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Biomedical subjects

M Sacco

Publications and source records attributed to M Sacco.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1991

Daily low-dose carboplatin and standard radiotherapy in unresectable head and neck and lung cancers: a pilot study.

A total of 14 patients with locally advanced and unresectable head and neck (SCCHN) or non small cell lung cancer were treated with a definitive course of radiation therapy with conventional fractionation and 30 mg/m2 carboplatin (CBDCA) given daily as an i.v. infusion during the 1st, 3rd, 5th and 7th weeks of the combined treatment. The planned tumor dose of at least 7000 cGy was reached in all SCCHN patients except 1 (6600 cGy). The 2 NSCLC patients received 6320 and 5980 cGy, respectively. The planned total CBDCA-dose of 600 mg/m2 was administered in all patients. No treatment delays were required in 10 patients. Interruptions for severe mucositis or myelosuppression occurred in 4 patients (28.6%), but in no case did the delay exceed 1 week. Complete response was obtained in 8 patients (57.1%); 7 of the 12 with SCCHN and 1 of the 2 with NSCLC. The other 6 patients achieved a partial response. Granulocytopenia of WHO grade 3 occurred in 1 patient; apart from vomiting and mucositis, toxicities above grade 2 were not observed.

Adult↗
PubMed1991

Absence of acetohydroxy acid synthase III in Salmonella typhimurium is due to early termination of translation within the ilvl gene.

The cryptic ilvlH locus of Salmonella typhimurium has genetic information for two distinct subunits of acetohydroxy acid synthase III. We show that the ilvH-encoded subunit is normally translated and the lack of activity is due to early termination of translation within the promoter-proximal ilvl gene. Analysis of the 5' region of the operon led to identification of the promoter and the amino-terminal part of ilvl. Expression of this gene in a mutant producing acetohydroxy acid synthase is due to a transversion which creates a UUA (leucine) codon in the place of a UGA (stop) codon present in position 12 of the wild-type coding region.

Acetolactate Synthase↗
PubMed1991

[The surgical and radiotherapy treatment of endometrial adenocarcinoma. A retrospective analysis of 128 patients].

From January 1980 through December 1987, 128 endometrial carcinomas were treated with combined irradiation and surgery (101 cases) or with radiotherapy alone (27 patients). Mean follow-up was 5 years (range: 2-9). Actuarial disease-free (DF) survival (according to the Kaplan and Meyer method) was 86% for T1-T2 patients, 50% for T3 cases and 35% for T4. Recurrence rate was 20% (26 patients): 9 had local recurrences, 9 nodal relapses, and 8 distant metastases. Overall side-effects were observed in only 7/128 patients (5.4%): they were grade I in 6 cases and grade II in 1. The evaluation of the prognostic factors confirms the importance of: stage (disease-free survival at 5 years: 86% for T1-T2 versus 50-35% for T3-T4); uterus size in stage T1 (DF survival at 5 years: 90% for T1A versus 70% for T1B); grading (DF survival at 5 years: 92, 87, 62% for G1, G2, G3, respectively). Myometrial infiltration seems to have no prognostic value.

Adenocarcinoma↗
PubMed1990

[5- and 10-year survival in carcinomas of the oral cavity (T1-2/N0-1) treated with external radiotherapy alone or associated with surgery and/or chemotherapy].

The authors report their results on the treatment of 211 T1-2/N0-1 carcinoma of the oral cavity treated with radiotherapy alone or associated with surgery and/or chemotherapy. Five- and ten-year survival rates are respectively 48 and 37%. Two groups were recognized: one with a better prognosis (T1 gum and cheek) and another with a poor prognosis (T2-N1 mobile tongue and floor of the mouth).

Adult↗
PubMed1990

[334 cases of salivary gland neoplasms seen at the Dentistry and Otorhinolaryngology Clinics of the University of Turin. II].

Three hundred and thirty-four cases of salivary gland neoplasms are reported which were diagnosed by the Departments of Dentistry and Otolaryngology of the University of Turin. Data referring to patients under observation during the same period are compared. It is stressed that in order to obtain a statistically valid comparison of salivary gland neoplasms, the source of and chronological period relating to the sample group must be taken into consideration given the different statistical clinical methods adopted over the years by the two departments in question. The present study completes earlier research carried out by the same authors using this data.

Age Factors↗
PubMed1989

[Histopathological considerations on 8 cases of mixed tumors or pleiomorphic adenomas of the salivary glands].

In view of the problems sometimes presented in diagnosing mixed tumours or pleomorphous adenomas of the salivary glands, the histopathological pictures of eight personal cases are considered. The epithelial component is found in solid masses, or arranged in cords or has an adenomatous appearance. Two cases presented a cylindromatous-like appearance which called for greater diagnostic attention and led to a more attentive postoperative clinical control.

Adenoma, Pleomorphic↗
PubMed1989

[392 cases of neoplasms of the salivary glands seen at the Odontostomatologic and Otorhinolaryngologic Clinic of Turin University. I].

