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Background: Multiple myeloma (MM) is cancer of the plasma cell characterized by interpatient heterogeneity, in most of the cases it is incurable. It is the second most common hematological malignancy. Overall survival of patients has significantly increased recently. Lot of research is going on for prognostic factors, which can predict disease and response to therapy. During the past decades, biomarkers: M protein and β2 microglobulin have shaped the knowledge about MM. This study was undertaken to evaluate the role of prognostic factors in newly diagnosed and few follow up patients of MM before, during and after the treatment in Indian population.Methods: We analyzed 177 samples (90 MM patients and 87 healthy control) for creatinine, calcium, phosphorus, LDH, total protein, albumin, globulin, β2M, Immunoglobulines (Igs), IgG, IgA, IgM, Kappa light chain and Lambda light chains, serum protein electrophoresis (SPE) and immunofixation electrophoresis (IFE).Results: The result of our study are significant at p

To evaluate the inter-assay variability of six commercially available prostate specific antigen (PSA) assays, its clinical impact in prostate cancer (PCa) and comparison of automated versus manual assays.Sera from 495 patients (425 with PCa and 70 men with Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia (BPH), were measured with six different assays [three automated assays (a-PSA) and three manual ELISA based assay (m-PSA)]. Variability, agreement and bias were measured and compared among assays using Bland Altman plots and Passing and Bablok regression analysis. The possible impact of inter-assay variability on important clinical scenarios was also studied.All the assays were well correlated (r: 0.88-0.98); however there was significant disagreement and bias between the systems, which were more pronounced among the a-PSA assays. The Bland Altman plot showed that the variability was high between the m-PSA assays and the standard Abbott system with mean difference of 3.8-5.8ng/ml. In contrast, the a-PSA had better agreement with mean difference of 0.8-2.3ng/ml. Beckman Coulter showed the best agreement to the institutional reference (slope-1.097; 95% CI: 1.06-1.14; p0.05, and intercept-0.20; 95% CI-0.38-0.58; p0.05, Passing Bablok). It led to significant variability in PCa risk stratification and failure to detect biochemical failure in more than 50% cases.The discrepancies between the assays lead to significant clinical misinterpretation with risk group migration and detection of biochemical failure post radiotherapy. There are significant discordances between automated and ELISA based assays.

Background & objectives: Multiple myeloma (MM) is a plasma cell malignancy characterized by cytogenetic heterogeneity. In comparison with conventional karyotyping, fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) can efficiently detect various genetic changes in non-cycling plasma cells in 50-90 per cent of MM cases. The present study was undertaken in MM patients to evaluate the frequency and clinico-pathological significance of various cytogenetic abnormalities in the Indian population. Methods: Interphase FISH was applied on purified plasma cells of 475 patients with MM using specific probes. Interphase FISH for 1q gain/1q amplification was performed on a separate group of 250 newly diagnosed MM patients. Results: Low frequency of Δ13 [-13/del(13q)] (32%) and t(11;14) (5%) was observed in our 475 patients probably due to ethnic diversity. Clustering of Δ13, del(17) (p13.1) and IgH translocations in non-hyperdiploidy confirmed prognostic significance of ploidy in MM. t(4;14) and del(17) (p13.1) were high-risk groups due to correlation with high serum β2-microglobulin, increased plasma cells and advanced disease. Hyperdiploidy and t(14;16) were associated with higher age group. In a separate group of 250 patients, 1q amplification [amp(1q)] in combination with Δ13 and/or del(17p) with t(4;14) revealed association with adverse clinico-laboratory features, which confirmed progressive role of amp(1q) with adverse prognostic impact. Amp(1q) was clustered at 1q21 and 1q25 loci. Interpretation & conclusions: Based on our findings, it appears that comprehensive analysis of various cytogenetic aberrations by interphase FISH is a powerful strategy being adapted for risk stratification of MM.

Background: The second most common solid tumor in children is Neuroblastoma (NB). In about 90% of cases of NB, elevated levels of catecholamines or its metabolites are found in the urine or blood which includes Vanillylmandelic Acid (VMA) and Homovanillic Acid (HVA). Ferritin, Neuron-Specific Enolase (NSE) and Lactate Dehydrogenase (LDH) are commonly assessed in children suspected to have NB, and the levels of these markers are commonly used for differential diagnosis. Multiple clinical and imaging tests are needed for accurate patient assessment. Iodine 123(123I) Metaiodobenzylguanidine (MIBG) is the first-line functional imaging agent used in neuroblastoma imaging. To evaluate the utility of these marker present study was undertaken with 91 NB patients and 40 normal healthy control.Methods: The study comprised of blood samples and 24 hour’s urine sample from 40 normal healthy subjects and 91 untreated patients with histologically proven Stage III and IV NB cases referred to our institute. Method used for NSE was Enzyme Immunoassay (Elisa), serum Ferritin was MIA, LDH-photometry and VMA by Column Chromatography.Results: Amongst the parameters studied VMA showed highest sensitivity (91%), specificity (94.4%) positive predictive value (97.8%) and 85% negative predictive value at the cut off levels of 7mg/ ml of creatinine as compared to other studied parameters.Conclusions: This study suggests that the detection of VMA in combination with routine histological examination, MIBG scan, serum NSE and LDH may improve the diagnosis of Neuroblastoma.

e18004 Background: Vitamin-D deficiency is a global problem due to lack of sunlight exposure or dietary deficiency. Few studies have correlated vitamin-D deficiency with poor outcome in patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphomas and chronic lymphocytic leukemia. Expression of vitamin-D receptors on both normal and malignant hematopoietic cells suggests its possible role in pathogenesis, response to therapy and as a potential therapeutic target in haematological cancers. Given the high prevalence of malnutrition in our country and the potential impact of vitamin-D deficiency in haematological malignancies we conducted this prospective study to identify its prevalence in this subset of patients. Methods: Consecutive patients (15-50 years) with de novo haematological cancers who were registered at our centre over a three months period were evaluated. Patients who had received bisphosphonates or calcium and vitamin-D supplementation were excluded. Demographic variables, performance status, lifestyle (sedentary or non-sedentary), diet (vegetarian or mixed), consumption of milk products, serum 25 (OH) D, albumin and calcium levels were recorded. Levels 3.5 gm/dL and normal calcium levels were seen in 90%. Vitamin-D deficiency was seen in 12% patients whereas 73% patients were vitamin D insufficient. Keeping the cut-off

The diagnostic significance of three polyamines (putrescine, spermidine and spermine), of carcinoembryonic antigen and of phosphoglucose isomerase have been compared in sera of patients with breast cancer or benign breast disease and normal age matched controls. The results of the study indicate that the performance of spermine was more striking than that of any of the other markers. The estimation of spermine may prove to be a valuable parameter not only in detection but also in prediction of recurrence of the disease.