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Biomedical subjects

D Spicer

Publications and source records attributed to D Spicer.

33 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1994

Depot leuprolide acetate with estrogen and progestin add-back for long-term treatment of premenstrual syndrome.

OBJECTIVE: To test the effectiveness and safety of long-term depot leuprolide acetate (GnRH-a) plus estrogen and progestin add-back therapy in the treatment of moderate and severe premenstrual syndrome (PMS). DESIGN: A prospective trial with each patient serving as her own control. SETTING: University teaching hospital. PARTICIPANTS: Ten women with regular menstrual cycles complaining of moderate to severe PMS. Premenstrual syndrome was diagnosed when symptoms increased > or = 25% during the luteal phase. TREATMENT: Four-week cycles of IM injections of placebo or GnRH-a with all patients receiving saline (placebo), the first cycle followed by 12 cycles of GnRH-a, 7.5 mg. Conjugated equine estrogen (0.625 mg/d) was started Monday through Saturday within the first cycle and increased as needed. Medroxyprogesterone acetate (MPA), 10 mg/d, was taken orally for 10 days after 4, 8, and 12 cycles of GnRH-a therapy. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Changes in three symptom categories (water retention, pain, and psychological function), serum levels of total cholesterol and HDL, HDL-2, and LDL cholesterol, E2, and estrone. Endometrial biopsy was obtained 1 day after the end of the 12th GnRH-a cycle, and bone density was assessed using quantitative computer tomography at the end of the 12th GnRH-a cycle. RESULTS: During treatment, there was a significant decrease compared with baseline and placebo in all three symptom categories. There were no significant changes in lipids. Endometrial biopsies revealed progestational changes with no evidence of hyperplasia. Quantitative computer tomography bone density dropped 3.7 on average compared with baseline after 12 months of treatment, but this was not statistically significant. CONCLUSION: Gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonist therapy with hormonal add-back therapy is effective in treating PMS symptoms with progressive improvement over a 12-month period. This therapy prevents changes in lipids and adequately protects the endometrium with the addition of MPA every 4th cycle. Quantitative computer tomography bone density dropped at 12 months; further examination of bone changes is necessary.

Adult↗
PubMed1993

The use of flutamide in hormone-refractory metastatic prostate cancer.

In a recent intergroup study under the auspices of the National Cancer Institute, 603 eligible patients with newly diagnosed disseminated adenocarcinoma of the prostate were prospectively randomized in a double-blinded clinical trial to receive either a gonadotropin-releasing hormone analogue (leuprolide) and a nonsteroidal antiandrogen (flutamide) or leuprolide and placebo. Of the 603 eligible patients, 300 were in the leuprolide and placebo arm and 303 were in the leuprolide and flutamide arm. At the time of disease progression, the code was broken: Those patients in the placebo arm were given the opportunity to receive flutamide, and the patients in the flutamide arm were treated at their physician's discretion. There was no survival time distribution difference, based on survival measured from the progression data, between the patients who were received flutamide after progression and those who were treated at their physician's discretion after progression. Furthermore, the addition of flutamide to leuprolide at the time of disease progression resulted in a survival-time distribution that is similar to other treatments of hormone-refractory prostate cancer.

Adenocarcinoma↗
PubMed1990

The question of estrogen replacement therapy in patients with a prior diagnosis of breast cancer.

While there is a general belief that hormone replacement therapy increases the risk of recurrence of breast cancer, there is in fact no hard data to prove this notion. Indirect evidence is provided, however, from observations on the effect of obesity on risk of breast cancer recurrence. This is because obesity is associated in postmenopausal women with increased circulating estrogen levels and obesity is also associated with lower sex hormone binding globulin levels so that the levels of non-SHBG bound estradiol are further increased.

Breast Neoplasms↗
PubMed1990

Gonadotropin hormone releasing hormone agonists [GnRHA] and prevention of familial breast cancer.

The use of GnRHA to induce a "medical" oophorectomy may be a useful method of prevention of breast carcinoma. The addition of ERT and intermittent progestogen to the GnRHA would be expected to prevent the adverse effects of estrogen deprivation, and still provide a significant reduction in breast cancer risk. Evaluation of the regimen in a high risk group such as sisters or daughters of index cases of early onset breast cancer is justifiable.

