Showing papers on "Cancer published in 1972"

Menopause and breast cancer risk.

Abstract: Age at menopause and type of menopause from hospital records of breast cancer patients were compared with similar information reported by a national probability sample of women. The national sample comprised 3581 women who responded to the 1960-1962 National Health Examination Survey. The cancer series consisted of 3887 patients selected from those reported to the Connecticut Cancer Registry between 1950 and 1959. No substantial bias was identified when the validity of the comparison and the effect of the relatively large number of breast cancer patients whose menopause histories were deficient were evaluated. Overall surgically induced menopause was associated with a reduction in breast cancer risk to about 60% of that experienced by women having natural menopause induced before age 35 but induction up to age 50 was protective. There was little effect in the 10 years following the surgical procedure but substantial reduction occurred in all subsequent periods. Among women with menopause induced before age 35 breast cancer risk stayed as low as 1/3 that expected 30 and more years later. Relative risk of breast cancer increased with age at natural menopause. Women with natural menopause at age 55 or older had twice the breast cancer risk experienced by those whose menopause occurred before age 45. The relative risk of breast cancer associated with late natural menopause was greatest after age 70.(AUTHORS MODIFIED)

Cancers metastatic to the breast.

Abstract: During a period of 10 years, 51 patients were found to have metastatic cancer in the breast. There were 44 women and seven men. Eighteen patients had carcinoma, 16 had malignant lymphoma, 14 had malignant melanoma, and three had myosarcomas. It is interesting that 16 of the 51 patients had no prior history of malignant disease—the mammary lesion presenting as the first manifestation of an occult extramammary primary. Metastatic cancer should be suspected when a multinodular neoplasm is found in the superficial tissues of the breast. Forty-one patients had a rapidly fulminating course and died of disease. Ten patients are alive, seven with and three without apparent evidence of disease. It is concluded that earlier recognition of these tumors may lead to more rational therapy and avoidance of unnecessary radical surgery.

Carcinoembryonic Antigen in Patients With Different Cancers

Abstract: Carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) is a cancer-specific antigen described by Gold in 1965. It is a glycoprotein present in malignant entodermal tissues, in fetal colonic mucosa, and in the plasma of patients with gastrointestinal tract cancers. We have measured plasma CEA levels in 346 patients using a new procedure which detects an ion-sensitive antigenic site in the carcinoembryonic molecule. Levels in 39 of 48 patients with gastrointestinal tract cancer and 90 of 281 with nonentodermally derived malignancies were abnormal. Following successful therapy CEA level returns to normal (colon, four of four; neuroblastoma, three of three). The identity between the antigen measured in the present study and the carcinoembryonic antigen of Gold has not been established. The assay appears to be useful in the follow-up of patients with cancer and may eventually be of diagnostic value in the asymptomatic patient.

Varicella-Zoster Infection in Patients with Cancer

Abstract: Over a 24-month period, among 419 patients with cancer, zoster occurred in 25% of patients with Hodgkin's disease, 8.7% of other lymphoma patients, but in only 1.2% of patients with acute ...

Foetal “Antigens” in Cancer

Abstract: In this article, Professor Alexander discusses the role played by onco-foetal antigens.

Association of atypical characteristics of benign breast lesions with subsequent risk of breast cancer.

Abstract: Atypical breast changes affecting the mammary duct system were associated with increased risk of developing breast cancer according to this retrospective case control study. From 1950-1964 93 patients contracted breast cancer who previously had a breast biopsy classified as benign. Approximately 3 matched controls were chosen for each case and these were women with no subsequent breast cancer after a history of benign breast lesions. A previously developed grading system was used and its value as an aid in recognizing less-advanced changes which qualify as precancerous was proven. Primarily at risk were women with some degree of ductular atypia in a benign lesion; this woman was 5 times more likely to develop breast cancer than a woman with no evidence of atypical breast changes. Of 77 cases and 252 controls 16 (21%) were reclassified as in situ carcinoma in contrast to 9/252 control cases (4%). Associations of higher risk with both younger (< or = 45 years old) age and shorter interval from 1st biopsy (< or = 4 years) with cancer were probably (.005 < P < .01 and .01 < P < .025 respectively) though the number of cases involved in the relative risk computations were too small for any firm conclusions. Overall these findings are reminiscent of the relationship in cervical carcinoma between dysplasia carcinoma in situ and invasive carcinoma.

The gross rates of growth of human mammary carcinoma

Abstract: In a retrospective review of 912 patients with mammary cancer at the Ellis Fischel State Cancer Hospital (EFSCH), 199 patient records contained two or more gross measurements of a neoplastic focus in the breast, a lymph node, the lung, the chest wall, or other sites. The gross rates of growth were calculated from these measurements and correlated with the characteristics of the tumor and the hosts. The rates were independent of the anatomical site of the measured carcinoma, marital status, race, tumor size, frequency of lymph node metastasis at the time of mastectomy, and frequency and site of the postoperative metastasis. Doubling times did correlate directly with the age of the patients, duration of preoperative symptoms, and duration of survival after radical mastectomy. Tumor growth rate can account for some of the clinical characteristics of mammary carcinoma.

