Search PubMed⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

M Masi

Publications and source records attributed to M Masi.

158 records · Page 9Linked to original sources
PubMedDate not supplied

Cytotoxic effects of dacarbazine in patients with acute myelogenous leukemia: a pilot study.

BACKGROUND AND METHODS: Preclinical studies performed in our laboratory showed that mouse leukemias become highly immunogenic following in vivo treatment with Decarbazine. This observation led to a successful immunochemotherapy protocol in mice using Dacarbazine plus cytoreductive chemotherapy. Therefore an in vivo and in vitro pilot study was conducted in patients (pts) with resistant or relapsed acute myelogenous leukemia (AML). The DNA-repair enzyme O6-alkylguanine-DNA-alkyl-transferase (OGAT) and the in vitro chemosensitivity to Temozolomide, a Dacarbazine derivative, were evaluated in leukemic blasts. RESULTS: Nine pts received Dacarbazine (0.4-0.8 g/sqm/day) on days 0, 1 and 2. On day 7, noticeable blast reduction occurred in 4 pts: pt 1 was in partial remission on day 21, pt 6 still showed bone marrow leukemia, pt 8 died of sepsis on day 8, pt 9 is still in aplasia on day 25. Low OGAT levels and consistent sensitivity to Temozolomide in vitro were found in the blasts of pts responsive to Dacarbazine. Subsequently, pts 1-7 underwent Ara-C (1g/sqm/day) plus Mitoxantrone (6mg/sqm/day) treatment for 6 days. Four pts entered complete remission after 27-45 days of aplasia. Failures were due to hypoplastic death, absolute drug resistance, or hypoplasia followed by blast cell regrowth. CONCLUSIONS: These data point out that Dacarbazine can induce a marked reduction of blast cells as well as severe myelotoxicity in leukemic patients.

Antiemetics↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Bone marrow processing with a gravity sedimentation technique: experience of 13 cases.

The experience of 13 bone marrow processings is reported: 7 patients were affected by Acute Leukemias, 4 by Non Hodgkin's Lymphomas, 1 by Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia in complete remission after induction chemotherapy, 1 by Ewing's Sarcoma. Gravity sedimentation technique with 6% hydroxyethyl starch was used in all cases. A mean value of 0.754 x 10(8)/kg body weight mononuclear cells was harvested after sedimentation, with a mean recovery of 74.554%. Mean CFU-GM value was 0.543 x 10(4)/kg body weight. Only one evaluable patient, affected by ANLL, underwent Autologous Bone Marrow Transplantation and a full engraftment was noted on day +14. Results are discussed and further studies are proposed to clarify the relationship between the in vitro CFU-GM growth and the bone marrow engraftment.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Point of view of Italian regions.

The tragic chain of mortal events, that have happened to workers and people who have been exposed to asbestos, proposes clearly an accentuation of the efforts that have been undertaken up to now, even in absence of precise national directives, in order to give an answer to worries and, sometimes, to real consequences of citizens' and workers' asbestos exposure. Region of Tuscany, following the initiatives which have been carried out in national and regional field for the formerly asbestos-exposed or other carcinogenic agents workers, performed a guideline that was just titled "Guidelines on sanitary surveillance of formerly exposed to occupational carcinogens workers". The debate, which had risen around the sanitary surveillance of the formerly-exposed to occupational carcinogenic agents workers, had induced indeed many institutions to take decisions on issues which were not yet explicitly regulated by the national law. For example the guidelines provided suggestions regarding what bodies--either public or private--should be appointed to this task, or the kind of protocols should be adopted with all the related collective and individual consequences.

Asbestosis↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Prevention in regional policy].

Prevention, safety and health promotion represent fondamental issues in the Regional policy. With this regard, the implementation of the Regional policy has been thought as the promotion of an integrated system which links different fields such as health, work-related information and education, job orientation and work in general. It is recommended that a good standard of prevention is achieved through the synergic actions and the collaborations among all the different actors playing a role in safety and prevention in workplace, including occupational physicians, safety and prevention operators, safety representatives for workers, trade unions, employers associations and public institutions. It is also necessary to adopt a strategy in order to decrease the number of misdiagnosed occupational diseases as well as to promote the "culture of safety in workplaces", increasing the awareness of all figures, with special focus on employers category. All this has to be set in the new scenario of the nowadays work characterized by the progressive increase of atypical job contracts, renewing the emphasis on the necessity of keeping joined "the right to a job with the right to health".

