Tincup
Honored Contributor (10K+ posts)
Member # 5829
posted
This post is for folks who have been given a diagnosis of cancer.
Please read the following information and also share it with your doctor BEFORE you make decisions.
Good luck!
Scientists find way to 'turn off' cancer - Antibiotic halts aggressive tumours in mice
Tim Radford, Science Editor,
Monday October 11, 2004, The Guardian
Scientists in California have found a way to "turn off" a gene that makes cancerous cells lethal.
They eliminated aggressive, incurable liver tumours in laboratory mice in four weeks, they report in an advance paper in Nature today. The study, based on a gene called Myc, could lead to new ways of treating cancer.
Cancer Research UK scientists in Glasgow, working with colleagues in Seattle, last year worked out the details of how Myc cranks up the rate of growth of dividing cancer cells by sending one of the cell's factories into overdrive. In cancer, cells divide uncontrollably.
The California team based their studies on mice with genetically modified liver cells. The type of cell that becomes cancerous is called an epithelial cell, and these form cancers in breast, colon and prostate.
So the same approach might work in all of them. Liver cancer is common and difficult to treat. "This is a terrible cancer. Anything that is encouraging in liver cancer may be important," said Dean Felsher of Stanford University, who led the research. "The exciting thing is that you can turn cancer cells into something that appears to be normal."
The mice under study had a mutated Myc gene that was constantly on. It produced a Myc protein that served as a kind of conductor, sending a signal to cells to divide. Cancer cells produce too much Myc protein all the time, and are constantly dividing.
Dr Felsher and his colleagues fed the mice an antibiotic called doxycycline, which turned the gene off, and stopped the protein flow.
As long as the mice had the antibiotic diet, they remained healthy. Once the antibiotic was withheld, they developed aggressive liver cancer in 12 weeks.
When they were put back on the diet, all of them showed rapid regression: the liver cancer was eliminated, and liver cells seemed to behave normally.
In effect, the scientists turned the Myc gene on and off like a tap, and turned cancer on and off at the same time.
They also found that some of the apparently normal cells retained the ability to become cancerous, which could explain why cancers often recur after chemotherapy.
Cancer hits one person in three, and kills one in five. In recent years, researchers have concentrated on a number of new approaches. They have tried to cut off the blood supply to tumours, to halt their growth.
They have tested search-and-destroy toxins, designed to make for and eliminate only cancerous cells. They have experimented with scalpels made of ultrasound, and they have tried to "burn" cancerous cells with infrared radiation.
But cancer is, above all, a disease of the DNA, and British researchers have launched a cancer genome project to collect all the genetic mutations involved in the making of a cancer. There are more than 100.
But the Myc protein seems to play a role in many cases of the disease.
The Glasgow study immediately suggested that it would be a good target. If researchers could find a drug that blocked the action of Myc, they could study its effect on cancer cases. The Stanford study shows that they were right. But what works in mice may not work so well in humans.
The next step is to hunt for a drug that would be safe for human patients, and yet have the same impact.
Reversible lymphomagenesis in conditionally c-MYC expressing mice.
Marinkovic D, Marinkovic T, Mahr B, Hess J, Wirth T.
Department of Physiological Chemistry, Ulm University, Ulm, Germany.
It is well documented that deregulation of MYC leads to tumor development, yet many aspects of this process are only partially understood. We have established a transgenic mouse model in which c-MYC is conditionally expressed in lymphoid cells using the tetracycline-regulated system of gene regulation.
Mice with continuously expressed transgenic c-MYC died of invasive T- or B-cell lymphomas within 4 months. Lymphomas developing in transgenic mice were c-MYC dependent since doxycycline treatment led to tumor regression. Using transplantation of established tumor cell lines labeled with GFP, we followed the fate of neoplastic cells in recipients upon MYC inactivation.
This approach allowed us to elucidate both apoptosis and differentiation as mechanisms of tumor elimination. Comparative genomic hybridization (CGH) and FISH analyses were performed in order to analyze possible chromosomal aberrations induced by c-MYC. We observed that overexpression of c-MYC is sufficient to induce recurrent patterns of genomic instability.
