Serum sialic acid is a biologic marker for malignant disease

Serial serum sialic acid (N-acetylneuraminic acid) was measured in 16 patients with advanced cancer of various histologic types. In the 15 evaluable patients serial changes in sialic acid correlated with the clinical course. Isolated sialic acid values were not predictive of clinical response. Serial determination of serum sialic acid appears to be a useful monitor of tumor burden.

125I implantation for carcinoma of prostate. Further follow-up of first 100 cases

Analysis of the first 100 patients at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center with Stage B or C prostatic cancer treated by pelvic lymph node dissection and Iodine-125 implantation and endocrine therapy when specifically indicated revealed five-year survival rates of 87 and 77 per cent, respectively. Tumor stage, tumor grade, and lymph node metastasis each correlated with survival, but the latter was the most significant factor. Although routine follow-up biopsies were not performed, local tumor control as judged by serial digital rectal examination defined a prognostically favored group of patients. In the absence of controls, however, whether the latter response indicates a salutary effect of the treatment which produces an improved survival or merely identifies a group of patients who were predetermined to have a more favorable survival is undetermined.

Effects of estrogen administration on serum testosterone in Copenhagen rats

In order to develop a standard experimental method of exogenous therapy in the Copenhagen rat, several treatment regimens were evaluated to determine their effect on the serum testosterone. Diethylstilbestrol diphosphate (DES-P) was administered either continuously in the drinking water or as a single intraperitoneal injection. Oral low-dose estrogen (0.4-1.6 microgram/ml) yielded reliable suppression of serum testosterone to castrate levels. A single intraperitoneal injection of 0.5 mg DES-P caused prompt suppression of serum testosterone with return to normal levels two weeks later.

Natural antibody to a human bladder carcinoma cell line

Sera from 144 healthy blood donors were screened for the presence of antibody against the bladder carcinoma cell line RT4 by means of an immune adherence assay. Only one serum (9241) demonstrated high activity with a titer of 1/124. Qualitative and quantitative absorption analyses were carried out with a wide variety of cells to characterize the specificity of the reaction. Cells used for absorption were both cultured and non-cultured and normal and malignant. The reactivity was absorbed by the bladder cancer cell lines RT4 and 5637 and the lung cancer cell line SK-LC-LL. In addition, surgically obtained urothelium from a patient with transitional cell carcinoma abrogated reactivity. No other absorbing cells removed the reactivity of serum 9241 for RT4. The antigen defined by this serologic reaction is heat-stable and trypsin-resistant, as demonstrated by using heated or trypsinized RT4 cells for absorption. This study shows that naturally occurring antibody directed toward cell surface antigens of tumor cells is present in some normal individuals. This finding is important in the evaluation of a possible causal relationship between the presence of antibody specific for tumor cell antigens and the development of neoplasia.

Androgen stimulated chemotherapy in the Dunning R-3327 prostatic adenocarcinoma

This study was undertaken to determine whether hormonal stimulation followed by chemotherapy with a cell-cycle specific agent would improve the effectiveness of the chemotherapy in a prostatic adenocarcinoma model. One hundred Copenhagen rats were randomised into 5 equal groups and injected subcutaneously with 2 x 10(7) cells of Dunning G strain prostatic adenocarcinoma. The groups were treated in the following fashion: 1. sham operated controls, 2. castration, 3. castration and methotrexate, 4. castration, testosterone and methotrexate and 5. castration and testosterone. When the tumours became palpable, all animals received the surgery to which they were randomised. Subsequent hormonal and chemotherapy was started 1 week thereafter. Therapy was given for 5 consecutive days followed by a 16-day recovery period and then continued in a cyclical fashion. Serial measurements of animal weights and tumour size were obtained. Analysis of tumour growth was restricted to the first 29 days of therapy because of a rapid decline in animal survival beyond that point. The group treated with castration, testosterone, and methotrexate inhibited tumour growth more than any other group and was the only group that was significantly different from control (P less than 0.05).

The effect of single dose N-methyl-N-nitrosourea on bladder carcinogenesis by N-[4-(5-nitro-2-furyl)-2-thiazolyl] formamide in rats

The effect of a single intravesical dose of N-Methyl-N-Nitrosourea (MNU) on bladder carcinogenesis in Fischer rats by a suprathreshold dose of N-[4-(5-nitro-2-furyl)-2-thiazolyl] formamide (FANFT) was studied. Animals were sacrificed periodically during the course of the study and the experiment was terminated 50 weeks. Carcinomas were first noted in the MNU + FANFT group at 35 weeks versus 37 weeks for the group receiving FANFT alone. At 50 weeks, carcinomas were seen in 40 of 49 animals in the MNU + FANFT group and in 40 of 48 animals in the FANFT group. Of the animals developing bladder carcinomas 50 per cent receiving MNU + FANFT and 32 per cent receiving FANFT had high grade tumors. Six per cent of the animals receiving MNU alone developed bladder carcinomas whereas none was seen in a control group. In this system, the addition of an inducing dose of MNU did not alter the induction rate or results of carcinogenesis by FANFT. There was a tendency for higher grade tumors in those animals receiving the inducing dose of MNU.

Basal cell carcinoma of scrotum

Two cases of basal cell carcinoma of the scrotum are reported. Wide local excision of the lesion is all that is necessary as primary treatment because regional lymph node metastases are seldom seen.

Acute ureteral obstruction from buckshot

A patient with acute ureteral obstruction caused by buckshot is reported. Its occurrence is rare, and its management is similar to that of ureteral calculus.