Warning on phaeochromocytoma.

A case of a 35-year-old female patient, who had previously undergone extensive investigations for hypertension, is reported. At an elective operation for cholecystectomy she was found to have a phaeochromocytoma. This serves as a warning to those who may be required to anaesthetize, or operate on, patients with hypertension of undiagnosed origin.

Suppressor cell activity in melanoma patients. II. Concanavalin A-induced suppressor cells in relation to tumor growth and suppressor T-cell subsets.

The relative proportions of T, B and T gamma suppressor cells were determined sequentially in peripheral blood of melanoma patients before and after surgery. Concanavalin A (Con A)-induced suppression against lymphocyte mitogenesis of melanoma patients and age matched controls was measured concurrently. The mean percentage of T gamma cells was significantly higher (p less than 0.

Suppressor cell activity in melanoma patients. I. Relation to tumor growth an immunoglobulin levels in vivo.

The effect of tumor growth on the suppressor cell activity of melanoma patients was examined by measurement of immunoglobulin produced in vitro in pokeweed mitogen (PWM)-stimulated cultures of B and T lymphocytes. B and T cells were separated by sheep red blood cell rosetting and suppressor cell activity was assessed by comparison of immunoglobulins produced in cultures with irradiated T cells (2,000 rads) to that with unirradiated T cells. In the majority of patients with localized melanoma, radiosensitive suppressor T cells were detected and appeared to be an augmentation of a normal physiological state.

Characterization of antigens recognized by natural killer cells in cell-culture supernatants.

Inhibitors of natural killer (NK) cell activity in cell-culture supernatants, believed to be antigens recognized by NK cells, were defined by their ability to inhibit NK cells in 51Cr-release cytotoxic assays. Supernatants from cultures of melanoma cells and Chang cells were used as the source of the antigen. Partial characterization by a number of sequential separation procedures suggested that the antigens were glycoproteins in the size range 120-140,000 daltons which had affinity for both concanavalin A and wheat germ lectin.

Malignant melanoma: influence of site of lesion and age of patient in the female superiority in survival.

Efforts were made to further explain female superiority in survival of 753 patients with clinical Stage I malignant melanoma. Two factors contributing to this female superiority in survival drew some of their prognostic value from the correlation with tumor thickness. (1) More than twice as many women as men had primary lesions located on the extremities, which were prognostically favorable anatomical sites in both men and women.

Characterization of an inhibitor of cell division released in tumour cell cultures.

We have previously shown that tumour cells may release soluble factors which inhibit the division of a variety of cells. These factors had marked immunosuppressive activity as shown by their ability to inhibit lymphocyte mitogenic responses to lectins, allogeneic lymphocytes and pokeweed mitogen-induced immunoglobulin production. It was postulated that these factors may play an important role in determining the outcome of tumour–host interactions in humans and be the source of immunosuppressive factors in the circulation of patients with cancer.

Melanoma in new South Wales 1970-1976. Confirmation of increased incidence.

A random sample of 500 cases from a total 5611 cases collected from a survey of melanoma in New South Wales, Australia, has confirmed an incidence rise which is apparent across all degrees of severity and all histogenetic classes. It therefore can be stated that the apparent increasing incidence of melanoma in New South Wales is not due to diagnostic errors. Nor is it due to inadequate registration of early melanomas in the initial years of study.

Tumour thickness and the site and time of first recurrence in cutaneous malignant melanoma (stage I).

A study was made of 326 patients first treated for clinical stage I cutaneous malignant melanoma by a wide excision (with or without split-skin graft) but no nodal dissection and who subsequently developed recurrence of their disease. Thick lesions recurred far more frequently than very thin lesions, although evidence of partial regression in very thin lesions conferred upon the latter a liability to metastasize. Thicker lesions first recurred predominantly in the vicinity of the scar of primary lesion excision whilst very thin lesions first recurred either at regional lymph nodes or at remote sites.

Melanoma in New South Wales: an epidemiologic surgery 1970--76.

This survey of the incidence of melanoma in New South Wales, Australia, from 1970 to 1976 revealed a doubling of incidence in the seven year period. The most marked rise occurred in 1972. A marked preponderance of leg melanoma in women and trunk melanoma in men was noted.

Intraoperative fine needle aspiration biopsy of thoracic lesions.

Forty-one intraoperative fine needle aspiration biopsies were performed on 35 patients during exploratory thoracotomy (33 patients) or mediastinoscopy (2 patients). Each biopsy was done with a 22 gauge needle. Smears were prepared at the operating table, air-dried, sent directly to the laboratory, stained, and interpreted immediately by the pathologist.

Detection of an inhibitor of cell division in cultures of tumour cells with immunosuppressive activity in vitro.

