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| September
14, 2000 |
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Regression of Metastatic
Renal-Cell Carcinoma after Stem-Cell Transplantation
The possibility that T cells from a normal person can destroy renal-cell
carcinoma was tested in 19 patients with advanced metastatic renal-cell
carcinoma. The patients received chemotherapy in doses that did not ablate
the bone marrow but were sufficiently immunosuppressive to allow acceptance
of an allograft of hematopoietic stem cells from a fully or partially HLA-matched
sibling. After transplantation, all patients had circulating T cells of
donor origin. Tumor regression occurred in 10 of the recipients. |
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Absence of Cardiac Toxicity
of Zidovudine in Infants
There is concern that antiretroviral therapy with zidovudine may have adverse
cardiac effects in infants. In this study, serial echocardiograms were obtained
in infants who had been exposed to zidovudine during the perinatal period
because their mothers (and in some instances, the infants themselves) were
positive for the human immunodeficiency virus. There was no evidence of
cardiac toxicity in this group of infants. The data are reassuring, but
the study was small, and follow-up was short. |
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A Trial of a Supplemental
Dose of Four Poliovirus Vaccines
Some infants in developing countries do not have a response to the oral
poliovirus vaccine, particularly the type 3 component. In a randomized trial
involving 785 infants in Oman, a supplemental dose of inactivated-poliovirus
vaccine given subcutaneously at 9 months of age improved the antibody responses;
seroprevalence for type 3 increased from 87.8 percent at enrollment to 97.1
percent at 30 days. In contrast, in three groups of infants who received
supplemental doses of oral poliovirus vaccines, there was no improvement
in antibody responses. |
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Polymorphisms in the Factor
VII Gene and the Risk of Myocardial Infarction
Coagulation factor VII is believed to have a role in precipitating coronary
thrombosis. Certain polymorphisms of the gene encoding factor VII are known
to influence the circulating levels of this factor. In this study, the presence
of either of two polymorphisms in the factor VII gene (designated R353Q
and 5'F7, the latter an insertion in the promoter region) was associated
with a reduced risk of myocardial infarction in patients with coronary artery
disease. This finding adds these polymorphisms to the list of genetic factors
that influence the risk of coronary events. |