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Susan Gail Kreissman

Professor of Pediatrics
Pediatrics, Hematology-Oncology
Box 102382 DUMC, Durham, NC 27710
393 Hanes House, Durham, NC 27710

Selected Publications


Response to induction chemotherapy modifies the effect of conventional prognostic factors in high-risk neuroblastoma: A report from the Children's Oncology Group

Journal Article EJC Paediatric Oncology · December 1, 2024 Background: Response to induction chemotherapy has been shown to predict outcome in patients with high-risk neuroblastoma (HR-NB), with those achieving a complete response (CR) having superior outcomes. Methods: We evaluated whether conventional prognostic ... Full text Cite

Neuroblastoma, Version 2.2024, NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology.

Journal Article J Natl Compr Canc Netw · August 2024 Neuroblastoma is the most common extracranial solid tumor diagnosed in children. This inaugural version of the NCCN Guidelines for Neuroblastoma provides recommendations for the diagnosis, risk classification, and treatment of neuroblastoma. The informatio ... Full text Link to item Cite

Impact of Genomic and Clinical Factors on Outcome of Children ≥18 Months of Age with Stage 3 Neuroblastoma with Unfavorable Histology and without MYCN Amplification: A Children's Oncology Group (COG) Report.

Journal Article Clinical cancer research : an official journal of the American Association for Cancer Research · April 2023 PurposePatients ≥18 months of age with International Neuroblastoma Staging System (INSS) stage 3 unfavorable histology (UH), MYCN-nonamplified (MYCN-NA) tumors have favorable survival rates compared with other high-risk neuroblastoma populations. ... Full text Cite

Leveraging Clinical Informatics Tools to Extract Cumulative Anthracycline Exposure, Measure Cardiovascular Outcomes, and Assess Guideline Adherence for Children With Cancer.

Journal Article JCO Clin Cancer Inform · October 2021 PURPOSE: Cardiovascular disease is a significant cause of late morbidity and mortality in survivors of childhood cancer. Clinical informatics tools could enhance provider adherence to echocardiogram guidelines for early detection of late-onset cardiomyopat ... Full text Link to item Cite

More Than Meets the Eye? A Cautionary Tale of Malignant Ectomesenchymoma Treated as Low-risk Orbital Rhabdomyosarcoma.

Journal Article J Pediatr Hematol Oncol · August 1, 2021 Malignant ectomesenchymoma (MEM) is a rare multiphenotypic tumor comprised of mesenchymal and neuroectodermal components. MEM is typically diagnosed in infants and younger children and outcomes are variable. The current approach for treating MEM includes t ... Full text Link to item Cite

Integration of cancer registry and electronic health record data to construct a childhood cancer survivorship cohort, facilitate risk stratification for late effects, and assess appropriate follow-up care.

Journal Article Pediatr Blood Cancer · June 2021 BACKGROUND: This retrospective study harnessed an institutional cancer registry to construct a childhood cancer survivorship cohort, integrate electronic health record (EHR) and geospatial data to stratify survivors based on late-effect risk, analyze follo ... Full text Link to item Cite

Prospective Evaluation of Radiation Dose Escalation in Patients With High-Risk Neuroblastoma and Gross Residual Disease After Surgery: A Report From the Children's Oncology Group ANBL0532 Study.

Journal Article J Clin Oncol · August 20, 2020 PURPOSE: A primary objective of the Children's Oncology Group (COG) ANBL0532 phase III study was to assess the effect of increasing local dose of radiation to a residual primary tumor on the cumulative incidence of local progression (CILP) in patients with ... Full text Link to item Cite

Effect of Tandem Autologous Stem Cell Transplant vs Single Transplant on Event-Free Survival in Patients With High-Risk Neuroblastoma: A Randomized Clinical Trial.

Journal Article JAMA · August 27, 2019 IMPORTANCE: Induction chemotherapy followed by high-dose therapy with autologous stem cell transplant and subsequent antidisialoganglioside antibody immunotherapy is standard of care for patients with high-risk neuroblastoma, but survival rate among these ... Full text Link to item Cite

Role of the extent of prophylactic regional lymph node radiotherapy on survival in high-risk neuroblastoma: A report from the COG A3973 study.