Three-hundred-ninety-two cases of salivary gland cancer observed at Turin University Dental and Ear, Nose and Throat Clinics have been examined. Statistical analysis of the age and sex of patients shows the importance of selecting the statistical population and of its origin for the purpose of reliable statistical study, examining the whole set and its structural breakdown in the two Clinics.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1989

[Macroglossia. Considerations on a case load of 16 patients].

The Authors have examined sixteen cases of macroglossia and after hinting at the various causes they dwell upon clinic and therapeutic problems presented by patients. From the analysis of individual cases it results that muscular idiopathic hypertrophy is the most recurrent cause of macroglossia. It is furthermore emphasized the relation between macroglossia and occlusal disharmony. The kinds of therapy used and compared are two: surgical and orthodontic.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1988

Foreign transcriptional enhancers in yeast. I. Interactions of papovavirus transcriptional enhancers and a quiescent pseudopromoter on supercoiled plasmids.

We have constructed simple test-plasmids to study transcriptional enhancers in yeast. In this paper the reporter-gene is a plasmid borne deletion-substitution derivative (his-del4) of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae HIS3 gene in which the native promoter has been replaced by a dormant, susceptible pseudopromoter. We investigate the function in yeast of foreign control elements, the polyomavirus enhancer and some of its derivatives, inserted in either orientation at the 3' or 5' ends of the reporter gene. The polyoma enhancer (and, although less thoroughly studied, the SV40 enhancer) will strongly activate transcription from latent start sites within the pseudo-promoter sequence. The rules we draw for the polyoma enhancer effect in yeast are, with a few interesting exceptions, remarkably similar to those discovered by experimentation in mammalian cells.

Base Sequence↗
PubMed1987

Incidence of histoplasmin skin test reactivity in Somalia: an epidemiological study.

Histoplasmosis is an important systemic mycotic infection with a wide geographic distribution. Its occurrence has been mostly studied in the US (6) and in Central America (6), but very little is known about its distribution in Africa, where a specific variant exists. Skin test surveys in the Democratic Republic of Somali indicate that Histoplasma capsulatum or a closely related agent has a focus in this east African country.

Female↗
PubMed1987

Heat shock 70 gene is differentially expressed in Histoplasma capsulatum strains with different levels of thermotolerance and pathogenicity.

The response to heat shock has been examined in two strains of the dimorphic pathogenic fungus Histoplasma capsulatum, which differ considerably in thermotolerance and pathogenicity. The gene for the 70 kD heat shock protein (hsp70) was isolated using a Drosophila hsp70 gene to screen a cosmid library of the DNA from the temperature-sensitive Downs strain (low level of thermotolerance for mice). Using the cloned gene as a probe, we have measured the transcription of the endogenous hsp70 gene at 25 degrees C and in response to temperature shift to 34 degrees, 37 degrees and 40 degrees C, temperatures that trigger the mycelial to yeast phase transition in this fungus. The gene is constitutively transcribed at low levels, both in the yeast and the mycelial stages. Synthesis of hsp70 mRNA was transiently increased 1 to 3 h after the temperature shifts. By Northern analysis, peak levels of transcription were shown to occur at 34 degrees C in the Downs strain and at 37 degrees C in the more pathogenic G222B strain. Our results are consistent with reports in which it has been shown that heat shock gene expression is part of temperature adaptation and probably developmental processes. The low levels of transcription of the hsp70 gene in the Downs strain at 37 degrees C correlate with its greater temperature sensitivity and low level of virulence.

Animals↗
PubMed1986

Irreversible block of the mycelial-to-yeast phase transition of Histoplasma capsulatum.

p-Chloromercuriphenylsulfonic acid (PCMS), a sulfhydryl inhibitor, prevented the mycelial-to-yeast transition of the dimorphic fungal pathogen, Histoplasma capsulatum. The effect of PCMS was specific for the mycelial-to-yeast transformation; it had no effect on growth of either the yeast or mycelial forms or on the yeast-to-mycelial transition. The failure of PCMS-treated mycelia to transform to yeast was permanent and irreversible. PCMS-treated mycelia could not infect mice but could stimulate resistance to infection by a pathogenic strain of Histoplasma capsulatum. These results suggest a new general strategy for vaccine development in diseases caused by dimorphic pathogens.

4-Chloromercuribenzenesulfonate↗
PubMed1986

Correlation between pathogenicity and temperature sensitivity in different strains of Histoplasma capsulatum.

We compared the mycelial to yeast transitions of the Downs strain of Histoplasma capsulatum (low level of virulence) with those of G184A and G222B, two more virulent strains having different levels of pathogenicity for mice. When the morphological transitions are initiated by a temperature shift from 25 degrees to 37 degrees C, all three strains undergo similar physiological changes, but these are less severe in G184A and G222B than in the Downs strain. The transitions from mycelial to yeast morphology in both of the more virulent strains are also one-third more rapid than in Downs. We also find that the differences in temperature sensitivity of the three strains can be correlated with the temperature required for complete uncoupling of oxidative phosphorylation. The differences in sensitivity to elevated temperatures extend to the growth of yeast cells of all three strains. Considered together, our results suggest that sensitivity to elevated temperatures may be a key factor accounting for differences in virulence and that uncoupling of oxidative phosphorylation may be the primary event in the morphological transition in all three strains.

Adenosine Triphosphate↗