Entries by Amar Safdar

Multiple-dose granulocyte-macrophage-colony-stimulating factor plus 23-valent polysaccharide pneumococcal vaccine in patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia: a prospective, randomized trial of safety and immunogenicity.

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Safdar A, Rodriguez GH, Rueda AM, Wierda WG, Ferrajoli A, Musher DM, O’Brien S, Koller CA, Bodey GP, Keating MJ. Cancer. 2008 Jul 15;113(2):383-7. doi: 10.1002/cncr.23561. Abstract BACKGROUND: For the current study, the authors sought to determine whether administration of multiple-dose granulocyte-macrophage-colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) could improve response to standard 23-valent polysaccharide pneumococcal vaccine (PPV) in […]

Caspofungin-mediated beta-glucan unmasking and enhancement of human polymorphonuclear neutrophil activity against Aspergillus and non-Aspergillus hyphae.

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Lamaris GA, Lewis RE, Chamilos G, May GS, Safdar A, Walsh TJ, Raad II, Kontoyiannis DP. J Infect Dis. 2008 Jul 15;198(2):186-92. Abstract BACKGROUND: We investigated whether caspofungin and other echinocandins have immune-enhancing properties that influence human polymorphonuclear neutrophil (PMN)-mediated mold hyphal damage. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Using aniline blue staining, we compared patterns of beta-glucan […]

Inhaled aminoglycosides in cancer patients with ventilator-associated Gram-negative bacterial pneumonia: safety and feasibility in the era of escalating drug resistance.

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Ghannam DE, Rodriguez GH, Raad II, Safdar A. Eur J Clin Microbiol Infect Dis. 2009 Mar;28(3):253-9. . Abstract We sought to evaluate the safety and feasibility of inhaled aminoglycosides or colistin in cancer patients with ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) due to Gram-negative bacteria (GNB). A retrospective case-matched study was obtained after obtaining IRB approval in patients […]

Fatal cytomegalovirus pneumonia in patients with haematological malignancies: an autopsy-based case-control study.

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Torres HA, Aguilera E, Safdar A, Rohatgi N, Raad II, Sepulveda C, Luna M, Kontoyiannis DP, Chemaly RF. Clin Microbiol Infect. 2008 Dec;14(12):1160-6. Abstract Cytomegalovirus (CMV) pneumonia is a life-threatening infection in patients with haematological malignancies (HMs) or in haematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT) recipients. To assess the incidence and risk factors for developing fatal […]

Herpes simplex virus lower respiratory tract infection in patients with solid tumors.

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Aisenberg GM, Torres HA, Tarrand J, Safdar A, Bodey G, Chemaly RF. Cancer. 2009 Jan 1;115(1):199-206. Abstract BACKGROUND: The clinical significance of herpes simplex virus (HSV) isolated in lower respiratory tract specimens (LRTS) of patients with solid tumors (ST) is unknown. In the current study, the authors attempted to determine the clinical relevance of this […]

De novo T-lymphocyte responses against baculovirus-derived recombinant influenzavirus hemagglutinin generated by a naive umbilical cord blood model of dendritic cell vaccination.

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Safdar A1, Decker WK, Li S, Xing D, Robinson SN, Yang H, Steiner D, Rodriguez G, Shpall EJ, Bollard C. Vaccine. 2009 Mar 4;27(10):1479-84. Abstract Cancer patients and recipients of hematopoietic stem cell transplantation exhibit a negligible response to influenza vaccine. Toward the goal of addressing this issue, we developed an in vitro model of […]

Inhaled therapeutics for prevention and treatment of pneumonia.

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Safdar A, Shelburne SA, Evans SE, Dickey BF. Expert Opin Drug Saf. 2009 Jul;8(4):435-49.   The lungs are the most common site of serious infection owing to their large surface area exposed to the external environment and minimum barrier defense. However, this architecture makes the lungs readily available for topical therapy. Therapeutic aerosols include those […]

Infections in non-myeloablative hematopoietic stem cell transplantation patients with lymphoid malignancies: spectrum of infections, predictors of outcome and proposed guidelines for fungal infection prevention.

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Safdar A, Rodriguez GH, Mihu CN, Mora-Ramos L, Mulanovich V, Chemaly RF, Champlin RE, Khouri I. Bone Marrow Transplant. 2010 Feb;45(2):339-47. The overall risk of infections is lower in patients undergoing non-myeloablative allogeneic stem cell transplantation (NST) than in conventional stem cell transplant recipients. We sought to evaluate conditions associated with increased risk of infections after NST. […]

Bioimmunoadjuvants for the treatment of neoplastic and infectious disease: Coley’s legacy revisited.

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Decker WK, Safdar A. Cytokine Growth Factor Rev. 2009 Aug;20(4):271-81.   In the nineteenth century, William B. Coley induced durable remission of inoperable metastatic sarcoma by repeatedly injecting live streptococcus bacilli  and, subsequently, heat-killed bacterial extracts into the primary tumor. While Coley’s contemporaries debated the veracity of his results, this bold treatment protocol established the new scientific field […]