Journal Article Pediatr Blood Cancer · July 2019 PURPOSE: Neuroblastoma is the most common extracranial solid pediatric malignancy, with poor outcomes in high-risk disease. Standard treatment approaches employ an increasing array of aggressive multimodal therapies, of which local control with surgery and ... Full text Link to item Cite

Selumetinib in paediatric patients with BRAF-aberrant or neurofibromatosis type 1-associated recurrent, refractory, or progressive low-grade glioma: a multicentre, phase 2 trial.

Journal Article Lancet Oncol · July 2019 BACKGROUND: Paediatric low-grade glioma is the most common CNS tumour of childhood. Although overall survival is good, disease often recurs. No single universally accepted treatment exists for these patients; however, standard cytotoxic chemotherapies are ... Full text Link to item Cite

Predictors of differential response to induction therapy in high-risk neuroblastoma: A report from the Children's Oncology Group (COG).

Journal Article Eur J Cancer · May 2019 BACKGROUND: Induction chemotherapy plays an important role in the management of patients with high-risk neuroblastoma. Predictors of response to induction therapy are largely lacking. We sought to describe clinical and biological features associated with i ... Full text Link to item Cite

Improved contemporary outcomes of liver transplantation for pediatric hepatoblastoma and hepatocellular carcinoma.

Journal Article Pediatr Transplant · December 2018 PURPOSE: Improvement in outcomes of LT for pediatric HB and HCC has been reported in small series. We analyzed national outcomes and changes in donor, recipient, and perioperative factors over time that may contribute to survival differences. METHODS: The ... Full text Link to item Cite

Genomic Amplifications and Distal 6q Loss: Novel Markers for Poor Survival in High-risk Neuroblastoma Patients.

Journal Article J Natl Cancer Inst · October 1, 2018 BACKGROUND: Neuroblastoma is characterized by substantial clinical heterogeneity. Despite intensive treatment, the survival rates of high-risk neuroblastoma patients are still disappointingly low. Somatic chromosomal copy number aberrations have been shown ... Full text Link to item Cite

Validation of Postinduction Curie Scores in High-Risk Neuroblastoma: A Children's Oncology Group and SIOPEN Group Report on SIOPEN/HR-NBL1.

Journal Article J Nucl Med · March 2018 A semiquantitative 123I-metaiodobenzylguanidine (123I-MIBG) scoring method (the Curie score, or CS) was previously examined in the Children's Oncology Group (COG) high-risk neuroblastoma trial, COG A3973, with a postinduction CS of more than 2 being associ ... Full text Link to item Cite

Validation of the mIBG skeletal SIOPEN scoring method in two independent high-risk neuroblastoma populations: the SIOPEN/HR-NBL1 and COG-A3973 trials.

Journal Article Eur J Nucl Med Mol Imaging · February 2018 BACKGROUND: Validation of the prognostic value of the SIOPEN mIBG skeletal scoring system in two independent stage 4, mIBG avid, high-risk neuroblastoma populations. RESULTS: The semi-quantitative SIOPEN score evaluates skeletal meta-iodobenzylguanidine (m ... Full text Link to item Cite

MIBG avidity correlates with clinical features, tumor biology, and outcomes in neuroblastoma: A report from the Children's Oncology Group.

Journal Article Pediatr Blood Cancer · November 2017 BACKGROUND: Prior studies suggest that neuroblastomas that do not accumulate metaiodobenzylguanidine (MIBG) on diagnostic imaging (MIBG non-avid) may have more favorable features compared with MIBG avid tumors. We compared clinical features, biologic featu ... Full text Link to item Cite

Reply to J. Stenman et al.

Journal Article J Clin Oncol · June 10, 2017 Full text Link to item Cite

A phase II prospective study of selumetinib in children with recurrent or refractory low-grade glioma (LGG): A Pediatric Brain Tumor Consortium (PBTC) study.

Conference Journal of Clinical Oncology · May 20, 2017 10504 Background: A greater understanding of the Ras-MAP kinase-signaling pathway in pediatric low-grade glioma (LGG) paired with the availability of potent selective inhibitors has enhanced the ability to target this pathway wit ... Full text Cite

Impact of Extent of Resection on Local Control and Survival in Patients From the COG A3973 Study With High-Risk Neuroblastoma.

