Radiotherapy for bone metastases.
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Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to T Bates.
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Fine needle aspirates from 82 patients with breast carcinoma were fixed in methacarn, double embedded in agar or gelatin, and then in paraffin wax. Sequential sections were stained with monoclonal antibodies to the oestrogen receptor-related protein P29 (antibody D5), carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), epithelial membrane antigen (EMA) and cytokeratin (CAM 5.2). Sixty-one of 82 (74%) aspirates provided sections suitable for immunostaining. Twenty-six (43%) were D5 positive, 23 (38%) CEA positive, 59 (97%) EMA positive, and 54 (89%) CAM 5.2 positive. Twenty-six of these patients were treated with some form of endocrine therapy. Twelve (46%) showed positive staining for D5. Eleven (92%) of the 12 D5-positive patients responded or had static disease, and 8% progressed. Of the 14 D5-negative tumours 43% responded or remained static, and 57% progressed. The difference in response between the D5-positive and the D5-negative tumours was significant (P less than 0.05, Fisher's exact test). There was no correlation between staining for CEA, EMA or cytokeratin and response to endocrine therapy.
Sixty-two women with advanced breast cancer have been entered into a randomised trial comparing bolus injection with 24-h infusion of epirubicin given as a dose of either 20 mg or 40 mg weekly, of which 57 patients are eligible for analysis. Bolus injection proved significantly more successful than prolonged infusion in response rate, time to first event and survival. No significant differences appeared between the two doses using these measures, however 40 mg weekly was significantly more toxic than 20 mg weekly. Epirubicin given as a weekly 20 mg bolus injection appears both effective and relatively free from toxicity.
In this study, the interaction between electrical kindling and kainic acid seizures was investigated. Prepubescent male rats were kindled using hourly, suprathreshold stimulations. Two days later the kindled rats and their non-kindled controls received systemic injections of either 6, 10, or 17 mg/kg of kainic acid. No differences in response to kainic acid were seen between the two groups. These data demonstrate that the kindled brain does not uniformly exhibit a lower seizure threshold to all convulsants, but is dependent on the agents subsequently used to induce the seizures.
The sodium (Na) and potassium (K) concentrations were measured in the fluid of 169 breast cysts aspirated from 101 consecutive patients presenting to a single clinic. The Na/K ratio was used to define cysts as either apocrine (Na/K less than 3) or flattened (Na/K less than 3) in type. There was no consistency in the type of cyst for individual patients. Cyst type was not predictive of further cyst development, neither was a particular cyst type associated with the development of, or a history of, breast cancer.
A low-intervention policy for Hickman catheter maintenance has been evaluated and found to be safe and cost effective. A simple, lightweight, disposable device has been used for 24-hour ambulatory home infusion. Implementation of this policy as part of a prospective randomized trial of single-agent chemotherapy in advanced breast cancer has demonstrated that slow intravenous infusion reduces the acute toxicity of epirubicin when compared with bolus injection.
21 patients, 18 with chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL) and 3 with prolymphocytic leukaemia (PLL), all B-lymphocyte origin and with progressive disease, were treated with a regime of low-dose splenic irradiation (SI). All patients experienced a rapid relief of disease-related symptoms. Following SI the total lymphocyte count (TLC) was markedly reduced in 18 patients. Partial to complete regression of splenomegaly occurred in 9 patients. Pre-existing anaemia of production failure type improved in 6 patients and as a result the haemoglobin rose to normal or near normal levels. SI caused the loss of T-, B- and Null-lymphocytes, but the loss of B-lymphocytes predominated. CLL/PLL became quiescent for long periods in 9 patients (CLL = 8; PLL = 1) but remained progressive in the other 9, all CLL. SI had no demonstrable effects on TLC, splenomegaly or anaemia in the 3 remaining patients (2 CLL, 1 PLL). The treatment was well tolerated by all, and side effects were almost absent. Transient reduction of neutrophils and platelets occurred commonly. No patient with initially normal neutrophil and platelet counts developed irreversible neutropenia or thrombocytopenia. In view of these effects, the ease of administration and the lack of side effects, further evaluation of low-dose SI, particularly in comparison with other regimes, seems worthwhile.
The time course of pemoline in plasma was investigated in seven prepubescent boys with attention-deficit disorders who were hyperactive. Maximum plasma concentrations of 4.3 +/- 1.0 mg/L were reached 2.8 +/- 1.8 hours after a single, 2 mg/kg oral dose of pemoline, followed by a monoexponential decline in plasma concentration over time. Mean t1/2 and total body clearance of pemoline were 8.6 hours and 0.65 ml/min/kg. The 600% interindividual variation in elimination t1/2 and the 300% variation in total body clearance of pemoline may explain the unpredictable nature of its dynamics and associated neurotoxicity in some cases.
