Incidence of chemotherapy-induced neutropenia and current practice of prophylaxis with granulocyte colony-stimulating factors in cancer patients in Spain: a prospective, observational study.

We aimed to describe the incidence of neutropenia in breast cancer and lymphoma patients and granulocyte colony-stimulating factors (G-CSF) use in clinical practice. We conducted a multicentre, prospective, observational study including breast cancer and lymphoma patients initiating chemotherapy (≥ 10% febrile neutropenia risk). We included 734 patients with breast cancer and 291 with lymphoma. Over the first four chemotherapy cycles, patients had an incidence of 11.0% grade 3-4 neutropenia (absolute neutrophil count <1.0 × 10(9) /L) and 4.3% febrile neutropenia (absolute neutrophil count <0.5 × 10(9) /L and fever ≥ 38 °C) in the breast cancer cohort, and 40.5% and 14.8% in the lymphoma cohort. Full dose on schedule (>85% of planned chemotherapy dose and ≤ 3 days delay) was achieved by 85.6% of breast cancer and 68.9% of lymphoma patients. Hospitalisation due to febrile neutropenia was required in 2.0% and 12.0% of breast cancer and lymphoma patients respectively. G-CSF was administered to 70.0% of breast cancer and 83.8% of lymphoma patients, and initiated from the first chemotherapy cycle (primary prophylaxis) in 60.6% and 64.2% of cases. Severe neutropenia affects approximately one in 10 breast cancer patients and one in two lymphoma patients receiving chemotherapy with moderate or greater risk of febrile neutropenia. Most patients received treatment with G-CSF in Spanish clinical practice.

PTOV1, a novel protein overexpressed in prostate cancer containing a new class of protein homology blocks.

In a search for molecular markers of progression in prostate cancer by means of differential display, we have identified a new gene, which we have designated PTOV1. Semiquantitative RT-PCR has established that nine out of 11 tumors overexpress PTOV1 at levels significantly higher than benign prostatic hyperplasia or normal prostate tissue. The human PTOV1 protein consists almost entirely of two repeated blocks of homology of 151 and 147 amino acids, joined by a short linker peptide, and is encoded by a 12-exon gene localized in chromosome 19q13.3. A Drosophila melanogaster PTOV1 homolog also contains two tandemly arranged PTOV blocks. A second gene, PTOV2, was identified in humans and Drosophila, coding for proteins with a single PTOV homology block and unrelated amino- and carboxyl-terminal extensions. A 1.8-Kb PTOV1 transcript was detected abundantly in normal human brain, heart, skeletal muscle, kidney and liver, and at low levels in normal prostate. Immunocytochemical analysis and expression of chimeric GFP-PTOV1 proteins in cultured cells showed a predominantly perinuclear localization of PTOV1. In normal prostate tissue and in prostate adenomas, PTOV1 was undetectable or expressed at low levels, whereas nine out of 11 prostate adenocarcinomas showed a strong immunoreactivity, with a focal distribution in areas of carcinoma and prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia. Therefore, PTOV1 is a previously unknown gene, overexpressed in early and late stages of prostate cancer. The PTOV homology block represents a new class of conserved sequence blocks present in human, rodent and fly proteins.