The main observation was a gain of genomic material that corresponded to chromosome 15 in several T-cell tumors, which could be identified as trisomy. Copyright 2004 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Conditional cell transformation by doxycycline-controlled expression of the MC29 v-myc allele.
Oberst C, Hartl M, Weiskirchen R, Bister K.
Institute of Biochemistry, University of Innsbruck, Peter-Mayr-Str. 1a, Innsbruck, A-6020, Austria.
To investigate the molecular basis of oncogenesis induced by the v-myc oncogene of avian myelocytomatosis virus MC29, we developed a conditional cell transformation system in which expression of the MC29 v-myc allele is dependent on a doxycycline-sensitive transactivator (tTA).
Clonal lines of quail embryo fibroblasts transformed by doxycycline-controlled v-myc revert to the normal phenotype and lose their ability to grow in soft agar after the addition of doxycycline.
Repression of v-myc causes the cells to withdraw from the cell cycle, and long-term survival in culture requires reexpression of v-myc. Although complete repression of v-myc mRNA and v-Myc protein in these cells occurs within 14 h after the addition of doxycycline, the first morphological alterations are observed after 24 h, and after 3 days, the morphology changed entirely from small rounded cells showing a typical myc-transformed phenotype to large flat cells resembling normal fibroblasts.
Cells exposed to doxycycline for 3 days reexpressed v-myc within 24 h after withdrawal of the drug from the culture medium, partial retransformation occurred after 2 days, and complete morphological transformation was reestablished after 6 days.
Analogous results were obtained with a cell line in which expression of the v-myc allele is dependent on a reverse transactivator (rtTA) that is activated by doxycycline. The striking differential expression of known transformation-sensitive genes and of new candidate v-myc target genes revealed the tightness of the doxycycline-controlled v-myc expression system.
The data also indicate that expression of v-myc in these cells is indispensable for enhanced proliferation, transformation, and immortalization. Copyright 1999 Academic Press.
Tincup
Honored Contributor (10K+ posts)
Member # 5829
posted
Histopathology. 2000 Dec;37(6):501-8.
Histopathology. 2001 Jan;38(1):73-7.
Borrelia burgdorferi-associated cutaneous marginal zone lymphoma: a clinicopathological study of two cases illustrating the temporal progression of B. burgdorferi-associated B-cell proliferation in the skin.
Goodlad JR, Davidson MM, Hollowood K, Batstone P, Ho-Yen DO.
Department of Pathology, Raigmore Hospital, Inverness, UK. [email protected]
AIMS: A relationship between Borrelia burgdorferi and primary cutaneous B-cell lymphoma (PCBCL) has recently been confirmed following demonstration of the organism in lesional skin of patients with PCBCL.
We report herein two cases of B. burgdorferi-associated PCBCL which strengthen this association by demonstrating the organism in cutaneous B-cell infiltrates present at sites in which PCBCL subsequently developed.
METHODS AND RESULTS: All studies were performed on formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissues. These were examined by routine light microscopy and immunohistochemically by a standard streptavidin-biotin-complex technique.
Genotypic studies were also undertaken using semi-nested polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for immunoglobulin heavy chain gene rearrangement, and nested PCR for B. burgdorferi flagellin gene.
Both patients presented with erythematous skin lesions, biopsy of which showed dense perivascular infiltrates comprising small T-lymphocytes and collections of B-blasts.
Primary cutaneous marginal zone lymphoma (MZL) developed subsequently in both cases at the same site. PCR for B. burgdorferi flagellin gene was positive in the perivascular lymphocytic infiltrates and the succeeding lymphomas in both patients.
CONCLUSIONS: These results show that, at least in some instances, PCBCL arises from chronically stimulated lymphoid tissue acquired in the skin in response to B. burgdorferi infection. This may have significant therapeutic implications and warrant further studies on the extent of this association.
PMID: 11122431 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
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Am J Surg Pathol. 2000 Sep;24(9):1279-85.
Primary cutaneous B-cell lymphoma and Borrelia burgdorferi infection in patients from the Highlands of Scotland.
Goodlad JR, Davidson MM, Hollowood K, Ling C, MacKenzie C, Christie I, Batstone PJ, Ho-Yen DO. Department of Pathology, Raigmore Hospital, Inverness, Scotland, UK.