Forty patients presenting with obstructing left colon tumours between 1975 and 1980 were treated by a modified Paul-Mikulicz resection. The hospital mortality was 5 per cent. Subsequent mortality was largely related to the stage of the tumour at presentation and was not higher than that to be expected after an elective resection. In 21 patients the procedure was palliative and 16 of these patients later died. The quality of palliation was reasonable in 80 per cent and poor in 20 per cent. Despite the need for a second hospital stay to close the colostomy, time in hospital accounted, on average, for less than one-tenth of the remaining lifespan in those having a palliative resection.
In a prospective study of gall stone related deaths in a single Health District, the biliary tract was examined at necropsy in 1701 cases and 8078 death certificates were searched. Gall stones were identified as the cause of death in only 21 cases (0.26%) but in 291 subjects found to have gall stones or cholecystectomy at necropsy, the mortality was 3.4%. The necropsy prevalence of gall stones in the adult population was 17.1% but nine out of 10 subjects with gall stones had not had a cholecystectomy and women were three times more likely to have had their gall stones removed than men. There were five postoperative deaths (mean age 60 years) with an operative mortality for cholecystectomy in the district of 1.2%. Death due to unoperated gall stones was identified in 16 subjects, most of whom were very elderly women (mean age 81) but carcinoma of the gall bladder was only found in one woman of 90 with gall stones. The prevalence of gall stones rose with age in both sexes but the cholecystectomy rate per head of population at-risk declined sharply in the seventh decade in women and the eighth decade in men. There are a large number of people with unoperated gall stones in the population but gall stone related deaths are very uncommon. The cholecystectomy rate in Britain, however, seems to be rising and it is suggested that if this trend continues there may be an increased number of deaths.
In severe appendicitis, the effect of a single intravenous dose of metronidazole (500 mg) was compared with cefoxitin (1 g). The antibiotics were given by random allocation once the diagnosis had been established at operation. In the metronidazole group, 5 out of 48 patients developed a wound infection whilst in hospital compared with 13 out of 48 in the cefoxitin group (P = 0.036). However, 57% of wound infections became apparent after the patient went home and the overall infection rates were similar. The mean length of postoperative hospital stay was 5.0 days in the metronidazole group and 6.8 days in the cefoxitin group (P = 0.052), but of those who did develop a wound infection, the length of stay was almost double in the cefoxitin group. Anaerobic organisms were cultured from the wound in 7 out of 15 patients who received cefoxitin but in none of 5 patients in the metronidazole group. Whilst metronidazole only delayed the discharge of pus from the wound, it did seem to reduce the severity of infection. Cefoxitin appeared to be less effective, given as a single intravenous injection at a dose of 1 g.
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Eight patients with 12 chondrosarcomas were treated with radiation and razoxane (ICRF 159). Two tumors in 1 patient progressed unequivocally, 3 tumors in 3 patients showed no change, and 7 tumors in 5 patients had complete or partial (more than 50%) regressions. At least 2 complete regressions have responded for more than 2 1/2 years at the present time.
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Because the pancreas undergoes involutional changes during total parenteral nutrition (TPN) and because pancreatico-biliary secretions are trophic to the intestine, we studied jejunal and ileal structure and function and exocrine pancreatic function before and after 6 weeks of TPN in two groups of beagle dogs, one of which had TPN alone, the other having TPN plus daily stimulation of pancreatico-biliary secretions with intravenous infusions of cholecystokinin (CCK) and secretin. The injections of 1 U each per kg of body weight per day of CCK and secretin completely prevented the proximal and distal small bowel mucosal hypoplasia which developed in the TPN alone group. They also resulted in significant increases in in vivo galactose absorption (64 mM) per unit length of jejunum and ileum. However, there was no significant change in mucosal alpha-glucosidase and catalase activity or in in vitro mucosal uptake of 1 mM [14C]leucine when expressed per unit weight of intestinal mucosa. The capacity of the pancreas to respond to CCK and secretin was unaffected by excluding food from the intestine with 6 weeks of TPN in terms of pH, volume, and peak secretion rates of bicarbonate and protein, but maximum amylase output (units per 15 min per kg of body weight) fell significantly (P less than 0.05) from a mean of 1022 +/- 155 to 874 +/- 426 in TPN alone group and to 472 +/- 79 in the TPN dogs given CCK and secretin. These results show that daily CCK and secretin is trophic to the intestine of dogs nourished by TPN but do not indicate whether this trophic effect is attributable to CCK alone, secretin alone, the combination of the two hormones, or to the resultant stimulation of pancreatico-biliary secretions.
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