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MER administered prophylactically prolonged the survival of BALB/c mice challenged with transplants of syngeneic plasmacytomas to a moderate but significant extent. In contrast, MER exerted little therapeutic action when given alone at or after tumor implantation. Combined treatment, with MER introduced prophylactically and cyclophopshamide (CY) after tumor implantation, decreased the incidence of recurrence of one of the tumors tested (MPC-11 NP, a non-myeloma protein producer) and prolonged host survival significantly as compared with animals subjected to CY therapy alone. When, instead, MER was introduced at the time of tumor challenge or thereafter to animals also treated with CY, the therapeutic response was not appreciably different from that of mice under therapy with CY only. With regard to the second plasmacytoma (MPC-11 P, a myeloma protein producer), mice treated with CY and given MER prior to or after challenge showed similar responses to animals given chemotherapy only; when MER was injected at the time of challenge and CY thereafter, the chemoimmunotherapy was somewhat inferior to chemotherapy alone. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A 23-year-old Ashkenazi woman with Gaucher's disease developed Coombs-positive warm-type autoimmune hemolytic anemia. Treatment with high-dose steroids resulted in complete remission within 2 weeks. Study of an additional 72 patients with Gaucher's disease revealed another case of Coombs-positive warm-type autoimmune hemolytic anemia; other autoimmune disorders were found in 17 of these patients. The possible association of Coombs-positive hemolytic anemia and Gaucher's disease is discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]