Adult↗
PubMed1988

Within month variability in use of soup kitchens in New York State. p4.

This paper describes the variation in use of soup kitchens throughout the month using data from the New York State Nutritional Surveillance Program. Excluding November, December, and May, when holiday meals created a different pattern of use, number of meals served in soup kitchens generally increased toward the end of the month, averaging 43 per cent higher for Upstate and 14 per cent higher for New York City in the last week as compared to the first week of the month. The overall increase throughout the month and difference in the magnitude of increase between Upstate and New York City corresponds to the timing of income maintenance benefits distribution. Distribution of most public assistance benefits occurs at the beginning of each month in Upstate, whereas it is staggered in New York City throughout the month.

Food Services↗
PubMed1984

Thymidylate synthetase inhibition in malignant tumors and normal liver of patients given intravenous 5-fluorouracil.

Single surgical biopsies of solid tumor were obtained at 20 to 240 min after drug administration in 21 patients given first-dose bolus i.v. 5-fluorouracil (5-FUra), 500 mg/sq m, and assayed for 5-fluorodeoxyuridylate (FdUMP), deoxyuridylate (dUMP), total thymidylate synthetase (TS), and non-FdUMP-bound, free enzyme. Nineteen patients had cancer of gastrointestinal origin, 13 of these colorectal, and 2 patients had breast adenocarcinoma. In 9 patients, synchronous biopsies of surgically normal liver were obtained along with samples of hepatic tumors metastatic from gastrointestinal sites. Total TS averaged 4.18 pmol/g in the malignant tissues and 2.23 pmol/g in liver. FdUMP levels in the gastrointestinal tumors were higher than in normal liver, were highest at the earliest time interval studied, 20 to 30 min, and appeared to decrease exponentially through 120 min. TS inhibition averaged 70 to 80% in gastrointestinal tumor biopsies and less than 50% in normal liver. Levels of dUMP were low and varied little with time. Those gastrointestinal tumors with higher FdUMP:dUMP ratios showed significantly greater TS inhibition. Tumors of 3 patients who benefited from 5-FUra therapy (1 patient with colonic adenocarcinoma and the 2 patients with breast adenocarcinoma) showed greater TS inhibition than did tumors of remaining patients. It is concluded that the apparent time course changes observed in FdUMP, dUMP, and TS in the grouped data are qualitatively similar to findings of murine studies in vivo and that the relationship between FdUMP:dUMP ratios and TS inhibition are consistent with established in vitro enzymic kinetics. Thus, biopsies of tumors at short time periods after 5-FUra administration may be usefully studied for biochemical parameters of TS inhibition, with the objectives of correlation of sensitivity to subsequent 5-FUra therapy and clarification of mechanisms of drug resistance.

Adult↗
PubMed1980

Reduction of cell surface fibronectin (LETS protein) correlates with tumorigenicity of hamster fibroblasts transformed by herpes simplex virus type2.

A series of herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2)-transformed hamster cells has been examined using the technique of lactoperoxidase-catalyzed cell surface protein iodination. The amount of cell surface fibronectin (LETS protein) was reduced after HSV-2 transformation, and this reduction correlated with increased tumor-forming ability.

Animals↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Seckel-like syndrome in three siblings.

Seckel syndrome has been described as the prototype of the primordial bird-headed type of dwarfism. Since Seckel originally defined the disorder, less than 60 cases have been reported. In addition to the characteristic craniofacial dysmorphism and skeletal defects, abnormalities have been described in the cardiovascular, hematopoietic, endocrine, and central nervous systems. This pleiotropy has implied genetic heterogeneity and prompted reviews of previously reported cases of Seckel syndrome. As a result, the characteristic diagnostic features of Seckel syndrome have been highly debated. Although deletions in chromosome 2q have been described, to date, no genetic defect has been defined. We report three cases of Seckel-like syndrome in siblings from nonconsanguinous Caucasian parents. In addition to the typical Seckel phenotypic features, all three cases were characterized by severe hydrocephalus. We review the literature and propose that there is a spectrum of Seckel conditions that share some common key features, but also demonstrate a wide range of phenotypic features.

Abnormalities, Multiple↗