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F Rank

Publications and source records attributed to F Rank.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

Radiation effects in the colon. An experimental study in the rat.

In an experimental study, resembling a clinical trial of preoperative irradiation, 10 + 10 Gy was given to the pelvic and lower abdominal region of rats with a 4-day interval. The early effect on the colonic wall was evaluated by myeloperoxidase activity and hydroxyproline content of the bowel wall and correlated to histological findings. Groups of animals were followed up to eight months after irradiation for evaluation of later effects. General effects of irradiation were seen as low WBC during the first week and delayed body weight development up to two months after irradiation. Local effect in the colonic wall was noted as an increase in myeloperoxidase activity (indicating a leucocyte accumulation) in irradiated parts of colon during the first 11 days and again significantly elevated after two months in parts of colon, irradiated as well as protected. This correlated well with histological findings of inflammatory reaction, atypia and dysplasia during the first 10 days after irradiation but not at two months after irradiation. Hydroxyproline content was not affected. There were no major complications due to irradiation seen in the late course of the study period.

Animals↗

Histopathologic classification of breast cancer in Sweden and Italy: a comparison between two pathologists.

Two large series of breast cancers (BC), identified in the Pathology Departments of Malmö (Sweden) and Florence (Italy), were independently reviewed by two experienced pathologists, one from each department. Overall, comparison of diagnoses of 372 BCs according to a simplified WHO histologic classification system (in four combined categories) revealed agreement for 74% of the cases. Concordance, as measured by the kappa statistic, was relatively good (0.53 overall). Kappa values for specific categories were also acceptable, being highest for "invasive lobular" BC (0.63) and lowest for "other types" (0.45). The kappa value for "noninvasive" versus all other categories of invasive BC was 0.53. Some BCs were systematically classified as "noninvasive" by one pathologist and as "invasive ductal with a predominant intraductal component" by the other. Invasive lobular BCs were also diagnosed more frequently by one pathologist. These findings suggest that when planning geographical or temporal comparisons of distribution for BC histologic categories, standardization of classification and a centralized review may play an important role.

Aged↗

Dysgerminoma of the ovary with rhabdomyosarcoma. Report of a case.

A 14-year-old girl with a large left ovarian mass underwent excision of the tumor which on histologic examination revealed dysgerminoma mixed with elements of rhabdomyosarcoma. A subsequent staging laparotomy revealed a solitary 1-cm nodule along the pelvic wall. This was composed of rhabdomyosarcoma. Review of literature revealed that soft tissue sarcomas of several types may on occasion be seen in association with gonadal and extragonadal mixed germ cell tumors or in spermatocytic seminoma of the testis. However, no previously published report of a sarcoma arising in a pure dysgerminoma was found in the literature.

Adolescent↗

Immunoreactive opioid peptides in human breast cancer.

Opioid peptides have a variety of actions on inter alia pituitary hormone secretion and the immune system. Release of endogenous opioids has been found to stimulate growth of experimental breast cancers and opiate receptor blockers have reduced the growth of chemically induced rat breast tumors. Opioid peptides may therefore play a role in human breast cancer. Invasive ductal carcinomas from 61 premenopausal women were immunocytochemically analyzed for the presence of opioid peptide immunoreactivity. Positive staining was unambiguously identified in 34 of the tumors (56%). In addition, a medullary carcinoma was positive. In a smaller series of tumors, opioid peptide immunoreactive cells were detected in both primary tumors and metastases. Positive tumor cells were usually few and scattered. Therefore, underestimates of their true frequency of occurrence are likely to have occurred, making accurate correlations with clinical behavior and estrogen receptor status difficult. No correlations with estrogen receptors were established for the unambiguously opioid peptide-positive tumors. Many of the positive tumors also stained with antibodies to gamma-endorphin and alpha-melanocyte-stimulating hormone, suggesting the presence of proopiomelanocortin-derived peptides in them. However, peptides derived from other opioid precursors also may be present in breast cancer.

Breast Neoplasms↗

Quality control of patho-anatomical diagnosis of carcinoma of the breast.

Three pathologists, especially interested in breast cancer, reexamined 379 random specimens of invasive breast cancer initially diagnosed at 27 pathological institutes; these were obtained from the computer register of the Danish Breast Cancer Cooperative Group (DBCG). The degree of variation between a) the primary diagnosis (the country as a whole) and each of the 3 pathologists and b) between the 3 pathologists mutually, has been studied with regard to the 2 main groups of carcinoma--infiltrating duct carcinoma (IDC) and infiltrating lobular carcinoma (ILC). The degree of variation was found to be similar between each of the 3 pathologists and the country as a whole, with a kappa value of approx. 0.3 for both types of carcinoma, and a considerably better interobserver variation between the 3 pathologists with a kappa value of approx. 0.7. The most important reason was that the 3 pathologists agreed on the occurrence of more than twice as many cases primarily diagnosed as ILC. A partial explanation is in fact that since the start of DBCG, reports have appeared of variants of ILC not previously known. The diagnosis of malignancy (carcinoma) was almost completely unambiguous.

Breast Neoplasms↗

Histologic malignancy grading of invasive ductal breast carcinoma. A regression analysis of prognostic factors in low-risk carcinomas from a multicenter trial.

