Haematologica
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Bulky mediastinal involvement is a challenging presentation of Hodgkin's disease (HD). Radiotherapy alone has provided a good response rate but also a high percentage of recurrences, and therefore many studies have been initiated to evaluate combined modality treatment. ⋯ In our opinion and in agreement with available literature, chemotherapy has a fundamental place alongside radiotherapy in the treatment of bulky mediastinal HD. Combined modality treatment improves the disease-free survival obtained with radiotherapy or chemotherapy alone. In our experience a high percentage of patients (83%) can be considered cured without the need for second-line therapy. However, long-term and especially gonadal toxicity greatly influence the quality of life of these patients. Therefore treatment must be personalized according to age, sex, cardiopulmonary status and desire to preserve reproductive function.
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Comparative Study
Cryopreservation of human platelets using dimethyl sulfoxide and glycerol-glucose: effects on "in vitro" platelet function.
The technique of freezing blood platelets could be very useful in the transfusion support of thrombocytopenic patients. The best method of platelet cryopreservation still remains an object of debate, though it has been suggested that dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) is more effective than glycerol-glucose as a cryopreservative. However, few studies have directly compared platelets cryopreserved with different methods. ⋯ We suggest that cryopreservation with glycerol-glucose or DMSO induces similar defects of platelet function. The damage is severe, but platelets are still able to respond to strong stimulation.
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A retrospective analysis on HODGKIN'S DISEASE (HD) was finalized to see if changing the management and therapy during the years we improved the cure rate of lymphomas and reduced the incidence of side effects due to therapy. Up to twenty years' experience was based in two major therapeutic periods: the first included patients observed between 1970 and June 1980 and the second between July 1980 and December 1987. Significant differences between the two periods were the reduction of splenectomies as staging procedure, the reduction of radiation dose and extension and the sequential use of MOPP/ABVD instead of MOPP alone. ⋯ The modifications of therapy of HD have produced improvements concerning the prognosis of pts; these improvements are due mainly to the reduction of late side effects such as acute leukemia and second solid tumor, and to the increase of remission rate and cure rate of the lymphoma.