Comprehensive rapid identification of female carriers of DMD/BMD by ion-pair reversed-phase high performance liquid chromatography

The unlabeled ion-pair reversed-phase high performance liquid chromatography [IP-RP-HPLC] was used in this study to develop a simple and rapid method for rapid identification of female carriers of the dystrophin gene. DNA molecular size markers were efficiently used to type the 2-bp short tandem repeat [STR]. In an Egyptian sample of 98 chromosomes, the most common alleles within the DMD gene were 200, 176, 245 and 243 bp due to STR44, 45, 49, and 50 markers, respectively. The true heterozygosity values of these markers ranged from 73.5 to 90.9% and observed allele numbers ranged from 8 to 17 in 98 chromosomes, revealing high polymorphism of the four [CA]n system of the DMD gene

Pathological versus clinical staging for children with hodgkin's disease comparison of long-term results

This work studied 358 children with pathologically proven diagnosis of Hodgkin's disease. They were either pathologically staged [149 patients] or clinically staged [209 patients]. The characteristics of both groups were comparable with minor differences. Both groups were treated either with involved field radiation therapy alone, chemotherapy alone or combined chemoradiotherapy. Complete response rates were identical in both pathologically and clinically staged groups [90%]. The 10-year overall survival [OS] rates were comparable [88% vs 83%] and the 10-year disease-free survival [DFS] rates were also comparable [52% vs 51%]. The prognostic factors for all patients that determined both DFS and OS were tumor stage, systemic manifestations, mediastinal involvement and type of treatment adopted

Dysgerminoma of the ovary expecting good prognosis even in advanced stages

Dysgerminoma is a rare germ cell tumor of the ovary. It constitutes about 0.5% of all ovarian malignancies. During 12 years period [1978-1989], 22 patients were treated at the National Cancer Institute, Cairo, Egypt. According to FIGO classification system, 4 patients were allocated to stage 1, 2 - stage II, 13 - stage IV. The adoption of elective irradiation policy to the mediastinum and supraclavicular areas seemed to have a good influence on prognosis. However, the extent of surgery performed could not be shown to affect survival

Five years follow-up after central nervous system prophylaxis in children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia

Following hemato-clinical remission, 76 children suffering from acute lymphoblastic leukemia [ALL] received central nervous system prophylaxis at the National Cancer Institute, Cairo, CNS-prophylaxis consisted of cranial irradiation [2400 cGy] associated with 5 injections of intrathecal methotrexate [12 mg/m2 body surface area]. The timing of this therapy appears to modify the course of CNS relapse but not survival. Children treated early [within 10 days after achievement of bone marrow remission] experienced a less CNS relapse rate among the good prognostic group. The 5-year survival rate of the good prognostic children amounted to 33%, while those of the bad prognostic group experienced a lower survival rate that amounted to 15%. The CNS relapse rate for the two groups were nearly the same. Hematological relapse accounted for most of the failures as well as the cause of death for the whole group