Results of a randomized, prospective clinical trial evaluating metronomic chemotherapy in nonmetastatic patients with high-grade, operable osteosarcomas of the extremities: A report from the Latin American Group of Osteosarcoma Treatment.

BACKGROUND: Metronomic chemotherapy (MC) consists of the administration of a low dose of chemotherapy on a daily or weekly basis without a long break to achieve an antitumoral effect through an antiangiogenic effect or stimulation of the immune system. The potential effect of MC with continuous oral cyclophosphamide and methotrexate in patients with high-grade operable osteosarcomas (OSTs) of the extremities was investigated. METHODS: Patients with high-grade OSTs who were 30 years old or younger were eligible for registration at diagnosis. Eligibility for randomization included 1) nonmetastatic disease and 2) complete resection of the primary tumor. The study design included a backbone of 10 weeks of preoperative therapy with methotrexate, adriamycin, and platinum (MAP). After surgery, patients were randomized between 2 arms to complete 31 weeks of MAP or receive 73 weeks of MC after MAP. The primary endpoint was event-free survival (EFS) from randomization. RESULTS: There were 422 nonmetastatic patients registered (May 2006 to July 2013) from 27 sites in 3 countries (Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay), and 296 were randomized to MAP plus MC (n = 139) or MAP alone (n = 157). At 5 years, the EFS cumulative proportions surviving in the MAP-MC group and the MAP-alone group were 61% (standard error [SE], 0.5%) and 64% (SE, 0.5%), respectively, and they were not statistically different (Wilcoxon [Gehan] statistic = 0.724; P =.395). The multivariate analysis showed that necrosis grades 1 and 2, tumor size, and amputation were associated with shorter EFS. CONCLUSIONS: According to the current follow-up, EFS with MAP plus MC is not statistically superior to EFS with MAP alone in patients with high-grade, resectable OSTs of the extremities. Cancer 2017;123:1003-10. © 2016 American Cancer Society.

Detection of Epstein-Barr virus in children and adolescents with Burkitt's lymphoma by in situ hybridization using tissue microarrays.

In this retrospective study, we evaluated 53 patients diagnosed with Burkitt's lymphoma (BL). Patients were admitted to the Pediatric Department of Santa Casa de São Paulo, Brazil from August 1988 to September 2006. The male gender was found more frequently in the proportion of three males to one female. At the time of the diagnosis, the mean age was 6 years. The most frequent clinical presentation was abdominal (extra nodal) in 42 (79.2%) cases. The patients were treated with chemotherapy using two different treatment methods, 30 cases until September 1994 with BGLTI -87 and the other 23 until September of 2006 with BGLTI -96. According to Murphy's classification, 90.2% of the patients were diagnosed as stages III and VI showing an advanced disease at time of diagnosis. Using Tissue Microarrays (TMA); we searched for the expression of the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) RNA in 50 patients. The presence of EBV using in situ hybridization was found in 33/50 (66%) and there was no association between the presence of the virus in the tumor cells or patient age, as well as the survival rate. There was 74.5% global survival rate until September, 2005 of 12 years and 8 months. The disease free survival rate was 86.5%. The frequency of the EBV association with this neoplasia in Brazil is intermediate between the endemic and sporadic forms of disease.

Ulcerações orais e genitais como manifestação inicial de leucemia em criança / Oral and genital ulcerations as the initial manifestation of leukemia in a child

OBJETIVO: Alertar o pediatra para a presença de lesões aftosas orais e úlceras genitais como manifestação inicial de leucemia. DESCRIÇÃO DE CASO: Menina de dez anos de idade, com quadro de úlceras orais e genitais e hipótese diagnóstica de doença de Behçet. Em virtude de leucopenia, foram realizados mielogramas que, inicialmente, demonstraram se tratar de síndrome mielodisplásica e que, posteriormente, evoluiu para leucemia mielóide aguda. COMENTÁRIOS: Os autores alertam para a raridade da associação e para a ausência na literatura de casos na faixa etária pediátrica.

OBJECTIVE: Increase awareness among pediatricians about the presence of aphtous oral lesions and genital ulcers as an initial manifestation of leukemia. CASE DESCRIPTION: A ten-year-old girl, who presented oral and genital ulcers, with a diagnostic hypothesis of Behcet disease. Due to persistent leucopenia, myelograms were performed and, initially, suggested a myelodysplastic syndrome, which progressed to an acute myeloid leukemia. COMMENTS: The authors would like to alert about the rarity of this association and the absence of similar reported cases in the pediatric literature.

