Flow cytometric analysis of cluster of differentiation (CD) markers in abnormal lymphocyte populations is crucial in the diagnosis of precursor T cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL)/lymphoblastic lymphoma (LBL). The World Health Organization (WHO) suggested immunophenotype for pre-T ALL/LBL typically includes the expression of TdT, cCD3, and CD7, while CD2, CD3, CD4, CD5, CD8, and CD10 ar...

Purpose: KIT aberrations were described in acral and mucosal melanomas in largely Caucasian populations. Asian populations are more prone to develop acral and mucosal than cutaneous melanomas, and may harbor a high frequency of KIT aberrations. Experimental Design: Melanoma subtypes (n 1⁄4 502) were analyzed histologically to determine melanoma subtype. Tissue samples were analyzed for mutation...

Although studies have demonstrated that trauma markedly alters the bone marrow immune responses, sex and age are crucial determinants under such conditions and have not been extensively examined. To study this, 21- to 27-day-old (premature), 6- to 8-wk-old (mature), and 20- to 24-mo-old (aged) male and female (proestrus) C3H/HeN mice were sham operated or subjected to trauma (i.e., midline lapa...

PURPOSE Imatinib mesylate is standard treatment for patients who have advanced gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST), but not all patients benefit equally. In previous studies, GIST genotype correlated with treatment outcome and optimal imatinib dosing. PATIENTS AND METHODS We examined the relationship between kinase genotype and treatment outcome for 428 patients enrolled on the North Americ...

Background: Liver diseases include a wide spectrum of both acute and chronic conditions which are associated with significant morbidity and mortality worldwide. Hepatocyte transplantation has therapeutic potential in the treatment of liver diseases, but its clinical use is hampered by the lack of donor tissue. Generation of hepatocytes in vitro from adult or fetal liver cell progenitors or, alt...

PURPOSE We recently identified a KIT exon 11 mutation in an anorectal melanoma of a patient who had an excellent response to treatment with imatinib. To determine the frequency of KIT mutations across melanoma subtypes, we surveyed a large series of tumors. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN One hundred eighty-nine melanomas were screened for mutations in KIT exons 11, 13, and 17. KIT copy number was assess...

We have recently demonstrated that disruption of the murine cytochrome P-450 2c44 gene (Cyp2c44) exacerbates chronic hypoxia-induced pulmonary artery remodeling and hypertension in mice. Subsequently, we serendipitously found that Cyp2c44 gene disruption also increases hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) numbers in bone marrow and blood. Therefore, the objective of the present study was to investigat...

One of the theories regarding oral carcinogenesis is that the tumor growth is dependent on cancer stem cells (CSCs) that have the capacity of self-renewal and of giving rise to more differentiated tumor cells, like the stem cells do in normal tissues. The most used methods of CSCs isolation are based on their identification based on the expression of different cell surface markers. The markers ...

KIT (CD117, c-kit) is a receptor tyrosine kinase involved in the tumorigenesis of several neoplasms. KIT is expressed by the secretory cells of normal sweat glands. We studied the KIT expression and KIT mutational status in various benign and malignant tumors of eccrine and apocrine glands. We included a total of 108 cases comprising 10 benign and 6 malignant sweat gland tumors, and KIT express...