Cancer of the larynx/hypopharynx, tobacco and alcohol: IARC international case-control study in Turin and Varese (Italy), Zaragoza and Navarra (Spain), Geneva (Switzerland) and Calvados (France).

A case-control study on larynx and hypopharynx cancer was carried out in 6 populations including the city of Turin and the province of Varese (Italy), the provinces of Navarra and Zaragoza (Spain), the canton of Geneva (Switzerland), and the département of Calvados (France). This report presents an analysis of the risk associated with alcohol and tobacco consumption based on 1,147 male cases and 3,057 male population controls. Special attention was given to the study of the risk at various sites of larynx and hypopharynx.

Plastic material used to optimize radiotherapy of head and neck tumors and the mammary carcinoma.

In order to improve head and neck tumor therapy, face masks were developed. The physical and mechanical properties of 11 apparently suitable materials were tested using a phantom. According to our studies "HEXCELITE" (supplied by Medimex, Hamburg, F.

Pharmacokinetics of carbamazepine in psychiatric patients.

Plasma levels of carbamazepine (CBZ) were studied in 10 patients with psychiatric illnesses who were given the drug every 12 hours for 28 days. No correlation has been found between the daily dose of carbamazepine (calculated for body weight) and the steady-state level of the drug. In most patients taking CBZ as the only drug, a 10-20% fall in plasma drug level occurred between the first and second week of treatment, suggesting autoinduction process.

Studies of lithium pharmacokinetics in patients with affective illness.

Lithium pharmacokinetics after a single dose and pharmacokinetic prediction of optimal lithium carbonate dose in steady-state, were investigated in 15 patients with affective illness. In nine patients the course of plasma concentration after a single dose was characteristic for two-compartment and in six patients for one-compartment model. Patients fitting the two-compartment model required higher daily lithium dose to achieve steady-state therapeutic lithium level than patients fitting the one-compartment model.

[Pyolaryngocele].

This study presents two new observations of laryngopyocele. It is a very serious form of clinical emergency related to latent asphyxia necessitating immediate medical attention. The treatment of choice consists of an external approach with removal of the superior edge of the thyroid lamina in addition to endotracheal intubation or a tracheotomy.

Identification of a polypeptide growth inhibitor from bovine mammary gland. Sequence homology to fatty acid- and retinoid-binding proteins.

A polypeptide growth inhibitor purified from bovine mammary gland (mammary-derived growth inhibitor) has been shown to reversibly inhibit proliferation of mammary carcinoma cells at concentrations of about 10(-10) M. The carrier of inhibitory activity has been identified biochemically as an about 13-kDa polypeptide and chemically by elucidating the amino acid sequence. No homology to any of the hitherto structurally investigated growth inhibitors (transforming growth factor beta, interferons) has been observed.

[Transabdominal chorionic biopsy: indications and timing of the procedure].

The article reports on the introduction of transabdominal chorionic biopsy in the Gynaecological Hospital of Ludwigshafen in cooperation with the Department of Human Genetics at the University of Heidelberg. After completion of a pilot study 15 diagnostic transabdominal chorionic biopsies were performed between the 15th and 23rd pregnancy week. Sampling was successful in all cases; the median estimated weight of the biopsied samples was 35 mg.

Frequency and sites of distant metastases in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma. An analysis of 101 cases at autopsy.

One hundred one cases of squamous cell carcinoma of the upper respiratory and digestive tracts were analyzed for distant metastases. In all cases, autopsies were performed. Forty (40%) of the 101 patients had presented with one or more distant metastases.

[Acinar cell carcinoma of the salivary glands].

Between 1972 and 1985, eleven cases of acinic cell carcinoma were treated at the ENT clinic of the University Hospital Geneva. Eight of them were located in the parotid gland, three in minor salivary glands, two of these on the hard palate and one on the lower lip. Local recurrence occurred in four cases: two were recurrences of a parotid gland carcinoma and two of a minor salivary gland carcinoma.

Altered growth control by natural growth inhibitors in the mutant HD33 substrain of the Ehrlich-Lettré ascites mammary carcinoma.

The mutant substrain HD33 of the Ehrlich-Lettré ascites mammary carcinoma (EAC) was found to be altered in its ability to respond to and to produce natural growth inhibitors. Cells of this substrain did not respond to (1) a highly purified growth inhibitor from bovine mammary gland, inhibiting the proliferation of two strains of the original EAC already at concentrations of 0.5-2.

Antimicrobial prophylaxis in head and neck surgery.

In this random study, 60 patients were given either cefotaxime, or ceftriaxone as a prophylactic measure in cervicofacial surgery. Each antibiotic was administered during a 48-hour period starting 1 h before the operation. Twenty-three patients underwent major cervicofacial surgery including opening of the pharynx or the buccal cavity by the cervical route.

A randomized study of methotrexate, bleomycin, hydroxyurea with versus without cisplatin in patients with previously untreated and recurrent squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck.

The value of a combination of methotrexate, bleomycin and hydroxyurea with vs. without cisplatin was randomly examined in 62 evaluable patients with previously untreated (44 patients) and recurrent (18 patients) squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck. Methotrexate (30 mg/m2) and bleomycin (15 mg) were given intravenously weekly, hydroxyurea (1000 mg/m2) per os 3 times per week for 4 weeks.

The NIH-shift in the in vivo hydroxylation of ring-deuterated L-phenylalanine in man.

