Central venous catheter in bone marrow transplant [BMT] patients experience in 75 patients

In this study, mechanical and infectious complications related to externalized central venous catheters [Hickman] inserted in 75 patients who underwent BMT were analyzed. The number of lines infected was 17. Catheter related septicemia was recorded in seven patients. Tunnel infection was documented in five cases. The overall incidence of mechanical complications was 23%. It was concluded that Hickman central venous lines are essential components of care in patients undergoing BMT and have relatively low complications rate

Inflammatory breast carcinoma

Inflammatory breast cancer [IBC] is a distinct clinico-pathological entity. It is a rare tumor which represents less than 5% of all breast cancers. It is known for its aggressive behavior and grave prognosis with high of local and regional recurrence and propensity for distant metastases. The use of induction combination chemotherapy as a part of multimodality treatment in IBC has significantly and favorably altered the natural history of this disease. Approximately 35-50% of IBC patients are now disease free and alive at 5 years when treated by a combined modality approach in sharp contrast to 0-2% survival at 5 years when treated only by local therapy. New strategies such as high dose chemotherapy with autologous bone marrow rescue of growth factor support are being evaluated. This disease still poses many problems in oncology and the optimum management strategy has not yet been defined

Proto-oncogene mutations in human breast cancer [HBC]

This is a preliminary study of gene mutations in HBC. The genetic organizations of C-myc, L-myc and new oncogenes were examined in tumors from 10 patients with poorly differentiated infiltrating ductal cell carcinoma with epsilateral axillary lymph node metastasis. Genetic abnormalities in 6 cases was observed. 2 tumors has only new sequences amplified, one had only L-myc and 3 had both. The amplification of new and L-myc was found in 2 pregnant patients, 1 presented with bone metastases. New oncogene was amplified in a patient who developed contralateral breast cancer and bone metastasis within 1 year from diagnosis. This study suggested that L-myc and new mutations may be useful prognostic indicators. The alteration of new and L-myc genes in tumors from pregnant patients warrants further investigation. Additional studies are in progress