In a prospective adjuvant trial including patients with primary operable breast cancer, invasive carcinomas of ductal type were subjected to histological malignancy grading. The parameters investigated were tubule formation, number of mitoses and cell pleomorphism. A Cox regression model for survival data was applied to evaluate the impact of the histological parameters on prognosis in 1809 patients with low-risk carcinomas. Cell pleomorphism proved superior to the other histologic tumor characteristics. It was found that low-risk invasive ductal carcinomas with severe cell pleomorphism had an excess recurrence intensity of 209% relative to carcinomas with no pleomorphism. It is therefore suggested that polymorphous invasive ductal breast carcinomas, other things being equal, should be regarded as high-risk tumors in future clinical trials. Finally it was found that the tripartite malignancy grading 1, 2 and 3 characterizing each of the histological parameters was not equidistant. Consequently, the traditional tripartite histologic scoring needs reconsideration.

Adult↗

Evidence of a castration-mediated effect of adjuvant cytotoxic chemotherapy in premenopausal breast cancer.

This prospective randomized trial, conducted by the Danish Breast Cancer Cooperative Group, is the largest study, so far, of adjuvant chemotherapy in premenopausal breast cancer. The trial is unique in that it is nationwide and based on a nonselected population of patients, and is the only adjuvant trial studying the effect of cyclophosphamide monotherapy. After total mastectomy with axillary node sampling, followed by local radiotherapy, 1,032 pre- and perimenopausal women with operable breast cancer were randomized to observation alone, or to adjuvant chemotherapy for 1 year with either cyclophosphamide monotherapy or with a combination of cyclophosphamide, methotrexate, and 5-fluorouracil (CMF). As of January 1987, median follow-up was 68 months. From early on both cyclophosphamide alone and CMF were found to improve recurrence-free survival (RFS) significantly and to a similar degree (P = .0001). However, an overall survival advantage did not become evident until 5 years after the start of treatment. So far, this advantage appears to be more pronounced in CMF (P = .0065) than in cyclophosphamide-only patients (P = .08). Thus, the study confirms the findings of the National Surgical Adjuvant Breast Project (NSABP) and Milan trials that adjuvant chemotherapy prolongs the survival of premenopausal women with early breast cancer. A retrospective analysis revealed that, in contrast with CMF, cyclophosphamide alone did not improve RFS significantly in subsets of patients without amenorrhea, with estrogen-receptor (ER) negative tumors, and with tumors of low histological differentiation. Assuming that cyclophosphamide alone is a less tumoricidal treatment than CMF, these findings suggest that the effect of adjuvant cytotoxic chemotherapy is mediated partly through chemical castration, and partly through a purely cytotoxic effect.

Adult↗

Conization by carbon dioxide laser or cold knife in the treatment of cervical intra-epithelial neoplasia.

In a randomized trial concerning 123 women with CIN, 59 were treated with laser conization under colposcope without further hemostatic remedy and 64 with cold knife conization guided by Schiller's iodine dyeing supported by side sutures, vaginal packing and postoperative oral administration of tranexam acid. Follow-up with colposcopy and cytology was done 3 and 12 weeks post-conization and then every 6 months. The average follow-up period was 36 months (28-48). Peroperative bleeding was rather less pronounced in the laser group. Postoperatively, however, bleeding requiring treatment was significantly less common in the laser group (5%) than in the cold knife group (17%). The recurrence rate of CIN was 7% in the laser group and 10% in the knife group. Stenosis of the cervical canal developed in 7% of the patients in the laser group and in 3.5% in the knife group. After 12 weeks the squamocolumnar junction was visible in its full extent in 66% of the laser treated patients compared with 38% of the cold knife treated patients. It is concluded that laser conization is a safe procedure even without hemostatic procedures other than the coagulation abilities of the laser beam itself, as used in this work.

Adult↗

Effects of zinc oxide in an occlusive, adhesive dressing on granulation tissue formation.

The role of zinc in an occlusive, adhesive dressing (Zn-tape) was investigated in two experiments in the rat. In the first one Zn-tape was compared with a similar tape without zinc components and also with an inert plastic coated fabric with regard to the wound inflammatory reaction in excisional wounds. In the second experiment we attempted to assess possible systemic effects of zinc absorbed from Zn-tape-treated excisional wounds by studying the granulation tissue formation in subcutaneously implanted Ivalon sponges. The excisional wounds were treated with either the Zn-tape or a titanium tape in which the zinc oxide was replaced by an equivalent amount of titanium dioxide (Ti-tape). The granulation tissue produced was evaluated histologically, histochemically and biochemically. The plain adhesive mass and the Ti-tape elicited an intense inflammatory reaction as indicated both by high activities of alkaline phosphatases and histological examination. The Zn-tape reduced inflammatory processes in the granulation tissue of the excisional wounds. Zinc levels in serum and liver were raised in Zn-tape-treated animals. We conclude that zinc oxide in the Zn-tape affects inflammatory reactions in the granulation tissue of the wounds, possibly through a continuous release of zinc ions and by modifying the adhesive components of the Zn-tape. There was no evidence of a systemic effect of zinc absorbed from the excisional wounds on the granulation tissue formation in the implanted Ivalon sponges.

Acid Phosphatase↗

Brush cytology from the uterine cervix.

Invasive carcinoma of the uterine cervix is a common neoplasm even in countries with extensive screening programmes of several years. The incidence rate per 100,000 is still around 18 in Denmark. The reasons for these persistently high rates of incidence despite various prophylactic measures are many and have been thoroughly discussed over recent years. It is imperative, however, to avoid sampling errors in screening procedures for precancerous lesions, especially erroneous interpretations arising from insufficient cytological material. To improve cytological sampling from the uterine cervix we decided to compare a recently introduced brush technique with the routine procedure in our hospital.

Adult↗