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The "HERVs" (human endogenous retroviruses) are a family of endogenous retroviruses integrated into the germ cell DNA of primate over than 30 million years ago. HERV expression seems impaired in several diseases, ranging from autoimmune to neoplastic disorders. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the overall endogenous retroviral transcription profile in bone marrow (BM) samples. A total of 30 pediatric lymphoid and myeloid malignancies patients were tested. Our findings show that HERV-R expression results significantly higher in leukemia patients than donors. This overexpression might be related to lymphatic leukemogenesis and it warrants further investigations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The human endogenous retroviruses (HERVs) are a family of endogenous retroviruses that integrated into the germ cell DNA of primates over 30 million years ago. HERV expression seems impaired in several diseases, ranging from autoimmune to neoplastic disorders. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the overall endogenous retroviral transcription profile in bone marrow (BM) samples. A total of 30 paediatric high-risk leukaemia patients (lymphoid and myeloid malignancies) were tested for HERVs virus gene expression. Our findings show that HERV-K expression was significantly higher in leukaemia patients when compared to healthy donors of a similar median age. We observed a significantly high expression of HERV-K in acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) patients. In this study, we also found a relative overexpression of the endogenous retrovirus HERV-K in BM cells from the majority of leukemia samples analyzed, in particular in ALL. This overexpression might be related to lymphatic leukemogenesis and it warrants further investigations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To evaluate the effects of total body irradiation (TBI) on the endocrine system in adults treated with hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) during childhood. Methods: We studied 40 patients who underwent HCT between 1988 and 2004, mainly for childhood cancer. In 23 patients, the conditioning regimen consisted of high-dose chemotherapy and TBI (TBI+). In the other 17 patients, who did not receive TBI (TBI−), HCT was performed after high-dose chemotherapy alone. Results: Overall, 34% of patients in the TBI+ group showed growth hormone deficiency, compared with none of the patients in the TBI− group ( P < 0.05). Leydig cell failure was found in 23% of patients in the TBI+ group and in 0% of the patients in the TBI− group. Elevated FSH levels, suggesting spermatogenesis damage, were found in all the patients receiving TBI and in 36% of the patients in the TBI− group ( P < 0.001). Also, primary hypothyroidism was more common in TBI+ (34%) than in TBI− (5.8%) patients ( P < 0.05). Conclusions: Our data indicate that endocrine late effects after HCT are more frequent in patients who received TBI, an observation that should be considered, even if the choice of the conditioning regimen is determined by the underlying condition in most cases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]