Although a link between primary cutaneous B-cell lymphoma (PCBCL) and Borrelia burgdorferi infection has long been suspected, previous studies have not demonstrated a significant association.
The authors looked for evidence of B. burgdorferi in 20 cases of PCBCL from the Scottish Highlands, an area with endemic Lyme disease, and compared their findings with those in 40 control patients (20 undergoing wide reexcision at sites of malignant melanoma and 20 biopsies of inflammatory dermatoses).
All studies were performed on formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissues. The cases of PCBCL were classified according to criteria described by the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Cutaneous Lymphoma Project Group using a combination of morphology, immunohistochemistry, and seminested polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for immunoglobulin heavy chain gene rearrangement.
A nested PCR was performed on deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) extracts from the lymphoma and control cases using primers to a unique conserved region of the B. burgdorferi flagellin gene.
B. burgdorferi-specific DNA was detected in seven of 20 lymphoma cases (five of 12 marginal zone lymphomas, one of five primary cutaneous follicle center cell lymphomas, one of three diffuse, large B-cell lymphomas of the leg) and in one melanoma reexcision patient of 40 control subjects.
The relationship between B. burgdorferi and PCBCL was significant when compared with the control groups separately (p 0.05) or in combination (p 0.01). These results provide strong evidence to support the concept of B. burgdorferi-driven lymphomagenesis in the skin.
PMID: 10976703 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
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Rev Neurol (Paris). 1998 Feb;154(2):170-2.
[Nervous system borreliosis with pseudo-lymphoma cells in cerebrospinal fluid] [Article in French]
Kaminsky P, Grignon Y, Deibener J, Maurer P, Duc M.
Service de M�decine Interne, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Nancy, H�pitaux de Brabois, Vandoeuvre.
We report the case of a 44-year-old woman, who experienced acute back pains, leg paraesthesia, and diplopia. Analysis of the cerebrospinal fluid revealed, in addition to increased protein and decreased glucose levels, an elevated number of large atypical cells, resembling lymphoma cells.
Magnetic resonance imaging of the brain and spine was normal. High levels of antibodies against Borrelia burgdorferi were found in both serum and cerebrospinal fluid. The patient completely recovered with ceftriaxone therapy.
PMID: 9773040 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
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Hum Pathol. 2000 Feb;31(2):263-8.
Eradication of Borrelia burgdorferi infection in primary marginal zone B-cell lymphoma of the skin.
Roggero E, Zucca E, Mainetti C, Bertoni F, Valsangiacomo C, Pedrinis E, Borisch B, Piffaretti JC, Cavalli F, Isaacson PG. Istituto Oncologico Svizzera Italiana, Department of Medical Oncology, Ospedale San Giovanni, Bellinzona, Switzerland.
Primary cutaneous B-cell lymphomas have been associated with Borrelia burgdorferi, the spirochete responsible for Lyme disease. Recently, cutaneous marginal zone B-cell lymphoma has been proposed as a distinct clinical-pathological entity.
We report a case of primary cutaneous marginal zone lymphoma, associated with B burgdorferi infection. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification of the third complementarity determining region (CDR3) of the immunoglobulin heavy chain gene showed the presence of a monoclonal lymphoproliferation, therefore strengthening the histological diagnosis of a malignant process.
B burgdorfer-specific hbb gene sequences were detected by PCR in the lymphoma tissue at diagnosis but not after antibiotic treatment.
A nearly complete clinical and histological regression was observed after B burgdorferi eradication, with immunohistochemistry studies showing disappearance of plasma cell differentiation and a marked decline in the number of CD3+ T cells and Ki-67+ cells.
Our case confirms the link between B burgdorferi and some cutaneous lymphomas. The disappearance of the microorganism accompanied by the unequivocal decrease of most indicators of active T- and B-cell immune response strongly supported a pathogenetic role for B burgdorferi in sustaining an antigen-driven development and growth of this cutaneous marginal zone lymphoma.
Antibiotic therapy (analogous to Helicobacter pylori infection in gastric MALT lymphoma) might be helpful with the aim of averting or at least deferring the indication for more aggressive treatment.
