Vessel counts and vascular endothelial growth factor expression in pancreatic adenocarcinoma.

Angiogenesis is essential for growth and metastasis of solid malignancies. In several tumours, tumour vessel count and expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), a potent angiogenic factor, have been associated with prognosis. To determine if vessel count and VEGF expression are prognostic factors in pancreatic cancer, we examined these parameters in resected tumour specimens from 22 patients who did not receive pre-operative therapy.

Cytochemical evidence for potassium-dependent p-nitrophenylphosphatase activity in pavement cells of Rana esculenta mesentery.

Background: We previously reported that during hibernation in Rana esculenta, various organs (i.e., skin, urinary bladder, kidney) change their osmoregulatory activity.

Prospective, randomized trial of octreotide to prevent pancreatic fistula after pancreaticoduodenectomy for malignant disease.

Objective: This study was conducted to determine whether the perioperative administration of octreotide decreases the incidence of pancreatic anastomotic leak after pancreaticoduodenectomy for malignancy.

Summary Background Data: Three multicenter, prospective, randomized trials concluded that patients who receive octreotide during and after pancreatic resection have a reduction in the total number of complications or a decreased incidence of pancreatic fistula. However, in the subset of patients who underwent pancreaticoduodenectomy for malignancy, either no analysis was performed or no benefit from octreotide could be demonstrated.

Styrene-induced alterations in the respiratory tract of rats treated by inhalation or intraperitoneally.

Although exposure to styrene occurs primarily via inhalation, the action of this agent on the respiratory tract has scarcely been investigated. This article describes morphological and biochemical changes occurring in the respiratory tract of rats after either inhalation of styrene vapors (300 ppm, 6 h/d, 5 d/wk, for 2 wk) or systemic (ip) treatment with 40 or 400 mg/kg styrene for 3 consecutive days. Electron microscopy analysis showed diffuse cell damage involving the tracheal, bronchiolar, and alveolar epithelium.

Cytochemical demonstration of nitric oxide synthase and 5' nucleotidase in human glioblastoma.

Both nitric oxide (NO), formed from L-arginine by the enzyme nitric oxide synthase (NOS), and adenosine, which is produced by 5' nucleotidase (5' N) acting on adenosine 5' monophosphate (5' AMP) are implicated in several neurophysiological processes. In addition, 5' N is a linker protein involved in cell motility. Alterations of both enzyme activities seem to be responsible for some pathological states of the central nervous system (CNS).

Preoperative and postoperative chemoradiation strategies in patients treated with pancreaticoduodenectomy for adenocarcinoma of the pancreas.

Purpose: The effects of preoperative versus postoperative fluorouracil (5-FU)-based chemotherapy and irradiation on treatment toxicity, duration of treatment, tumor recurrence, and survival were compared in patients who underwent potentially curative therapy for adenocarcinoma of the pancreatic head during a 5-year period.

Methods: From July 1990 to July 1995, 142 patients with localized adenocarcinoma of the pancreatic head deemed resectable on the basis of radiographic images were treated with curative intent using a multimodality approach involving either preoperative or postoperative chemoradiation. Patients with biopsy confirmation of adenocarcinoma and a low-density mass in the pancreatic head identified by computed tomography (CT) received preoperative chemoradiation.

bcl-2 and p53 expression in resectable pancreatic adenocarcinomas: association with clinical outcome.

The bcl-2 proto-oncogene and the p53 tumor suppressor gene are important determinants of tumor cell susceptibility to apoptosis. bcl-2 and mutant p53 proteins inhibit apoptosis in vitro and can provide prognostic information in certain tumor types. We analyzed bcl-2 and p53 expression in archival pancreatic (n = 35) and ampullary (n = 6) adenocarcinomas, resected for cure, and their relationship to overall survival.

Reoperative pancreaticoduodenectomy for periampullary carcinoma.

Background: We have noted a continued increase in the number of patients referred to our institution for presumed or biopsy-proven periampullary carcinoma following an "exploratory" laparotomy during which tumor resection was not performed. Although previous work has demonstrated the safety of reoperative pancreaticoduodenectomy (PD), the need to avoid nontherapeutic laparotomy in these patients is obvious. In the current study, we sought to determine why PD was not performed at the initial operation.

