ABSTRACT
Objective@#To evaluate the safety and effectiveness of a vaccine based on latent membrane protein 2 (LMP2) modified dendritic cells (DCs) that boosts specific responses of cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) to LMP2 before and after intradermal injection in patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC).@*Methods@#DCs were derived from peripheral blood monocytes of patients with NPC. We prepared LMP2-DCs infected by recombinant adenovirus vector expressing LMP2 (rAd-LMP2). NPC patients were immunized with 2 × 10 @*Results@#We demonstrated that DCs derived from monocytes displayed typical DC morphologies; the expression of LMP2 in the LMP2-DCs vaccine was confirmed by immunocytochemical assay. Twenty-nine patients with NPC were enrolled in this clinical trial. The LMP2-DCs vaccine was well tolerated in all of the patients. Boosted responses to LMP2 peptide sub-pools were observed in 18 of the 29 patients with NPC. The follow-up data of 29 immunized patients from April, 2010 to April 2015 indicated a five-year survival rate of 94.4% in responders and 45.5% in non-responders.@*Conclusion@#In this pilot study, we demonstrated that the LMP2-DCs vaccine is safe and effective in patients with NPC. Specific CTLs responses to LMP2 play a certain role in controlling and preventing the recurrence and metastasis of NPC, which warrants further clinical testing.
Subject(s)
Adult , Aged , Female , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Young Adult , Cancer Vaccines/therapeutic use , China , Dendritic Cells/immunology , Immunotherapy/methods , Injections, Intradermal , Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma/therapy , Nasopharyngeal Neoplasms/therapy , T-Lymphocytes, Cytotoxic/immunology , Viral Matrix Proteins/therapeutic useABSTRACT
Several distinct infections are grouped as hepatitis. Although they are similar in many ways, they differ in etiology and in some epidemiologic, immunologic, clinical and pathologic characteristics. As well, their prevention and control vary greatly. The case reported here is a patient who developed hepatitis during a visit to Pakistan, then a second infection upon return to the UK. Subsequent tests indicate that the first episode was probably due to hepatitis E virus (HEV), an enterically transmitted hepatitis virus which is common in developing countries where poor sanitation is common and which causes both epidemics and sporadic cases.1,2 On her return to the UK, the patient developed acute hepatitis B following the receipt of injections for her illness in Pakistan. We present this case to describe a patient who appeared to develop two sequential episodes of acute viral hepatitis associated with travel to Pakistan, and to highlight the risks of infection associated with administration of parenteral drugs while on prolonged visits to developing countries.
ABSTRACT
The incidence of meningococcal infection in Scotland was 4.1 cases per 100 000 population in 1996 compared with 3.8/100 000 in 1995 (210 cases reported in 1996 compared with 193 in 1995). There were 14 deaths, representing a crude case fatality rate of 6.
