Comparison of psychosocial adaptation of advanced stage Hodgkin's disease and acute leukemia survivors. Cancer and Leukemia Group B.

BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study was to compare the long-term psychosocial adaptation of Hodgkin's disease and adult acute leukemia survivors. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Two hundred seventy-three Hodgkin's disease (HD) and 206 adult acute leukemia (AL) survivors were interviewed by telephone concerning their psychosocial adjustment and problems they attributed to having been treated for cancer, using identical research procedures and a common set of instruments. The following measures were used: Psychosocial Adjustment to Illness Scale (PAIS); Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI); current Conditioned Nausea and Vomiting triggered by treatment-related stimuli (CNVI); Indices of Employment, Insurance and Sexual Problems Attributed to Cancer; Negative Socioeconomic Impact of Cancer Index (NSI). All participants had been treated on one of nine Hodgkin's disease or 13 acute leukemia Cancer and Leukemia Group B (CALGB) clinical trials from 1966-1988, and had been off treatment for one year or more (mean years: HD = 5.9; AL = 5.6). RESULTS: HD survivors' risk of having a high distress score on the BSI was almost twice that found for AL survivors (odds ratio = 1.90), with 21% of HD vs. 14% of AL survivors (P < 0.05) having scores that were 1.5 standard deviations above the norm, suggestive of a possible psychiatric disorder. HD survivors reported greater fatigue (POMS Fatigue, P = 0.01; Vigor Subscales, P = 0.001), greater conditioned nausea (CNVI, P < 0.05), greater impact of cancer on their family life (PAIS Domestic Environment, P = 0.004) and poorer sexual functioning (PAIS Sexual Relationships, P = 0.0001), than AL survivors. CONCLUSIONS: Treatment-related issues may have placed HD survivors at a greater risk for problems in long-term adaptation than AL survivors.

Quality of life for adult leukemia survivors treated on clinical trials of Cancer and Leukemia Group B during the period 1971-1988: predictors for later psychologic distress.

BACKGROUND: To identify predictors of psychosocial adjustment for survivors of adult acute leukemia, the adaptation of 206 survivors (77% with acute myelogenous leukemia, and 23% with acute lymphocytic leukemia) treated on any of 13 Cancer and Leukemia Group B trials during the period 1971-1988 was examined. METHODS: Survivors (median age, 41 years) who were at least 1 year from completion of all treatment (median, 5 years) were interviewed by telephone about psychologic symptoms; social, sexual, and vocational function; and beliefs about control over health. Standardized psychologic instruments were used to evaluate survivors' responses. RESULTS: Most survivors adapted well; however, 14% were 1.5 standard deviations above normal on the Global Severity Index of the Brief Symptom Inventory. Predictors of greater psychologic distress included less education, younger age, anticipatory distress during chemotherapy treatment, and the combination of more medical problems after treatment with poorer family function. Anticipatory nausea and distress during chemotherapy predicted persistent visceral distress later, which occurred with reminders of treatment. Anticipatory vomiting predicted a greater tendency toward cancer-related intrusive thoughts and avoidance of reminders. CONCLUSIONS: Patients experiencing anticipatory distress during treatment who are younger and less educated should be monitored for depressive syndromes later.

Disulfide-linked S100 beta dimers and signal transduction.

S100 beta is a calcium-binding protein with neurotrophic and mitogenic activities, both of which may be mediated by the protein's ability to stimulate an increase in intracellular free calcium ([Ca2+]i). These extracellular trophic activities of S100 beta require a disulfide-linked, dimeric form of the protein. In this chapter, we present a minireview on the current state of knowledge concerning extracellular functions of S100 beta, with emphasis on the potential relevance of these activities to neuropathological disorders. We also report a simplified procedure for preparation of pharmacological amounts of biologically active S100 beta dimers, based on the finding that formation of disulfide-linked S100 beta dimers can be stimulated by the presence of calcium or lipid.

Conditions for reproducible detection of calmodulin and S100 beta in immunoblots.

The conditions used in some immunoblot procedures can fail to detect calmodulin, S100 proteins, and other proteins with similar physical properties. We describe here some of the basis of this difficulty, and provide an immunoblot protocol that allows the rapid and reproducible detection of calmodulin and S100 beta in crude biological samples. These proteins are rapidly transferred from sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gels to membrane matrices, and retention on the matrix is enhanced by a glutaraldehyde fixation step. Either nitrocellulose or a positively charged membrane filter (ZetaProbe) can be used as the immobilizing matrix. By combining microslab gel electrophoresis, 30 min electrophoretic transfer, and glutaraldehyde fixation of nitrocellulose paper, an immunoblot analysis can be done in an 8-hr day.