Cancer in relatives of retinoblastoma patients.

Medical histories with emphasis on malignant disease were obtained on 1,269 first and second degree relatives of 93 probands with retinoblastoma and on 671 first and second degree relatives of 50 age-matched control children. The number of nonocular malignancies expected to occur in first and second degree relatives of the probands were calculated using the observed number of neoplasms in control families as the standard. Using a Poisson distribution to evaluate the findings, a statistically significant excess of cancer was found in relatives of the probands with retinoblastoma.

Flow cytometry of uveal melanomas.

Tumor cell kinetic parameters were determined for 36 uveal melanomas retained in fixed tissue sections using flow cytometric techniques and computerized morphometry. By flow cytometry the majority of cells comprising the 36 tumors were in the G0/G1 phase (55.7%).

Lymphocyte subpopulations before therapy in patients with uveal malignant melanoma.

T-cell and B-cell lymphocyte subpopulations, monocytes, granulocytes, and immunoglobulin receptors were measured with monoclonal antibodies and flow cytometric techniques in the peripheral blood of 266 patients with posterior uveal melanoma before therapy. Statistically significant differences were found in T-helper/inducer (OKT4), T-suppressor/cytotoxic (OKT8), and B-lymphocyte populations between patients with uveal melanoma and age-matched controls.

Metastatic uveal melanoma: an ocular melanoma associated antigen in the serum of patients with metastatic disease.

Two monoclonal antibodies, MAb8-1H and ME491, which bind to different determinants of the same highly glycosylated melanoma-associated antigen, were used to determine melanoma-associated antigen levels in serum samples from patients treated for primary choroidal or ciliary body melanoma and who subsequently developed systemic metastasis. An immunoassay was developed in which ME491 was absorbed to polystyrene beads in order to bind the melanoma-associated antigen present in serum. 125I-MAb8-1H was used to detect the bound antigen.

Antigenic modulation in retinoblastoma: a flow cytometric study.

Flow cytometry (FCM) was used to investigate antigenic expression and modulation during the cell cycle of Y-79 and WERI-Rb1 tissue cultured retinoblastoma cell lines using a polyclonal anti-Y-79 antibody and fluorescein conjugated lectins. Several Y-79 resting cell populations were identified by FCM analysis of antibody binding, while only a single population with uniform antigen expression was found to exist in the synthetic and mitotic phases. WERI-Rb1 cells bound antibody approximately equally in each phase of the cell cycle.

Lymphocyte subpopulations in Graves' ophthalmopathy.

We assessed the percentages of T-lymphocyte subsets, B lymphocytes, monocytes, and granulocytes in the mononuclear cell preparations of euthyroid patients with minimal and severe Graves' ophthalmopathy. Patients with active Werner class 4-5 and class 6 ophthalmopathy had statistically significant elevations of suppressor/cytotoxic T8+ lymphocytes. During successful corticosteroid therapy, the number of T8+ lymphocytes returned to the normal range.

Retinal S-antigen and retinoblastoma: a monoclonal antibody and flow cytometric study.

Retinal S-antigen was demonstrated in the WERI-Rb1 and to a lesser extent the Y-79 tissue cultured retinoblastoma cell lines as well as an ethanol-fixed, paraffin-embedded retinoblastoma by an indirect immunoperoxidase technique using monoclonal antibody MAbA9-C6, and by flow cytometric analysis (FCM) using MAbA9-C6 and MAbA1-G5. In fixed tissue sections, S-antigen immunoreactivity was restricted and localized to small numbers of retinoblastoma cells, including Flexner-Wintersteiner rosettes. By FCM, MAbA9-C6 bound to 15.

Flow cytometry of leukocytes after intravenous fluorescein angiography.

Blood specimens were obtained for T lymphocyte analysis from patients undergoing intravenous fluorescein angiography (IVFA). Mononuclear cells were prepared by differential density centrifugation and analyzed by flow cytometry (FCM). Prior to IVFA, there was very little autofluorescence in the mononuclear cell population.

Thymus-derived lymphocyte enumeration in patients with uveal malignant melanoma.

Thymus-derived lymphocytes (T lymphocytes) were enumerated in patients with uveal malignant melanoma. Two T-lymphocyte subpopulations were determined, the active rosette forming cells (A-RFC) and the total rosette forming cells (T-RFC). Subjects were divided into the following groups: (a) pretreatment patients, (b) patients treated by enucleation, (c) patients treated by photocoagulation, (d) patients treated by cobalt plaque radiotherapy, (e) patients treated by enucleation who developed clinically detectable metastasis, and (f) normal controls.

Schirmer's test. A closer look.

In 50 normal subjects, results of kinetics studies of Schirmer's test demonstrated nonlinear wetting with an initial rapid phase of wetting followed by a progressive reduction in rate. This initial rapid phase of wetting indicated a reflex secretion of tears. In the majority of subjects, topical anesthesia with 0.

Gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase in the prognosis of patients with uveal malignant melanoma.

A study of 116 patients with histologically proven uveal malignant melanoma suggested that hepatic metastases were present at the same time that the ocular tumor was diagnosed in 15 patients (13%) by serum gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase assay. The average pretherapy gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase levels were statistically higher (P less than .01) in the 28 patients who developed metastases compared with those in 88 patients who have remained clinically free of metastases for a follow-up period of at least two years.

Presence of circulating immune complexes in patients with peripheral corneal disease.

Seventeen patients with peripheral corneal thinning and ulcers (four with Mooren's corneal ulcer, five with Terrien's marginal degeneration, and eight with collagen vascular disease) were tested for immune complexes in their serum. Circulating immune complexes, measured by Raji cell and C1q binding assays, were compared with levels in serum samples from normal controls and seven patients with staphylococcal marginal corneal ulcers. Comparison with normal controls showed significantly higher levels of circulating immune complexes in patients with collagen disease by the C1q binding assay and in patients with Mooren's ulcer by the Raji cell assay.

