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J Willner

Publications and source records attributed to J Willner.

15 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1992

Central nervous system metastases in breast cancer.

Sixty-two breast cancer patients with central nervous system (CNS) metastases were reviewed. The CNS was the first site of metastatic involvement in 38 cases (61%). The median survival from the primary diagnosis was 3.0 years; from the diagnosis of the CNS metastasis, 6 months. The interval between primary diagnosis and CNS metastasis had a median value of 2.0 years; between the initial extra-cranial metastasis and CNS metastasis this was 0.9 years. Prognostic factors for the appearance of CNS metastasis could not be identified. Subsequent to CNS metastasis appearing, the well-known prognostic factors for the survival time and the metastasis-free interval lose their importance. Brain metastases occur, above all, in patients aged between 50 and 55 years, very often in the first 2.5 years after the first distant metastasis and not later than 10 years from the primary diagnosis.

Adult↗
PubMed1992

N-methyl-D-aspartate antagonist D-APV selectively disrupts taste-potentiated odor aversion learning.

Two experiments examined the effects of the competitive N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) antagonist D-APV (D-2-amino-5-phosphonovalerate) on rats' ability to acquire potentiated aversions to the odor element of a taste-odor compound. In Experiment 1, pretreatment with D-APV (2.5 micrograms/side icv) caused stereospecific deficits in potentiated odor aversion learning but left simple taste and odor aversion learning intact. In Experiment 2, pretreatment with D-APV had no effect on rats' acquisition of an illness-based odor discrimination task. These results parallel those previously obtained using a noncompetitive NMDA antagonist (Robinson, Crooks, Shinkman, & Gallagher, 1989) and show that interference with NMDA receptors can selectively impair potentiated odor aversion learning. These results suggest that NMDA receptors play a critical role in some, but not all, forms of learning and memory.

2-Amino-5-phosphonovalerate↗
PubMed1992

[The importance of axillary diagnosis in breast cancer from the viewpoint of radiotherapists. The results of a retrospective study of 671 patients].

We reviewed the clinical evolution and survival of 671 post mastectomy breast cancer patients. 561 patients underwent a postoperative radiotherapy, whereas 110 did not. After grouping for N0 and N+, the median number of examined axillary lymph nodes in the not irradiated group was for N0 status three and for the N+ status eight axillary lymph nodes. In the latter group the median number of the involved axillary nodes was three. In the post mastectomy irradiated N0 group the median number of examined axillary nodes was five, whereas in the N+ group the corresponding number was seven. The median number of involved nodes was two. The majority of the N0 patients who were not postoperatively irradiated were referred to our clinic with a local recurrence. The study shows that axillary staging of the N0 group was not performed corresponding to the today's accepted oncological norms for the minimum number of axillary nodes to be examined to determine a "true" N0 axillary status. Thus, it was not a surprise to find out, for N0 patients, a dependency of the survival rate on the number of examined axillary nodes. Patients with more than nine examined nodes showed better survival rates than patients with less than five examined nodes (p less than 0.05). The irradiation of the axilla is obligatory in case of incomplete axillary dissection (less than ten negative examined nodes from level I and II and less than 18 nodes for a positive axillary dissection). The irradiation of the axilla is not indicated after a complete axillary clearance.

Axilla↗
PubMed1991

Prenatal diagnosis and outcomes of five cases of mosaicism for an isochromosome of 20q.

Five cases of mosaicism for an isochromosome of 20q have been detected from a total of 50,000 cases analysed for prenatal diagnosis by amniocentesis. Karyotypes were designated mos 46,X-/46,X-,i(20q). In all cases, the abnormal cell line was detected in more than one primary culture, thus fulfilling the criterion for true (level III) mosaicism. Indications for prenatal diagnosis were parental anxiety (two cases), low maternal serum alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) (two cases), and high maternal serum AFP (one case). Level II ultrasounds on all five fetuses were normal, and the abnormal cell line was never detected in fetal blood and/or cord blood. All five pregnancies were continued and had normal outcomes, with birth weights ranging from 2.4 to 3.8 kg. The development of all five children has been normal, with the oldest child in the study now 4 years of age. We suggest that the abnormal cell line in each case was of extrafetal origin, and that this may be one of the more common examples of this phenomenon, occurring in approximately 1/10,000 prenatal diagnoses. Mosaicism i(20q) may have been missed in the past because of the higher resolution necessary to detect this subtle change.

Adult↗
PubMed1991

[The prognostic relevance of locoregional recurrence following mastectomy in breast carcinoma].

