Children treated for acute leukaemia are at increased risk of infection with Streptococcus pneumoniae. The basis for this may include low levels of pneumococcal antibody but this has not been well studied. The authors measured serotype-specific pneumococcal IgG antibody concentrations in children treated for acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) and acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) ≥6 months after c...

Disease relapse is the greatest cause of treatment failure in paediatric B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (B-ALL). Current risk stratifications fail to capture all patients at relapse. Herein, we used a machine-learning approach identify B-ALL blast-secreted factors that are associated with poor survival outcomes. Using this approach, identified two-gene expression signature (CKLF and IL1B)...

OBJECTIVES This study aimed to assess the incidence and trend of childhood leukaemia in Basrah. METHODS This was a hospital-based cancer registry study carried out at the Pediatric Oncology Ward, Maternity & Children's Hospital and other institutes in Basrah, Iraq. All children with leukaemia, aged 0 to 14 years diagnosed and registered in Basrah from January 2004 to December 2009 were includ...

BACKGROUND Acute encephalomyelopathy occurring after an allogeneic bone marrow transplant for leukaemia is a diagnostic emergency. The diagnosis can be challenging since there is a wide set of alternative diagnoses, including opportunistic infections and relapse of the leukaemia. CASE PRESENTATION A 13-year old girl presented with a severe acute myelopathy and encephalopathy. She was in prolo...

The incidence of acute biphenotypic leukaemia has ranged from less than 1% to almost 50% in various reports in the literature. This wide variability may be attributed to a number of reasons including lack of consistent diagnostic criteria, use of various panels of antibodies, and the failure to recognize the lack of lineage specificity of some of the antibodies used. The morphology, cytochemist...