Showing papers by "Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center published in 1971"

Radiation‐induced sarcoma of bone

Abstract: During the period 1931 to 1970, 50 cases of radiation-induced osteogenic sarcoma were seen at the Memorial and James Ewing Hospitals. Twenty-two of these cases had previously been described; the present paper adds an additional 28 cases to the existing series and reviews those factors related to the development of neoplastic changes. In 35 patients, there was evidence of preexisting bone pathology in the form of benign osseous growths. Fifteen patients had soft-part and visceral neoplasms, such as retinoblastoma, seminoma, and breast carcinoma, the involved bone lying in the pathway of the radiation beam. Symptoms ranged from a palpable tender mass in the involved bone to intestinal obstruction secondary to metastatic radiation-induced osteogenic sarcoma. Essentially all bones in the skeletal system appear to have been vulnerable. The radiation dosages ranged from 1,200 rads given in a few weeks to 24,000 rads given in 2 years. Induction time covered a period of 4 through 30 years with a mean of 9 years. Thirty-two of the patients developing this neoplasm have since died of their disease.

Primary malignant tumors of the liver.

Abstract: Over a span of 20 years, 137 patients with primary malignant tumors of the liver received treatment at the Memorial Cancer Center. Seventy‐one percent of the patients had hepatocellular carcinoma. Various modalities of therapy were applied in the treatment of these patients. Early diagnosis is mandatory to increase the resectability rate. Thirty‐two patients had some form of hepatic resection of whom 5 survived more than 5 years. Good palliation and prolongation of life occurred in 2 out of 6 patients who had hepatic artery infusion by chemotherapeutic agents. The role of hepatic transplantation and re‐vascularization of segments of the liver in extending the scope of hepatic resection remains in the experimental phase.

Effect of irradiation on the maturation of wilms' tumor.

Abstract: A study was undertaken to ascertain the morphological differences that exist between the primary tumor and the metastatic deposits of 55 selected cases of Wilms' tumors. The observations in this study point towards a greater degree of non‐epithelial differentiation and a decrease in the tubular and glomerular differentiation in the metastases as compared to the primary tumors. The study also suggests that irradiation accelerates and possibly induces non‐epithelial differentiation.

Tobramycin (nebramycin factor 6): in vitro activity against Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

Abstract: Tobramycin (factor 6 of the nebramycin complex) is a new aminoglycoside antibiotic isolated from Streptomyces tenebrarius which is active against S. aureus, Enterobacteriaceae, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Susceptibility to tobramycin of 96 strains of P. aeruginosa, including 45 recent isolates from blood, was studied by using agar and broth dilution methods. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) for 83 of 96 strains was 3.12 μg/ml or lower in Mueller Hinton agar; MIC values were two to eight times lower in Mueller Hinton broth tests. Agar dilution MIC values were generally lower than those obtained in parallel tests with gentamicin. Killing curves obtained from serial sampling of broth cultures showed a 100- to 10,000-fold decline in viability of log-phase organisms within 30 min of exposure to the drug. Two-dimensional agar dilution tests with carbenicillin and tobramycin with 79 strains showed additive or synergistic effects; no antagonism was documented. Seventy-eight of 79 strains were inhibited by a combination of 50 μg of carbenicillin per ml and 1.56 μg of tobramycin per ml, blood levels which seem attainable in man. Tobramycin appears to be a potent, rapidly bactericidal antibiotic against P. aeruginosa and merits clinical evaluation.

Gentamicin: Clinical Use with Carbenicillin and In-Vitro Studies with Recent Isolates of Pseudomonas aeruginosa

Abstract: The susceptibility to gentamicin of 33 isolates of Pseudomonas aeruginosa recovered at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center before April, 1969, was compared to the susceptibility of 72 organisms recovered in the following 18 months. No significant difference in patterns of sensitivity was observed; 96 of 105 organisms (91%) were inhibited at or below 3.12 ig/ml. Twenty of 23 isolates from blood cultures were still inhibited at or below 3.12 pIg/ml, despite the fact that they were recovered from patients receiving gentamicin for periods exceeding four days. Of 46 organisms isolated from blood cultures during 19691970, all but two were inhibited by concentrations of 1.56 vtg/ml of gentamicin and 50 [tg/ml of carbenicillin. Fifteen cases of bacteremia due to Pseudomonas were treated with a combination of these two drugs; infection was cured in seven and controlled in two. Success in therapy was associated with remission in leukemia or control of the underlying disease.