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K Griffiths

Publications and source records attributed to K Griffiths.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1990

Potential value of salivary steroids in chronoepidemiological and endocrine-related studies.

Experience from Institute studies has clearly demonstrated the advantages of salivary steroids in clinical endocrinological research and their potential value in chronoepidemiological studies of many kinds that may involve hormones. Of course, the examples and suggestions for areas of research involve many more covariates than those mentioned; but sufficient evidence has been presented to indicate the chronobiological potential of salivary steroid assays in studies of mental health, aggression and behaviour, stress, the endocrine changes occurring from birth to old age and those relating to endocrine cancer. The pioneering studies of Halberg et al (1981) and Haus et al. (1987) have demonstrated the feasibility of carrying out international epidemiological studies as they relate to breast cancer risk and studies of the general population. The potential value of salivary steroid assays in clinical, physiological and epidemiological studies is judged to be considerable.

Chronobiology Phenomena↗
PubMed1989

Endocrine effects of combination antioestrogen and LH-RH agonist therapy in premenopausal patients with advanced breast cancer.

Thirty-eight premenopausal breast cancer patients were treated for periods up to 12 months with a sustained-release formulation of the luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone agonist goserelin [Zoladex, (D-Ser(But)6Azgly10-LH-RH); 3.6 mg depot every 4 weeks] either alone or in combination with the antioestrogen tamoxifen citrate (Nolvadex 40 mg/day). In both treatment groups serum gonadotrophin concentrations fell durig the first month of therapy and were suppressed on continued treatment. In patients treated with the combination therapy FSH concentrations were significantly reduced in comparison with goserelin alone. Relatively normal ovarian activity was observed during the first few weeks of therapy. Thereafter, oestradiol and progesterone concentrations rapidly declined in both treatment groups. Slightly lower serum oestradiol concentrations were recorded in patients receiving combination therapy. No significant adverse side-effects were recorded in either group of patients.

Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols↗
PubMed1989

Ki67 immunostaining in primary breast cancer: pathological and clinical associations.

Ki67 immunostaining has been performed on 136 primary breast cancers and related to various clinical and pathological features of the disease. Staining was most frequently seen in poorly differentiated tumours showing high rates of mitotic activity, but was independent of tumour size, lymph-node status and ER expression. A high level of Ki67 immunostaining was often associated with early recurrence of breast cancer after mastectomy. These data are consistent with the concept of the Ki67 antibody detecting an antigen that is closely related to cell proliferation and thus provides a clinically useful marker for this important characteristic of the tumour.

Adult↗
PubMed1989

Prostatic cancer: aetiology and endocrinology.

Prostate cancer is common in the male population, worldwide. Several therapies are currently available, but only greater understanding of the complex processes that govern the growth of the cancer will produce real progress in treatment.

Humans↗
PubMed1989

Progesterone concentrations in samples of saliva from adolescent girls living in Britain and Thailand, two countries where women are at widely differing risk of breast cancer.

Menstrual-cycle patterns of salivary progesterone concentration were obtained for 131 and 245 adolescent girls up to 4 years postmenarche living in Britain and Thailand respectively. These patterns were graded on a scale of 1 (little or no activity) to 5 (activity similar to that exhibited by the mature premenopausal woman) and the frequency of these grades within groups of girls from each centre was analysed. The major finding was that British girls exhibited a predominance of higher grades of progesterone activity when compared with their Thai counterparts (n = 2 x 58) when matched for chronological and gynaecological ages (P approximately 0.002). This was particularly so for the girls from these two matched groups in the gynaecological age range 2-4 years (P approximately 0.03). The major contribution to this significant difference between the two groups is attributed to the greater effect of chronological age on progesterone secretion in the British girls (P approximately 0.03) compared with the Thai girls (P approximately 0.29). These findings may have implications for facilitating our understanding of the reason for the differing risk of breast cancer in women in both countries.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1988

Immunocytochemical localization of estrogen receptor in human breast tissue.

An immunocytochemical assay for the measurement of estrogen receptor (ER-ICA; Abbott Diagnostics) has been evaluated in 163 human breast carcinomas. Specific binding was observed in the nuclei of 111 of 163 (68%) tumors. An excellent correlation was observed between the ER-ICA and the estrogen receptor enzyme immunoassay. A significant relationship was observed between ER-ICA status and percentage of ER-ICA negative cells, histological grade of malignancy, and mitotic activity of the tumors. A significant correlation was also observed between ER-ICA status and age at mastectomy with 50% of patients with ER-ICA positive breast tumors presenting with their disease over 60 years of age. No association was observed with either tumor size or patient nodal status. Examination of the proportion of negative cells within tumors revealed a trend for the acquisition of poor prognostic features to be associated with an increase in the negative cell population. Data on the recurrence free interval of these patients showed a significant recurrence free advantage in ER-ICA positive patients, particularly those whose tumors contained low numbers of negative cells.

