The contrast agent SHU-454 was intravenously injected in 103 patients during echocardiography: 37 mL/patient +/- 7 ml/patient. The quality of the contrast effect was optimal in 13, good in 51, sufficient in 30, and poor in 9 patients; reproducibility was optimal in 38, good in 46, sufficient in 17, and poor in 2 patients. Taste sensation, arm discomfort, or atypical chest pain occurred in 5 patients, premature ventricular contractions in 3. An isolated anginal attack occurred in 1 patient with frequent episodes at rest. A slight reduction in hematologic indices was attributed to hemodilution. Thus, SHU-454 produces a good and reproducible contrast effect with tolerable side effects.

Contrast Media↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Gemcitabine plus Epi-doxorubicin as first-line chemotherapy for bladder cancer in advanced or metastatic stage: a phase II.

Combination chemotherapy with newer, more active drugs in patients with advanced and/or metastatic bladder cancer might show improved response rate and survival. Gemcitabine (GEM) and Epidoxorubicin (EPI) have demonstrated activity in this disease. In addition, experimental studies in vitro have shown that the two agents have additive-synergistic effects when used in combination. Our prior phase I dose-finding study in previously untreated patients with advanced or metastatic bladder cancer defined recommended doses for further trials of GEM 1000 mg/m2 and EPI 25 mg/m2 on days 1, 8 and 15 every 28 days. A phase II trial at this dose level was initiated in previously untreated patients to assess efficacy and toxicity. Eligible patients had measurable disease; Karnofsky performance status (PS) of > 40; no prior chemotherapy; and adequate bone marrow reserve, cardiac, hepatic and renal function. Thirty- one patients (22 males, 9 females) with median age of 64 (range 44-75) and median PS of 80 were accrued, and all were eligible. Twelve patients had T4N1-2 M0, 8 had lymph node only metastases, while 11 had visceral metastases (liver, bone, lung). A total of 181 cycles was administered (range 3-7 per patient). Major toxicities (WHO grade > or = 3) were: neutropenia in 5 patients, thrombocytopenia in 2 patients, and anemia in 2 patients. Three patients had febrile neutropenic episodes and only 3 patients required dose reduction. Grade 1-2 non-hematological toxicities included nausea/vomiting, stomatitis and alopecia. No cardiac toxicity was observed. Of the 30 response evaluable patients, 17 (57%) demonstrated a major response (3 complete and 14 partial) (95% CI: 39%-75%), 7 had stable disease (23%) and 6 progressed (20%). These preliminary results confirm the phase I observation that the combination of GEM--EPI is highly active in the treatment of advanced and metastatic bladder cancer with a favourable toxicity profile.

Adult↗

PubMedDate not supplied

[Multivariate analysis of aminoacyl-tRNA synthetase activities of liver and hepatomas (author's transl)].

Data on the aminoacyl-tRNA synthetase activities in normal liver and in three transplantable rat hepatomas, viz Yoshida's AH 130 and Morris's 5123C and 7793, were studied by means of factor analysis, a powerful technique of multivariate analysis particularly suitable foridentifying factors which theoretically may account for the pattern of interrelations between several variables. The analysis has been performed on 51 patterns of enzyme activities, covering 17 out of the 20 aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases; 80% on average of the total variability of the 17 enzyme activities may be accounted for by the first 4 factors extracted. The enzymes seem to fall into different groups, depending on their relationship with the factors thus identified. The results suggest that enzymes belonging to the same group share a common control mechanism, and are independent of the enzymes belonging to different groups, both in normal liver and in hepatomas.

Amino Acyl-tRNA Synthetases↗

PubMedDate not supplied

[Activity and kinetic behavior of various amino acyl-t RNA synthetases of Yoshida ascitic hepatoma AH 130].

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Amino Acyl-tRNA Synthetases↗

PubMedDate not supplied

[Characterization of the vectorcardiographic tracings in simple ventricular hypertrophy, using an electronic computer].

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Adult↗

PubMedDate not supplied

[The pancreas in diabetes mellitus. The echographic aspects].

Forty patients with diabetes mellitus (25 with insulin-dependent and 15 with non-insulin dependent diabetes) were studied by means of US in order to evaluate possible volumetric alterations in the pancreas and their eventual progression over time. Thirty healthy subjects were also studied as a control group. The following variables were recorded: thickness of the head, body and tail of the pancreas and area of its head. The patients were also divided into 5 groups according to the age of diabetes (< 1, > 1, > 7, > 14, > 21 years). The results showed 25 IDDM patients to exhibit significant reduction in these variables relative to controls (p < = 0.01), especially in the body (average reduction -40%) and tail (average reduction -20%) of the pancreas. NIDDM patients exhibited non-significant reductions in pancreatic size. The study of the 5 groups of IDDM patients, divided according to the duration of diabetes, revealed all pancreatic variables to reduce more than in controls within a year since diagnosis, to exhibit relative increase during the next 7 years and finally to reduce again in the following years. These results show that anatomic damage to the pancreas occurs within the first year of diabetes. Moreover, IDDM was seen to alter the normal proportions among the single anatomic structures forming the pancreas, especially relative to two anatomic ratios--i.e., head/body and tail/body pancreatic thickness. The relative values in IDDM patients were markedly higher than those in controls (p < 0.001). The patients were again divided into 5 groups according to the age of diabetes: the values of the above ratios in the course of diabetes greatly differed from those observed in controls--i.e., they increased within the first year of diabetes, were steady during the next 7 years, and returned to normal values after 21 years of diabetes, which meant the return to the normal anatomic ratios among the three parts of the pancreas.

Adolescent↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Melatonin as biological response modifier in cancer patients.

The neuroendocrine system modulates the immune response through neuropeptides and neurohormones, findings which point to the existence of a neuro-endocrine-immune system regulatory axis. At the same time, there is growing evidence that the pineal gland has anti-neoplastic properties, which include the action of its principal hormone, melatonin (MLT), on the immune system through the release of cytokines by activated T-cells and monocytes. The present study was carried out on 31 patients (19 males and 12 females, age range 46-73 years) with advanced solid tumors (7 gastric, 9 enteric, 8 renal, 5 bladder, 2 prostate) who either failed to respond to chemotherapy and radiotherapy or showed insignificant responses and were therefore shifted to MLT therapy (10 mg/die orally for 3 months). We obtained blood samples just before the start of MLT administration and after 30 days of therapy. Plasma was collected in EDTA tubes on ice, immediately centrifuged at 4 degrees C and stored frozen at -80 degrees C; samples were measured by immunoradiometric assays (Medgenix-Fleurus, Belgium) for tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF), interleukin-1, 2 and 6 (IL-1, IL-2, IL-6) and interferon gamma (IFN). We used Student's paired t-test to compare each patient's cytokine circulating levels before and after MLT administration and found a significant differences (p < 0.05). After 3 months of therapy, none of our patients displayed adverse reactions to MLT or had to discontinue treatment. Nineteen patients (61%) showed disease progression. The other 12 (39%), however, achieved disease stabilization with no further growth of either the primary tumor or of secondaries; moreover, they experienced an improvement in their general well-being, in terms of Tchekmedyian's criteria, associated with a significative decrease of IL-6 circulating levels. These findings are consistent with the hypothesis that MLT modulates immune function in cancer patients by activating the cytokine system which exerts growth-inhibitory properties over a wide range of tumor cell types. Furthermore, by stimulating the cytotoxic activity of macrophages and monocytes, MLT plays a critical role in host defence against the progression of neoplasia.

Adult↗