No abstract

-Secondary chromosomal abnormalities (both numerical and structural) were studied in 55 Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia (ALL) patients of Orissa (India) of which only 44 patients could provide good chromosome spreads. In addition to the primary aberrations, these patients exhibited various kinds of secondary aberrations like hyperdiploids, pseudodiploids, aneuploids, stickiness, pulverisation, chromatin extraction, chromatid gap, chromatin constriction, isochromatid breaks, endomitoses, ring chromosomes etc. These aberrations appeared either singly or in various combinations. A majority (40 out of 44) of studied patients possessed secondary aberrations. The frequencies of secondary aberrations were found to increase with the progression of the disease and patients with highest number of such aberrations had the worst chance of survival. The probable causes and the prognostic implications of these aberrations are discussed.

No abstract

Arsenic trioxide (As 2 O 3 ) is an effective drug for treatment of acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL) and malignant tumors. However, it is not commonly known to researchers that sensitivity has been associated with As 2 O 3 concentration in target cells. Cell lines and cell strains of leukemia and solid cancer cells were treated with different concentrations of As 2 O 3 , and the concentrations were compared to apoptosis detected by FITC-annexin V and propidium iodide (PI) double staining. Results showed that intracellular and intercellular concentrations of arsenic in different cell lines differed. Our study noted that the cell lines had concentrations of arsenic trioxide in decreasing order, as follows: APL primary cell > K562 > CML primary cell > HL-60 > AML-M2 primary cell > HeLa > H-22. Higher intracellular As 2 O 3 concentrations in cell lines APL, NB4, and K562 can be obtained by treating in culture medium with lower As 2 O 3 concentration for longer times than the transient higher concentration. These results indicate that different leukemia and solid carcinoma cell lines have different intracellular arsenic concentrations, which correlate with different sensitivities to As 2 O 3 in clinical treatment. The intracellular As 2 O 3 concentration is higher; in addition, we note apoptosis, a very important observation in our study. As 2 O 3 inhibited the growth of these cell lines significantly. Novel techniques by maintaining continuous low but effective arsenic levels inside the target leukemic cells in APL may improve the complete remission rate and overall survival with minimum cost and drug toxicity. Am.

No abstract