A number of previous reports have described the presence of factors which inhibit the response of lymphoid cells to phytohaemagglutinin. The present study describes an inhibitor of cell division synthesized and released directly from cultured tumour cells which appears to have similar immunosuppressive effects in vitro. This factor(s) was detected in a wide variety of cultured tumour cells and some cultures of normal foetal tissue.

Histologic features of tumors and the female superiority in survival from malignant melanoma.

The primary tumors of 780 patients with clinical Stage I malignant melanoma were reviewed to seek reasons for the female superiority in survival. Histologic features of tumors believed to be of prognostic significance were examined: tumor thickness, evidence of regression, histogenetic type, and mitotic activity. The average tumor thickness was significantly less in women, due to a preponderance of very thin lesions in women and very thick lesions in men.

Tumour-related changes in natural killer cell activity in melanoma patients. Influence of stage of disease, tumour thickness and age of patients.

The influence of tumour growth on the natural killer (NK) activity of melanoma patients was examined by analysis of NK activity in 51Cr release assays before and at intervals after surgical removal of localized melanoma. In patients with Stage I and II melanoma, removal of the tumour was associated with changes in the level of NK activity which were not detected in patients who had surgery for skin graft after previous removal of the primary melanoma. The changes in NK activity after removal of melanoma were however different in patients with Stage I compared to Stage II melanoma.

Educational organizations: the Australian and new zealand association for medical education.

The Australasian and New Zealand Association for Medical Education (ANZAME) was conceived in Sydney between 1969 and 1971. During this period medical educators from the Universities of Sydney and New South Wales met to discuss topics of mutual interest. The meetings were so successful that the idea of an Australia-wide association for medical education was raised.

Detection of a low-molecular-weight antigen on melanoma cells by a human antiserum in leukocyte-dependent antibody assays.

Biochemical characterization of serologically detected human melanoma antigens was undertaken for the development of immunodiagnostic assays in melanoma. An antiserum from a human melanoma patient, which detected melanoma antigens expressed on a large proportion of different melanoma cells, was used in leucocyte-dependent cytotoxic antibody (LDA) 51Cr-release assays to monitor the purification of melanoma antigens in urea/acetate extracts of lactoperoxidase 125I-labelled melanoma cell membranes. The separation procedures included affinity chromatography on Concanavalin A, gel filtration on porous polyacrylamide beads and preparative isoelectric focusing.

Low natural-killer-cell activity in familial melanoma patients and their relatives.

Patients with melanoma who had one or more close relatives with melanoma were studied for their natural-killer-cell (NK) activity against cultured melanoma cells and Chang cells. A high proportion of the patients and their relatives were found to have low NK activity against these target cells. In most of the patients this could not be attributed to general depression of their immune function, since B- and T-cell numbers and the mitogenic response to PHA were within normal limits.

Characteristics of the DNA from Lymantria dispar nuclear polyhedrosis virus.

The DNA isolated from occluded Lymantria dispar nuclear polyhedrosis virus consisted of double-stranded linear, open circular, and covalently closed molecules. The DNA had a guanosine plus cytosine content (G + C) of 59-62% as estimated from both thermal denaturation and CsCl density gradient centrifugation. The L.

Effect of smoking on the recurrence of malignant melanoma.

Smoking has been recently shown to lead to aberrant immunological function in man. Since immunological host resistance is important in the natural history of human malignant melanoma, it was the object of this study to determine the effects of smoking on the course of this disease. Investigations on 1908 patients with malignant melanoma indicated that smoking renders men significantly more susceptible to developing metastases.

Nephelometric detection of circulating immune complexes using monoclonal rheumatoid factor.

A nephelometric technique for the estimation of immune complexes (IC) in serum was developed using purified monoclonal rheumatoid factor from a human patient (mRhF) specific for complexed IgG. Standardisation of the assay was carried out with heat aggregated normal human IgG as a model complex and with IC composed in vitro from ovalbumin and rabbit antisera to ovalbumin. The nephelometric method was compared with [125I]Clq radioimmunoassay (C1q RIA).

Laser surgery for malignant melanoma and superficial malignancies.

This study describes 18 months' experience with the CO2 laser in the treatment of malignant melanoma and other superficial malignancies. In 110 patients, a general assessment was made of the advantages commonly claimed for the laser. In addition, a comparison between laser and scalpel surgery was made by means of a small retrospective study.

Distribution along the rat nephron of three enzymes of gluconeogenesis in acidosis and starvation.

Methods were devised or modified which made it possible to measure phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase, fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase, and glucose-6-phosphatase in seven defined parts of single nephrons and in patches from thin limb and papilla areas dissected from freeze-dried microtome sections of rat kidney. All three enzymes were essentially confined to the proximal tubule. In normal kidneys, the levels were highest in the proximal convoluted tubule.