Journal Article J Clin Oncol · January 10, 2017 Purpose This analysis of patients in the Children's Oncology Group A3973 study evaluated the impact of extent of primary tumor resection on local progression and survival and assessed concordance between clinical and central imaging review-based assessment ... Full text Link to item Cite

A phase III randomized clinical trial (RCT) of tandem myeloablative autologous stem cell transplant (ASCT) using peripheral blood stem cell (PBSC) as consolidation therapy for high-risk neuroblastoma (HR-NB): A Children's Oncology Group (COG) study.

Conference Journal of Clinical Oncology · June 20, 2016 LBA3 Background: ASCT improves event-free survival (EFS) for HR-NB. Pilot studies suggest that intensification of myeloablative therapy using tandem ASCT further improves outcome for HR-NB. We conducted a multicenter RCT comparin ... Full text Cite

Vesicular monoamine transporter protein expression correlates with clinical features, tumor biology, and MIBG avidity in neuroblastoma: a report from the Children's Oncology Group.

Journal Article Eur J Nucl Med Mol Imaging · March 2016 PURPOSE: Vesicular monoamine transporters 1 and 2 (VMAT1 and VMAT2) are thought to mediate MIBG uptake in adult neuroendocrine tumors. In neuroblastoma, the norepinephrine transporter (NET) has been investigated as the principal MIBG uptake protein, though ... Full text Link to item Cite

Value of surgical resection in children with high-risk neuroblastoma.

Journal Article Pediatr Blood Cancer · September 2015 BACKGROUND: The value of gross total resection (GTR) for children with high-risk neuroblastoma (NB) is controversial. We hypothesized that patients undergoing GTR would demonstrate improved overall survival (OS) compared those having Full text Link to item Cite

Use of patient registries and administrative datasets for the study of pediatric cancer.

Journal Article Pediatr Blood Cancer · September 2015 Analysis of data from large administrative databases and patient registries is increasingly being used to study childhood cancer care, although the value of these data sources remains unclear to many clinicians. Interpretation of large databases requires a ... Full text Link to item Cite

MIBG scans in patients with stage 4 neuroblastoma reveal two metastatic patterns, one is associated with MYCN amplification and in MYCN-amplified tumours correlates with a better prognosis.

Journal Article Eur J Nucl Med Mol Imaging · February 2015 PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to find clinically relevant MIBG-avid metastatic patterns in patients with newly diagnosed stage 4 neuroblastoma. METHODS: Diagnostic (123)I-MIBG scans from 249 patients (123 from a European and 126 from the COG cohort) w ... Full text Link to item Cite

MIBG scans in patients with stage 4 neuroblastoma reveal two metastatic patterns, one is associated with MYCN amplification and in MYCN-amplified tumours correlates with a better prognosis

Journal Article European Journal of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging · February 1, 2015 Purpose: The aim of this study was to find clinically relevant MIBG-avid metastatic patterns in patients with newly diagnosed stage 4 neuroblastoma. ... Full text Cite

Impact of Post-Induction Curie Scores in High-Risk Neuroblastoma

Conference Biology of Blood and Marrow Transplantation · February 2015 Full text Cite

Validation of the mIBG SIOPEN Scoring Method in 2 independent High Risk Neuroblastoma Trial Populations

Conference EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF NUCLEAR MEDICINE AND MOLECULAR IMAGING · October 1, 2014 Link to item Cite

Validation of postinduction Curie scores in high-risk neuroblastoma.

Conference Journal of Clinical Oncology · May 20, 2014 Full text Cite

Ototoxicity in children with high-risk neuroblastoma: prevalence, risk factors, and concordance of grading scales--a report from the Children's Oncology Group.

Journal Article J Clin Oncol · February 20, 2014 PURPOSE: Platinum-based therapy is the mainstay for management of high-risk neuroblastoma. Prevalence of platinum-related ototoxicity has ranged from 13% to 95% in previous reports; variability is attributable to small samples and disparate grading scales. ... Full text Link to item Cite

Purged versus non-purged peripheral blood stem-cell transplantation for high-risk neuroblastoma (COG A3973): a randomised phase 3 trial.