Health Policy↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Mitoxantrone in combination with etoposide and cytarabine for treatment of poor prognosis acute non lymphoid leukemia patients.

BACKGROUND: The proved effectiveness and relatively low extrahematological toxicity of Mitoxantrone, Ara-C and Etoposide as single agents and in combination in the treatment of acute non lymphoid leukemia (ANLL) are well established. In a phase II study the efficacy and toxicity of an induction combination regimen with Mitoxantrone, Ara-C and Etoposide were evaluated for treatment of poor risk ANLL patients. METHODS: Twenty-seven poor prognosis ANLL patients were treated with Mitoxantrone, 7 mg/sm days 1-3; VP16, 150 mg/sm days 1-3; Ara-C, 200 mg/sm continuous infusion days 1-5. Median age of treated patients was 63 (17-78): 10 de novo leukemias (4 greater than 65 yrs 3 with cardiomyopathy); 12 secondary leukemias (5 secondary to a myelodysplastic syndrome, 5 to myeloproliferative syndrome, 2 to other neoplasias); 3 relapses; 2 refractory. RESULTS: Fifteen patients (55.5%) achieved CR (8 de novo leukemias, 3 relapses, 4 secondary leukemias); 7 died in induction, 5 progressed. Median remission duration was 27 weeks (range 5-70 wks) and overall median survival 13 weeks (range 4-80). Extraematological toxicity was low, but five patients died from infections and two from hemorrhages. CONCLUSIONS: The combination tested in this trial proved effective in the treatment of "poor risk" ANLL, but the results need to be confirmed on greater numbers of patients, mainly in the group of de novo leukemias that can't be treated with more aggressive regimens.

Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols↗
PubMedDate not supplied

The plicamycin and hydroxyurea combination chemotherapy for chronic granulocytic leukemia in myeloid transformation.

Between 1987-1988 we treated, in a cooperative study, 13 patients in blast crisis of CGL according to Koller and Miller's regimen. We observed no return to the chronic phase of the disease, while some patients suffered major drug-induced side effects. Six patients in accelerated phase were treated with the same combination therapy. All of them responded with a return to the chronic phase for a median of 4.5 months. In our hands the combination of plicamycin and hydroxyurea was ineffective in patients with CGL in blast crisis. This regimen could deserve further evaluation in patients with CGL in acceleration.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Evaluation of atopy risk factors during the first year of life. Multicentric study].

The AA studied 406 newborn babies during the 1st year of life in order to verify the correlation between atopy risk factors and the appearance of early symptoms, particularly gastroenteric (GE). The results obtained did not demonstrate a significant difference concerning the blood cord IgE level and subsequent appearance of food allergy symptoms, whereas positive familiarity showed a better correlation. No significant difference was observed between breast--or formula--fed infants, or between those weaned before or after the 5th month of life. The comparison of dietary regimen adopted during the 1st quarter in the asymptomatic and atopic children respectively, demonstrated that the presence of predisposing factors influences the appearance of GE symptoms much more than the diet in itself. An allergologic study, randomly performed by Prick-test in 156 cases and by RAST in 200 cases, showed a prevalent, positive response with RAST technique in symptomatic children.

Follow-Up Studies↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Evaluation of the efficacy of oral cromolyn sodium or an oligoantigenic diet in children with atopic dermatitis: a multicenter study of 1085 patients.

One thousand eighty-five children with atopic dermatitis were enrolled in a multicenter study to evaluate the efficacy of 4 weeks of oral sodium cromoglycate or 4 weeks of a restricted diet. One thousand-eleven children (93%) concluded the study. At the end of the trial there was a significant improvement in skin lesions in the two groups: 61% of the patients in the sodium cromoglycate group and 69% in the restricted diet showed a significant improvement in atopic dermatitis. We concluded that, at least in our experimental design, both sodium cromoglycate and a restricted diet are equally effective in atopic dermatitis.

Administration, Oral↗