Taming the immune system through transfusion in oncology patients.

Blood transfusion is a clinical replacement therapy with many successes with some benefit and, also, some harm. Cancer is a multifaceted disease potentially associated with the immune system's weakness where the cancerous tumor cells escape from the immune system. Allogeneic blood transfusion, through five major mechanisms including the lymphocyte-T set, myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs), tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs), natural killer cells (NKCs), and dendritic cells (DCs) can help the recipient's defense mechanisms. On the other hand, the role for each of the listed items includes activation of the antitumor CD8+ cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CD8+/CTL), temporal inactivation of Tregs, inactivation of the STAT3 signaling pathway, the use of bacteria to enhance the antitumor immune response and cellular immunotherapy. The above issues are concisely addressed in this manuscript based on a literature survey on this topic carried out by the first author.

The Survey of Double Robertsonian Translocation 13q; 14q in the Pedigree of 44; XX Woman: A Case Report.

Robertsonian translocations (RBTs) are associated with an increased risk of aneuploidy. Single RBT carriers are the most common balanced rearrangements among the carrier couples with the history of spontaneous abortions. However, double Robertsonian translocations (DRBTs), in which two balanced RBTs occur simultaneously, are extremely rare conditions. A 9-year-old mentally normal girl with multiple skeletal disorders was found to carry a balanced 13/14 RBT (45, XX, t(13q; l4q)). Three generations of her family, including her parents and her maternal grandparents were investigated for cytogenetic analysis. All of them were phenotypically normal. Her mother appeared in a peculiar karyotype of 44, XX, t (13q; 14q) ×2, while her father revealed a normal karyotype 46, XY. Chromosomal constitution of her grandparents showed that both of them carried this balanced reciprocal translocation (45, XY t (13q; 14q) as well as 45, XX, t (13q;14q)). Cytogenetic evaluations on the basis G-banding technique were performed for participants. Except the 9- year-old girl, all RBT carriers in this family appeared phenotypically normal, her skeletal disorders might not be due to chromosomal rearrangement. Meanwhile, all offsprings of 44, XX woman are obligatory carriers of this translocation, and should be candidates for prenatal diagnosis (PND) or preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD), for their future pregnancies.