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Background: The present study reported a six-year follow up of patients with chronic myeloid leukemia who were on imatinib therapy. Methods: We performed a retrospective study on a total of 417 patients diagnosed with chronic-phase, Philadelphia-positive (Ph+) chronic myeloid leukemia within six months before study entry. Patients were eligible for the study if they were between 18 and 70 years of age. Enrolled patients were treated at an initial dose of 400 mg of imatinib. Results: The mean age of 417 patients was 40.9±14.5 years; 220 (52%) were men and 197 (47.2%) were women. Complete hematologic response at three months occurred in 99% of patients, 221 (53%) before four weeks and 196 (47%) after four weeks. Adverse events occurred in 17 (4.1%) of patients, relapse in 46 (11%) and death in 31 (7.4%) of our studied population. At 72 months, the estimated rate of overall survival rate was 89%. Discussion: Our findings showed the efficacy and safety of imatinib mesylate among Iranian patients with chronic myeloid leukemia by hematological and molecular response. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: V\fe assessed the outcome of high-dose methotrexate (HD-MTX) chemotherapy with or without radiotherapy (RT) in primary central nervous system lymphoma (PCNSL) patients. Methods: Fifty-one HIV-negative patients with an average age of 50.3 years were treated with chemotherapy regimen included 2500 mg/m²MTX with Leucovorin rescue and 1.4mg/m² vincristine (day two), which was administered every other week for 6 weeks. Only the patients who were younger than 60 years received RT. All patients received two cycles of 3000 mg/m²cytarabine at the end of the treatment for two successive days. Results: Diffuse large B-cell lymphoma was the most common histologic subtype (90.2%), and twenty-six (51.0%) patients had multiple brain lesions. The median survival of patients who were younger than 60 years was 37 months. For patients who were older than 60 years, the median survival was 20 months. The median survival of men and women were 30 and 34 months, respectively. There was no significant difference in survival of patients in terms of age and sex. Overall, sixteen patients (31 %) out of fifty-one patients died, five of them were older than 60 years and eleven were younger than 60-year. Twenty-five (49%) of all patients experienced relapse, and 10 (40%) of them died after rechemotherapy. Conclusions: The base of our chemotherapy regimen was HD-MTX as the regular doses of MTX cannot penetrate the blood brain barrier (BBB). Our results indicated that the combination of HD-MTX with RT may not influence the outcome of PCNSL; thus, RT cannot be the first line therapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, a new alpha globin gene mutation on the α2-globin gene is reported. This mutation resulted in a Lys > stop codon substitution at position 127 which was detected in four individuals (three males and one female). DNA sequencing revealed this mutation in unrelated persons in Khuzestan province, Southwestern Iran of Lor ethnicity. This mutation caused no severe hematological abnormalities in the carriers. From the nature of substituted residues in α2-globin, it is widely expected that this mutation leads to unstable and truncated protein and should be detected in couples at risk for α-thalassemia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Neuroendocrine tumors (NET) arise from neuroendocrine cells and are an exceedingly rare malignancy in the gallbladder. In this case report, a 52-year-old woman with complaints of episodic abdominal pain for two months prior was admitted to our hospital. She had no other signs and symptoms and her laboratory tests were within normal limits. Ultrasonography showed a broad-necked mass (26 × 12 mm) in the gallbladder for which she underwent laparoscopic cholecystectomy. The final pathological diagnosis was a high grade neuroendocrine carcinoma of the gallbladder with involvement of the lymph nodes and omentum. The patient received the chemotherapy regimens of gemcitabine plus cisplatin, followed by docetaxel plus sunitinib for her metastatic liver lesions. She also underwent radiofrequency ablation. Serial CT-scans revealed metastatic liver lesions that had decreased in size, with no significant improvement. The patient refused additional treatment and at 46 months, she was doing well with no complaints of any pain, disease recurrence, or metastatic progression.