Carcinoma involving the lower alveolus. An appraisal of past results and an account of current management

Three hundred and fifty-six cases of carcinoma of the buccal mucosa, lower alveolus, and mouth floor treated under a policy of radiotherapy as the method of first choice are reviewed. Alveolar involvement, whether initial or by extension, greatly reduces the chance of radiotherapeutic success, and is more important in this respect than the exact site of origin of the tumour. A decision to switch to a trial of elective surgery in this group of cases with alveolar in involvement was strengthened by major advances in surgical management, especially the evolution of satisfactory techniques of repair. A cardinal point is that tumour excision and closure of the mouth defect can now be accomplished reliably in one stage. The uses of the ‘island’ forehead flap and of Bakamjian's deltopectoral flap are discussed, as well as the methods of providing mandibular support when necessary. The authors' current techniques are described in detail on the basis of 82 consecutive radical procedures. A preliminary survey of the results suggests that surgery in this group may yield better results than radiotherapy.

Cancer of the lip

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The uptake of tritiated thymidine by human amnion cells: a correlation with cell structure

It was found that less than 1% of amnion cells, either as membrane biopsies, as trypsinized cell suspensions, or grown as monolayers on glass incorporated tritiated thymidine during a 1-hour incubation period; this was in contrast to HeLa cells in which over 30% of the cell population incorporated tritiated thymidine. Continuous labelling with tritiated thymidine for a 24-hour period with or without colchicine failed to increase the percentage of labelled amnion cells, while a minimum of 80% of the HeLa cells became labelled. Less than 0.1% of the amnion cells were in mitosis, compared to 4% for HeLa cells. Incubation with colchicine for 24 hours failed to increase the percentage of mitotic figures of the amnion cells. It is concluded that most of the primary amnion cells are in the non-proliferative phase of the cell cycle.

Multiple stab wounds including injury of the heart

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Multiple Bone Tumours in a Boy aged 16. (Ewing's Tumour)

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