A new humanized monoclonal antibody against the interleukin-6 receptor (IL-6R), tocilizumab (Actemra) is currently used for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients who show inadequate responses to conventional disease modifying anti-rheumatic drugs or tumor necrotizing factor (TNF)-α blockades [1,2]. However, despite comparable therapeutic efficacy, tocilizumab was reported to exert...

Despite an almost 80% overall survival rate in pediatric T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL), there is a subset of patients who are refractory to standard chemotherapy regimens and could benefit from novel treatment approaches. Over a 2-year period, we treated 5 pediatric patients with refractory T-ALL, aged 3 to 15 years, with high-dose cyclophosphamide (CY) at a dose of 2100 mg/m for ...

BACKGROUND In children, the most significant cause of rhabdomyolysis or muscle breakdown is viral infection. However, there are no reports that norovirus, a gastroenteric virus that commonly infects children, specifically causes rhabdomyolysis. Here, we report the first pediatric case of norovirus-associated rhabdomyolysis. CASE PRESENTATION The patient, a 2-year-old boy with fever, diarrhea,...

A healthy 27-year-old female presented to the hospital after she collapsed an hour into her first marathon run on a hot humid day. On presentation, she was hyperthermic, encephalopathic, tachycardic, and hypotensive. On admission, she was found to have lactic acidosis, rhabdomyolysis, and acute kidney injury and was treated with cold normal saline and cooling blankets. She subsequently started ...

Ipilimumab is a first-in-class immunological checkpoint blockade agent and monoclonal antibody against Cytotoxic T-Lymphocyte Antigen 4 (CTLA-4) that has demonstrated survival benefit and durable responses in patients with metastatic melanoma. To date, solid organ transplant recipients have been excluded from clinical trials with cancer immunotherapies on the basis of their concurrent treatment...

Idelalisib is a first-in-class selective, oral, phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase delta (PI3Kδ) inhibitor approved for the treatment of several types of blood cancer. Idelalisib has demonstrated significant efficacy and a tolerable safety profile in clinical trials. However, the US prescribing information contains a black box warning for fatal and/or severe diarrhea or colitis, hepatotoxicity, pneu...

A previously healthy man aged 50 years presented with malaise, anorexia, abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, generalised jaundice, scleral icterus and dark urine. He was not on any prescription or over-the-counter medications, but reported drinking 4-5 energy drinks daily for 3 weeks prior to presentation. Physical examination revealed jaundice and right upper quadrant abdominal tenderness. Labor...

Chronic lymphocytic leukemia, small lymphocytic lymphoma, and follicular lymphoma are indolent B-cell lymphoproliferative disorders that mainly affect an older population. Although the majority of patients in need of treatment derive significant benefit from conventional chemotherapeutic agents as well as monoclonal antibodies, less toxic and more effective treatments are needed. Novel agents t...