A phase II study of combined oral uracil and ftorafur with leucovorin for patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck.

Background: The objective of this Phase II study was to define the response rate, safety profile, and toxicity of oral uracil and ftorafur (UFT) with leucovorin (UFT/LV) as a palliative treatment for patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (SCCHN).

Methods: Patients with metastatic or recurrent SCCHN with an Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status < 2 and adequate organ function were enrolled in an institutional review board-approved trial. Prior induction or adjuvant chemotherapy was permitted provided 6 months had elapsed since the last chemotherapy.

Phase II trial of docetaxel, cisplatin, fluorouracil, and leucovorin as induction for squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck.

Purpose: To evaluate the toxicity and efficacy of a 4-day regimen of docetaxel, cisplatin, fluorouracil, and leucovorin (TPFL4) in patients with locoregionally advanced squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (SCCHN).

Patients And Methods: Thirty previously untreated patients with stage III or IV SCCHN and Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group functional status of 2 or less were treated with TPFL4. Postchemotherapy support included prophylactic growth factors and antibiotics.

Clinical and pathologic characterization of mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue lymphoma of the head and neck.

Mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT) has recently been recognized as a possible site of origin for low-grade lymphomas of the B-cell type. Though relatively rare, these MALT lymphomas may arise within several sites in the head and neck, and often present diagnostic and therapeutic challenges. We review 4 cases of primary MALT lymphoma of the head and neck, treated with surgical excision (3 cases), irradiation (2 cases), and chemotherapy (1 case), to further characterize this new subtype of head and neck malignancy.

Human eosinophil Charcot-Leyden crystal protein: cloning and characterization of a lysophospholipase gene promoter.

The Charcot-Leyden crystal (CLC) protein is a lysophospholipase expressed exclusively by eosinophils and basophils. During eosinophilic differentiation of eosinophil-committed cell lines, CLC steady state mRNA levels increase significantly. This increased expression is transcriptionally regulated during butyrate induction of an eosinophilic subline (C15) of the promyelocytic leukemia cell line HL-60, as shown by nuclear run-on assays.

Discordant disappearance of bioactive and immunoreactive parathyroid hormone after parathyroidectomy.

The disappearance of plasma PTH after parathyroidectomy was assessed in patients with primary hyperparathyroidism and normal renal function, chronic renal failure or restored renal function (after transplantation). Plasma PTH levels were determined by renal cytochemical bioassay and by midregion and carboxyl-terminal RIAs. Baseline PTH levels were lower in each patient when assessed by bioassay than when determined by RIA, and the rate of hormone disappearance was faster when determined by bioassay than when measured by RIA.