Presence in human breast cancer of RNA homologous to mouse mammary tumour virus RNA.

Abstract: Molecular hybridization has been used to detect within human tumours RNA sequences that are homologous to the RNA of oncogenic viruses known to cause similar tumours in animals.

Cancer in five continents.

Abstract: The geographical distribution of cancer has been studied for so many years that it may well be thought that the subject can have very little more to teach us. That, however, I believe to be wrong. Many parts of the world are still awaiting oncological exploration; and it is only recently that we have been able to obtain any incidence data that are sufficiently precise for quantitative correlations to be made between a particular cancer and the prevalence of a suspected agent. New information is, in fact, still being obtained and some of it may still be capable of giving rise to new hypotheses about the cause of the disease.

An autopsy study of cancer patients. I. Accuracy of the clinical diagnoses (1955 to 1965) Boston City Hospital.

Abstract: At the Boston City Hospital between 1955 and 1965 one fourth of all autopsies involved cancer patients Forty percent of these 2,734 patients had serious clinical errors for diagnosing cancer, and 63% of patients with these errors died from cancer Twenty-six percent of all patients reviewed had clinically undiagnosed cancer, and 45% of these neoplasms were fatal Nonmalignant diseases caused death in 24% of all cancer patients reviewed Generally, errors in clinical diagnoses of cancer were most common with the most common cancers Cancer patients were almost a decade older than control patients without cancer

Tumor Variation in Families With Breast Cancer

Abstract: This study documents types of malignant neoplasms found in members of 34 families who were selected for investigation because of their having two or more members affected with breast cancer. The data indicate that the members of some families with familial breast cancer have a relatively high predisposition for cancer of the colon, while the members of other families with familial breast cancer show relatively high predispositions, respectively, for gastric, ovarian, and endometrial carcinoma, and some for a complex of brain tumors, sarcoma, and leukemia. The observations are consistent with concepts of multiple causes involving the interactions of different genetic and environmental factors that structure different patterns of tumor association and predisposition.

Factors in the causation and incidence of ovarian cancer.

Abstract: This paper presents an overview of the present knowledge about etiologic factors in the development of ovarian cancer. It is divided into 3 main headings: 1) epidemiologic observations about human ovarian cancer; 2) studies on spontaneous animal ovarian tumors that gave rise to an interesting field in comparative oncology; and 3) studies on experimental ovarian tumors. Factors which have been related to the causation and incidence of human ovarian cancer are: 1) racial and geographical incidence; 2) socioeconomic factors; 3) genetic factors; 4) age; 5) menstrual characteristics; 6) marital status and parity; 7) relationship to intersex states; 8) laterality; 9) endometriosis; 10) previous hysterectomy; 11) previous oophorectomy; 12) relationship to other neoplasms; 13) thyroid disease; 14) mumps; 15) x-irradiation; 16) asbestosis; and 18) incessant ovulation. A review of literature on ovarian tumors in animals showed that animals have a much lesser incidence than humans and thus was attributed to the infrequency of tumors arising from the ovarian surface epithelium which in humans comprise the great majority of ovarian tumors. On the other hand the prevalence of ovarian cancer among egg-laying domestic fowls is attributed to the frequency of adenocarcinoma. Such data may be helpful in determining the etiology of certain types of ovarian cancer. Experimental ovarian tumors have been induced in animals by x-irradiation; ovarian grafting; ligature of blood vessels; partial castration; and progestrational steroids. The implications of these experiments in human problems are briefly discussed as are the need for more studies in the field of epidemiology of human ovarian cancer.

Results of treatment of malignant tumors with ftorafur

Abstract: Ftorafur, an active tumor drug, is less toxic than 5-fluorouracil and was most effective in cancer of the breast and cancer of the large bowel.

Treatment of ovarian carcinoma: possibilities for progress.

Abstract: OVARIAN carcinoma is the fourth most frequent cause of death from cancer among women.1 Approximately 14,000 new cases are diagnosed each year, of which 10,000 will eventually be fatal.1 In about 1/...

Effect of postoperative radiotherapy on peripheral blood lymphocytes in patients with carcinoma of the breast.

