No abstract

To assess the incidence of and risk factors associated with postherpetic neuralgia (PHN) after hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) varicella zoster virus (VZV) infection, we conducted a retrospective chart review of 418 consecutive patients who underwent HCT between April 2005 and March 2007. The male/female ratio was 221/197, median age at HCT was 47 years (range: 0-69 years), and autologous/allogeneic/syngeneic HCT ratio was 154/263/1. Seventy-eight patients developed VZV infection after HCT. Sixty-two patients had localized zoster, 11 patients had disseminated zoster (rash like chicken pox), and 4 patients had visceral zoster. All cases were treated with acyclovir (ACV) or valacyclovir (VACV), and there was no VZV infection-related death. Twenty-seven (35%) of the 78 patients with VZV infection suffered PHN after resolution of VZV infection. Multivariate analysis showed that advanced age is the only risk factor in autologous HCT (P = .0075; odds ratio [OR] = 1.14; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.97-1.33). On the other hand, advanced age (P = .0097; OR = 1.06; 95% CI, 1.01-1.12), male gender (P = .0055; OR = 12.7; 95% CI, 1.61-100.1), and graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) prophylaxis with a tacrolimus-based regimen (P = .0092; OR = 9.56; 95% CI, 1.44-63.3) were associated with increased risk of PHN in allogeneic HCT. This study for the first time clarified the risk of PHN in HCT recipients.

Recent studies have suggested that c-Myc over-expression may be a factor indicating poor prognosis in multiple myeloma (MM), although c-Myc gene-related abnormalities, including translocation and gene amplification, have not been fully investigated in the novel agent era. Additional chromosome 8 may be considered as aggressive disease in the 1990s. To clarify the impact of these aberrations, we retrospectively analyzed newly diagnosed MM (NDMM) and relapsed/refractory MM (RRMM) with bortezomib and dexamethasone induction therapy. In the present study, the high-risk group was defined as having at least one of the following present: non-hyperdiploidy, IgH/FGFR3, and del p53. Forty NDMM cases were analyzed. At the median follow-up duration of 14.1 months, 14 RRMM were recognized. The proportions of patients in the high-risk, c-Myc gene-related aberrations, and additional chromosome 8 groups at diagnosis were 45.5, 22.5, and 10 %, respectively. The proportions of patients who developed RRMM in the high-risk, c-Myc gene-related aberrations, and additional chromosome 8 groups were 41.7, 77.7, and 50 %, respectively. Furthermore, patients with c-Myc gene-related abnormalities tended to exhibit inferior progression-free survival (PFS), and those with c-Myc gene-related abnormalities and/or additional chromosome 8 showed statistically shorter PFS. Therefore, c-Myc gene-related abnormalities and additional chromosome 8 may be related to a poorer prognosis.

We report the molecular cloning of a human cDNA that encodes a molecule having striking homology with Rasspecific GTPase-activating proteins (RasGAPs). Among previously described RasGAPs, the cDNA product is most closely related to Caenorhabditis elegans GAP-2, including a predicted coiled-coil structure near the carboxyl terminus. Expression of the cDNA in Saccharomyces cerevisiae defective in one of two RasGAPs, Ira2, complemented loss of the Ira2 function, indicating that the cDNA product functions as a RasGAP. The RasGAP-like gene is located on the human chromosome 1q25, the locus that appears to contain a hereditary prostate cancer susceptible gene, HPC1.z 1998 Federation of European Biochemical Societies.