PMID: 10685647 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
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Hematol Oncol. 1999 Sep;17(3):107-16.
Positive serology for Lyme disease borrelias in primary cutaneous B-cell lymphoma: a study in 22 patients; is it a fortuitous finding?
Jelić S, Filipović-Ljesković I.
Institut za Onkologiju i Radiologiju Srbije, Belgrade, Yugoslavia.
BACKGROUND: The historical association of acrodermatitis chronica atrophicans (ACA), now known to be a late manifestation of Lyme disease caused by Borrelia afzelii, with cutaneous lymphoma, and several small series of PCBCL with positive Lyme disease borrelial serology initiated a study of this association.
Material and methods
In the last 9 years, 30 patients with PCBCL have been observed and followed, 22 of them were tested for borrelial serology.
The control group consisted of 85 patients with NHL (10 cutaneous T-cell, 25 extranodal B-cell non-PCBCL, 50 nodal B-cell), 30 patients with breast cancer and 60 blood donors.
The screening tests were two different ELISA tests for B. burgdorferi sensu lato and sensu stricto, and reactive sera were further tested with the ELISA test for B. garinii, a Western blot (WB) test for Swiss Borrelia strains and a WB test for Bavarian Borrelia strains, since an immunoblot made with local strains was not available.
Studies with a differential WB test for B. burgdorferi sensu stricto, B. garinii and B. afzelii was performed afterwards, as well as serological studies ruling out cross-reactions with Leptospiras and Treponema.
RESULTS: Fifteen of 22 patients with PCBCL were positive on the screening tests, three of them falsely. Thus, the incidence of positive borrelial serology was 12/22 (55 per cent) in the PCBCL group.
No positives were detected in the cutaneous T-cell lymphoma group; 2/25 patients (8 per cent) were positive in the extranodal B-cell NHL group (the localizations being vestibulum nasi and oral cavity), 2/50 (4 per cent) were positive in the nodal B-cell NHL group, 2/30 (7 per cent) in the breast cancer group and 2/60 (3 per cent) in the blood donor group. The cumulative incidence in the control groups was 8/175 (4,6 per cent).
The incidence was significantly higher in PCBCL patients as compared to each of the control groups, p value ranging from 0.004 to 0.0001. Two positive patients had ACA, one arthritis.
Borrelia afzelii was most often implied for positive serology in the differential WB. No cross-reactions with Treponema and the Leptospiras were documented.
CONCLUSION: In conclusion there appears to be a clustering of positive serology for Lyme disease Borrelias in PCBCL patients possibly related to an ethiopathogenic relationship. Mechanisms of Borrelia escape from immunosurveillance mechanisms, persistence of both their mitogenic and antigenic stimuli for B-cells, and SALT formation may be involved in the pathogenesis of a subset of PCBCL.
Copyright 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
PMID: 10641031 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
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Med Hypotheses. 2007;69(1):117-9. Epub 2007 Jan 2.
Lyme borreliosis and multiple sclerosis are associated with primary effusion lymphoma. Batinac T, Petranovic D, Zamolo G, Petranovic D, Ruzic A.
Department of Dermatovenerology, Rijeka University Hospital, Kresimirova 42, 51000 Rijeka, Croatia.
Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic disease of the central nervous system characterized by chronic inflammation and demyelination. Studies suggested that the viral, especially Epstein-Barr virus infection, and bacterial infections, especially [Lyme] Borrelia burgodorferi infection, play a role in etiology of MS.
MS prevalence parallels the distribution of the Lyme disease pathogen B. burgdorferi.
Criteria used for diagnosis of MS can also be fulfilled in other conditions such as Lyme disease, a multisystem disorder resulting from infection by the tick-borne spirochete, B. burgdorferi.
In the late period of Lyme disease demyelinating involvement of central nervous system can develop and MS can be erroneously diagnosed.
A Lyme borreliosis can mimick central nervous system lymphoma. Also, B. burgdorferi has been implicated not only in etiology of MS, but also in etiology of lymphoma.
Studies suggested that there is an increased risk of non-Hodgkin lymphoma in patients, who had a history of autoimmune diseases such as MS and that both non-Hodgkin's lymphomas and Hodgkin's disease were associated with Epstein-Barr virus infection.
