Preliminary-results of preoperative axillary radioimmunoscintigraphy with in-111 b72.3 in breast-cancer.

Nineteen patients with clinical and mammographic diagnosis of breast cancer and 1 patient already mastectomized underwent radioimmunoscintigraphy (RIS) in order to evaluate the axillary node status before surgery. After histologic examination, ductal breast carcinomas were found in 17/19 patients and axillary metastases were found in 11 patients. RIS was performed with planar scintigraphies and SPET (Single Photon Emission Tomography) of mammary and axillary regions after intravenous injection of In-111 B72.

Indium-111-DTPA-octreotide scintigraphy modulation by treatment with unlabelled somatostatin analogue in small-cell lung cancer.

Aims And Background: Small-cell lung cancer (SCLC) tissue expresses somatostatin receptors and can be visualized by means of the indium-111-labelled somatostatin analogue DTPA-D-Pheoctreotide. The aim of the study was to investigate whether treatment with a cold somatostatin analogue can affect the imaging of somatostatin receptor scintigraphy.

Methods: Three patients with SCLC were treated with 200 micrograms of cold octreotide three times a day subcutaneously for 7 days.

Comparison of immunoassays for tumor markers CA 19-9, CA 15-3 and CA 125: data from an international quality assessment scheme.

Data collected in the 1993 and 1994 cycles of an international external quality assessment (EQA) program and in a national multicenter collaborative study were cumulatively analyzed to evaluate the standardization of the methods currently in use for the assay of mucinous tumor markers CA 19-9, CA 15-3 and CA 125. On average the between-laboratory variability was 15.2 and 16.

Clinical and endocrine effects of megestrol-acetate in women with pretreated advanced breast-cancer.

Megestrol acetate (MA) is one of the most widely used progestins in the palliation of advanced breast cancer, but its optimal dose level has yet to be defined. Forty-six women with progressive advanced disease were given MA according to a monthly loading-dose-schedule (320 mg/day orally) followed by standard-dose maintenance (160 mg/day). Most of the patients had been heavily pretreated with endocrine and/or chemotherapy; all the cases were evaluable.

Somatostatin receptor imaging of small cell lung cancer (SCLC) by means of 111In-DTPA octreotide scintigraphy.

Somatostatin receptors have been described on the membrane of neoplastic cells derived from the APUD system and their expression has also been demonstrated on small cell lung cancer (SCLC) in vitro and in vivo. 21 patients with SCLC were studied using 111In-octreotide (111In-OCT) scintigraphy. Scintigraphic examinations were performed following intravenous (i.

Single-dose intraperitoneal radioimmunotherapy with the murine monoclonal antibody I-131 MOv18: clinical results in patients with minimal residual disease of ovarian cancer.

Sixteen of 19 enrolled patients with minimal residual disease of ovarian cancer (macroscopic disease < 5 mm or positive blind biopsies and/or positive peritoneal washing), demonstrated by surgical second-look, underwent intraperitoneal radioimmunotherapy (RIT) with the radiolabelled monoclonal antibody I-131 MOv18 (mean dose 14 mg of MOv18 with 3700 GBq of I-131) 30-40 days after the second-look procedure. Clinical follow-up and/or third-look evaluation performed 90 days after RIT showed complete response (CR) in 5 patients, no change (NC) in 6 patients and progressive disease (PD) in 5 patients. Follow-up study showed long-term maintained CR in 1 patient (34 months) and relapses in the other 4 patients after a mean disease-free period of 10.

Lack of tissue-specificity of mucin markers in a lung-cancer model - biochemical approach.

Mucin-associated epitopes are recognized by monoclonal antibodies in the immunometric assays used for the diagnosis and monitoring of cancer. The recently developed new assays measure mucins as tumor markers, assuming that each mucin is associated with a particular tumor site, i.e.

111In-octreotide uptake in granulomatous and tumor lesions in a patient with small-cell lung cancer.

A case of a patient with small cell lung cancer and right submandibular node enlargement due to granulomatous lymphadenitis is presented. Diagnostic procedures included: biopsy of the cervical node, transmission computed tomography of the chest, bronchoscopic examination and biopsy of the pulmonary lesion. The patient underwent 111In-octreotide scintigraphy (whole body and single photon emission tomography) which revealed both lesions.

Reliability of immunoradiometric assays for sex-hormone binding globulin, androstenedione, 17-Beta estradiol and tumor-markers cea and cb15.3 to assess the biological response of megestrol-acetate treatment in patients with advanced breast-cancer.