Linfoma de Hodgkin em baixa faixa etária: relato de dois casos / Hodgkin's lymphoma in young children: two cases report

Relato de dois casos de pacientes do sexo masculino com linfoma de Hodgkin (LH) e idades inferiores a 5 anos apresentando linfonodomegalias com evolução de alguns meses e seguimento em nosso serviço. Os estudos imuno-histopatológicos do tumor confirmaram linfoma de Hodgkin, esclerose nodular e positividade para o vírus Epstein-Barr (EBV) em material tumoral, em ambos os casos. Após período de 13 meses em remissão completa houve recidiva em um dos pacientes, mostrando doença agressiva. A análise laboratorial do tumor mostrou as mesmas características da doença inicial, e mantendo a positividade ao EBV. Uma exposição mais precoce e intensa ao EBV poderia aumentar o risco para formas muito precoces da doença e a inesperada evolução poderia estar ligada à associação do subtipo histológico e positividade ao EBV.

The cases of two male under five-year-olds diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma presenting as lymphadenopathy in evolution for some months and treated in our hospital are reported. Immunohistopathological findings of the tumors proved the existence of Hodgkin's lymphoma nodular sclerosis and positive Epstein-Barr virus in tumoral material in both cases. After 13 months of complete remission one of the patients relapsed and presented aggressive disease. Laboratorial analyses of the tumor showed the same characteristics as the initial disease including positive Epstein-Barr virus. Early and intense exposure to Epstein-Barr virus may increase the risk related to the very early development of the disease and the unexpected evolution may be connected to the association of the histological subtype and the positive Epstein-Barr virus.

Osteossarcoma e leucemia mielóide aguda: dois casos em crianças / Osteosarcoma and acute myeloid leukemia: two cases in children

A ocorrência de segunda neoplasia após quimioterapia é mais comum em pacientes com doença de Hodgkin e tumores cerebrais.1-4 Na literatura há poucos relatos de ocorrência de leucemia mielóide aguda (LMA) após tratamento para osteossarcoma. Os autores relatam dois casos de osteossarcoma que evoluíram com LMA após tratamento com múltiplos agentes quimioterápicos. O primeiro caso teve diagnóstico de osteossarcoma teleangectásico, foi tratado com carboplatina, ifosfamida, epirrubicina e metotrexato e desenvolveu LMA trinta e oito meses após o início do tratamento. O segundo caso teve diagnóstico de osteossarcoma condroblástico, foi tratado com cisplatina, doxorrubicina e ifosfamida e desenvolveu LMA seis meses após o início do tratamento. Os autores discutem a provável relação entre o uso de agentes alquilantes, inibidores da topoisomerase II e compostos da platina e o desenvolvimento de LMA.

A secondary neoplasia after chemotherapy often occurs in patients with Hodgkin's disease or brain tumors.1-4 There are a few cases of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) after osteosarcoma treatment reported in the literature. The authors report on two children who developed AML after being treated by chemotherapy for osteosarcoma. The first patient had a telangiectatic osteosarcoma; he was treated with carboplatin, ifosfamide, epirubicin and methotrexate and developed AML thirty eight months after therapy. The second patient had chondroblastic osteosarcoma; she was treated with cisplatin, doxorubicin and ifosfamide and she developed AML six months after treatment. The authors discuss the role of alkylating agents, topoisomerase II inhibitors and platinum compounds in the development of AML.

Púrpura trombocitopênica idiopática e linfoma não-Hodgkin de células T na infância / Idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura and T-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in childhood

Os linfomas representam 10 por cento de todos os tumores malignos da infância e, destes, os linfomas não-Hodgkin são os mais freqüentes. Crianças com doenças auto-imunes apresentam maior probabilidade de desenvolver doenças linfoproliferativas, podendo ocorrer antes, durante ou após o aparecimento da neoplasia. A associação de púrpura trombocitopênica idiopática e linfomas é infreqüente (3 por cento), principalmente na faixa etária pediátrica. Duas teorias tentam explicar a origem desta associação. Na primeira, a trombocitopenia seria decorrente da produção de auto-anticorpos antiplaquetas pelo clone tumoral. Na segunda, a PTI seria resultado de um estímulo antigênico persistente, secundário a uma desordem na proliferação linfóide. O objetivo do presente trabalho foi relatar a associação infreqüente na infância entre púrpura trombo-citopênica idiopática e linfoma não-Hodgkin de células T.

Lymphomas represent 10 percent of all malignant tumors in childhood and from these non-Hodgkin's lymphomas are the most frequent. Children who have autoimmune diseases have a higher probability of developing lymphoproliferative diseases, which can happen before, during or after the appearance of the neoplasia. The association between idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura and lymphomas is not common (3 percent) especially in children. Two theories try to explain the origin of this association. In the first one, the thrombocytopenia would be a result of an autoantibody anti-blood platelet production by the tumoral clone. In the second one, the idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura would be a result of a persistent antigenic stimulus subordinate to a disorder in the lymphoid proliferation. The aim of this work is to report the unusual association between idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura and T-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in childhood.