A small group of lymphomas called primary effusion lymphomas (PEL) is a recently individualized form of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (WHO classification) that exhibit exclusive or dominant involvement of serous cavities, without a detectable solid tumor mass.
These lymphomas have also been linked to Epstein-Barr virus and human herpes virus type 8 infections but virus negative cases have been described.
Therefore, we propose that MS and neuroborreliosis are linked to central nervous system primary effusion lymphomas.
As a first step in confirming or refuting our hypotheses, we suggest a thorough study of CSF in the patients suspected for the diagnosis of MS and Lyme borreliosis.
PMID: 17197115 [PubMed - in process]
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Dermatology. 2001;203(2):168-70.
Multilesional primary cutaneous diffuse large B-cell lymphoma responsive to antibiotic treatment. Hofbauer GF, Kessler B, Kempf W, Nestle FO, Burg G, Dummer R.
Department of Dermatology, University Hospital, Z�rich, Switzerland.
Borrelia burgdorferi infection has been implicated in cutaneous B-cell lymphoma. We report a case of multilesional primary cutaneous large B-cell lymphoma without extracutaneous spread in a patient with elevated B. burgdorferi titers.
After antibiotic therapy, clinical remission and a subsequent drop in B. burgdorferi antibody titers were obtained. Copyright 2001 S. Karger AG, Basel
Department of Histopathology, Royal Hallamshire Hospital, Sheffield, UK.
PMID: 11135050 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
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Ann Hematol. 2001 Apr;80(4):232-5.
Paraneoplastic polyneuropathy preceding the diagnosis of Hodgkin's disease and non-small cell lung cancer in a patient with concomitant Borrelia burgdorferi infection.
Behringer D, Spyridonidis A, Fetscher S, Schmitt-Gr�ff A, H�gerle S, Kaiser R.
Department of Hematology/Oncology, University of Freiburg, Germany. [email protected]
A patient with painful peripheral neuropathy is presented, whose symptoms were thought to result from an infection with Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato.
Investigations of the cerebrospinal fluid for signs of inflammation and borrelial antibodies were negative, and the patient did not benefit from repeated antibiotic treatment.
Electrophysiologic studies and sural nerve biopsy showed axonal neuropathy consistent with a paraneoplastic syndrome. Further workup revealed mediastinal Hodgkin's disease (HD; nodular sclerosing subtype) Ann Arbor stage II and non-small cell cancer of the lung (stage T1N0M0).
Surgical resection of the lung cancer and combined chemo- and radiotherapy for HD resulted in complete remission of both malignancies. While the preexisting neurologic symptoms persisted during treatment, neurography showed some improvement of the distal nerves.
During radiation therapy the patient developed transient left-sided brachial plexopathy. This case illustrates that the diagnosis of borreliosis in patients with isolated painful peripheral neuritis cannot be based solely upon positive IgG titers and supports the requirement for a thorough workup for an underlying--potentially curable--disease.
In addition, singular pulmonary lesions in the setting of HD should be suspected to have a separate cause.
PMID: 11401090 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
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Rinsho Ketsueki. 2000 Dec;41(12):1273-6.
[Occurrence of angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma six months after onset of Lyme disease] [Article in Japanese]
Hatanaka K, Miyagishima T, Kamata T, Nakagawa M, Miura Y, Arai S, Kishimoto A, Kamishima Y, Shibata M, Choi GH, Kudo M, Okabe M, Tsukamoto T, Miyamoto K.
Department of International Medicine, Kushiro Rousai Hospital.
A 68-year-old man, who had suffered a tick bite one week previously, consulted his home doctor because of fever and an erythematous rash around the bite scar.
He underwent a skin biopsy, and Borrelia garinii was detected, from which Lyme disease was diagnosed. He received amoxicillin for two weeks and his symptoms disappeared.
After 6 months he noticed swelling of his cervical, axillary and inguinal lymph nodes. A biopsy sample was taken from a left cervical lymph node, and this revealed angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma.
The patient achieved a complete remission after chemotherapy. The relationship between Lyme disease and lymphoma is discussed.
PMID: 11201153 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
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Brain Dev. 2000 Sep;22(6):403-6.
