Biomedical subjects

J S Lin

Publications and source records attributed to J S Lin.

236 records · Page 14Linked to original sources

PubMedDate not supplied

The expression of p53 and bcl-2 in superficial bladder transitional cell carcinoma and its role in the outcome of postoperative intravesical chemotherapy.

BACKGROUND: We evaluated whether p53 and bcl-2 expression has any predictive value on the outcome of postoperative adjuvant intravesical chemotherapy for superficial bladder transitional cell carcinoma (TCC). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Immunostaining for p53 and bcl-2 was performed on paraffin-embedded tumor tissues obtained from 100 patients with superficial bladder TCC. 56 had solitary and 44 had multiple tumors; 36 were grade I, 53 grade II and 11 grade III; 50 were stage pTa and 50 stage pT1. They all received transurethral resection (TUR) and weekly intravesical instillation chemotherapy with either Thiotepa (70 patients) or Epirubicin (30 patients) for consecutive 8 doses postoperatively. RESULTS: Overall, 7 (7%) tumors were p53+ and 12 (12%) tumors were bcl-2+. Of these, only one tumor was combined p53+ and bcl-2+. The status of tumor p53 and bcl-2 positivity was found to be not significantly correlated with either tumor grade or stage. After adjuvant intravesical chemotherapy, tumor recurrence is significantly correlated with tumor multifocality (p = 0.0002) but not with tumor grade and stage. Compared with p53- or bcl-2- tumors, patients with p53+ or bcl-2+ tumors do not show a higher tumor recurrence rate. The number of recurrence-free patients was also not significantly different in p53+ versus p53- tumors, bcl-2+ versus bcl-2- tumors. Six (6%) patients eventually developed disease progression, and none stained positively for either p53 or bcl-2. CONCLUSIONS: We conclude that in superficial bladder TCC the status of tumor p53 and bcl-2 expression is not correlated with stage and grade. Their expression, either alone or combined, has no predictive role on the outcome of post-TUR intravesical chemotherapy on tumor recurrence.

Administration, Intravesical↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Severe combined immunodeficiency with B-lymphocytes (T-B+SCID): report of two cases.

Severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID) is a rare pediatric medical emergency in Taiwan. The early diagnosis of infants with SCID is very important because it can save the life of these critical infants. The essential clues important for early diagnosis of SCID patients include positive family history of early infant death, paucity of tonsil and lymphoid tissue, cutaneous fungal infection and lymphopenia. Severe combined immunodeficiency is a heterogeneous group of inherited disorders characterized by the failure of both cellular and humoral immunity. It can be categorized into SCID with B-lymphocytes predominant (T-B+SCID) and SCID with paucity of B-lymphocytes (T-B-SCID), according to the number of B-lymphocytes in the patient's peripheral circulation. We report two male infants with T-B+SCID who had been suffering from severe pulmonary distress with persistent O2 desaturation when they were transferred to our pediatric intensive care unit. Tracing back these infant's family histories, it was discovered that both of them had an elder brother who had died to overwhelming infection within the first year of life, and Pneumocystis carinii pneumonitis (PCP) was confirmed in the elder brother of case 2. After hospitalization, the immune condition of these two infants were evaluated which showed a decrease in T-cell and NK cell number, an increase in B-cell number, and decreased serum levels of all the Igs except IgM, which was elevated in case 1. These were the diagnostic immunological findings for T-B+SCID, which included X-linked SCID and Jak-3-deficient SCID. During hospitalization, severe mucocutaneous candidiasis and PCP were noted and confirmed in case 1 and PCP was highly suspected in case 2. Bone marrow transplantation, the only curable treatment for T-B+SCID at present, could not be performed in these two patients because of their grave clinical condition. Both of them expired due to their progressively downhill pulmonary conditions.

B-Lymphocytes↗