Progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML) is a lytic infection of the central nervous system caused by the reactivation of John Cunningham Virus (JCV) in severely immunosuppressed patients. Occurrence of PML after solid organ transplantations, especially after liver transplantation, is rare. If a patient has poor prognostic factors such as atypical radiological involvements or high viral...

J.m., a 43-year-old man with acute myelogenous leukemia with a monosomy 7 cytogenetic abnormality, received an allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HscT) from his human leukocyte antigen– matched brother. Past treatments included idarubicin and cytarabine induction therapy followed by a cycle of high-dose cytarabine. J.m. was in complete remission prior to the HscT. The condition...

The depot formulation of liposomal cytarabine (DepoCyte) has proven to be useful as intrathecal (IT) treatment of neoplastic and lymphomatous meningitis. We report the results of compassionate use of DepoCyte in 6 patients diagnosed with acute leukemia (AL) and CNS involvement. Two patients had CNS involvement at diagnosis and the remaining 4 had CNS relapse. Three patients received DepoCyte as...

Parabactin, a microbial iron chelator (a siderophore), is shown to be a more potent cell synchronization agent than either desferrioxamine or hydroxyurea. When the L1210 cell cycle is blocked with parabactin, cells are held at the G1-S border. If the ligand is later washed away, the block is reversed, and the cells cascade into S phase. The cells are synchronized through three cell cycles. The ...

Various active anticancer agents are derived from plants and terrestrial microorganisms. Isolation of C-nucleosides from the Caribbean sponge, Cryptotheca crypta, four decades ago, provided the basis for the synthesis of cytarabine, the first marine derived anticancer agent to be developed for clinical use. Cytarabine is currently used in the routine treatment of patients with leukaemia and lym...

We report the outcome of 95 patients older than 60 years with de novo acute non-lymphocytic leukaemia (ANLL), treated in two institutions during a 10 year period. Thirty-two patients, mean age 78 years, did not receive any chemotherapy, and their median survival was 38 days. Five patients in good clinical condition, aged 60-63 years, were treated conventionally with an anthracycline and cytarab...

In October 2011, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced the end of the cytarabine shortage. Cytarabine is the key chemotherapy drug for the management of leukemia in children and adults, particularly acute myeloid leukemia, and the announcement by the FDA of an end to this 11-month crisis was good news. However, in July 2011, we started experiencing shortages of daunorubicin, anoth...

Aggressive non-Hodgkin lymphoma is associated with poor long-term survival after relapse or resistance to chemotherapy. We report a case of aggressive non-Hodgkin lymphoma refractory to first-line R-CHOP (rituximab, cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisone) and second-line R-DHAP (rituximab, dexamethasone, cytarabine, and cisplatin) chemotherapy treatments. The patient achieve...

BACKGROUND Relapsed medulloblastoma (MB) is a highly lethal disease, requiring for new effective treatment strategies. Intrathecal (IT) therapy both for de novo or relapsed brain tumors with meningeal metastasis is rarely used in first line and relapse protocols. PATIENTS AND METHODS We report on three cases of children with relapsed MB treated with IT liposomal cytarabine administered after ...