The need for standardized pathologic staging of pancreaticoduodenectomy specimens.

A standardized method for pathologic evaluation and staging of pancreaticoduodenectomy (PD) specimens is critical for accurate reporting of the number and location of lymph nodes and margins of resection. We examined the impact of standardized pathologic evaluation (SPE) of PD specimens on the identification of regional lymph nodes and describe our detailed system for the pathologic analysis of the PD specimen. Forty consecutive patients underwent PD for histologically confirmed adenocarcinoma of the pancreatic head between April 1990 and August 1993.

Rationale for en bloc vein resection in the treatment of pancreatic adenocarcinoma adherent to the superior mesenteric-portal vein confluence. Pancreatic Tumor Study Group.

Objective: Tumor invasion of the superior mesenteric-portal vein (SMPV) confluence is often considered a contraindication to pancreaticoduodenectomy for patients with malignant tumors of the pancreas or periampullary region. The authors sought to determine whether pancreaticoduodenectomy with en bloc resection of the SMPV confluence could be safely performed and whether tumors involving the SMPV confluence were associated with pathologic parameters suggesting poor prognosis.

Summary Background Data: Several centers have reported high rates of retroperitoneal margin positivity after pancreaticoduodenectomy for tumors of the pancreatic head and periampullary region.

An ultrastructural and cytochemical study of the mesonephros of Rana esculenta during activity and hibernation.

The biological cycle of most amphibians undergoes seasonal variations. In this study, we investigated the mesonephros of Rana esculenta during active life and the natural hibernation period. The ultrastructural morphology of the different tracts constituting the nephron was analysed.

Preoperative chemoradiation, pancreaticoduodenectomy, and intraoperative radiation therapy for adenocarcinoma of the pancreatic head.

Background: Local recurrence in the bed of the resected pancreas is the most common site of tumor recurrence following a standard pancreaticoduodenectomy (PD) for adenocarcinoma of the pancreatic head. In an attempt to improve local and regional disease control and thereby enhance the quality and length of survival in patients undergoing potentially curative PD, we have used a protocol of preoperative multimodality therapy.

Patients And Methods: All patients were treated with external-beam radiation (30.

Preoperative chemoradiation for adenocarcinoma of the pancreas: excessive toxicity of prophylactic hepatic irradiation.

Purpose: In an effort to reduce relapse in the liver and improve survival in patients with potentially resectable adenocarcinoma of the pancreatic head, we combined whole-liver irradiation with our standard preoperative chemoradiation regimen.

Methods And Materials: Eleven patients with biopsy-proven, potentially resectable adenocarcinoma of the pancreatic head were treated with 50.4 Gy of external beam irradiation to the pancreas (1.

A re-evaluation of the ultrastructural localization of 5'-nucleotidase activity in the developing rat cerebellum, with a cerium-based method.

The membrane ectoenzyme 5'-nucleotidase converts 5'-AMP into adenosine which, in the nervous tissue, plays an important role as intercellular messenger. Moreover, during histogenesis, 5'-nucleotidase seems to be related to cell proliferation and migration. Conflicting data are reported in the literature about the localization (neuronal or glial) of 5'-nucleotides in the rat cerebellum.

The cerebral neurons of Helix aspersa during hibernation. Changes in the cytochemical detection of calmodulin, cytoskeletal components and phosphatases.

Some markers of the intracellular systems that regulate neuronal activity and morphology were analyzed in the cerebral ganglion of hibernating snails (Helix aspersa), in comparison with active animals. The immunocytochemical expression of a calcium-binding protein, i.e.

Acute promyelocytic leukemia toluidine blue subtype.

In the hypergranular group of acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL) a rare subvariant with basophilic granules, metachromatic for toluidine blue, is recognizable. To evaluate the incidence as well as the biological and clinical significance of this subtype, we studied 53 consecutive untreated patients with APL with morphological, cytochemical, immunological and cytogenetic methods. In 10 cases (19% of the total) granules stained metachromatically in percentages of promyelocytes ranging from 16 to 60.

Thin-section contrast-enhanced computed tomography accurately predicts the resectability of malignant pancreatic neoplasms.