Adult↗
PubMed1988

Genesis of breast cancer is in the premenopause.

In Britain and other high-risk countries, about a third of patients with breast cancer are premenopausal at diagnosis. In the remainder, tumour initiation might have occurred in the premenopause, even though the clinical presentation was late in life. This possibility has important implications for breast cancer prevention and screening. The relations between the patient's age and tumour kinetics, prognosis, oestrogen receptors, and environmental X-ray carcinogenesis were studied, together with the age-related protection afforded by pregnancy. The findings support the hypothesis that breast cancer is initiated in the premenopause.

Adult↗
PubMed1988

Comparison of prostate-specific antigen and prostatic acid phosphatase in the management of prostatic cancer.

Prostate-specific antigen (PSA) and prostatic acid phosphatase (PAP) have been evaluated in patients with prostatic cancer. All patients, who participated in a phase III trial (n = 110), had disseminated disease and received first line endocrine treatment of either orchidectomy or a monthly injection of a depot luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone analogue (Zoladex). Serum samples were analyzed for PSA and PAP at 0, 3, 6, and 12 months and patients were clinically assessed at 6 and 12 months. At diagnosis, 72 and 97% of all patients had elevated PAP and PSA concentrations (greater than 4 ng/ml), respectively. Patients with progressive disease had significantly higher PSA and PAP levels at both assessments. A small number of patients in the "complete remission" group had both PSA and PAP levels within the normal range after 3 months of treatment. Similarly, both PSA and PAP levels steadily declined in the group of patients who had partial regression of the disease. The patients with stable disease, however, had a significant rise only in their PSA levels at the 12-month assessment. This data suggest that PSA is more sensitive than PAP in those patients who have a "slow progression" of the disease.

Acid Phosphatase↗
PubMed1988

The use of serum carcinoembryonic antigen to assess therapeutic response in locally advanced and metastatic breast cancer: a prospective study with external review.

Serum carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) has been measured throughout initial systemic endocrine treatment in 87 patients with stage III and 179 patients with stage IV breast cancer. Clinical response has been assessed after six months according to UICC criteria with external review of clinical and radiological data. Pretreatment CEA concentrations have been compared with those found in 55 'disease free' women attending a diagnostic breast clinic. A strong correlation exists between therapeutic response and alterations in CEA concentration (above 6 ng/ml) in patients presenting with stage IV disease. More than 50% of such patients either present with or develop CEA concentration greater than 6 ng/ml during the first six months of treatment.

Adult↗
PubMed1988

The early results from a randomised study of radiotherapy versus Nolvadex (tamoxifen) as initial treatment for stage III breast cancer.

Eighty-seven postmenopausal patients have been randomised to receive either radiotherapy or Nolvadex (tamoxifen) as first line treatment for locally advanced (stage III) breast cancer. After a median follow-up of two years no significant differences have been found in the rate of progression of local disease, the time to development of overt metastases or survival.

Breast Neoplasms↗
PubMed1987

Predictive power of progesterone receptor status in early breast carcinoma.

Progesterone receptor status (PgR) and oestrogen receptor status (ER) were examined in 332 women with stage I-II breast carcinoma treated at a single centre either by simple mastectomy with (n = 283) or without (n = 6) axillary clearance, or by segmental mastectomy with (n = 18) or without (n = 25) axillary clearance and radiotherapy; median follow-up time was 40 (range 10-60) months. Neither the concentration nor the presence of PgR related to either disease-free interval or survival. However both the presence and the concentration of ER were found to be associated with a longer disease-free interval amongst patients with stage II tumours (P less than 0.01). From this study it appears that progesterone receptor status does not predict outcome in early breast carcinoma.

Adult↗
PubMed1987

Internal quality control in clinical chemistry: a teaching review.

This survey introduces the subject of internal quality assessment from a historical point of view, presents a unified approach to notation, concepts and definitions, and describes briefly those quality control procedures that are used most commonly in clinical chemistry. It is not the aim of this report to comment on all the individual contributions made in this field, but rather to concentrate on the principles. Particular emphasis is centered around assessment criteria to compare the efficiencies of selected control procedures for monitoring analyte concentrations in biological fluids. The question of whether to compare control schemes by means of average run lengths, run length distribution functions or average cost functions is considered. A rationalized approach based on the comparison of optimal procedures, using average run length, is adopted.

Chemistry, Clinical↗