RESUMO
Interferon-alpha (IFN-alpha) has antitumor and antiangiogenic effects. The purpose of this work was to evaluate its efficacy and safety in the treatment of infancy hemangioma and to monitor the appearance of anti-IFN antibodies in these patients. Thirty-nine children (29 girls) aged 1.5-158 months, with 19 younger than 1 year and 9 older than 5, were treated with 3 x 10(6) IU/m(2) IFN-alpha 2b, subcutaneously (s.c.) daily. Inclusion criteria were life-threatening or life-limiting hemangioma and parents' informed consent. Regression was considered if tumor size diminished by 50% or more. Of the 38 patients who completed 6 months of treatment, 27 (71.1%) had regression and 11 (28.9%) had stable disease. No patient experienced progression. Regression was more frequent (100%) among patients between 1 and 5 years old, but it was particularly important (68%) among those under 1 year old, when spontaneous regression is rare. The main side effects were the IFN-related flulike syndrome (79%), increase in serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT) (28%), anorexia (19%), and mild inflammation at the injection site (19%). There was no effect on psychomotor or physical development. On the contrary, 1 patient with neurologic symptoms improved remarkably, including seizure disappearance. Eight patients developed anti-IFN-alpha 2 neutralizing antibodies, and 7 of them responded to IFN treatment. IFN-alpha 2b is a safe and efficacious treatment of infancy hemangioma. Further work should look for other treatment schedules and ways of administration and carefully monitor anti-IFN neutralizing antibodies, which does not seem to interfere with response.
Assuntos
Antineoplásicos/uso terapêutico , Hemangioma/terapia , Interferon-alfa/uso terapêutico , Adolescente , Criança , Pré-Escolar , Feminino , Seguimentos , Neoplasias dos Genitais Femininos/terapia , Neoplasias dos Genitais Masculinos/terapia , Neoplasias de Cabeça e Pescoço/terapia , Humanos , Lactente , Injeções Subcutâneas , Interferon alfa-2 , Masculino , Proteínas Recombinantes , Indução de Remissão , Neoplasias Cutâneas/terapia , Resultado do TratamentoRESUMO
Liver biopsies from 27 patients with malignant diseases and virus B carriers state were studied. The age of the patients ranged from 2 to 14 years. ELISA tests for virus B hepatitis were performed in all patients. Three of them resulted HBV positive at admission, whereas 24 became positive after anti-tumoral treatment onset. One patient was also virus C positive. Morphological disorders findings comprises: symptomless acute hepatitis in 7 patients (including the B-C carrier), minimal hepatocytes damage was found in 17 patients as the result of their carriers state and where also certain drug-induced hepatotoxic effect might be present. In this group there were also 7 biopsies with minimal portal region damage. Three biopsies were reported as normal liver tissue. This results confirmed the significance of the study of serological hepatitis viral test and hepatic biopsy in high risk group patients, where it is also necessary the vaccination against HBV before treatment onset.
Assuntos
Portador Sadio/patologia , Hepatite B/patologia , Fígado/patologia , Neoplasias/patologia , Doença Aguda , Adolescente , Biópsia por Agulha , Criança , Pré-Escolar , Feminino , Hepatite C/patologia , Humanos , MasculinoRESUMO
Soft-tissue sarcomas arising in parameningeal sites are characterized by the potential of a direct meningeal invasion. In order to improve survival rates, we started a treatment program which included whole cranial irradiation with a dose of 24-30 Gy and primary tumor irradiation with 55-65 Gy, and polychemotherapy with vincristine, actinomycin D and cyclophosphamide, and, in some cases, adriamycin. Results in a series of 9 children treated by this program were compared with a historical group of 12 children without cranial irradiation. In the group with extended irradiation to brain, survival was 40%, stabilized at the 13th month of treatment, and 38.1%, respectively, if orbitary tumors were excluded. In the historical group these values were only 20.83% and 15.67%, respectively. The differences were statistically significant.
Assuntos
Protocolos de Quimioterapia Combinada Antineoplásica/uso terapêutico , Neoplasias Meníngeas/radioterapia , Sarcoma/radioterapia , Neoplasias de Tecidos Moles/radioterapia , Criança , Pré-Escolar , Terapia Combinada , Ciclofosfamida/administração & dosagem , Dactinomicina/administração & dosagem , Doxorrubicina/administração & dosagem , Feminino , Seguimentos , Humanos , Masculino , Neoplasias Meníngeas/tratamento farmacológico , Sarcoma/tratamento farmacológico , Neoplasias de Tecidos Moles/tratamento farmacológico , Vincristina/administração & dosagemRESUMO
The first 7 cases of histologically and cytochemically confirmed Burkitt's lymphoma have recently been studied in Cuba. Some of them presented with facial bone involvement and high anti-Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) antibody titers characteristic of endemic African cases. Others showed features of nonendemic cases. The distribution of patients in these two groups may be in relation to the behavior of the healthy Cuban population with respect to the EBV virus.
Assuntos
Linfoma de Burkitt/patologia , Adolescente , Anticorpos Antineoplásicos/análise , Anticorpos Antivirais/análise , Linfoma de Burkitt/imunologia , Linfoma de Burkitt/ultraestrutura , Criança , Pré-Escolar , Cuba , Feminino , Herpesvirus Humano 4/imunologia , Humanos , Linfócitos/ultraestrutura , Macrófagos/ultraestrutura , MasculinoRESUMO
Results obtained in 50 children with abdominal non-Hodgkin's lymphoma after a treatment program that comprised entire abdominal irradiation and chemotherapy are presented. Actuarial survival of the series at 3, 5 and 10 years is 65.8%, with 75.2% for patients in Stage II and 58.6% in Stage III. Patients in 5-9-year age group, or in Stage II comported with a better prognosis, with significant differences. Majority of deaths occurred during the first 6 months with stabilization of survival after the second year of treatment.