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Biomedical subjects

H J Brenner

Publications and source records attributed to H J Brenner.

9 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1992

Erythrocyte glutathione and tumour response to chemotherapy.

There is much evidence that tumour glutathione (GSH) concentration is an important factor in resistance to cancer chemotherapy. Since measurement of tumour GSH would require an invasive procedure in every patient, we have tried to find out whether GSH concentrations in peripheral-blood erythrocytes are related to the response to chemotherapy and thus whether they reflect those in tumour cells. Erythrocyte GSH concentrations were measured by spectrophotometry in peripheral blood from 28 patients with advanced breast cancer and 40 patients with other tumours before and after treatment with various conventional chemotherapeutic regimens. The mean pretreatment GSH concentration was lower in patients who showed a complete or partial response to chemotherapy than in those with stable or progressive disease in both the breast-cancer group (8.69 [95% confidence interval 5.99-11.39] vs 2.32 [1.23-3.41] mumol/g haemoglobin; p less than 0.01) and the group with other tumours (5.94 [4.14-7.74] vs 2.83 [1.71-3.95] mumol/g; p less than 0.01). The correlation of erythrocyte GSH concentration with response rate suggests that this measurement may be helpful in prediction of response to therapy.

Antineoplastic Agents↗
PubMed1992

[Extraskeletal Ewing's sarcoma].

5 patients diagnosed as having extraskeletal Ewing's sarcoma have been referred to our adult oncology unit since 1980. All were men, ranging in age from 18-57 (mean 32 years). The primary tumor was located on the trunk in 4 and in an extremity in 1. Wide tumor excision was feasible in only 2. 3 died within 27 months and 2 are alive, 13 and 67 months, respectively, following diagnosis. This study demonstrates the highly aggressive nature of extraskeletal Ewing's sarcoma and the need for early diagnosis and efficient chemotherapy.

Adult↗
PubMed1986

Prophylactic oophorectomy in premenopausal women with stage II breast carcinoma.

Prophylactic oophorectomy, as an additional treatment for stage II breast cancer, is controversial. In a retrospective study, a group of 37 premenopausal women with stage II infiltrating duct carcinoma and one to three positive axillary lymph node involvement after modified radical mastectomy and bilateral oophorectomy were compared to a matched group of 34 women treated by modified radical mastectomy only. Prophylactic oophorectomy prolonged the disease free interval significantly as compared to the control group. However, it did not prolong survival. This raises the question whether the prolongation of survival achieved by late oophorectomy in women with advanced breast cancer is preferable to an improvement in quality of life resulting from longer disease free intervals.

Actuarial Analysis↗
PubMed1978

Hodgkin's disease of the lung.

The clinical and radiological findings in 16 patients with Hodgkin's disease involving the lung are reviewed. Lung involvement was evident at initial presentation in 11 patients and appeared during the course of the disease in five patients. All the patients had hilar as well as mediastinal lymphadenopathy; most of them--14 of 16--had the nodular sclerosis type of the disease. Patients with these combined findings are apparently more likely to develop lung lesions. Seven of the 11 patients with lung involvement at presentation were symptomatic and received combined chemotherapy in addition to radiotherapy. The lung lesions responded completely in 10 of the 11 patients, and in one they cleared slowly after more than a year of treatment. The question remains open as to whether an asymptomatic patient in the high-risk group, as described above, should receive either adjuvant chemotherapy or radiation therapy to the lung on the prophylactic basis. Our own policy is to add chemotherapy as an adjuvant to female patients and to males who have children.

Adult↗
PubMed1976

Combined local hyperthermia and x-irradiation in the treatment of metastatic tumours.

Six patients, all with evidence of metastatic or locally recurrent tumours, were selected for inclusion in a trial study of simultaneous hyperthermia and ionizing radiation therapy. Heat was applied by hot air, or microwaves, or a combination of both. When examined after treatment, 3 patients were found to be free of the lesions treated. One patient had a partial response, followed by regression of the tumour; one patient died with metastases in the lungs and one patient responded to the treatment but died from a massive pulmonary embolus. The simultaneous application of hyperthermia and ionizing radiation therapy was well tolerated. It induced disappearance of tumours in cases where conventional methods had failed, and with far greater efficiency than conventional therapeutic methods.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Neoadjuvant chemotherapy in early-stage and locally advanced small bulk squamous cell carcinoma of the oral cavity and oropharynx.

Thirty patients with Stages I, II and III squamous cell carcinoma of the oral cavity and oropharynx (6, 12 and 12 patients, respectively) were entered into a combined modality protocol using preoperative chemotherapy, followed by resection with or without radical neck dissection and radiotherapy. None of the patients received prior treatment and all had good performance status. Primary sites included alveolar ridge (in nine patients), buccal mucosa (in eight), tongue (in six), floor of mouth (in five), and hard palate and tonsillar fossa in one each. Chemotherapy was given as a neoadjuvant debulking procedure using two courses of the Price-Hill regimen (5FU, methotrexate with citrovorum rescue, vincristine, bleomycin, and hydrocortisone) followed in 10 to 14 days by local resection for Stage I-II patients and radical neck dissection plus radiotherapy for Stage III patients. Response to chemotherapy alone was observed in 70% (21 of 30), with 17% (5 of 30) complete responders. Responses were seen in 100% of Stage I, 75% of Stage II, and 50% of Stage III patients. Age greater than 80 years was a poor prognostic indicator. Both men and women responded equally well. Of the 25 patients not entering CR with chemotherapy, a further 75% (11 of 15) did so after local resection and 50% (5 of 10) after local resection, radical neck dissection, and radiotherapy. Overall salvage rate post chemotherapy was 64% (16 of 25). All five patients in CR with chemotherapy alone are alive at a median follow-up time of greater than or equal to 43 months; full survival data are discussed. Toxicity was minimal and did not affect change in treatment course in any patient. These results show that further investigations on the use of neoadjuvant chemotherapy in early-stage and locally advanced squamous cell carcinoma of the oral cavity and oropharynx are indicated.

Adult↗