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Association of renal carcinoma and polycythemia vera: 5 cases in which nephrectomy preceded and did not influence the clinical course of the polycythemia.

In a series of 300 cases of PV evaluated and treated over the last 12 years, 5 cases had a kidney carcinoma, either previously treated (2 cases) or discovered at the same time as the PV (3 cases). In all these cases, the blood disease had the criteria of a myeloproliferative syndrome (abnormality of three cell-lines), was not influenced by nephrectomy and evolved in the long term like a primary PV. No kidney cancer was observed during follow-up of the other 32P treated PV patients. There appears to be an abnormal association between PV and kidney cancer which needs confirmation in larger series and would justify a prospective evaluation.

Adenocarcinoma↗

Erythropoietin radioimmunoassay in evaluating patients with polycythemia.

We measured serum concentrations of erythropoietin in 59 patients with polycythemia using a sensitive and specific radioimmunoassay. The mean concentration was 17.5 +/- 8.4 mU/mL (+/- SD) in 26 patients with polycythemia vera and 14.9 +/- 4.2 mU/mL in 26 normal persons. In contrast, the average concentration was 94.3 +/- 101.2 mU/mL in 33 patients with secondary polycythemia, representing a highly significant elevation (p < 0.0001) compared to both normal and polycythemia vera groups. The average hematocrit value did not differ between the polycythemia vera and the secondary polycythemia patients, and both groups had higher values (median, 55%) than the normal donors (median, 41%). Erythropoietin concentrations ascertained by radioimmunoassay helped discriminate between polycythemia vera and secondary polycythemia. Ninety-two percent of polycythemia vera patients had concentrations less than 30 mU/mL (the concentration used as a cut off point), and 94% of secondary polycythemia patients had concentrations greater than 30 mU/mL. This represents an overall correct classification of 93% of the patients. Serum erythropoietin levels as ascertained by radioimmunoassay can distinguish between most polycythemia vera and secondary polycythemia patients and should prove useful in the differential diagnosis of polycythemia.

Adult↗

Polycythemia and oxygen sensing.

Polycythemias can be differentiated based on the responsiveness of erythroid progenitors to circulating cytokines. Primary polycythemias are characterized by an augmented response due to acquired somatic or inherited germ-line mutations that are expressed within hematopoietic progenitors causing increased proliferation or decreased apoptosis and resulting in accumulation of red blood cells. In terms of oxygen requirements, primary polycythemias can be viewed as the production of hemoglobin fully dissociated from the tissue oxygen needs and from the oxygen sensing pathway. Polycythemia vera (PV) is the most common primary polycythemia. PV bone marrow progenitors cells can form erythroid colonies in the absence of exogenous erythropoietin in vitro. These endogenous erythroid colonies (EEC) are useful in differentiating PV and secondary polycythemias. They also can differentiate PV where this feature is independent of Epo signalling from primary familial and congenital polycythemia. In this autosomal dominant primary polycythemia, at variance with PV, EEC formation is abolished by anti-Epo and anti-Epo receptor neutralising antibodies. Mutations of the EPOR have been described and resulted in nine cases in truncated EPORs lacking the cytoplasmic carboxy-terminal of the receptor which possesses a negative growth regulatory domain. However, recent data suggest that different mutations may cause PFCP in most cases. Secondary polycythemia can be viewed as either physiological response to satisfy the oxygen needs of the tissues, resulting for instance from high affinity hemoglobins or BPG mutase deficiency, or as the result of germ-line or somatic mutations disturbing the oxygen sensing pathway or its target: Epo. Chuvash polycythemia is a frequently symptomatic disorder with an autosomal recessive inheritance and inappropriately high Epo levels. The erythroid progenitors are hypersensitive to Epo linking this condition to both primary and secondary polycythemia. A germline missense mutation at nucleotide 598 in both alleles of the von Hippel-Lindau gene results in increased hypoxia inducible factor-1 (HIF-1) expression in normoxic conditions. HIF-1 controls the expression of many genes including Epo. Identifying causal defects in other situations like post-renal transplant erythrocytosis and cases of autosomal dominant polycythemia with high Epo levels will help further understanding of the regulation of erythropoiesis.

Erythrocytes↗

Tissue plasminogen activator levels in different types of polycythemia.

The plasma level of tissue plasminogen activator antigen (t-PA-Ag) was examined in 86 patients with polycythemia (29 polycythemia vera, 11 secondary polycythemia and 46 with spurious polycythemia) and 24 healthy volunteers. Tissue plasminogen activator antigen was significantly decreased in patients with polycythemia vera in comparison with healthy controls. On the other hand, in patients with spurious polycythemia and secondary polycythemia t-PA-Ag concentration was significantly increased. There was no significant difference in t-PA-Ag levels in polycythemic patients with or without thromboembolic disease. A significant correlation was detected between t-PA-Ag level and hemoglobin or hematocrit concentration in patients with polycythemia vera (p = 0.02, r = 0.43). However, in patients with secondary polycythemia and spurious polycythemia, no significant correlation between t-PA-Ag and hemoglobin level was found. Plasminogen activator inhibitor (PAI) levels in patients with polycythemia vera and healthy volunteers did not differ significantly.

Aged↗

Increased serum levels of vascular endothelial growth factor correlate with splenomegaly in polycythemia vera.

Angiogenesis has been implicated in the growth, dissemination and metastasis of solid tumours. Several recent studies have shown increased bone marrow vasculature in acute and chronic leukaemia as well as in myelofibrosis and myelodysplastic syndromes. Increased serum and/or cellular levels of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) as the most potent and specific angiogenic factor were reported in acute and chronic leukaemia and multiple myeloma and also predict poor prognosis in these haematological malignancies. Little is known about angiogenesis and VEGF levels in polycythemia. Thus, the serum levels of VEGF (pg/ml) and erythropoietin (U/l) were determined using ultra-sensitive ELISA assays in 16 polycythemia patients (10 with polycythemia vera (PV) and 6 with secondary polycythemia) and correlated with their clinical and laboratory features. The serum levels of VEGF were significantly higher in 90% of PV cases and 60% of secondary polycythemia compared to healthy controls. The median VEGF levels (pg/ml) were 622 (range, 272-4760), 306 (range, 111-408) and 143 (range, 91-282) in PV, secondary polycythemia and healthy controls, respectively. Since serum VEGF reflects both plasma VEGF and platelet released VEGF, the concentration of VEGF per platelet (VEGF/PLT) as pg per 10(6) platelet was used as a more standardised measure. Splenomegaly emerged as the main factor associated with a marked increase in serum VEGF/PLT levels. On the other hand, the serum erythropoietin levels (U/l) were significantly reduced in PV (range, 1.2-14.3) raised in secondary polycythemia (range, 26-104) compared with normal controls (range, 9.7-31.1), P<0.01. In conclusion, the present study shows increased VEGF levels in most polycythemia patients, and splenomegaly is associated with a profound increase in VEGF serum levels in these patients. Also, patients with PV have significantly reduced serum levels of erythropoietin compared with secondary polycythemia. Also, serum VEGF/PLT was higher in PV patients treated with phlebotomy alone rather than oral chemotherapy, suggesting a possible advantage for chemotherapy over phlebotomy alone in suppressing the disease progression. Further studies with large number of polycythemia cases are warranted to explore the role of these cytokines in the pathogenesis, diagnosis and/or therapy of polycythemia.

Adult↗