Lyme borreliosis mimicking central nervous system malignancy: the diagnostic pitfall of cerebrospinal fluid cytology.
Kieslich M, Fiedler A, Driever PH, Weis R, Schwabe D, Jacobi G.
Department of Pediatric Neurology, Johann Wolfgang Goethe University, Frankfurt/Main, Germany. [email protected]
We report two children with acute loss of neurological functions and signs of an increased intracranial pressure.
Imaging techniques ruled out space occupying lesions, whereas CSF cytology indicated CNS involvement of a non-Hodgkin lymphoma in the form of abnormal lymphocytic pleocytosis with malignancy criteria fulfilling lymphoid cells.
CSF protein electrophoresis and Borrelia burgdorferi serology revealed neuroborreliosis which was successfully treated with antibiotic therapy.
The malignancy mimicking cytology is based on a blastoid transformation of B- and T-lymphocytes due to the antigenic stimulus of B. burgdorferi infection.
Lymphoid cells in the CSF of a patient with acute or chronic neurological symptoms raise the differential diagnosis of inflammatory etiology versus CNS lymphoma.
Monomorphism and higher quantity of the lymphoid cells point to CNS lymphoma. A lower quantity and polyclonal pattern of lymphoid cells associated with an elevated protein fraction caused by intrathecal immunoglobulin synthesis suggest an inflammatory etiology.
PMID: 11185583 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
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Dermatology. 2000;201(4):353-5.
Comment on: Dermatology. 2000;201(4):351-2.
Exploring the causes of cutaneous B-cell lymphoma: we should learn from the Lyme disease experience.
Naldi L, Minelli C.
Epidemiological studies rely on the uneven distribution of disease within and between populations and represent a simple but efficient way of studying disease causation.
The incidence of non-Hodgkin's lymphomas (NHLs) has increased dramatically over the past few decades and the epidemic calls for epidemiological studies.
The study of Munksgaard and colleagues, in this issue of Dermatology, is a good example of an epidemiological study based on the so-called ecological correlation.
It focuses on cutaneous B-cell lymphoma (CBCL) and fails to document a correlation between CBCL incidence and Lyme disease as a surrogate indicator for the exposure to tick bites.
Although ecological studies neither inform about the time relationship between exposure and disease nor usually allow control for confounding variables, they can provide important information that would guide the direction of further research.
There is a number of analytical studies focusing on risk factors for NHLs. One drawback of these studies is that they consider NHLs as a single category. One merit of the paper of Munksgaard et al. is that it focused on a rather specific disease, i.e. CBCL. Copyright 2000 S. Karger AG, Basel
PMID: 11146350 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
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Dermatology. 2000;201(4):351-2.
Comment in: Dermatology. 2000;201(4):353-5.
Incidence patterns of lyme disease and cutaneous B-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in the United States.
Munksgaard L, Frisch M, Melbye M, Hjalgrim H. Department of Epidemiology Research, Danish Epidemiology Science Center, Statens Serum Institut, Copenhagen, Denmark. [email protected]
BACKGROUND: Several reports have suggested a link between infection with Borrelia burgdorferi (the spirochete causing Lyme disease) and development of cutaneous B-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (CBCL).
METHODS: We did a correlation analysis of CBCL and Lyme disease using data from the Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results program and from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
RESULTS: We could not demonstrate a geographic correlation between incidence rates of Lyme disease and CBCL.
CONCLUSION: This observation suggests that infection with B. burgdorferi is not a major risk factor for CBCL in the USA. Copyright 2000 S. Karger AG, Basel
PMID: 11146349 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
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J Am Acad Dermatol. 2005 Sep;53(3):479-84.
Primary cutaneous B-cell lymphoma.
Bogle MA, Riddle CC, Triana EM, Jones D, Duvic M. Department of Dermatology, University of Texas and M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas 77030, USA. [email protected]
Primary cutaneous B-cell lymphomas include extranodal marginal zone B-cell lymphoma, follicular lymphoma, large B-cell lymphoma, and, rarely, mantle cell lymphoma.
Our purpose in conducting this review was to determine the clinical and behavioral characteristics of primary cutaneous B-cell lymphomas, their relationship to infectious triggers, and therapeutic response.
