Showing papers on "Cancer published in 1974"

Causes of death in cancer patients

Abstract: The records of 816 cancer patients who had a complete postmortem examination during a 3-year period were reviewed. Death resulted from infection in 47% of the patients, from organ failure in 25%, and from infarction, hemorrhage, and carcinomatosis in 11%, 7%, and 10%, respectively. The most common fatal infections were pneumonia, septicemia, and peritonitis. The majority of infections were caused by gram-negative bacilli, mainly E. coli, Pseudomonas spp., and Klebsiella spp. In 71% of the 816 patients, the underlying tumor precipitated the cause of death. Consequently, better modalities of cancer therapy and supportive therapy are needed.

Neurotoxicity of Commonly Used Antineoplastic Agents

Abstract: THE incidence of neurologic disorders has been steadily increasing in several neoplastic diseases as recent advances in therapy have lengthened patient survival.1 2 3 The neurologic complications of cancer most frequently result from metastasis to the nervous system or compression of neural structures by extraneural tumor. In addition, an interesting group of nonmetastatic neuromuscular disorders has recently been described,4 , 5 and the broad concept of "carcinomatous neuromyopathy" is frequently invoked to explain obscure neurologic symptoms in patients with cancer.6 However, it is also important to realize that neurologic dysfunction may be iatrogenic — i.e., caused by the treatment of cancer. Radiation myelitis and . . .

The incidence of malignant tumours in patients with respiratory sarcoidosis.

Abstract: During the period 1962-71 a total of 2544 patients with respiratory sarcoidosis were reported to the Danish Institute of Clinical Epidemiology. Among them 48 patients developed a malignant tumour, the follow-up period ending on 31 December 1971. Only 33·8 cases of cancer were expected if sarcoidosis patients had had the same rates as the general population; the difference between the expected and observed number is statistically significant (0·02 > P > 0·01). Malignant lymphomata occurred 11 times and lung cancer 3 times more frequently than expected. For all other forms of cancer taken together, there was no significant difference between the expected and the observed number of cases.The increased cancer incidence may result from immunological deficiencies in patients with sarcoidosis.

Tuberculosis complicating neoplastic disease. A review of 201 cases

Abstract: Case records were reviewed of 201 patients that developed active tuberculosis (TB) complicating neoplastic disease at Memorial Hospital between 1950-1971. TB occurred in 44 patients with lung cancer, 45 with head and neck cancers, 28 with breast cancer, 29 with lymphoproliferative disorders, 20 with gynecologic cancers, 7 with leukemia, 9 with, stomach cancer, and 19 with other neoplasms. Patients with lung cancer, reticulum cell sarcoma, lymphosarcoma, and Hodgkin's disease had a TB prevalence of 92, 78, 88, and 96 cases per 10,000 patients, respectively, with each neoplasm. Patients with head and neck, stomach cancer, and acute lymphatic leukemia and acute myelogenous leukemia had a prevalence of 51, 55, 37, and 28 per 10,000 patients at risk, respectively. The prevalence in breast cancer, colon, and genitourinary cancer was 5 to 20 per 10,000. TB generally occurred when the neoplasm first developed in patients with lung and head and neck cancers, and after antineoplastic therapy for advancing disease in lymphoproliferative disorders and breast cancer. TB occurring after antineoplastic therapy caused more severe TB infection with a high mortality rate. Patients treated with adrenocorticosteroids also had more severe tuberculous infection. TB caused masses and adenopathy plus fatal pneumonias and disseminated infection. Over-all mortality due to TB was 17%, compared with 48% in patients with lymphoproliferative disorders. Early diagnosis and treatment of TB is stressed.

Diaminodichloroplatinum: A phase I study showing responses in testicular and other tumors

Abstract: Diaminodichloroplatinum was studied in a Phase I trial. Two dose schedules were explored. In Schedule I, a maximum dose of 100 mgJM2 given once was reached, and this proved too toxic for further use. The maximum dose in Schedule 11, 24 mg/M2 daily for 5 days, was also too toxic, so 20 mg/M2 per day for 5 days was the dose selected for further exploration. Responses were seen in 1 patient with anaplastic thyroid carcinoma, 1 with transitional cell carcinoma of the bladder, and 1 with breast cancer. In patients with testicular tumors, responses were seen in 9 of 11 patients. There were 3 complete regressions seen, 1 in seminoma, 1 in embryonal cell carcinoma, and 1 in male choriocarcinoma. Three partial regressions, and three cases of objective improvement were also seen in this series. These were also distributed over different tumor types. The possibility that diaminodichloroplatinum has a specific effect on tissues arising from the genitourinary anlage is suggested. Cancer 33:1219-1225, 1974. HE DISCHARGE OF AN ELECTRIC CURRENT T from a platinum electrode through a nutrient broth containing E. coli was found to be associated with the inhibition of bacterial replication by Rosenberg et al. The same investigators isolated several compounds containing platinum from the culture medium, and demonstrated that these agents were responsible for the alteration in the growth pattern of the organisms.8

Corticosteroid therapy of preterminal gastrointestinal cancer.

