Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to H Rainer.
175 patients with metastatic breast cancer, treated with chemotherapy, were analyzed retrospectively to identify the characteristics of prognostic importance in predicting response to chemotherapy and survival from onset of the chemotherapy. The most significant factors were the sites of metastatic disease and an estimate of the total extent of disease.
40 patients with metastasized mamma carcinoma were immunized with T-antigen, in addition to cytostatic therapy. A second group of 40 patients received cytostatics only. No improvement of remission rates could be obtained by additional immunotherapy with T-antigen.
Cis-Dichlorodiammineplatinum (II) was administered in 23 patients with far advanced solid malignancies using a dose schedule of 50 mg/m2 every 3 weeks. All patients had previously progressive disease using conventional cytotoxic therapies. More than 50% of the patients had been pretreated with at least 4 different drugs. 9 patients, additionally, had been irradiated. In 4 instances there was objective tumor regression (duration: 1 to 4 months), in 7 patients tumor progression could be stopped for at least one month, 12 patients did not respond. By sufficient fluid administration combined with electrolyte substitution, furosemide and mannitol, no severe toxic side effects could be observed.
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The reverse transcriptase in plasma from leukaemic patients perfers the divalent cation Mn++ to Mg++ in the polymerase assay. The reverse is true for the enzyme from plasma of patients with breast cancer. This cation preference is analogous to the cation preference found in B- and C-type RNA-tumour viruses.
Human transfer factor was prepared from "buffy coat" of human donors by ultra filtration. These batches of transfer factor were tested for their ability to increase DNA-synthesis of antigen(mitogen) incubated lymphocytes. An increase of DNA-synthesis was measured by the ratio of appr. 2. Column chromatographic separation of transfer factor on sephadex G-10 or DEAE cellulose columns showed an elution pattern with many peaks. In the lymphoblastogenese assay some peaks were found to be stimulatory, others in contrast inhibitory. It seems likely from our results that transfer factor represents a mixture of different chemical compounds with activating or inhibitory action on lymphoblastogenesis.
Increasing evidence has accumulated that the direct assay of reverse transcriptase in human blood cells is of value in the diagnosis of leukaemia. The isolation and characterization of this enzyme has shown that it possesses remarkable similarities to the DNA-polymerase of the RNA-tumour virus of simian sarcoma. Hence, leukaemic cells in humans are thought to possess a virus-related gene, namely, reverse transcriptase. Various clinical reports have established the presence of this enzyme in blood cells, not only in the case of morphologically-proven malignant change, but also in cases classified as non-leukaemic from the morphological picture, such as acute leukaemia in remission and in the pre-leukaemic state. In confirmation and augmentation of earlier views we now report on the presence of reverse transcriptase in a patient with pancytopenia, who subsequently developed acute leukaemia i.e. isolation of the enzyme occurred in the pre-leukaemic state.
Further biochemical investigations were performed in a case of glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency--called the "Vienna" deficiency variant on account of its biochemical characterization. It was found that the "Vienna" deficiency variant shows increased enzyme protein at a reduced specific activity. Gel filtration on Sephadex-G-200 produced a molecular weight identical with that of the normoenzyme; the different cochromatographic behaviour on hydroxylapatite appears attributable to a sequence modification of the amino acids.
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Rifamycins and distamycins were assayed in vitro for their effects on the activity of a reverse transcriptase derived from the plasma of a patient with breast cancer. The inhibitory effect observed was compared with that of a human placental substance with a molecular weight of approximately 10 000. The latter substance is apparently also capable of affecting reverse transcriptase activity in vitro.
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