Background: Refractory/relapsed acute leukemia has always been a challenging problem for hematologist. Over the past decade emphasis has been made in the development of regimens containing fludarabine, combined with cytosine arabinoside for the treatment of refractory/relapsed acute leukemias. The aim of this study is to evaluate the efficacy and toxicity of the combination of fludarabine, high dose cytarabine, and granulocyte colony stimulating factor in refractory relapsed cases of acute leukaemia,
Methods: a prospective study is being conducted at the national center of hematology and hematology unit /Baghdad teaching hospital from July 2008 to July 2010.Twenty Patients with refractory/relapsed acute leukemia were treated with fludarabine 30mg/m2 and cytosine arabinoside (AraC) 2 g/m2 for 5 days, and granulocyte colony stimulating factor G-CSF 300 microgram/day from day 0 till neutrophil recovery (ANC >1.0 x 109/l).Response was evaluated by bone marrow examination on day 30-post chemotherapy.
Results: Patients included were refractory acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) (n=5), relapsed ALL (n=4), refractory acute myeloid leukemia (AML) (n=8), relapsed AML (n=3). Complete remission (CR) was achieved in 9(45%) patients, 3 (15%) patients got partial remission. Three (15%) patients died of post chemotherapy complications and 5(25%) patient failed to achieve remission. Major complications encountered were: anemia, fever, bleeding, mucositis and bacterial infections.
Conclusion: FLAG protocol is well tolerated and effective regimen in relapsed / refractory acute leukemias. The toxicity is acceptable, enabling most patients to receive further treatment, including transplantation procedures
Axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA) is a chronic rheumatic inflammatory disease affecting mainly the spine and sacroiliac joints. Since the copper-to-zinc ratio (Cu/Zn) indicates an inflammatory response, the change in ratio is expected to correlate with axSpA. This study compared levels of Cu/Zn in the serum of axSpA patients. Serum samples were obtained from 53 patients with axSpA divided according to biological treatment into cohorts A and B, and 28 healthy control as cohort C. Serum levels of Cu and Zn were determined first by a fully automated chemistry analyzer TC-Matrix Plus, then the ratio was obtained. The elevated serum Cu concentration means of cohort B (189.32 ± 13.808 µg/dL) compared to cohort A (168.85 ± 7.244 µg/dL) a
... Show MoreBreast cancer is the most diagnosed form of malignant tumour in Iraqi women. Tamoxifen and trastuzumab are highly effective adjuvant therapy for breast cancer. This study's objectives were to define the patient's belief in tamoxifen or trastuzumab when used as adjuvant therapy and to determine the variation in belief between the two medications in a sample of Iraqi breast cancer patients. The cross-section survey was conducted using the BMQ-Specific questionnaire. Ninety-seven participants (sixty-seven tamoxifen, thirty trastuzumab) participated in this study. The mean of specific-necessity scale for tamoxifen was (3.7) and for trastuzumab (4). The findings showed a high necessity for both medicines, and there were
... Show MoreBreast cancer is the most diagnosed form of malignant tumour in Iraqi women. Tamoxifen and trastuzumab are highly effective adjuvant therapy for breast cancer.
This study's objectives were to define the patient's belief in tamoxifen or trastuzumab when used as adjuvant therapy and to determine the variation in belief between the two medications in a sample of Iraqi breast cancer patients.
The cross-section survey was conducted using the BMQ-Specific questionnaire. Ninety-seven participants (sixty-seven tamoxifen, thirty trastuzumab) participated in this study.
The mean of specific-necessity scale for tamoxifen was (3.7) and for trastuzumab (4). The findings showed a high necessity for both medicines, and there wer
... Show MoreThe amino acids in the liver of chick embryo was analysed for ages (7, 11, 14 and 19) days incubation and small chicken aged (14) days after hatching and adult. The study recorded (18) amino acid, the highest concentration of amino acids in the liver of embryo age (7) days incubation was Cysteine (Cys) and in small chicken aged (14) day after hatching, the following amino acids were found: Asparagine (Asn), Alanine (Ala), Histidine (His), Threonine (Thr), Valine (Val), Lysine (Lys), as well as in adult the following amino acids were recorded the highest concentration: Aspartic (Asp), Glutamic (Glu), Serine (Ser), Arginine (Arg), Proline (Pro), Glycine (Gly), Tyrosine (Tyr), Methionine (Met), Isoleucine (Ile), Leucine (Leu) and phenyl alanin
... Show MoreDistribution of light intensity in the flat photobioreactor for microalgae cultivation as a step design for production of bio-renewable energy was addressed in the current study. Five sizes of bioreactors with specific distances from the main light source were adopted as independent variables in experiential design model. The results showed that the bioreactor’s location according to the light source, determines the nature of light intensity distribution in the reactor body. However, the cross-section area plays an important role in determining the suitable location of reactor to achieve required light homogeneity. This area could change even the expected response of the light passing through the reactor if Beer-Lambert's law is adopted.
... Show MoreThe inflammatory reactions cause nasal polyposes (NPs), which contained the paranasal sinuses and the nasal mucous membrane. They consist of recurrent multiple masses originating in the paranasal sinuses then spread from the middle meatus to the nasals cavity, which leads to the nasal blockage that causes the restriction of airflow to the olfactory area. This study aims at clarifying the role of IL-12RB2 polymorphism by using PCR technology in nasal mucosal stem cells in nasal polyps of Iraqi patients and use it as a biomarker. Fifty-eight cases of this study are referred to as nasal surgery, which selected from Dept.of Otolaryngology, Baghdad City, Iraq from May 2013 to January 2014. They were grouped into Control group (022 samples
... Show MoreCampsis grandiflora (Bignoniaceae) is a fast growing deciduous climber, the dried flowers have been used as a carminative, blood tonic, and febrifuge in Chinese traditional medicine. This plant has an anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidant, anti-depressant, and anti-bacterial effect; with a beneficial role in stagnant blood and endometriosis conditions. In this study, the detection of beta-sitosterol in the hexane extract of Iraqi C.grandiflora flowers was performed using thin layer chromatography (TLC) and high performance liquid chromatography(HPLC); while the isolation done by preparative layer chromatography then structure elucidation of isolated compound was done by FTIR and 1HNMR. Furthermore, assessment of th
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