Patients were evaluated weekly. Prostate specific antigen (PSA) was measured every three weeks. RESULTS: Five patients were entered at a docetaxel dose of 40 mg/m2, three at 60 mg/m2, six at 70 mg/m2, and three at 80 mg/m2. Only one patient had received prior chemotherapy. Grades 1 or 2 hypocalcemia and hypophosphatemia were seen at all dosage levels. Other grade 2 or less toxicities not related to dosage included alopecia, anorexia, stomatitis, diarrhea, and epigastric pain. Dose limiting toxicities (DLT) as grade 4 leukopenia and grade 4 fatigue were seen at 80 mg/m2. The phase II dose was defined at 70 mg/m2 with rapidly reversible leukopenia and minor liver function abnormalities. At this dosing level, dose intensity was 88% and 86% over consecutive cycles for docetaxel and EP, respectively. Two vascular events occurred at this dose level (70 mg/m2): one arterial and the other venous. PSA decreases greater than 50% from baseline were seen in 14 of 17 patients at all dosage levels. Four of the 17 patients demonstrated a complete biochemical response (PSA < or = 4 ng/ml). One patient had a partial response with measurable lung and liver lesions. CONCLUSION: EP given continuously with every three-week docetaxel at a dose of 70 mg/m2 is tolerable with evidence of antitumor activity based upon significant declines in PSA in the majority of patients and improvement of lung metastasis in one patient. Larger phase II studies of this combination in a homogenous population are warranted.

Sulindac-induced immune hemolytic anemia.

BACKGROUND: Sulindac, a nonsteroidal, anti-inflammatory, indene-derived drug, caused life-threatening immune hemolytic anemia in an individual with back pain. CASE REPORT: A patient was admitted to the hospital with immune hemolytic anemia and kidney and liver failure after several days ingestion of sulindac. The direct antiglobulin test was positive with polyspecific and monospecific anti-IgG but not with anti-C3. The eluate did not react in routine tests but reacted strongly after the addition of sulindac. The serum contained a sulindac-dependent antibody reacting to a titer of 32. The sulindac-dependent antibody was of both IgG and IgM classes and had no apparent blood group specificity. The antibody agglutinated red cells from humans and chimpanzees but not from chickens, rabbits, or sheep, which implied that a specific component on human and chimpanzee red cells was needed for reactivity. The antibody reacted with red cells treated with trypsin, papain, pronase, dithiothreitol, and sialidase. With aggressive medical care, the patient's condition improved. CONCLUSION: These findings appear compatible with the so-called immune complex mechanism for drug-induced immune hemolytic anemia. Physicians are alerted to the severe nature of this syndrome.

Oligoclonality of CD8+ T cells in breast cancer patients.

Substantial evidence has suggested that T cells play an important role in antitumor immunity. T cells with cytotoxic activity against tumors have been isolated from in vitro culture of tumor-infiltrated lymphocytes of cancer patients. In addition, clonal expansions of T cells have been identified in lesions of tumors by using a PCR-based CDR3 analysis of T cell receptors (TCR). Since the CDR3 region of the T cell receptor directly interacts with the antigen-MHC complex and is thus highly polymorphic, a dominant CDR3 length in a particular TCR V beta population will indicate the clonal expansion of a specific T cell clone. Utilizing this technique, we have analyzed the T cell repertoire in lymph nodes (LNs) and peripheral blood of 20 breast cancer patients. Our results show that in most cases, peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PB-MCs) and LN express dominant CD8+ T cell clones in different V beta gene families, and the number of dominant clones is higher in PBMC than in the LN. Furthermore, in 7 out of 16 patients' lymph nodes, there is a dominant V beta 18 T cell clonal expansion in the CD8+ T cell subset. The frequency of an oligoclonal expansion of V beta 18 CD8+ T cells in non-breast cancer lymph nodes is 1 out of 9, but no obvious motif in the CDR3 region of V beta 18 TCR can be identified. The prevalence of the clonal dominance found in breast cancer is discussed in the context of a possible tumor-related antigen stimulation.

Acquired factor VIII inhibitors--successful treatment with an oral outpatient regimen.

A rare cause of a spontaneous, life threatening coagulopathy in adults is the development of autoantibodies to factor VIII. We recently had the opportunity to treat seven patients with this disorder. After stabilization, they were given a regimen consisting of prednisone and oral cyclophosphamide. All patients had a complete response to treatment. The median time to response was three weeks. Durable remissions were achieved, making this oral regimen an acceptable treatment for this disorder.