This study evaluated the effect of megestrol acetate administration on the serological assessment of some sex steroid hormones in women with advanced hormone-sensitive breast cancer. The serum levels of 17-beta estradiol, androstenedione and sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG) were measured by means of radioimmunometric assays, before and during drug administration. A significant suppressive effect on SHBG and androstenedione levels in comparison with the baseline values was reached in 100% (40/40) and 51% (20/39) of patients, respectively, after two months of therapy; by contrast, 17-beta estradiol levels showed an increase above the baseline levels in 18 out of 22 patients.

Clinical profile of a new monoclonal antibody-based immunoassay for tissue polypeptide antigen.

Our preliminary evaluation of a new monoclonal antibody-based assay for tissue polypeptide antigen (TPA) has shown it to be clinically equivalent to the polyclonal antibody-based assay for TPA. The new assay (TPA-M) employs three monoclonal antibodies to epitopes on cytokeratins 8, 18 and 19. This multicenter, multinational study included 266 patients with newly diagnosed carcinomas of the lung, breast, large bowel and urinary bladder.

Thymidine kinase (TK) activity as a prognostic parameter of survival in lymphoma patients.

ATP-thymidine 5'-phosphotransferase (TK) is a cellular enzyme involved in DNA synthesis, activated during the G1/S phase of the cell cycle. Elevated TK serum levels can be found in cancer patients due to the active proliferation of tumor cells. TK serum activity was tested by a radioenzymatic technique (Prolifigen TK REA, Sangtec Medical, Sweden) based on the conversion of 125 I deoxyuridine to 125 I deoxyuridine monophosphate.

Evaluation of cytokeratin 19 serum fragments (CYFRA 21-1) in patients with lung cancer: results of a multicenter trial.

Recently, a new immunometric assay (Cyfra 21-1) was developed to measure serum concentrations of a soluble fragment of cytokeratin subunit 19. With this method, supplied by Boehringer Mannheim (EIA Test Cyfra 21-1), an Italian multicenter trial was performed in patients with lung cancer. Cyfra 21-1 serum levels were determined in 568 normal subjects (blood donors), 607 patients with non-malignant diseases (491 respiratory diseases) and 730 patients with malignancies.

Cytokeratin 19 fragment CYFRA 21-1 compared with carcinoembryonic antigen, squamous cell carcinoma antigen and neuron-specific enolase in lung cancer. Results of an international multicentre study.

The diagnostic value of the water-soluble cytokeratin 19 fragment CYFRA 21-1 in lung cancer was assessed in comparison with carcinoembryonic antigen, squamous cell carcinoma antigen, and neuron-specific enolase. The cut-off value, defined as 95% specificity versus a group of 526 patients suffering from benign chest diseases, was set at 3.3 micrograms/l for cytokeratin 19 fragment CYFRA 21-1 (carcinoembryonic antigen: 7.

Enhancement of in vivo monoclonal antibody targeting with recombinant interferon and cytokines.

Up to now a number of studies have been performed to determine whether the combined use of cytokines and monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) directed against tumor-associated antigens (TAA) can increase the sensitivity of radioimmunoscintigraphy (RIS). It is well known that human natural and recombinant interferons can enhance the cell surface expression of HLA Class I and II antigens as well as some specific tumor antigens, but there is scanty and conflicting information about the expression and shedding of TAA. Some authors reported that alpha-IFN enhances the expression of a melanoma-associated antigen (MAA), recognized by conventional antiserum.

Bone scintigraphy in breast cancer: a ten-year follow-up study.

Two-hundred and sixty patients with T2-T3a, pN1, M0 (TNM classification) breast cancer underwent clinical and instrumental follow-up (mean 122 months) including periodic bone scintigraphy. A total of 1971 scintigraphic examinations were performed (range 3 to 15 scintigraphies/patient, mean 8). The results of scintigraphy were compared to standard radiographs and to the clinical history of the patients.

Mucin-like carcinoma-associated antigen (MCA) in breast cancer: clinical experience at the National Cancer Institute of Milan.

Mucin-like Carcinoma-associated Antigen (MCA) is a glycoprotein belonging to the mucin family; it is defined by the monoclonal antibody b-12. Mucins represent an interesting group of tumor markers and are widely utilized in the clinical monitoring of neoplastic patients. These molecules show a certain degree of tissue specificity and MCA is preferentially associated with breast tissue.

Does portal nutrition benefit liver protein synthesis?

There are only a few experimental investigations on the feasibility and potential advantages of intraportal nutrition in animals and only two uncontrolled studies in humans. The purpose of this study was to compare some metabolic variables in patients who received portal or systemic nutrition after elective surgery for colorectal cancer. Twenty patients were randomized to receive postoperatively for a week a hypocaloric, "protein sparing" standard infusion via the portal (catheter in the gastroepiploic vein) (10 patients) or systemic (10 patients) route.