Abstract: The effect of prophylactic postoperative radiotherapy in patients with carcinoma of the breast was determined on cells in the peripheral blood. Controls had carcinoma of the breast treated by radical mastectomy. Results were also compared with those in patients with carcinoma of the cervix treated by radiotherapy. None had recurrent disease. Radiotherapy of carcinoma of the breast decreased the total white blood cell count by 15% during the period of the first 6 months but did not alter the granulocyte count. The total white cell and granulocyte counts did not change in those with carcinoma of the cervix. The lymphocyte count was decreased by one third for 12 months in patients given radiotherapy for carcinoma of the breast and for 24 months in those with carcinoma of the cervix. The lymphopenia persisted in many for 60 months. Function of the lymphocytes was determined by their ability to synthesize nucleic acids when grown in tissue culture with the strong mitogen phytohemagglutinin (PHA). Radiotherapy produced 50% increase in DNA synthesis for 12 months in patients with carcinoma of the breast and for 60 months in those with carcinoma of the cervix. Treatment had no effect on RNA synthesis in patients with carcinoma of the breast but caused a 25% decrease in RNA synthesis for 60 months in those with carcinoma of the cervix. We are unable to explain the prolonged lymphopenia and the decrease in RNA synthesis. Lymphocytes transformed by PHA are mostly thymic-dependent and responsible for cellular immune response. Since the lymphocyte count was decreased by one third and DNA synthesis increased by a greater amount, the number of thymic dependent lymphocytes did not change or may have increased. The cellular immune response to cancer is unlikely to be impaired by local radiotherapy.

Increased specificity of liver scanning with the use of 67 gallium citrate.

Abstract: Sixty-one patients with focal defects on colloid liver scan and two with infrahepatic mass lesions were studied with 67gallium citrate. Definite accumulation of the radionuclide was noted in the lesions of 23 of 30 patients with hepatic cancer –11 of 12 with hepatocellular carcinoma, four of nine with metastatic adenocarcinoma, two with squamous-cell carcinoma, two with malignant melanoma, two with Hodgkin's disease, one with undifferentiated carcinoma and one with hepatoblastoma. The tracer was poorly taken up by five metastatic adenocarcinomas and one malignant carcinoid. Four of six patients with liver abscess and one with cirrhosis also had appreciable accumulation of gallium in the liver lesions. Twenty-six other patients with benign conditions producing focal defects on the colloid liver scan did not have appreciable uptake of gallium. The gallium studies were helpful in the detection of hepatoma in patients with cirrhosis and in differentiating cancer and abscess from more benign causes of...

Immunodiagnosis of cancer.

Abstract: Immuniagnosis of Cancer E. J. Field, F.R.C.P., and others............641 Ultrasond and Calcified Cardiac Valves D. Gordon, M.B., D.M.R.D......................642 Growing Pains J. C. Hawksley, F.R.C.P.; J. A. Ford, M.R.C.P., and M. G. Dunnigan, F.R.C.P.ED. .................................. 642 Pulmonary Oedema of Mountains A. Pines, F.R.C.P.ED . .................. 642 College of Anaesthetists E. B. Lewis, F.F.A. R.C.S......................... 643 Pimozade E. A. Burkitt, D.P.M., and M. H. Faulkner, M.B . ....................... 643 Misleading Prospectuses W. S. B. Loosmore, F.R.C.S.ED ............. 643 Overpopulation J. Guillebaud, F.R.C.S.ED...................... 643 Detecting Sickle Haemoglobin J. E. Bowman, M.D.......................... 644 Dental Caries: A Alternative to Water Fluoridation C. F. J. Baron, M.R.C.S...................... 644 Asian Immigrants C. R. Salkeld, F.R.C.S.ED...................... 644 Aetiology of Varicosity R. S. Lawson, M.S., F.R.C.S................645 Effects of Dietary Fibre Surgeon Captain T. L. Cleave, M.R.C.P.. .645 Chloramphenicol Resistance in Typhoid J. F. Calder, M.B...............................645 Transmission of Malaria G. 0. Barber, M.B.... ...645 E.N.T. Advances J. C. Ballantyne, F.R.C.S ...645 Hands off Postgraduate Centres P. S. Byrne, F.R.C.G.P.........................645 Influence of pH on Radioimmunoassay of Angiotension I B. Bagni and others...........................646 Brodrick Report G. Behr, F.R.C.P..................................646 Sulphonamide Crystalluria with Acetazolamide R. T. Orchard, M.R.C.P., and others.........646 Ergocryptine J. S. Pryor, M.R.C.P............................646 Cot Deaths and Hypokalaemi J. A. Frais, M.RC.S............. 646 Diagnosis of Sarcoidosis by Labial Gland Biopsy T. Bates, F.R.C.S..................................646 Malathion-resistant Pediculosis Capitis N. H. Silverton, F.R.C.G.P ................646 Sexual Freedom L. H. Cane, M.B . ....................647 People with Epilepsy J. E. S. Jarrett, M.A............................647 Treatment of Early Breast Cancer Sir Hedley Atkins, F.R.C.S .................647 Trapped Nerves J. D. Sidey, F.R.C.S.; M. D. Mehta, F.F.A. R.C.S. .......................................647 Occupational Health Servce P. L. Pelmear, D.P.H............................647 Conditions of Residence J. Winter, M.D.....................................648 New Consultant Contract D. P. Degenhardt, F.R.C.P ...............648 Income of G.P.s J. Egerton, M.R.C.G.P............................648 Junior Members Forum R. E. W. Fisher, D.P.H......................648 Cold Drink and Syncope S. C. C. Parry, D.P.H.........................648