Determination of Debye temperatures and Lamb-Mössbauer factors for LnFeO orthoferrite perovskites (Ln = La, Nd, Sm, Eu, Gd).

Lanthanide orthoferrites have wide-ranging industrial uses including solar, catalytic and electronic applications. Here a series of lanthanide orthoferrite perovskites, LnFeO (Ln  =  La; Nd; Sm; Eu; Gd), prepared through a standard stoichiometric wet ball milling route using oxide precursors, has been studied. Characterisation through x-ray diffraction and x-ray fluorescence confirmed the synthesis of phase-pure or near-pure LnFeO compounds.

Estrogen receptor 1 gene expression and its combination with estrogen receptor 2 or aromatase expression predicts survival in non-small cell lung cancer.

The biological roles of estrogen receptor 1 (ERS1), estrogen receptor 2 (ERS2), and aromatase (CYP19A1) genes in the development of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is unclear, as is the use of their expression as a prognostic factor. The aim of this study was to investigate the prognostic value of estrogen receptors and aromatase mRNA expression, along with aromatase protein concentration, in resected NSCLC patients. Tumor and non-tumor lung tissue samples were analyzed for the mRNA expression of ERS1, ERS2 and CYP19A1 by RT-PCR.

Epidermal growth factor receptor tyrosine-kinase inhibitor treatment resistance in non-small cell lung cancer: biological basis and therapeutic strategies.

Lung cancer remains the leading cause of cancer-related death. Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) represents 85 % of all lung cancer cases and it is classified into three major subtypes: adenocarcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma and large-cell carcinoma. In the past years, molecular-targeted therapies have been developed in order to improve response, survival and quality of life in patients with advanced NSCLC.

Serum markers and prognosis in locally advanced breast cancer.

Background: Locally advanced breast cancer (LABC) represents a heterogeneous subgroup of breast cancer with an often dismal outcome. Identifying prognostic factors has acquired great significance for the selection of optimal treatment in individual patients.

Methods: Between January 1993 and December 1997, 103 patients were treated in our institution with multimodality treatment consisting of neoadjuvant chemotherapy followed by surgery, adjuvant chemotherapy and radiotherapy; tamoxifen was added in hormone receptor-positive cases.

Fine-needle aspiration diagnosis of hydatid cyst.

The diagnosis of hydatid disease outside endemic areas is usually not suspected. Hydatid cysts in imaging studies can be confused with hepatic tumors, abscesses, cystadenomas, liver cysts or other lesions. Serology is the usual confirmatory test, but cytologic diagnosis has been described.

[Preventive analgesic effect of intraoperative administration of ibuprofen-arginine on postmastectomy pain syndrome].

The efficacy of preemptive analgesia on postoperative pain is discussed. From experimental neurophysiological data, the present policy of preventive analgesia aims at precluding modifications of the nervous system secondary to a nervous lesion and the appearance of chronic pain, particularly of the neurogenic kind. The post-mastectomy pain syndrome (PMPS) falls within the realm of neurogenic pain and is still poorly understood and underestimated.

[Patient-controlled analgesia in cancer pain: practical aspects].

Allowing a suffering patient with cancer to control his pain is a challenge that numerous medical teams intend to take up. Although the best treatment is the etiologic one, in many situations the symptomatic and adjuvant therapies are both indispensable. Among them, the patient controlled analgesia (PCA) is a concept referring to the management of the pain, but also to the administration of some analgesic drugs.

[Quality control of care in a surgical department. Experience of the Fondation Berganié].

Activity in a surgical department can be evaluated quantitatively, but is should also be assessed qualitatively. One way to control the quality of care is to determine as accurately as possible the incidence of pre- peri- and post-operative complications and to analyse these date in a critical comparative study. This was accomplished in the surgical department of the Fondation Bergonié, Bordeaux during three test periods over the last five years--March 1987 (127 patients), June-July 1989 (276 patients), and June 1991 (147 patients).

Decrease in zinc serum concentrations after surgical intervention. A study of 87 cases.

The post-surgery zinc depletion reported by Hallböök in 1977 and subsequently confirmed by many authors is now well known. Our study concerns a homogeneous group of 87 female patients undergoing the same surgical procedure: simple or enlarged hysterectomy. Results confirm a mean 35% drop in serum zinc after surgery compared to initial values.

[Symptomatic treatment of pain in cervico-facial cancers].

Pain is frequent in patients presenting cervico-facial cancers. It can be acute or persistent, or present at the morbid entity known as chronic pain. The specific anatomical site and the often poor environment explain that the physical disability related to pain is increased by multiple psychosocial problems.

[Home parenteral nutrition in oncology, a information project].

The increase in the indications for total parenteral nutrition (TPN) of long or medium term duration led to an investigation on a discontinued method during the night. The patient was thus free during the daytime. Cyclic parenteral nutrition (CPN) at home is a comfortable solution.

Detection of CD1 positive cells in the peripheral blood of patients suffering from cancer-associated malnutrition.

The immunological phenotyping of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) was assayed in a series of 22 patients suffering from severe cancer-associated malnutrition. A marked decrease of the T-lymphocyte subsets (CD3+, CD4+, CD8+) and of the CD20+ B lymphocytes occurred; there was however an increased percentage of monocytes but their absolute number was normal. Interestingly, 5% of the PBMC expressed "activated T-cell antigens".

[Approach to therapeutic risk by study of operative mortality. From 102 postoperative deaths between 1975 and 1984 at the Fondation Bergonié].

A retrospective analysis of operative mortality in the cancer surgery department of the Fondation Bergonié between 1975 and 1984 allowed priority objectives to be defined requiring maximum efforts of the treating team. During this decade, 18,582 patients underwent surgery; 15,794 "first hand" operations were for cases not previously treated. Amongst the latter, 102 died within 90 days of surgery, 45 due to multifocal or apparently isolated pulmonary infection and 57 without any known infectious context.

[Changes in the serum protein profile during radiotherapy of the upper respiratory and digestive tracts].

Patients with a cancer of the upper airways or upper gastro-intestinal tract present a state of malnutrition as a result of the disease itself and, more importantly, as a result of its localisation. Loco-regional radiotherapy often leads to an aggravation of this state. The protein profile, consisting of nine serum proteins, was determined each week in 54 patients with cancer of the upper respirato-gastro-intestinal tract receiving radiotherapy.

[Therapeutical trial in recovery room (author's transl)].

During a limited period of time, the authors have systematically administered tiapride to all patients in the immediate post-operative phase presenting with: nausea, vomiting, pain. Intravenous injection of a single dose of 400 mg of tiapride produces: a strong anti-emetic action; an inconstant analgesic action, but very interesting for it is not accompanied with adverse effects.

[General anesthesia in major cancer surgery of the upper respiratory and digestive tracts. Significance of a fentanyl-thiamine combination].

Synaptanalgesia uses a polysynaptic inhibitor: thiamine and a powerful analgesic drug with or without nitrous oxide. This type of vigil or sub-vigil anesthesia used in major cancer surgery of the upper digestive tract and the airway, permits one to obtain: -efficacious protection of the autonomic nervous system, in spite of manipulations of highly reflexogenic areas, -a marked reduction in bleeding. The technique used is derived from that of other authors: DE CASTRO, MUNDELEER, VALENI, MAZZONI, GASPARETTO, adapting it to this type of surgery and attempting to simplify it.