Abstract: In a controlled double blind study involving 116 patients with far-advanced gastrointestinal cancer, dexamethasone at dosages of 0.75 and 1.5 mg four times daily produced improved appetite and sense of well-being in comparison to placebo treatment. This symptomatic palliation, however, was not accompanied by weight gain or improved performance status. Survival of the steroid treated patients was essentially identical to that of the placebo treated patients. Cancer 33:1607–1609, 1974.

Enzyme Activity in Invasive Tumors of Human Breast and Colon

Abstract: Elevated levels of glycoprotein:sialyltransferase activity (EC 2.4.99.1; CMP-N-acetylneuraminate: D-galactosyl-glycoprotein N-acetylneuraminyltransferase) were found in human malignant neoplastic tissues compared to normal, benign, and "preneoplastic" tissues. This increase was not due to the cell density of the tissue. Elevated levels of certain proteases and glycosidases were also found. The increase in transferase activity may be associated with altered membrane synthesis in the neoplastic state; changes in the activity of degradative enzymes may be associated with tumor invasiveness and maintenance of the neoplastic state. Measurements on human tumors are possibly more directly relevant to cancer than those described for transformed fibroblastic cells in vitro.

Clinical Effects of Whole-body Hyperthermia in Advanced Malignancy

Abstract: Fifty-one patients in the terminal stages of cancer have been treated with whole-body hyperthermia either alone (38 cases) or in combination with chemotherapy (13 cases). Altogether 227 treatment sessions were held averaging four hours each. The most sensitive tumours were those of the gastrointestinal tract and sarcomas. Breast and genitourinary tumours did not respond, and lung tumours and melanomas were only partially responsive. Major complications were remarkably few.

Treatment of human cancer with mumps virus

Abstract: Based on confirmation that slightly toxic mumps virus having a strong affinity with mankind has a carcinostatic effect, it was used in cancer. As priority was put not on healing but on reconfirmation of its effectiveness against human cancer and on its mode of administration, patients mostly received only small amounts of the virus. Of 90 patients with terminal cancer of various kinds, treatment was assessed as very good in 37, and good in 42, excluding 11 patients who had been near death. Administration of mumps virus produced few side-effects. The initial antineoplastic effect of the mumps virus therapy seemed to occur rapidly and strongly in proportion to swiftness in proliferation of cancer cells. Patients retaining physical strength often showed continuously suppressed growth of remaining tumors even after the disappearance of the initial effect, indicating a possible participation of tumor immunity in the present virus therapy.

Non-melanoma skin cancer among Caucasians in four areas of the United States.

Abstract: A survey of the incidence of non-melanoma skin cancer was undertaken in four areas which included about ten million people. Complete reporting of all newly diagnosed cases of skin cancer which occurred during the survey period of September 1, 1971 to February 29, 1972 was obtained by canvassing dermatologists, radiotherapists, pathologists, and other physicians seeing and treating skin cancer. Rates among Caucasians were found two to three times higher than any ever reported before in these area. An estimate of 300,000 new cases of skin cancer per year would amount to about one-half the total for all other forms of cancer combined in the United States. In all areas, there was an excess liability in males of about 2 to 1. Highest rates were observed in the Dallas-Ft. Worth area, where increased solar radiation is suspected as a carcinogenic agent.

Psychiatric symptomatology among hospitalized cancer patients.

Abstract: A 90-item symptom checklist (SCL-90) was administered to 30 patients admitted consecutively to an oncology research unit. More than half of the patients showed moderate to high levels of depression...

Neuroblastoma, its natural history and prognosis: a study of 487 cases.

Abstract: The natural history of neuroblastoma and factors affecting survival for this disease were studied in an unselected group of children notified to cancer registries in Britain during 1962-7. The three-year survival rate based on 487 cases was 23%; many of the cases were followed up for more than five years, and this made it possible to calculate long-term survival and recurrence rates. There were only five deaths among 110 cases followed for more than three years, 64 of the survivors having been followed for more than five years. Factors affecting the prognosis included age at diagnosis, site, histological grade at diagnosis, and the sex of the child. The interrelationship between these factors together with their effect on prognosis were analysed, and in particular we attempted to elucidate factors which might explain our observation that girls have a significantly better survival rate than boys. Direct histological evidence and also the analyses of survival and recurrence rates seem to support the suggestion that the likelihood of maturation for this tumour is greater for girls than for boys.

