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Biomedical subjects

H Wrba

Publications and source records attributed to H Wrba.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

[Therapy of inoperable bronchial carcinoma].

The results of a prospective randomized study on carcinoma of the bronchus are reported. In a total of 56 patients polychemotherapy, high-dosage vitamin-A treatment, Endoxan and immunotherapy, as well as the application of proteolytic enzymes in altogether 5 combinations of therapy were tested.

Adenocarcinoma

[Clinical experiences with Holoxan in small cell carcinoma of the bronchus (author's transl)].

Clinical experiences obtained until now in the treatment of 47 patients with small cell carcinoma of the bronchus with Holoxan are reported. Special emphasis is laid to the results of a prospective randomized study; two groups of patients, one of them undergoing Holoxan therapy, the other receiving symptomatic treatment, have been investigated in respect of relationship between tumour remission, quality of life and survival time.

Bronchial Neoplasms

Active experimental inhibition of cancer by corynebacterium parvum.

It has been demonstrated that 5 microgram Corynebacterium parvum (Mérieux, Lyon) applied i.v. once weekly in mice of the strain C 3 H X Swiss Albino F 1 after three pregnancies effectively inhibits tumour growth. At this time those mice are 100% at risk. The appearance of tumours in the treated group is significantly delayed.

Animals

Stimulation of immune response in lung cancer patients by vitamin A therapy.

Based on a clinical trial, in which patients with unresectable bronchogenic cancer were treated with a combination of vitamin A plus chemotherapy, or vitamin A plus radiotherapy, a study was initiated in which vitamin A alone was given for tumor treatment. 9 male patients with metastatic unresectable squamous cell carcinoma of the lung were treated with vitamin A palmitate or 13-cis vitamin A acid. Up to seven treatment courses were given during a period of 60 weeks. Through weekly evaluation of the patients' immune status, an immune potentiating effect of the vitamin A therapy could be demonstrated. An increase of lymphocyte blastogenesis response to PHA which is significant (p less than 0.001) compared with the pretreatment values, was found in all patients at the end of one vitamin A treatment course. Increased delayed cutaneous hypersensitivity reactions were observed also in all patients. The immune potentiating effects of vitamin A therapy, as well as the demonstrated direct effect on the tumor, introduces a wide range of combination therapies.

Aged

Time lapse cinematographic demonstration of humoral and cell mediated immunity in squamous cell carcinoma of the lung.

Out of 42 attempts in one case a cell line derived from biopsy material of a squamous cell carcinoma of the lung has been established. Tumor-associated-antigen could be demonstrated by indreict immunofluorescence. The effect of allogeneic cytotoxic antibodies, absorbed with normal human lung and sera, on the target cells is shown. Blood lymphocytes obtained from patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the lung proved to be cytotoxic against this cell line. The cell to cell interactions of this phenomenon and the effect of cytotoxic antibodies are shown by time lapse cinematography.

Antibody Formation

Investigation of cell-vitality in tumor specimen after cryosurgical operations.

Carcinomas of the gastro-intestinal tract were resected in 6 patients either by cryosurgery or in the usual, conventional manner without freezing the tumor. Cells from the tumorsections in each case were isolated by the use of enzymes and were examined for vitality following trypan-blue vital staining. In 5 out of 6 cryosurgical cases fewer than 10% of the cells were vital compared with sections from nonfrozen specimen. In one case the freezing method (cryosurgery) did not have any influence on the cell vitality. The cell-damaging effect of cryosurgical procedures proven in vitro suggests possible additional therapeutic effects in tumor-patients. Cryosurgery has proven useful in the treatment of hypertrophic prostates, when an unusual risk was involved. Recently it has also been used in the surgical treatment of carcinomas of the skin, the bladder and the cervix (1; 2, 3, 6). Approximately a year ago we started to use cryosurgery in our hospital in inoperable abdominal tumors. After freezing the primary tumor or its metastases a massive breakdown of the remaining tumor in-situ occurs, which might produce a palliative effect. As a result of freezing the tumor before resection, we expect a decrease in the spread of tumor cells during surgery and a stimulation and mobilization of specific immune response against the tumor (5). In order to increase our knowledge of the biological behaviour of cryosurgically treated tumors, we investigated in the present study teh cell-vitality in tumor tissues before and after cryosurgery.

Cell Survival

[Smoking habits and epidemiology of lung cancer in Austria. III. Changes in lung cancer mortality in men].

It has been possible to show that the international trend of a reduced mortality rate in lung cancer of men can also be demonstrated in the Austrian population. By means of cohort-analysis this trend has been attributed mainly to a reduced mortality in younger male population. The improvement in the quality of cigarettes, namely the reduction in the amount of carcinogens and its relation to the reduction of lung cancer death rates will be discussed. At the present time, it is impossible to decide whether or not this reduced mortality rate will remain constant in the future or whether these results may be interpreted as expressing an increased period of latency in pulmonary carcinoma.

Austria

The influence of pinealectomy and of pinealectomy combined with thymectomy oncogenesis caused by polyoma virus in rats.

The inoculation of Polyoma virus suspension to neonatal pinealectomized rats did not provoke a growth of neoplasia. However, if the pinealectomy was combined with neonatal thymectomy, renal tumors occured in a rate of 50 of animals. An incidence of renal tumors was observed also in 57.6% of thymectomized rats, but not in non operated control group. The stimulating effect of pinealectomy on the growth of transplantable tumors has already been described several times (2, 3, 6, 8). The question of a possible change in the viral oncogenesis after pinealectomy was raised. For this reason Polyoma virus was used and its oncogenic effect was studied on the neonatally pinealectomized rats, on rats neonatally thymectomized and on neonatally pinealectomized rats which were simultaneously thymectomized.

Animals