Local-regional recurrence following mastectomy is not always a sign of poor prognosis. In an attempt to determine these subgroups of patients we analysed 149 patients of our radiation oncology clinic treated between 1978 and 1988 with local or regional recurrence (LR) following mastectomy. Average follow up was 66 months, 47% of these patients developed their recurrence in the first two years, 78% in five years, 90% of the local-regional recurrence appeared in the first ten years. Prognostic features which predicted a poor prognosis in combination with locoregional recurrence after mastectomy were identified; early local recurrence (less than two years from mastectomy) (p less than 0.001), large tumor size T3 and T4 primary) (p less than 0.001), less than five involved axillary lymph nodes (p less than 0.001), negative hormone receptor status, histological grading 3 and 4, lymphangiosis carcinomatosa in the tumor site (p less than 0.05), the presence of tumor-necrosis in the primary tumor (p less than 0.001) and appearance despite of postoperative irradiation (p less than 0.05). Prognosis of patients with more than five involved axillary lymph nodes did not change by local-regional recurrence. The local recurrence did not influence survival in: late local recurrence (more than two years from mastectomy), small tumor size (T1 and T2), negative axillary status, positive hormonal status, histologic grading 1 and 2 and absence of tumor-necrosis or lymphangiosis carcinomatosa in the primary tumor. We conclude that local-regional recurrence is in fact under the above defined circumstances not a sign of systemic disease. With insufficient local therapy it can under these conditions be cause of progressive tumor spread. Thus we strongly support intensive local therapy for local-regional recurrence.

Breast Neoplasms↗
PubMed1986

Early handling increases hippocampal long-term potentiation in young rats.

The hippocampal formation undergoes major anatomical and physiological changes postnatally, and thus might be expected to be particularly sensitive to early handling effects. Long-term potentiation (LTP) in the hippocampal formation, a form of brain plasticity thought to be important in learning and memory, was examined in young rats following early handling or control treatments. The amplitude of LTP was reliably greater in rats receiving the early handling regime. Possible mechanisms and consequences of enhanced LTP were discussed.

Animals↗
PubMed1984

The effect of membrane preparation and cellular maturation on human erythrocyte adenylate cyclase.

We found that adenylate cyclase activity of human erythrocytes is potentially labile during isolation of their plasmalemma. Addition of 1 mM EGTA to solution used to remove hemoglobin from lysed cells protected activity. Human erythrocyte adenylate cyclase is minimally activated by catecholamines, in the absence or presence of exogenous guanyl nucleotide, but substantially by 5'-guanylyl imidodiphosphate or sodium fluoride and concentration-dependently by Mg2+ or Mn2+. Basal catalytic activity is an age-dependent component of the human erythrocyte; 5'-guanylyl imidodiphosphate- or fluoride-activated activities decline with cellular maturation proportionally to the decrease in basal activity.

Adenylyl Cyclases↗
PubMed1980

Duchenne carriers: lactate dehydrogenase isoenzyme 5 in serum and muscle.

Only two (5.5%) of 36 possible of known carriers of the gene in Duchenne dystrophy showed increased lactate dehydrogenase isoenzyme 5 (LDH-5) (L/M) in serum, while creatine kinase (CK) was increased in ten (27.8%). LDH-5 and CK did not increase simultaneously; in all five known carriers CK activity was abnormal but LDH-5 was normal. In muscle biopsy, LDH-5 was reduced in patients with Duchenne dystrophy (25.6 +/- 11.5% of total, mean +/- SD; control 59.9 +/- 10.3%; p less than 0.01) and in two of nine possible carriers, but as a group the carriers did not differ from controls: (49.9 +/- 12.1%; p less than 0.05).

Adolescent↗
PubMed1979

Muscle carnitine deficiency. Genetic heterogeneity.

Two types of lipid storage myopathy have been associated with decreased content of carnitine in muscle. In "muscle carnitine deficiency", carnitine concentration is normal in serum, but reduced in muscle. In "systemic carnitine deficiency", apparently due to imparied synthesis of carnitine in the liver, carnitine content is low in both serum and muscle. We studied a woman with a corticosteroid-responsive, probably autosomal recessive, lipid storage myopathy. Carnitine therapy was ineffective and carnitine failed to correct the impaired fatty acid oxidation in muscle homogenates, in contrast to a previous case. Carnitine transport into skeletal muscle was normal. These observations suggest that ll cases of "muscle carnitine deficiency are not the same.

Adult↗