Frecuencia del cromosoma Philadelphia y otras alteraciones cromosomicas en adultos con leucemia granulocitica cronica / Incidence of the Philadelphia chromosome and other chromosome changes in adults with chronic granulocytic leukemia

Este estudio se diseno para conocer la frecuenccia de aparicion del cromosoma Philadelphia y otras anomalias cromosomicas em 74 pacientes adultos (40 mujeres y 34 varones) con leucemia granulocitica cronica diagnosticada en los Servicios de Hematologia del Hospital de Oncologia y del Hospital General del Centro Medico Nacional del Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social. Todos los pacientes, excepto uno, mostraron cromosoma Philadelphia. En 20 pacientes habia, ademas, otras anormalidades cromosomicas tales como aneuploidias y poliploidias, duplicacion del cromosoma Philadelphia, deleciones y traslocaciones, todos estos marcadores en forma aislada o en combinaciones. Llama la atención que solamente en un caso no hubo cromosoma Philadelphia (1.36 por ciento), lo que contrasta con otras series de la literatura extranjera, en las que se senala 15 por ciento de ausencia de este marcador, lo que en general se acompana de peor pronosticos. No se encontro correlacion entre las anormalidades cromosomicas y el tiempo de supervivencia, en contraste con lo que ocurre en otros tipos de leucemia. La baja frecuencia de aparicion de cromosoma Philadelphia sugiere que existen factores ambientales diferentes a los que ocurren en otros paises, o bien que el diagnostico de leucemia se basa casi exclusivamente en el hallazgo de este marcador cromosomico

The presence of anti-leukoblast antibodies as complement fixation agents in leukemia patients imm-nized with leukoblats treated with neuraminidase and radiation.

Six adult patients with acute myeloblastic leukemia were treated with chemotherapy and immunotherapy. This was done with cultured autologous leukoblasts, treated with neuraminidase of Vibrio cholerae and radiation, and injected six to ten times each eight to ten days between the chemotherapy cycles. Class IgC leukemic anti-leukoblast antibodies which are able to activate the C3 component of the complement system were found in the serum of patients. Five patients have been in complete remission for more than twenty months and the sixth patient for ten months. Antibodies for C3 fixation were not found in the serum of five other patients who were not immunized, nor in five healthy control subjects.

[Induction of phagocytosis by immunotherapy against leukemic leukocytoblasts]. / Inducción por inmunoterapia de fagocitosis contra leucoblastos leucémicos

Since 1975, the authors have been working in immunochemotherapy in acute myeloblastic leukemic adult patients. Autologous leukemic leucocytoblasts have been cultured with Vibrio cholerae neuraminidase (NVC). Thereafter, neoplastic cells were radiated with cobalt bomb and frozen to--70degreesC and afterwards 5 X 10(6) of these leucoblasts were intradermally injected to each patients every eight days. All patients received between six to ten injections. So far, ten such patients have been followed during eight months and since two months after immunization no leukemic leucocytoblasts in bone marrow and blood have been detected. Hemoglobin and platelets have increased more rapidly than usual and no patient has developed side effects. Phagocytosis tests carried out in vitro during remission, have demonstrated that only in immunized patients neutrophils and monocytes were capable of phagocytosis of autologous cultured malignant leucocytoblasts. The nucleus of phagocytized malignant cells was small and basophylic. These so far undescribed phagocytic cells were named post-immunization cells.