Rhabdomyosarcoma treatment and outcome at a multidisciplinary pediatric cancer center in Lebanon.

Rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS) is the most common soft tissue sarcoma in children. Outcome of patients treated on standard protocols, in a multidisciplinary cancer center setting outside of clinical trials, is not well reported. We reviewed characteristics and outcome of 23 pediatric patients treated at a single, multidisciplinary cancer center in Lebanon, between April 2002 and December 2010. Median follow-up was 41 months. The most commonly affected primary site was the head and neck (48%, n = 11). Nineteen tumors (82.6%) were of embryonal histology. Tumor size was ≥5 cm in eight (34.8%) patients. Sixteen patients (69.6%) had localized disease, and one (4.4%) had metastatic disease. Fifteen (65.2%) had Group III tumors. All patients received chemotherapy, for a duration ranging 21-51 weeks. Upfront surgical resection was performed in 10 patients (43.5%). Eighteen patients (78.3%) received radiation therapy. The 5-year overall and disease-free survival rates were 83% and 64%, respectively. Relapse correlated with absence of surgery. Treatment of childhood RMS in a multidisciplinary cancer center in Lebanon results in similar survival to that in developed countries when similar protocols are applied. There was a higher incidence of local relapse, but those were salvageable with further therapy and surgical local control.

Antiviral drug susceptibilities of seasonal human influenza viruses in Lebanon, 2008-09 season.

The emergence of antiviral drug-resistant strains of the influenza virus in addition to the rapid spread of the recent pandemic A(H1N1) 2009 virus highlight the importance of surveillance of influenza in identifying new variants as they appear. In this study, genetic characteristics and antiviral susceptibility patterns of influenza samples collected in Lebanon during the 2008-09 season were investigated. Forty influenza virus samples were isolated from 89 nasopharyngeal swabs obtained from patients with influenza-like illness. Of these samples, 33 (82.5%) were A(H3N2), 3 (7.5%) were A(H1N1), and 4 (10%) were B. All the H3N2 viruses were resistant to amantadine but were sensitive to oseltamivir and zanamivir; while all the H1N1 viruses were resistant to oseltamivir (possessed H275Y mutation, N1 numbering, in their NA) but were sensitive to amantadine and zanamivir. In the case of influenza B, both Victoria and Yamagata lineages were identified (three and one isolates each, respectively) and they showed decreased susceptibility to oseltamivir and zanamivir when compared to influenza A viruses. Influenza circulation patterns in Lebanon were very similar to those in Europe during the same season. Continued surveillance is important to fully elucidate influenza patterns in Lebanon and the Middle East in general, especially in light of the current influenza pandemic.

The tetravalent meningococcal serogroups A, C, W-135, and Y tetanus toxoid conjugate vaccine is immunogenic with a clinically acceptable safety profile in subjects previously vaccinated with a tetravalent polysaccharide vaccine.

OBJECTIVES: The immunogenicity and safety of the tetravalent meningococcal serogroups A, C, W-135, and Y tetanus toxoid conjugate vaccine (MenACWY-TT) were evaluated in subjects previously vaccinated with a tetravalent meningococcal polysaccharide vaccine and in subjects without previous meningococcal vaccination. METHODS: In this phase II, open, controlled study (NCT00661557), healthy subjects aged 4.5-34 years received one dose of MenACWY-TT at month 0. Subjects in the MPS group (n=192) had received polysaccharide vaccine in a study conducted 30-42 months earlier; age-matched subjects in the noMPS control group (n=79) had received no meningococcal vaccination within the past 10 years. Serum bactericidal activity using rabbit complement (rSBA) was measured at month 0 and month 1. RESULTS: At month 1, ≥97.0% of subjects had rSBA titers ≥1:128. Post-vaccination rSBA geometric mean titers (GMTs) were ≥3.9-fold higher than pre-vaccination in both treatment groups. Exploratory analyses showed no statistically significant differences between groups in percentages of subjects with rSBA titers ≥1:8 and ≥1:128, but significantly lower rSBA GMTs and vaccine response rates for each serogroup in the MPS versus the noMPS group. MenACWY-TT had an acceptable safety profile in both groups. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that MenACWY-TT could be used in vaccination programs irrespective of the pre-vaccination status with polysaccharide vaccine.