Association of HLA antigen BW35 with severe Graves' ophthalmopathy.

Human leukocyte antigens (HLA) in patients with Graves' disease were investigated according to the ophthalmic classification system of the American Thyroid Association. All prior HLA studies of Graves' disease have disregarded the patients' specific ophthalmic manifestations. Examination of 18 A and 34 B loci antigens disclosed an increased frequency (corrected P = 0.

In vitro characteristics of uveal malignant melanomas.

During a 17-month period, 33 histologically proved posterior uveal melanomas were prepared for in vitro cultivation in our laboratory. Nine of these remained in culture from five to 12 passages. Four tumors histologically classified as heavily pigmented spindle B cell type remained as pigmented spindle cell tumors in primary culture.

Antibody to Toxocara canis in the aqueous humor.

The aqueous humor and serum samples of patients with presumed ocular toxocariasis were examined by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for antibody to the embryonated egg antigen. Using a single dilution (1:8), higher amounts of antibody have been found in the aqueous humor than in the serum samples. Antibody was not found in the serum or aqueous humor of patients with retinoblastoma, Coats' disease, uveal malignant melanoma, or central retinal artery obstruction.

The clinical immunology of Graves' ophthalmopathy.

Graves' ophthalmopathy is frequently a diagnostic and therapeutic dilemma for practicing ophthalmologists. We have reviewed the clinical immunology of this disorder with regard to clinical manifestations, humoral immunity, and cellular immunity. Special emphasis with applicable clinical and laboratory data is given to the hypothesis that Graves' thyrotoxicosis and ophthalmopathy may be frequently associated diseases rather than disorders caused by a common pathogenetic mechanism.

Familial pars planitis.

Pars planitis has rarely been noted to occur in more than one member of a family. We report the occurrence of this disorder in more than one member of two unrelated families. The affected members of one of these families included a 37-year-old woman and three of her six children.

Graves' ophthalmopathy--immunologic parameters related to corticosteroid therapy.

Patients with severe Graves' ophthalmopathy may or may not improve with systemic corticosteroids. In an attempt to find immunologic distinctions to correspond with this clinical phenomenon, we have evaluated various parameters in corticosteroid-responsive and corticosteroid-resistant individuals. Percentages and absolute numbers of thymus-derived active and total rosette-forming cells (A-RFC and T-RFC) underwent statistically significant (p < 0.

Intracranial malignancy in patients with bilateral retinoblastoma.

Tumors from two patients with bilateral retinoblastoma and intracranial malignancies were studied from a clinical, histopathological, and an immunohistochemical standpoint. An antiserum derived against tissue cultured Y-79 retinoblastoma cells was utilized in order to examine the surface and cytoplasmic antigens of the two brain tumors, histopathologically diagnosed as an embryonal cell carcinoma (case 1), a pinealoblastoma (case 2), and one ocular retinoblastoma. The two brain tumors reacted with the antiserum to different degrees.

Immunodiagnosis of late, recurrent retinoblastoma.

The clinical, pathological, and immunohistochemical features of a patient with bilateral retinoblastoma who developed a nasopharyngeal mass seven years following irradiation treatment of the left eye is described. Diagnosis of the new tumor was difficult by routine light microscopy. Immunohistochemical staining of the original globes, the nasopharyngeal mass, and a cervical lymph node biopsy specimen with an antiserum prepared against tissue cultured retinoblastoma cells suggested the diagnosis of metastatic retinoblastoma rather than a "radiation-induced" sarcoma.

Surface and cytoplasmic antigens in retinoblastoma.

Surface and cytoplasmic antigens in retinoblastoma were examined by antisera prepared against two tissue-cultured retinoblastoma cell lines. In addition, several other antisera, including anti-rhodopsin, anti-rod outer segment, anti-large-molecular-weight protein, anti-S, and anti-P antigen, were also utilized in a complement-dependent cytotoxicity assay in order to explore the tumor cell surface. Antisera to tissue-cultured retinoblastoma cell lines were cross-reactive to both cell lines as was rod outer segment antiserum.

Tritiated fluorescein binding to normal human plasma proteins.

Aliquots of normal human plasma that had been incubated with tritiated fluorescein were examined for radioactive binding to proteins. Samples were fractionated by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE) and gel filtration. Aliquots removed between zero time and two hours showed no specific radioactive binding peaks by either method.

Tumor-associated antibodies in the serum of patients with ocular melanoma. IV. Correction for smooth muscle antibodies.

Serum samples from patients with choroidal malignant melanoma, carcinoma metastatic to the choroid and "normal" controls containing tumor-associated antibodies (TAA) to tissue cultured melanoma cells were examined for the presence of smooth muscle antibody (SMA). Sera found to contain SMA were absorbed with actin or thrombosthenin and reassayed for TAA. With this modification, 72% (78% before absorption) of patients with uveal melanoma, 26% (78% before absorption) of patients with carcinoma metastatic to the choroid and 13% (24% before absorption) of "normal" controls were found to have tumor-associated antibodies in their serum.

Experimental ocular angiogenesis.

In 29 experiments, vascular autologous retina from the contralateral rabbit eye was implanted into corneal pockets in New Zealand white rabbits. The implants induced a neovascular growth of limbal vessels that anastomosed with the vessels of the implant in 15 of the cases. Implantation of vascular autologous iris, choroid, optic nerve extraocular muscle, and conjunctiva also induced neovascularization.