Oral loading with L-[ring-2H5]phenylalanine has been performed at a dose of 25 mg/kg for detection of heterozygotes for classic phenylketonuria. Using three differently labeled batches of ring-deuterated L-phenylalanine, quantitative analysis of deuterium-labeled L-phenylalanine and L-tyrosine in plasma revealed different label distributions. Three different reaction mechanisms for the 4-hydroxylation of L-phenylalanine to L-tyrosine were used as the basis for model calculations of the transformation of the L-phenylalanine label distribution into that of L-tyrosine.

Impaired phenylalanine-tyrosine conversion in patients with iron-deficiency anemia studied by a L-(2H5)phenylalanine-loading test.

Ten patients with manifest iron deficiency and without documented relationship to phenylketonuria patients were orally loaded with 25 mg/kg of L-(2H5)phenylalanine. Before loading, the fasting phenylalanine-tyrosine plasma ratio was determined and after loading, the concentrations of labeled and nonlabeled phenylalanine and tyrosine were determined in five consecutive plasma samples. With respect to the fasting phenylalanine-tyrosine ratio and to the post-load ratios of labeled phenylalanine over labeled tyrosine, the iron-deficient patients showed data intermediate between those of normals and heterozygotes for phenylketonuria.

[Chest wall moulages for radiotherapy of resected breast cancer with fast electrons: comparative tests of different materials].

Irradiation of the thoracic wall with high-speed electrons is one of the standard methods of prophylaxis and therapy of local recurrences and cutaneous metastases of an operated mammary carcinoma. The surface dose, however, is only 85% of the maximum dose, due to the depth dose curve of the electron beams with the preponderantly applied energy of 7MeV. This is a poor value, since most of all recurrences appear near to the surface and so the risk of giving an insufficient dose is involved.

13C-ethanol and 13C-acetate breath tests in normal and aldehyde dehydrogenase deficient individuals.

Four normal and five aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH) isozyme I deficient individuals were subsequently loaded with (1-13C)ethanol and (1-13C)sodium acetate and the conversion of the label to 13CO2 was determined in expired air by isotope ratio mass spectrometry. In the 13C-acetate breath test, both groups showed virtually identical recovery of the label in expired air, namely 48.5 +/- 2.

[Face masks for radiotherapy of head and neck tumors: comparative tests of different materials].

A most precise immobilisation of the patient's head is indispensable in order to reach a high degree of exactness and reproducibility in radiotherapy of malignant head and neck tumors. Face masks made of different synthetic materials have proved to be a simple and economical solution for this problem. Based on our own experiences with "Baycast Longuettes" (manufacturing firm: Johnson & Johnson, Düsseldorf), eleven substances have been tested in the phantom (compound of plaster and synthetic resin, thermoplast, polyurethane foam, compounds of cotton and synthetic resin, and fibre glass compounds).

Metabolic conversion of L-[U-14C]phenylalanine to respiratory 14CO2 in healthy subjects, phenylketonuria heterozygotes and classic phenylketonurics.

Ten healthy volunteers, 12 classic phenylketonuria (PKU) heterozygotes, and 5 classic phenylketonurics have been loaded orally with a mixture of 5 microCi of L-[U-14C]phenylalanine plus 25 mg/kg of L-[2H5]phenylalanine. For 3 h thereafter, carbon-14 activity in expired air and total carbon dioxide were measured continuously and the levels of L-phenylalanine and L-tyrosine in plasma were determined in six blood samples. After 3 h, 15.

[Initial experiences in the combined treatment of aphasia patients following cerebrovascular insult by speech therapists and music therapists].

With the publication we try to indicate the common work of speech therapist and music-therapist of the medical treatment of aphasic patients after a cerebrovascular accident (stroke). This combined method of medical treatment has been proved best. In the geriatric centre in Berlin-Buch the co-operation is carried out in the following way: the logopaedic diagnosis of the kind of aphasia is so that the speech therapist and music-therapist can start treating the patients suffering from aphasia with special modified therapy programmes which is coordinated with each other.

[Current status of intrathecal antifibrinolytic therapy with p-aminomethylbenzoic acid (PAMBA) in subarachnoid hemorrhages].

The blood-brain barrier is barely affected by slight or moderate subarachnoidal bleeding so that the p-aminomethylbenzoic acid (PAMBA) administered systemically for antifibrinolytic therapy does not attain the continuous level necessary in the cerebrospinal fluid. Thus the antifibrinolytic agent should be applied intrathecally because this would totally inhibit fibrinolytic activity in cerebrospinal fluid containing blood and during the wound healing of ruptured aneurysmas. The improvement in wound healing reduces the occurrence of rebleeding, especially during the first 10 days, and improves conditions for successful surgical intervention.

Ribonucleotide reductase in ascites tumour cells detected by electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy.

Tyrosine radicals localized in the M2 subunits of ribonucleotide reductase have been detected by electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) in ordinary ascites tumour cells. The intensity of its doublet EPR spectrum is higher in rapidly proliferating cells. Hydroxyurea, a specific inhibitor of this enzyme, decreases the concentration of the tyrosine radical.

[Experience in the use of face masks for radiotherapy of head and neck tumors].

By means of positioning and fixation aids, the precision and reproducibility of irradiation fields in radiotherapy of malignant tumors of the head and neck can be considerably improved. Face masks made of different synthetic materials have proved to be a practicable solution of this problem. In our hospital we have developed and tested a simple and not expensive possibility of manufacturing the masks with "Baycast" (producer: Bayer AG Leverkusen).