Immunohistochemical study of estrogen receptors in primary breast carcinomas and their lymph node metastases including comparison of two monoclonal antibodies.

Estrogen receptors (ER) status was investigated in 101 primary breast carcinomas and their axillary lymph node metastases to determine if the malignant cells retained or changed this phenotypic feature during the metastatic process. Immunohistochemistry with the ER-ICA kit (Abbott Laboratory) on formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissue was used (paraffin ER-ICA). The ER status in primary and secondary tumours was concordant in 80 patients (79%) and discordant in 21 (21%).

Uptake of trace amounts of aluminum into the brain from drinking water.

Throughout the world, alum (aluminum sulfate) is used in municipal water treatment plants to clarify water. Alum treatment usually removes aluminosilicate particles from drinking water but can substantially increase its soluble aluminum content (Zhang et al., 1994; Tran et al.

[Medical research and the ethics committee. A questionnaire study among project leaders in the health region 4].

All 159 principal investigators whose projects had been assessed by the biomedical research ethics committee in Health Region 4 (Central Norway) during 1986-92 were asked to complete a questionnaire about medical research ethics and the work of the ethics committee. Their answers about scientific fraud and misconduct have been published previously. This paper reports how the 119 respondents (70% of those addressed) regard the role and work of the ethics committees and how they perceived the committee's assessment of their own project.

[Medical research and ethics. A questionnaire study among project leaders in the health region 4].

A questionnaire survey concerning attitudes to medical research ethics and the ethics committee was conducted among the 159 principal investigators whose protocols had been assessed by the regional ethics committee for biomedical research in the years 1986-92. Of the 119 respondents, 80% agreed that results of medical research can be misused and more than 60% that the public should have insight into and access to research results. More than half said it might be necessary to withhold results and that individual investigators should be able to do so to prevent misuse.

Increased levels of cytokines and cytokine activity modifiers in normal pregnancy.

Accumulating evidence suggests that cytokines are major participants in human reproduction. Cytokines may have beneficial or negative influence on pregnancy outcome, depending on the cytokine level present. Thus, successful reproduction appears to depend on a tight regulation of cytokine activities.

Pregnancy rates after operative endoscopic treatment of total (neosalpingostomy) or near total (salpingostomy) distal tubal occlusion.

Objective: To determine the efficacy of the endoscopic treatment of complete distal tubal occlusion or moderate to severe tubal phimosis and to analyze outcome using contemporary statistical methodologies.

Design: Prospective cohort analysis.

Setting: Tertiary-care institution.

Comparison of radiographic absorptiometry with dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry and quantitative computed tomography in normal older white and black women.

Bone mineral density (BMD) of the phalanges of the hand was measured by the technique of radiographic absorptiometry (RA) in 199 older postmenopausal women previously determined to have normal BMD by dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry (DXA) and quantitative computed tomography (QCT). The average age of the women was 66.8 +/- 4.

Body composition and gonadal steroids in older white and black women.

Obesity offers protection against osteoporosis in older women. The mechanisms are not well understood, but relate in part to increased aromatization of adrenal androgens to estrone in peripheral fat and muscle tissue. Two hundred and one white and 77 black women previously reported to be free of skeletal disease and to have normal bone mass had measurements of total body bone mineral (TBBM), fat mass (TBFM), and lean mass (TBLM) performed by dual energy x-ray absorptiometry.

Reference data for bone mass, calciotropic hormones, and biochemical markers of bone remodeling in older (55-75) postmenopausal white and black women.

From a random sample of our institution's health maintenance organization (HMO), we recruited 250 white women and 112 black women, aged 55-75, all of whom were 10 or more years postmenospause with minimal estrogen exposure and free of osteoporosis, other metabolic bone disease, and medical, surgical, or therapeutic situations that may influence bone loss. Bone mass was measured in the radius, spine, and femur by DXA and in L1 by QCT. Serum samples were analyzed for parathyroid hormone, calcidiol, calcitriol, osteocalcin, and bone alkaline phosphatase and urine samples analyzed for creatinine, calcium, and hydroxyproline.

c-erbB-2 oncoprotein is not an independent prognostic parameter in primary breast carcinoma. An immunohistochemical study.

The prognostic significance of c-erbB-2 oncoprotein expression was studied using the monoclonal antibody, anti-c-erbB-2 (CB-11, BioGenex) and the avidin-biotin-complex (ABC) technique. Four hundred and ninety patients with primary breast carcinoma diagnosed at Gentofte Hospital in the period 1980-1985 were included. Information about treatment, relapse-free period and overall survival was obtained from the Danish Breast Cancer Co-operative Group (DBCG).

The prognostic-significance of cathepsin-d in breast carcinomas - an immunohistochemical study.

Cathepsin D, a lysosomal protease, was examined by immunohistochemistry in 481 breast carcinomas. The immunoreactivity for cathepsin D was registered in the tumour cells, in the surrounding stroma, and in the macrophages and correlated with clinicopathological parameters. In univariate analysis of survival data, less than 25% positive tumour cells, any positivity in the stroma, and moderate or strong positivity in the macrophages were poor prognostic parameters.

Relationship among p53, stage, and prognosis of large bowel cancer.

Purpose: We designed a study to determine whether increases in p53 protein in primary carcinomas of the colon or rectum correlate with overall survival. Mutations of the tumor suppressor gene p53 are detectable by immunocytochemical methods in colorectal cancers because of accumulation of nuclear p53 protein.