We conducted a retrospective chart review of 23 adult patients presenting to the dermatology clinic at M. D. Anderson Cancer Center with primary cutaneous B-cell lymphoma between January 1999 and May 2003.
Primary cutaneous B-cell lymphomas generally present on the head and neck, with the trunk and extremities afflicted to a lesser extent. Patients were found to have serologic evidence of prior infection with Borrelia burgdorferi (n = 10), Helicobacter pylori (n = 5), and Epstein-Barr virus (n = 6).
Overall, treatment of primary cutaneous B-cell lymphoma should involve multiple modalities; however, specific treatment aimed at concurrent or suspected infection, particularly B burgdorferi, is a helpful adjunct and may achieve complete remission in a small subset of patients.
PMID: 16112357 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
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Leuk Lymphoma. 2004 Aug;45(8):1721-3.
Demonstration of B. burgdorferi-DNA in two cases of nodal lymphoma.
Munksgaard L, Obitz ER, Goodlad JR, Davidson MM, Ho-Yen DO, Hamilton-Dutoit S, Hjalgrim H. PMID: 15370236 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
Walther EU, Seelos K, Bise K, Mayer M, Straube A. Department of Neurology, Klinikum Grosshadern, Munich, Germany.
PMID: 14639029 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
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Folia Biol (Praha). 2003;49(1):40-8.
Interaction of Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato with Epstein-Barr virus in lymphoblastoid cells. Hul�nsk� D, Roubalov� K, Schramlov� J.
National Reference Laboratory on Borreliosis, Electron Microscopy, National Institute of Public Health, Prague, Czech Republic.
Since the possibility of interruption of latent EBV infection has been suggested by the induction of the lytic virus cycle with chemical substances, other viruses, and by immunosuppression, we hypothesized that the same effect might happen in B. burgdorferi sensu lato infection as happens in Lyme disease patients with positive serology for both agents.
We have observed EBV replication in lymphoblastoid cells after superinfection with B. garinii and B. afzelii strains after 1 and 4 h of their interaction.
We found that viral and borrelial antigens persisted in the lymphoblasts for 3 and 4 days. Morphological and functional transformation of both agents facilitate their transfer to daughter cells.
Association with lymphoblasts and internalization of B. garinii by tube phagocytosis increased replication of viruses more successfully than B. afzelii and chemical inductors.
Demonstration of such findings must be interpreted cautiously, but may prove a mixed borrelial and viral cause of severe neurological disease.
PMID: 12630667 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
Improving the specificity of 16S rDNA-based polymerase chain reaction for detecting Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato-causative agents of human Lyme disease. [J Appl Microbiol. 2005]
Use of CFSE staining of borreliae in studies on the interaction between borreliae and human neutrophils. [BMC Microbiol. 2006]
Early stage of Epstein-Barr virus lytic infection leading to the "starry sky" pattern formation in endemic Burkitt lymphoma. [Arch Pathol Lab Med. 2004]
[Prevalence of Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato species among patients in the Czech Republic; direct sequencing analysis and real-time polymerase chain reaction] [Epidemiol Mikrobiol Imunol. 2004]
Substantial rise in the prevalence of Lyme borreliosis spirochetes in a region of western Germany over a 10-year period. [Appl Environ Microbiol. 2004]
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Ugeskr Laeger. 2002 Dec 9;164(50):5927-32.
[Infectious causes of non-Hodgkin lymphomas] [Article in Danish]
Munksgaard L, Hjalgrim H, Melbye M. Afdeling for Epidemiologisk Forskning, Statens Serum Institut, Artillerivej 5, DK-2300 K�benhavn S. [email protected]
The etiology to non-Hodgkin's lymphoma remains incompletely understood.
Chronic infection with certain viruses and bacteria has attracted interest in recent years because of the association with lymphoma development.
In this article we present an overview of the current evidence of infectious causes to non-Hodgkin's lymphomas.
PMID: 12553112 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
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Srp Arh Celok Lek. 2001 Nov-Dec;129(11-12):340-5.
