The endogenous granulocyte colony-stimulating factor response following autologous peripheral blood stem cell transplantation is inpaired in patients with myeloma

Granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) levels were studied in 23 patients (10 myeloma, 13 relapsed Hodgkin's disease, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma or germ cell tumours), post autologous peripheral blood stem cell transplantation (PBSCT). The two groups had similar previous chemotherapy and numbers of CD34+ cells transplanted. All patients received G-CSF by injection starting 8 d post transplantation. Twenty out of 23 patients showed raised endogenous levels of G-CSF before cytokine administration. Myeloma patients showed significantly lower levels of endogenous G-CSF than the other patients (0.767 versus 3.262 ng/ml, P <0.05). Further rises in G-CSF levels were seen following the administration of exogenous G-CSF which then fell, despite ongoing administration of G-CSF, as neutrophil recovery occurred.

Clinical Determinants of Response to Irinotecan-Based Therapy Derived from Cell Line Models

Purpose: In an attempt to identify genes that are involved in resistance to SN38, the active metabolite of irinotecan (also known as CPT-11), we carried out DNA microarray profiling of matched HCT116 human colon cancer parental cell lines and SN38-resistant cell lines following treatment with SN38 over time.

ABCB1 (MDR1) rs1045642 is associated with increased overall survival in plasma cell myeloma

Multi-drug resistance (MDR) may compromise the successful management of haematological malignancies, impairing the effectiveness of chemotherapy. The P-glycoprotein (P-gp) drug efflux pump, encoded by the gene ABCB1 (MDR1), is the most widely studied component in MDR. A single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) has been identified within ABCB1, rs1045642 (C3435T), which may alter P-gp substrate specificity and have an impact on the effectiveness of treatment, and hence overall survival (OS). We estimated the frequency of this SNP in the Northern Irish population and investigated its impact on the OS of patients with plasma cell myeloma (PCM). There was no significant difference in the frequency of rs1045642 between the PCM cohort and an age- and gender-matched control population. Findings within the PCM cohort suggest that rs1045642 genotype influences OS (p = 2 x 10(-2)). If confirmed in larger studies, these results suggest that genotyping rs1045642 may be a useful predictor of outcome in PCM and could indicate modified treatment modalities in certain individuals.