Digital Commons Network^™

A 2-Step Approach To Myeloablative Haploidentical Stem Cell Transplantation: A Phase 1/2 Trial Performed With Optimized T-Cell Dosing., Dolores Gross, Matthew Carabasi, Joanne Filicko-O'Hara, Margaret Kasner, John L Wagner, Beth Colombe, Patricia Cornett Farley, William O'Hara, Phyllis Flomenberg, Maria Werner-Wasik, Janet Brunner, Bijoyesh Mookerjee, Terry Hyslop, Mark Weiss, Neal Flomenberg

Department of Medical Oncology Faculty Papers

Studies of haploidentical hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) have identified threshold doses of T cells below which severe GVHD is usually absent. However, little is known regarding optimal T-cell dosing as it relates to engraftment, immune reconstitution, and relapse. To begin to address this question, we developed a 2-step myeloablative approach to haploidentical HSCT in which 27 patients conditioned with total body irradiation (TBI) were given a fixed dose of donor T cells (HSCT step 1), followed by cyclophosphamide (CY) for T-cell tolerization. A CD34-selected HSC product (HSCT step 2) was infused after CY. A dose of 2 × 10(8)/kg …

Duration Of Symptoms Resulting From Lumbar Disc Herniation: Effect On Treatment Outcomes: Analysis Of The Spine Patient Outcomes Research Trial (Sport)., Jeffrey A Rihn, Alan Hilibrand, Kristen Radcliff, Mark Kurd, Jon Lurie, Emily Blood, Todd J Albert, James N Weinstein

Rothman Institute Faculty Papers

BACKGROUND: The purpose of the present study was to determine if the duration of symptoms affects outcomes following the treatment of intervertebral lumbar disc herniation.

METHODS: An as-treated analysis was performed on patients enrolled in the Spine Patient Outcomes Research Trial (SPORT) for the treatment of intervertebral lumbar disc herniation. Randomized and observational cohorts were combined. A comparison was made between patients who had had symptoms for six months or less (n = 927) and those who had had symptoms for more than six months (n = 265). Primary and secondary outcomes were measured at baseline and at regular follow-up …

Duration Of Symptoms Resulting From Lumbar Disc Herniation: Effect On Treatment Outcomes: Analysis Of The Spine Patient Outcomes Research Trial (Sport)., Jeffrey A Rihn, Alan S Hilibrand, Kristen Radcliff, Mark Kurd, Jon Lurie, Emily Blood, Todd J Albert, James N Weinstein

Department of Orthopaedic Surgery Faculty Papers

BACKGROUND: The purpose of the present study was to determine if the duration of symptoms affects outcomes following the treatment of intervertebral lumbar disc herniation.

METHODS: An as-treated analysis was performed on patients enrolled in the Spine Patient Outcomes Research Trial (SPORT) for the treatment of intervertebral lumbar disc herniation. Randomized and observational cohorts were combined. A comparison was made between patients who had had symptoms for six months or less (n = 927) and those who had had symptoms for more than six months (n = 265). Primary and secondary outcomes were measured at baseline and at regular follow-up …

Burden Of Traumatic Spine Fractures In Tehran, Iran., Maziar Moradi-Lakeh, Mohammad R Rasouli, Alexander Vaccaro, Soheil Saadat, Mohammad R Zarei, Vafa Rahimi-Movaghar

Rothman Institute Faculty Papers

UNLABELLED: ABSTRACT:

BACKGROUND: The Disability-Adjusted Life Year (DALY) was designed by the World Health Organization (WHO) to measure, compare, and analyze the burden of various diseases. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study on the assessment of burden of traumatic spinal fracture (TSF) in an Iranian community. We estimated burden of TSF includes both isolated (iTSF) and associated injuries related to traumatic spinal fractures (aTSF) in Tehran, the capital of Iran, for the year 2006-2007 using DALYs.

METHODS: Burden of TSF was estimated based on information provided by the national data on Iranian trauma, data from …

Recruitment And Retention Of Diverse Populations In Antiretroviral Clinical Trials: Practical Applications From The Gender, Race And Clinical Experience Study., Ron Falcon, Dawn Averitt Bridge, Judith Currier, Kathleen Squires, Debbie Hagins, Deborah Schaible, Robert Ryan, Joseph Mrus

Division of Infectious Diseases and Environmental Medicine Faculty Papers

BACKGROUND: Women, particularly women of color, remain underrepresented in antiretroviral (ARV) clinical trials. To evaluate sex-based differences in darunavir/ritonavir-based therapy, the Gender, Race And Clinical Experience (GRACE) study was designed to enroll and retain a high proportion of women representative of the racial/ethnic demographics of women with HIV/AIDS in the United States. The recruitment and retention strategies used in GRACE are described in this article.

METHODS: Recruitment and retention strategies targeting women included selecting study sites that focused on women, involving community consultants, site-specific enrollment plans, access to other ARV drugs, study branding, site and patient toolkits, targeted public relations, …

Tumor-Derived Interleukin-10 As A Prognostic Factor In Stage Iii Patients Undergoing Adjuvant Treatment With An Autologous Melanoma Cell Vaccine., Amit Mahipal, Mizue Terai, David Berd, Inna Chervoneva, Kashyap Patel, Michael Mastrangelo, Takami Sato

Department of Medical Oncology Faculty Papers

OBJECTIVES: Interleukin-10 (IL-10) downregulates T-cell-mediated immune responses. We studied the association between IL-10 production by freshly isolated melanoma cell suspensions in vitro and overall survival in patients undergoing adjuvant treatment with a vaccine prepared from the same autologous melanoma cells modified with a hapten, dinitrophenyl (DNP).