The use of a radioimmunoassay for alpha-fetoprotein in the diagnosis of malignancy

Abstract: Using a double antibody radioimmunoassay test, α-fetoprotein was elevated (i.e., over 40 ng/ml) in 72% of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma, 75% of patients with teratocarcinoma or embryonal cell carcinoma of the testis, 23% of patients with pancreatic carcinoma, 18% of patients with gastric carcinoma, 5% of patients with colonic carcinoma, and 7% of patients with bronchogenic carcinoma studied. In contrast to these positive findings in patients with cancer, none of the 210 normal controls over 1 year of age and only 1 of the 300 patients with chronic nonhepatic diseases other than ataxia telangiectasia had elevated levels. All of the 40 patients studied with the immunodeficiency disease, ataxia telangiectasia, had elevated AFP levels in accord with the view that these patients have a defect in organ differentiation. The radioimmunoassay for AFP was of special value in monitoring the effectiveness of therapy of certain forms of malignancy (e.g., hepatocellular carcinoma, embryonal cell carcinoma, and teratocarcinoma of the testis), since the product of a few tumor cells was detectable with this assay when AFP was undetectable as assessed by agar diffusion tests and when the residual tumor could not be detected by other clinical parameters.

Association of Anergy with an Immunosuppressive Peptide Fraction in the Serum of Patients with Cancer

Abstract: To study the relation between circulating immunosuppressive factors and anergy in patients with cancer, we tested 53 patients with cancer for hypersensitivity to skin-test antigens and 2,4-dinitrochlorobenzene. Of 41 patients with negative skin tests, 27 (66 per cent) had immunosuppressive serum (≥70 per cent inhibition of lymphocyte stimulation by phytohemagglutinin). None of 12 with positive skin tests had immunosuppressive serum. Thus, anergy and serum immunosuppressive activity were correlated (p<0.05). After ion-exchange chromatography, most of the immunosuppressive activity in cancer serum was in the first peak, fraction I. The same fraction from subjects without cancer contained no detectable immunosuppressive activity. Mean total immunosuppressive activity of cancer serum was 166.0 ± 97.5 (S.D.) units, and that of non-cancer serum was 30.4 ± 9.2 units (p<0.05). Diafiltration of fraction I. from cancer serum yielded a fraction (< 10,000 daltons) that was highly immunosuppressive. Thus, ane...

Chemical Induction of Cancer

Abstract: ASPERGER, H. (1932), Arch. f. kinderheilk., 97, I67. BEHREND, G. (I88o), Ibid., I, 138. BELL, D., and WOODS, A. W. (1942), Arch. Dis. Childh., 17, I57. CASPARY, J. (I884), Arch. Dermat. u. Syph., I6, I22. FERRI, U. (I928), La Pediatria, 36, 843. GOEDHART, C. (1930), Nederl. Tijdschr. v. geneesk., 74, 51I47. GOVAN, C. D., COTTON, A. L., and RYDEEN, J. O. (I950), U.S. Armed Forces M.J., x, 682. HALLEZ, G.-L. (1932), Nourrisson, 20, 270. KAPOSI, M. (z887) cit. Govan et al. LEINER, C. (I929), Monatschr. f. kinderheilk., 62, 33I. MAcGILLIVRAY, A. G. (x942), Brit. med. J., ii, 340. RITTER VON RITTERSHAIN, G. (I878), Centralzt.f. kinderheilk., 2, 3. RITTER VON RITTERSHAIN, G. (I88o), Arch. kinderheilk., I, 53.

Ectopic production of the isolated alpha subunit of the glycoprotein hormones. A quantitative marker in certain cases of cancer.

Abstract: Serum and tumor extract from a 27-year-old woman with metastatic gastric carcinoid contained high concentrations (20,000 ng per milliliter and 180,000 ng per gram) of a material ("alpha") resembling the alpha subunit of glycoprotein tropic hormones in immunologic, gel Chromatographic and biologic properties. Ectopic production of "alpha" was isolated and not accompanied by comparable amounts of a beta subunit or a complete glycoprotein hormone. The tumor also contained high concentrations of parathyroid hormone and calcitonin. Radioimmunoassay of serums from other patients with cancer (three of 24 patients with the carcinoid syndrome and three of 106 with bronchogenic carcinoma) revealed increased concentrations of "alpha" as compared to 106 controls without cancer. The alpha subunit of glycoprotein tropic hormones may be a quantitative marker of neoplasia in certain cases of cancer. (N Engl J Med 290:1441–1447, 1974)

Childhood lymphoblastic lymphoma, a cancer of thymus-derived lymphocytes.

Abstract: Summary Populations of tumor cells obtained from children with lymphoblastic lymphoma were compared with tumor cells from children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia for thymus- or bone marrow-derived lymphocyte characteristics. Thymus derived lymphocytes were identified by their ability to bind sheep erythrocytes as rosette-forming cells. Bone marrow-derived lymphocytes were identified either by the presence of complement receptors or by the presence of immunoglobulins on their surface. Similar comparison was made between the thymus or bone marrow-derived lymphocyte properties of lymphocyte cell lines established from children with lymphoblastic lymphoma and those established from patients with other lymphoproliferative diseases. The results obtained support the notion that childhood lymphoblastic lymphoma is a cancer of thymus-derived lymphocytes and is clearly different in origin from acute lymphoblastic leukemia.