Journal Article Lancet Oncol · September 2013 BACKGROUND: Myeloablative chemoradiotherapy and immunomagnetically purged autologous bone marrow transplantation has been shown to improve outcome for patients with high-risk neuroblastoma. Currently, peripheral blood stem cells (PBSC) are infused after my ... Full text Link to item Cite

Semiquantitative mIBG scoring as a prognostic indicator in patients with stage 4 neuroblastoma: a report from the Children's oncology group.

Journal Article J Nucl Med · April 2013 UNLABELLED: Radiolabeled metaiodobenzylguanidine (mIBG) is a highly sensitive and specific marker for detecting neuroblastoma. A semiquantitative mIBG score (Curie score [CS]) was assessed for utility as a prognostic indicator for a cohort of patients with ... Full text Link to item Cite

Clinical significance of tumor-associated inflammatory cells in metastatic neuroblastoma.

Journal Article J Clin Oncol · October 1, 2012 PURPOSE: Children diagnosed at age ≥ 18 months with metastatic MYCN-nonamplified neuroblastoma (NBL-NA) are at high risk for disease relapse, whereas those diagnosed at age < 18 months are nearly always cured. In this study, we investigated the hypothesis ... Full text Link to item Cite

Presentation and outcomes for children with bone marrow necrosis and acute lymphoblastic leukemia: a literature review.

Journal Article J Pediatr Hematol Oncol · October 2011 Bone marrow necrosis is a rare histopathology finding with the majority of cases occurring in the setting of a hematologic malignancy. This article reports a case of diffuse marrow necrosis in a child secondary to acute lymphoblastic leukemia and summarize ... Full text Open Access Link to item Cite

Comparison of ¹²³I-metaiodobenzylguanidine (MIBG) and ¹³¹I-MIBG semi-quantitative scores in predicting survival in patients with stage 4 neuroblastoma: a report from the Children's Oncology Group.

Journal Article Pediatr Blood Cancer · July 1, 2011 BACKGROUND: ¹²³I-metaiodobenzylguanidine (MIBG) scans are preferable to ¹³¹I-MIBG for neuroblastoma imaging as they deliver less patient radiation yet have greater sensitivity in disease detection. Both ¹²³I-MIBG and ¹³¹I-MIBG scans were used for disease a ... Full text Link to item Cite

Ototoxicity in children with high-risk neuroblastoma: Prevalence, risk factors, and concordance of grading scales-A report from the Children's Oncology Group (COG).

Journal Article J Clin Oncol · May 20, 2011 9515 Background: Management of high-risk neuroblastoma relies on potentially ototoxic platinum-based therapy. In previous reports, the proportion of children with ototoxicity has ranged from 20-90%, with variability likely due to small samples and disparat ... Link to item Cite

Anti-GD2 antibody with GM-CSF, interleukin-2, and isotretinoin for neuroblastoma.

Journal Article N Engl J Med · September 30, 2010 BACKGROUND: Preclinical and preliminary clinical data indicate that ch14.18, a monoclonal antibody against the tumor-associated disialoganglioside GD2, has activity against neuroblastoma and that such activity is enhanced when ch14.18 is combined with gran ... Full text Link to item Cite

Peripheral blood stem cell support for multiple cycles of dose intensive induction therapy is feasible with little risk of tumor contamination in advanced stage neuroblastoma: a report from the Childrens Oncology Group.

Journal Article Pediatr Blood Cancer · April 2010 Featured Publication BACKGROUND: Poor outcome in Stage 4 neuroblastoma may be improved with increased dose intensity of therapy. We investigated the feasibility of sequential collection and infusion of peripheral blood stem cells (PBSCs) as hematopoietic support for non-myeloa ... Full text Link to item Cite

A randomized phase III trial of myeloablative autologous peripheral blood stem cell (PBSC) transplant (ASCT) for high-risk neuroblastoma (HR-NB) employing immunomagnetic purged (P) versus unpurged (UP) PBSC: A Children's Oncology Group study.

Journal Article J Clin Oncol · May 20, 2008 10011 Background: ASCT improves outcome for HR-NB, but potential risk of reinfusion of viable tumor in PBSC could affect event-free survival (EFS). We assessed the impact of ASCT with immunomagnetic purging of PBSC, compared to UP product, on EFS, PBSC tum ... Link to item Cite

A pilot study of dose-intensified procarbazine, CCNU, vincristine for poor prognosis brain tumors utilizing fibronectin-assisted, retroviral-mediated modification of CD34+ peripheral blood cells with O6-methylguanine DNA methyltransferase.