Methods: IgG1 monoclonal antibody to human p53 protein (PAb 1801) was used to detect p53 in formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded archival tumors resected from 84 patients with tumor limited to the bowel wall.

Human papillomavirus and normal nasal mucosa: detection of human papillomavirus DNA in normal nasal mucosa biopsies by polymerase chain reaction and in situ hybridization.

To determine a possible etiological role of human papillomavirus (HPV) in sinonasal papillomas and squamous cell carcinomas, it is necessary to investigate normal nasal mucosa of healthy persons for the presence of HPV. The material in the present study consists of 21 biopsies taken from the inferior concha of 21 otherwise healthy persons who underwent surgery for nose fractures or nasoseptal deviations. In addition, five inferior conchae were obtained from persons who had died of non-neoplastic diseases.

General practitioners' compliance with guidelines for antenatal care.

Objective: To assess general practitioners' compliance with Norwegian guidelines for antenatal care issued in 1984 and to identify characteristics of physicians with low compliance.

Setting: Routine clinical practice in primary care.

Study Population: All women permanently residing in the county of Oppland who gave birth during a 12-month period 1988-89 and the general practitioners who provided their antenatal care.

[Disseminated primary bronchogenic carcinoma in 3 young patients].

Primary lung cancer in young patients is rare, patients under 40 years of age constituting between 1.2 and five percent of all cases. Three cases of primary lung cancer in young patients are presented, and the typical manifestations of primary lung cancer in young patients are discussed.

Microwave processing for immunohistochemical demonstration of proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) in formalin-fixed and paraffin-embedded tissue.

The effect of microwave irradiation on the immunoreactivity of proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) in five primary breast carcinomas, a tonsil with hyperplasia, and a seminoma of the testis was evaluated in formalin-fixed and paraffin-embedded sections using the monoclonal antibody PC-10. The tissues were fixed in 4% buffered formaldehyde for 6, 24, 28, 72 h, and 1 week. Before incubation with the primary antibody, sections were microwaved for x2 5 min in distilled water, in citrate buffer, or they were processed routinely without microwave irradiation.

Herpes simplex encephalitis in the temporal cortex and limbic system after trigeminal nerve inoculation.

Herpes simplex virus type 1 causes an encephalitis in humans that is primarily restricted to the temporal lobe and limbic system. The distribution of lesions suggests that virus enters the brain from a single site and then spreads transneuronally to infect connected structures. Two obvious sites of potential viral entry are the olfactory and trigeminal nerves.

Erythema elevatum diutinum: case report showing an unusual distribution.

A case of erythema elevatum diutinum showing an unusual distribution is reported. Hard nodules were located on the patient's fingertips and pulps while the extensor surfaces were not involved. The disease was initially misinterpreted based on both clinical and histologic examination.

Examination for intratubular germ cell neoplasia at operation for undescended testis in boys.

A total of 843 consecutive boys (median age 12.7 years) who had undergone testicular biopsy at operation for undescended testis was followed into adulthood (median age 25.2 years) to examine for testicular germ cell neoplasia.

[Increased incidence of sarcoma in patients treated for seminoma].

In a nationwide cancer registry analysis of second primary malignancies in 6187 men with testicular cancer in the period 1943-1987, 13 sarcomas were found, yielding a 4-fold increase of the relative risk (RR). The majority of sarcomas occurred in men with seminoma, and the increased incidence was seen irrespective of time since the diagnosis of testicular cancer. The interval between the testicular cancer and the sarcoma varied from five to 34 years.

[Misconduct in medical research. A questionnaire survey among project leaders in health region 4].

During the period 1986-92, a questionnaire survey was conducted among research project administrators whose study protocols were assessed by the ethical committee for biomedical research in Health region 4 (Central Norway). The questions referred to the scientists' attitudes towards medical research ethics in general, and their views on the work of the committee. They were also asked to comment on seven statements about scientific fraud and misconduct.

Proliferating cell nuclear antigen in breast carcinomas. An immunohistochemical study with correlation to histopathological features and prognostic factors.

Proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA), was examined by immunohistochemistry in 509 breast carcinomas. The immunoreactivity was found to be independent of the length of fixation when the tissue sections were microwaved before incubation with the primary antibody. The PCNA immunoreactivity was assessed by two semi-quantitative methods, which were correlated but not exchangeable.

The presence of human papillomavirus in sinonasal papillomas, demonstrated by polymerase chain reaction with consensus primers.

The frequency of human papillomavirus (HPV) in sinonasal papillomas seems to vary considerably. The highest frequencies have been reported by investigators using in situ DNA or RNA hybridization. Few studies have used polymerase chain reaction, and in these reports the frequency of HPV detection is rather low.

Search for Mycobacterium paratuberculosis DNA in tissue from patients with sarcoidosis by enzymatic gene amplification.

The etiology of sarcoidosis has not yet been established, but several mycobacterial species have been implicated in the pathogenesis of this disease. We have used a nested primer polymerase chain reaction (PCR) specific for the IS900 Mycobacterium paratuberculosis insertion element to analyse paraffin-embedded mediastinal lymphoid tissue from 18 patients with pulmonary sarcoidosis verified by mediastinoscopy. Only the positive control contained M.

[Dishonesty in medical research. A questionnaire study among project administrators in Health Region 4].

During the period 1986-92, a questionnaire survey was conducted among research project administrators whose study protocols were assessed by the ethical committee for biomedical research in Health region 4 (Central Norway). The questions referred to the scientists' attitudes towards medical research ethics in general, and their views on the work of the committee. They were also asked to comment on seven statements about scientific fraud and misconduct.