[Primary B-cell cutaneous lymphoma: a model for study of lymphogenesis associated with a specific infectious agents] [Article in ]
Jelić S. Institut za onkologiju i radiologiju Srbije 11 000 Beograd, Pasterova 14. [email protected]
PMID: 11928622 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
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The European strains of Lyme (once thought to not be in the USA) are present in North America. This study used only one strain found in the USA, however, it linked lymphomas to the other strains which we now recognise in the USA and other areas.
1: J Cutan Pathol. 2001 Nov;28(10):502-7.
Absence of Borrelia burgdorferi DNA in cutaneous B-cell lymphomas from the United States.
BACKGROUND: An association between Borrelia burgdorferi and cutaneous B-cell lymphoma (CBCL) has been made in several European countries.
The evidence in favor of such an association has recently been based on more definitive tests for the pathogenetic role of B. burgdorferi in CBCL, including positive cultures or polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification of borrelial DNA from lesional skin.
However, there is only one report of B. burgdorferi in four North American cases of B-cell lymphoma.
METHODS: We retrieved 38 cases of primary and secondary CBCL from different geographic regions of the United States. Two separate techniques were used to detect borrelial DNA by PCR, a nested PCR method to amplify a B. burgdorferi-specific gene as well as a borrelial chromosomal Ly-1 clone amplification method.
Southern blot hybridization was used for confirmation of the PCR results. RESULTS: No B. burgdorferi-specific DNA was detected in any of the 38 CBCL cases, whereas detectable PCR products were obtained with our positive controls.
CONCLUSIONS: Our findings, in light of previous studies, suggest that B. burgdorferi plays a minimal role in the development or pathogenesis of CBCL in the United States.
The findings also suggest that the geographic variations in the clinical manifestations of B. burgdorferi are indeed real and may be secondary to the genetic and phenotypic differences between B. burgdorferi strains present in Europe and North America.
treepatrol
Honored Contributor (10K+ posts)
Member # 4117
posted
Thanks Tc
-------------------- Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Remember Iam not a Doctor Just someone struggling like you with Tick Borne Diseases.
posted
So glad to find this! This week my husband, who was treated for and nearly died of acute babesia this past June, was diagnosed with a cutaneous lymphoma on the arm not far from his tick bite!
When he was treated in June he received only 2 weeks of doxy, mepron and zithro. Since then his immune system has seemed low, getting one severe cold after another and having to get more sleep then ever.
Then he developed this lump which he thought at first was an insect bite. After 2 month in which it didn't go away he saw a doctor who said not to worry. After a few more weeks he went back and asked to have it drained (the doctor thought it was a cyst). When they put the needle in, they found no pus, so they biopsied and now they've told us he has cancer, B-cell cutaneous lymphoma.
It doesn't surprise me at all that this may have something to do with his tick bite. He hasn't been the same since it happened. Now I just hope we can get the doctors to consider this and give him a month of doxy!
Anyone else have a similar experience?
-------------------- Just because it' s not nice doesn' t mean it' s not miraculous. --Terry Pratchett Posts: 121 | From Nazareth, PA | Registered: May 2008
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treepatrol
Honored Contributor (10K+ posts)
Member # 4117
-------------------- Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Remember Iam not a Doctor Just someone struggling like you with Tick Borne Diseases.
posted
I've printed up some of these reports and we're taking them along to the oncologist this morning.
-------------------- Just because it' s not nice doesn' t mean it' s not miraculous. --Terry Pratchett Posts: 121 | From Nazareth, PA | Registered: May 2008
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posted
I will read this when I have the energy to go through it. All I know is that I am suppose to be scheduled for a lumpectomy of my breast because of an abnormal biopsy.
I am so tired of tests and surgeries and procedures that I just don't know if I'll make in for this surgery this year. I would love to have the tissue sent to a lab that could test it for Lyme but doctors would think I was crazy.
My gut feeling is that it is related to Lyme.
Posts: 86 | From California | Registered: Oct 2009
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cactus
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 7347
posted
Thank you for posting this!
-------------------- �Did you ever stop to think, and forget to start again?� - A.A. Milne Posts: 1987 | From No. VA | Registered: May 2005
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sizzled
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 1357
posted
Thank-you for bringing this up,TC.
Breast Cancer Awareness is at an all time high..even for men.
Posts: 4258 | From over there | Registered: Jul 2001
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