Journal Article Cancer Gene Ther · September 2006 Administration of chemotherapy is often limited by myelosuppression. Expression of drug-resistance genes in hematopoietic cells has been proposed as a means to decrease the toxicity of cytotoxic agents. In this pilot study, we utilized a retroviral vector ... Full text Link to item Cite

A novel intensive induction therapy for high-risk neuroblastoma utilizing sequential peripheral blood stem cell collection and infusion as hematopoietic support.

Journal Article Pediatr Blood Cancer · June 2006 OBJECTIVE: To determine the feasibility, toxicities, and the response rate (RR) of a dose intensive, submyeloablative, induction chemotherapy protocol termed EPiC (etoposide, carboplatin, and intensive cyclophosphamide) utilizing sequential peripheral bloo ... Full text Link to item Cite

Phase I/II dose escalation study of recombinant human interleukin-11 following ifosfamide, carboplatin and etoposide in children, adolescents and young adults with solid tumours or lymphoma: a clinical, haematological and biological study.

Journal Article Br J Haematol · January 2005 Featured Publication Thrombocytopenia remains the major dose-limiting toxicity of myelosuppressive chemotherapy in children with solid tumours. Recombinant human interleukin-11 (rhIL-11) has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration as treatment for adults with solid t ... Full text Link to item Cite

Peripheral blood stem cell support reduces the toxicity of intensive chemotherapy for children and adolescents with metastatic sarcomas.

Journal Article Cancer · September 15, 2002 BACKGROUND: To increase the dose intensity (DI) of chemotherapy for pediatric patients with metastatic sarcomas, including the Ewing sarcoma family of tumors (ESFT) and rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS), the authors tested the feasibility of an intensive regimen supp ... Full text Link to item Cite

Mobilization and collection of peripheral blood CD34+ cells from patients with Fanconi anemia.

Journal Article Blood · November 15, 2001 A potential therapeutic option for patients with Fanconi anemia is collection of peripheral blood stem cells prior to the development of severe pancytopenia. These hematopoietic cells potentially could be infused when symptomatic bone marrow failure develo ... Full text Link to item Cite

A randomized comparison between rasburicase and allopurinol in children with lymphoma or leukemia at high risk for tumor lysis.

Journal Article Blood · May 15, 2001 Standard therapy in the United States for malignancy-associated hyperuricemia consists of hydration, alkalinization, and allopurinol. Urate oxidase catalyzes the enzymatic oxidation of uric acid to a 5 times increased urine soluble product, allantoin. Rasb ... Full text Link to item Cite

Large-scale mobilization and isolation of CD34+ cells from normal donors.

Journal Article Bone Marrow Transplant · December 2000 We describe collection and purification of peripheral blood CD34+ cells from volunteer, normal donors and allogeneic stem cell donors. A total of 98 aphereses were performed on 68 volunteer donors using peripheral venous access. The mean number of nucleate ... Full text Link to item Cite

A randomized, double-blind comparative trial evaluating the safety of liposomal amphotericin B versus amphotericin B lipid complex in the empirical treatment of febrile neutropenia

Journal Article Clinical Infectious Diseases · 2000 In this double-blind study to compare safety of 2 lipid formulations of amphotericin B, neutropenic patients with unresolved fever after 3 days of antibacterial therapy were randomized (1:1:1) to receive amphotericin B lipid complex (ABLC) at a dose of 5 m ... Full text Cite

Prognostic significance of early response to a single dose of asparaginase in childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

Journal Article J Pediatr Hematol Oncol · 1999 PURPOSE: The in vitro and in vivo efficacy of a single dose of asparaginase in children with newly diagnosed acute lymphoblastic leukemia and the correlation between in vitro and in vivo antileukemic response and long-term outcome were prospectively evalua ... Full text Link to item Cite

High dose chemotherapy with autologous peripheral blood progenitor cell transplantation in an anephric child with multiply recurrent Wilms tumor.

