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Sob o apoio do Instituto Nacional de Câncer, Fundação Ary Frauzino, Comunidade Econômica Européia, The British Council e CNPq, além da Sociedade Brasileira de Hematologia e Hemoterapia, dos HEMOCENTROS Brasileiros e da Academia Brasileira de Neurologia e da Sociedade Brasileira de Virologia, realizou-se no Rio de Janeiro, dos dias 22 a 25 de setembro 1993, o II Simpósio Internacional sobre HTLV no Brasil, organizado pelos Drs. Maria do Socorro Pombo de Oliveira, Maria José Andrada Serpa, José Guido de Azevedo e Abelardo Q. Campos Araújo.

Objectives: Human T-cell lymphotropic virus type 1 (HTLV-1) infection is associated with neurological abnormalities, such as HTLV-1-associated myelopathy/tropical spastic paraparesis (HAM/TSP) and peripheral neuropathy (PN). Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is the leading cause of chronic liver disease worldwide, and causes PN in approximately 9% of patients. Because the interplay between these potentially neuropathogenic viruses in the same individual is still poorly understood, the clinical and laboratory outcomes of co-infected patients were evaluated and compared with those of controls. Methods: The prevalence rates of neurological and laboratory abnormalities were evaluated in HCV/HTLV-1 co-infected patients (n = 50), and in subjects with single HCV (n = 46) or HTLV-1 (n = 150) infection. Results: A higher frequency of isolated PN was present in HCV-infected patients; this was not associated with cryoglobulinemia. No difference was found in the frequency of PN or HAM/TSP when co-infected subjects were compared to singly infected subjects. Hepatic involvement was present in HCV-infected subjects, as shown by increased levels of serum alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase, gamma-glutamyl transferase, and bilirubin, in addition to thrombocytopenia. On the other hand, HCV/HTLV-1 co-infected individuals presented a better prognosis for hepatic involvement when compared with singly HCV-infected subjects. Conclusions: These data suggest that HCV/HTLV-1 co-infection does not mutualistically alter the outcome with regard to neurological manifestations. Nonetheless, changes in the immunological environment induced by HTLV-1 infection could lead to a reduction in hepatic damage, even without significant HCV clearance.

The POEMS syndrome, also known as Crow-Fukase syndrome, is an unusual systemic disorder described mainly in Asian individuals. It is characterized by the presence of (P)polyneuropathy, (O)organomegaly, (E)endocrinopathy, (M) M-protein, and (S) skin changes. Several other associated condictions such as sclerotic bone lesions, Castleman disease, low-grade fever, edema and hematologic disorders are usually seen. We describe five Brazilian patients with this syndrome. Two patients presented Castleman disease, one patient presented osteosclerotic myeloma and in two patients no associated conditions were found.A síndrome POEMS, também conhecida como síndrome de Crow-Fukase é uma desordem sistêmica rara descrita principalmente em asiáticos. Ela é caracterizada pela presença de (P) polineuropatia, (O) organomegalia, (E) endocrinopatia, (M) proteína M e (S) alterações de pele. Diversas outras manifestações, tais como lesões osteoescleróticas, doença de Castleman, febre baixa, edema e distúrbios hematológicos são freqüentemente observados. Apresentamos cinco pacientes brasileiros com esta síndrome. Dois pacientes apresentaram diagnóstico de doença de Castleman, um paciente com mieloma osteoesclerótico e em dois pacientes, nenhuma condição associada foi encontrada.

No Brasil, o câncer de mama é a primeira causa de óbito por câncer entre mulheres, sendo o Rio de Janeiro o Estado que apresenta o maior coeficiente de mortalidade do país. Estudos que avaliam a sobrevida por câncer de mama têm indicado que vários fatores de ordem genética e molecular podem influenciar a evolução dos casos. O objetivo deste trabalho foi descrever mutações no gene TP53 em 120 pacientes com diagnóstico de carcinoma invasivo de mama, recrutadas no Instituto Nacional de Câncer (INCA), Rio de Janeiro, entre 1995 a 1997, e analisar as possíveis associações entre fatores de risco e presença de mutação e entre características do tumor, incluindo estas mutações e o risco de óbito. A análise molecular detectou 24 mutações no gene TP53 em 22 casos (18,3%), sendo que 2 casos apresentaram 2 mutações cada e, em um caso observamos o polimorfismo no éxon 6. As mutações encontradas eram: 14 com troca de sentido; 2 sem sentido; 2 silenciosas; 2 deleções; 1 inserção e 3 localizadas em íntron. Em relação aos fatores de risco estudados em associação à presença de mutação, observou-se que apenas o consumo de tabaco mostrou associação negativa (OR ajustado= 0,24 (0,06-0,88)). A análise multivariada utilizada para avaliar as características tumorais associadas ao risco de óbito mostrou que apenas a agressividade do tumor apresentou OR indicativo de risco (3,98, IC 95% 1,25-12,72). Estes resultados corroboram outros estudos que mostram que a mutação no gene TP53 pode ser um indicador de tumores de mama biologicamente mais agressivos, apesar de não ser o único parâmetro a ser considerado.Breast cancer is the leading cause of death due to cancer among women in Brazil and, the State of Rio de Janeiro presents the highest mortality coefficient of this disease in the country. Studies have shown that many genetic and molecular factors may be related to the outcome of cases. The aim of this study was to describe the frequency and types of mutations in the tumor suppressor gene TP53 in 120 patients with diagnosis of invasive breast carcinoma recruited from the Instituto Nacional de Câncer (INCA), Rio de Janeiro from1995 to 1997, and to analyze the associations between these mutations and risk factors, and tumor characteristics, including the presence of TP53 mutations, and risk of death. The molecular analysis detected TP53 alterations in 22 cases (18.3%), of which 2 cases presented 2 mutations each; a polymorphism in exon 6 was observed in 1 case. The mutations found were: 14 missense, 2 nonsense, 2 silent, 2 deletions, 1 insertion and 3 located in introns which probably did not change the protein. The analysis of risk factors in relation to TP53 mutations showed that only tobacco consumption had an association (adjusted OR = 0.24 (0.06-0.88)). Multivariate analysis showed that only tumor aggressiveness showed an OR indicative of risk (3.98, IC 95% 1.25-12.72).These results are in agreement with previous studies, which report that the presence of TP53 mutations may indicate more aggressive breast tumors biologically although this is not the only parameter to be considered.