A prospective diagnostic study was designed to determine the ability of thin-section contrast-enhanced computed tomography (CT) to predict the resectability of malignant neoplasms of the pancreatic head. Patients with a presumed resectable pancreatic neoplasm referred during a 21-month period were studied with abdominal CT performed at 1.5-mm section thickness and 5-mm slice interval during the bolus phase of intravenous contrast enhancement.

Nonfunctioning islet cell carcinoma of the pancreas.

Background: Nonfunctioning islet cell carcinoma of the pancreas has a variable and often indolent natural history, which has resulted in a wide range of treatment recommendations. To more clearly define the natural history and appropriate treatment of this disease, we reviewed our institutional experience over the last 39 years.

Methods: The records of all patients confirmed to have a nonfunctioning islet cell carcinoma of the pancreas were retrospectively reviewed.

Cytochemical characterization of the hemocytes of Leucophaea maderae (Dictyoptera: Blaberoidea).

A correlated morphological and cytochemical approach to the hemocytes in Leucophaea maderae characterizes the granule contents of blood cells with May Grunwald-Giemsa (MGG), periodic acid-Schiff (PAS), Alcian blue (AB), and Sudan black B stainings, and after fluorochroming with acridine orange (AO). The cell nucleus and nuclear DNA is demonstrated with the Feulgen reaction. The activities of α-naphtyl butyrate esterase (ANBE) and acid phosphatase (AcPase) have been investigated in hemocytes, by both light and electron microscopy.

Preoperative chemoradiation and pancreaticoduodenectomy for adenocarcinoma of the pancreas.

Chemoradiation prior to pancreaticoduodenectomy ensures that all patients who undergo resection complete multimodality therapy, avoids resection in patients with rapidly progressive disease, and allows radiation therapy to be delivered to well-oxygenated cells before surgical devascularization. Twenty-eight patients with cytologic or histologic proof of localized adenocarcinoma of the pancreatic head received preoperative chemoradiation (fluorouracil, 300 mg/m2 per day, and 50.4 Gy) with the intent of proceeding to resection; all 28 completed this preoperative therapy.

Abrogating chemotherapy-induced myelosuppression by recombinant granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor in patients with sarcoma: protection at the progenitor cell level.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to optimize the dose, schedule, and timing of recombinant granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) administration that would best abrogate myelosuppression in patients with sarcoma.

Patients And Methods: Sarcoma patients who had experienced severe myelosuppression after chemotherapy with Cytoxan (cyclophosphamide; Bristol-Myers Squibb Co, Evansville, IN), Adriamycin (doxorubicin; Adria Laboratories, Columbus, OH), and dacarbazine ([CyADIC], cycle 1) were eligible. GM-CSF was administered during a 14-day period until 1 week before cycle 2 of CyADIC and was resumed 2 days after cycle 2 completion.

Frog hepatocyte modifications induced by seasonal variations: a morphological and cytochemical study.

A correlated morphological and cytochemical approach was employed to study frog hepatocytes in different periods of their annual cycle, including the natural hibernating period. There were considerable changes in the distribution and organization of hepatic glycogen in different phases of the annual cycle, and distribution of organelles as well. The most striking findings were glycogen storage during the prehibernation and hibernation phases, followed by drastic glycogen depletion.

The syndrome of abnormal chromatin clumping in leucocytes: clinical and biological study of a case.

The authors report the clinical and biological findings of a case of a rare haematological malignant entity, morphologically characterised by a bizarre nuclear abnormality in granulocytes, consisting of exaggerated chromatin clumping and apparent fragmentation of the nucleus, with a loss of segmentation. They emphasize the coexistence of proliferative and dysplastic characteristics as a distinctive marker of this disorder and suggest it may represent a distinct rare morphological entity among the atypical chronic myeloid leukaemias, Ph1 and ber negative.

5' Nucleotidase in chronic B cell leukemias: a cytochemical and ultrastructural study.

We studied by cytochemical means the distribution of 5' nucleotidase (5' NT), a purine degradative enzyme, in the circulating lymphocytes of 24 healthy donors and 41 cases of chronic lymphoid leukemias, classified according to morphological and immunological criteria. About half the normal circulating lymphocytes were 5'NT positive and exhibited variable degrees of enzyme activity. Among chronic B lymphocytic leukemias we found high percentages of positive cells only in the phenotypically more mature cases.