Journal Article J Pediatr Hematol Oncol · 1998 PURPOSE: An autologous peripheral blood progenitor cell (APBPC) transplant in an anephric child with multiply recurrent Wilms tumor using a conditioning regimen of high dose chemotherapy in conjunction with hemodialysis (HD) and peritoneal dialysis is desc ... Full text Link to item Cite

Combination of rhIL-11 + G-CSF enhances platelet (PLT) and myeloid recovery following ifosfamide, carboplatin, and etoposdde (ICE) chemotherapy in children with solid tumors (ST): RML-11 is well tolerated at double the adult recommended dose

Journal Article Experimental Hematology · December 1, 1997 RhIL-11 has demonstrated in phase II adult trials to reduce PLT tranfusions (TX) at the recommended dose of 50 ug/kg/d.(Isaacs et al Blood 88:448a, 1996 and Tepler et al Blood 87:3607,1996) We are reporting a multi-center phase I/II trial of rhIL-11 + G-CS ... Cite

High dose cyclophosphamide with carboplatin: a tolerable regimen suitable for dose intensification in children with solid tumors.

Journal Article J Pediatr Hematol Oncol · 1997 Featured Publication PURPOSE: To determine the hematopoietic and nonhematopoietic toxicity of a novel dose-intensive chemotherapy regimen for the treatment of children with relapsed solid tumors. PATIENTS AND METHODS: The time to hematopoietic recovery and toxicity experienced ... Full text Link to item Cite

Predicting the risk of bacteremia in childen with fever and neutropenia.

Journal Article J Clin Oncol · March 1996 PURPOSE: We sought to identify factors assessable at the time of admission for fever and neutropenia that predict bacteremia in children with cancer. PATIENTS AND METHODS: One hundred fifteen consecutive episodes of fever and absolute neutrophil count (ANC ... Full text Link to item Cite

Coming to terms: parents' response to a first cancer recurrence in their child.

Journal Article Nurs Res · 1996 The purpose of this study was to explore, using grounded theory, the process experienced by parents who are dealing with the first recurrence of cancer in their child. The sample of 33 guardians (27 mothers, 1 grandmother, and 5 fathers) was drawn from thr ... Full text Link to item Cite

Molecular genetics: toward an understanding of childhood cancer.

Journal Article Semin Pediatr Surg · February 1993 Featured Publication Investigation in cellular and molecular genetics has yielded a wealth of new information regarding the role of genetic alterations in the etiology of childhood cancer. The recent advancement of molecular biologic techniques has allowed researchers to bridg ... Link to item Cite

Stage III neuroblastoma over 1 year of age at diagnosis: improved survival with intensive multimodality therapy including multiple alkylating agents.

Journal Article J Clin Oncol · January 1993 Featured Publication PURPOSE: A nonrandomized, single-arm trial was conducted to assess the efficacy of multimodality therapy including intensive chemotherapy with multiple alkylating agents in the treatment of children with Evans stage III neuroblastoma older than 1 year at d ... Full text Link to item Cite

Incidence of secondary acute myelogenous leukemia after treatment of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

Journal Article Cancer · October 15, 1992 Featured Publication BACKGROUND: Recent reports of secondary acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) occurring in children previously treated for acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) prompted a review of patients with ALL treated at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute consortium (DFCI) be ... Full text Link to item Cite

Positive and negative elements regulate human interleukin 3 expression.

Journal Article Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A · July 1990 The human interleukin 3 (IL-3) promoter is comprised of several cis-acting DNA sequences that modulate T-cell expression of IL-3. These are located within 315 nucleotides upstream of the mRNA start site. Transient expression of reporter genes linked to ser ... Full text Link to item Cite

NUCLEAR FACTOR BINDING-SITES IN THE INTERLEUKIN (IL-3) PROMOTER

Journal Article PEDIATRIC RESEARCH · April 1, 1990 Link to item Cite

The isolation of ecdysterone inducible genes by hybridization subtraction chromatography.

Journal Article Nucleic Acids Res · March 11, 1981 We have developed a procedure for selectively enriching a mRNA population for inducible sequences. Other than the induced mRNA species, the population of mRNA in control cells is approximately the same as the mRNA population in induced cells. Cytoplasmic m ... Full text Link to item Cite