METHODS: Forty-four patients with cutaneous melanoma (29 stage III and 15 stage IV) were prospectively evaluated. Tumor cells were extracted from metastatic deposits for production of DNP-modified autologous melanoma cell vaccine. Small aliquots of the melanoma cell suspensions were separated prior to vaccine processing and cultured overnight for IL-10 production. Based on a blind …

The Variable Presentations Of Anaplastic Spindle Cell Squamous Carcinoma Associated With Tall Cell Variant Of Papillary Thyroid Carcinoma., Pallavi P Gopal, Kathleen T Montone, Zubair Baloch, Madalina Tuluc, Virginia Livolsi

Department of Pathology, Anatomy, and Cell Biology Faculty Papers

BACKGROUND: In 1976, Hawk and Hazard described the tall cell variant (TCV) of papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC). While the lesions they described had cytologic features of papillary carcinoma, they showed more aggressive behavior with a greater propensity for extrathyroid extension and lymphovascular invasion than classic PTC. In 1991, Bronner and LiVolsi described a series of patients with TCV that progressed to spindle cell squamous carcinoma (SCSC), a unique form of anaplastic thyroid carcinoma. This study describes the variable clinical and pathologic presentations in 31 patients with anaplastic SCSC arising in association with TCV.

METHODS: The surgical pathology archives as well …

Health Needs Of Hiv-Infected Women In The United States: Insights From The Women Living Positive Survey., Kathleen E Squires, Sally L Hodder, Judith Feinberg, Dawn Averitt Bridge, Staats Abrams, Stephen P Storfer, Judith A Aberg

Department of Medicine Faculty Papers

The objective of this study was to describe attitudes, opinions, and perceived health needs of HIV-infected women in the United States. In this cross-sectional study, women were invited to participate in the Women Living Positive survey, a structured interview instrument with 45 questions. Collected data were deidentified and the margin of error was calculated as four percentage points. Incoming toll-free phone interviews were conducted from December 21, 2006, through March 14, 2007 among subjects recruited from a U.S. national network of AIDS counseling centers. Seven hundred HIV-infected women (43% African American, 28.5% Hispanic, 28.5% Caucasian; median age, 42.5 years) receiving …

A Phase I/Iia Clinical Trial Of A Recombinant Rho Protein Antagonist In Acute Spinal Cord Injury., Michael G Fehlings, Nicholas Theodore, James Harrop, Gilles Maurais, Charles Kuntz, Chris I Shaffrey, Brian K Kwon, Jens Chapman, Albert Yee, Allyson Tighe, Lisa Mckerracher

Department of Neurosurgery Faculty Papers

Multiple lines of evidence have validated the Rho pathway as important in controlling the neuronal response to growth inhibitory proteins after central nervous system (CNS) injury. A drug called BA-210 (trademarked as Cethrin(®)) blocks activation of Rho and has shown promise in pre-clinical animal studies in being used to treat spinal cord injury (SCI). This is a report of a Phase I/IIa clinical study designed to test the safety and tolerability of the drug, and the neurological status of patients following the administration of a single dose of BA-210 applied during surgery following acute SCI. Patients with thoracic (T2-T12) or …

Early Toxicity Predicts Long-Term Survival In High-Grade Glioma., Y. R. Lawrence, M Wang, Adam Dicker, David W Andrews, Walter J Curran, J M Michalski, L Souhami, W-Ka Yung, M Mehta

Department of Radiation Oncology Faculty Papers

BACKGROUND: Patients with high-grade gliomas are treated with surgery followed by chemoradiation. The risk factors and implications of neurological side effects are not known.

METHODS: Acute and late ≥ grade 3 neurological toxicities (NTs) were analysed among 2761 patients from 14 RTOG trials accrued from 1983 to 2003. The association between acute and late toxicity was analysed using a stepwise logistic regression model. The association between the occurrence of acute NT and survival was analysed as an independent variable.

RESULTS: There were 2610 analysable patients (86% glioblastoma, 10% anaplastic astrocytoma). All received a systemic agent during radiation (83% chemotherapy, 17% …

A Test Of The Role Of The Medial Temporal Lobe In Single-Word Decoding., Karol Osipowicz, Tyler Rickards, Atif Shah, Ashwini Sharan, Michael Sperling, Waseem Kahn, Joseph Tracy

Department of Neurology Faculty Papers

The degree to which the MTL system contributes to effective language skills is not well delineated. We sought to determine if the MTL plays a role in single-word decoding in healthy, normal skilled readers. The experiment follows from the implications of the dual-process model of single-word decoding, which provides distinct predictions about the nature of MTL involvement. The paradigm utilized word (regular and irregularly spelled words) and pseudoword (phonetically regular) stimuli that differed in their demand for non-lexical as opposed lexical decoding. The data clearly showed that the MTL system was not involved in single word decoding in skilled, native …

Ventral Hernia Repairs: 10 Year Single Institution Review At Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, Frederick C. Sailes, Md, Jason Walls, Md, Daria Guelig, Md, Mike Mirzabeigi, Ma, William D. Long, Ms, Albert Crawford, Phd, John H. Moore Jr, Md, Facs, Steven E. Copit, Md, Gary A. Tuma, M.D, James Fox, Md

Department of Surgery Faculty Papers

Abstract

Background Definitive repair of recurrent ventral hernias using abdominal wall reconstruction techniques is an essential tool in the armentarium for general and plastic surgeons. Ramirez 1 et al describes the “component separation” technique to mobilize the rectus-abdominus internal oblique and external oblique flap to correct the defect. The recurrence rate of incisional hernias increases to 20% after gastric bypass or extensive weight loss.2 The incidence of ventral hernias after failed recurrent hernia repair increases to 40%.3 It has been reported that utilizing the sliding myofascial flap repair technique, the recurrence rate was reduced to 8.5%.4

Materials and Methods This …