Influence of LH-RH agonists on the growth and hormonal environment of breast and prostate cancer.

Patients with advanced breast cancer or advanced prostate cancer have been treated with an LH-RH-agonist ICI 118630. A chemical castration-like response has been achieved in all patients and is associated with clinical remission of the disease.

Expression of a Drosophila heat-shock gene in cells of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

A 3.52-kilobase (kb) segment of Drosophila melanogaster DNA carrying the 2.15-kb transcribed sequence for the 70 000-dalton heat-shock protein (hsp70) and 1.

Quantitative aspects of the E2 receptor assay for human breast tumour cytosol using dextran-coated charcoal.

Misclassification of the oestrogen status of a human breast tumour cytosol, arising from different sources and magnitudes of error in the dextran-coated charcoal (DCC) method, have been investigated using both practical and computer simulated data analysed by Scatchard and Mass Action models. The minimum detectable receptor site concentration, relative or absolute numerical bias and imprecision which are complex and integral functions of misclassification, have been calculated from practical data and for a range of experimental conditions likely to be encountered in practice. The Mass Action model was found to be superior and the computer program, designed to investigate the effects of methodological errors on quantitative aspects of the assay, may be a useful aid for analytical design and internal quality control of the receptor assay.

Correlation between gastric irritancy and anti-inflammatory activity of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs.

Gastric irritancies and anti-inflammatory potencies of 25 commercially available non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) have been measured in the rat. When irritancy is measured as the dose required to produce a specified level of gastric mucosal damage, it is found that irritancy increases with anti-inflammatory potency. However, when irritancy is measured as the level of gastric mucosal damage at the anti-inflammatory ED50 (which is a clinically realistic measure) then irritancy decreases as anti-inflammatory potency increases.

Clinical competencies of baccalaureate students.

Clinical Competencies of new graduates from baccalaureate programs have periodically been criticized by employers of new graduates. In an effort to understand the levels of clinical preparation for new baccalaureate graduates, three hypotheses dealing with the cognitive, affective, and psychomotor domains were tested. A review of the literature reveals that most exploration and work has been done relative to the cognitive domain.

Effects of methyl xanthines upon the spermatozoa adenosinetriphosphate (ATP) concentration in normal semen.

The aim of the present study was to ascertain the effect of methyl xanthines upon the spermatozoa ATP concentration in normal semen in vitro. 26 normal semen were studied. The specimens were diluted after liquefaction with equal volume of Lopata's buffer or Lopata's buffer plus 1 or 6 mM either of caffeine or pentoxifylline.

The management of locally advanced carcinoma of the breast by Nolvadex (tamoxifen): a pilot study.

Fifty-one postmenopausal women with locally advanced breast cancer were treated initially by Nolvadex (Tamoxifen, ICI) alone and followed prospectively between 1974 and 1982. Twenty-three patients (40%) showed an objective response to therapy of whom 17 (75%) remain in remission at median follow-up of 36 months. Patients who failed to respond to Nolvadex therapy were treated by radiotherapy which achieved local control in 64%, with 10 months median duration.

Radionuclide diagnosis of splenic rupture in infectious mononucleosis.

Spontaneous splenic rupture is a rare but serious complication of infectious mononucleosis. Although radionuclide spleen imaging is a well accepted method for diagnosis of traumatic rupture, interpretation can be difficult in the setting of mononucleosis, as tears may be ill-defined and diagnosis hampered by inhomogeneous splenic uptake. Four proven cases of spontaneous rupture are presented, three of which illustrate these diagnostic problems.

The relationship of background mammographic pattern to hormone dependency in breast cancer.

We have studied the relationship between mammographic parenchymal pattern of the breast and oestrogen receptor (ER) status in the primary tumour in 337 patients with operable invasive breast cancer, and the response to endocrine therapy in patients subsequently developing secondary disease. Patients with dysplastic (DY) parenchymal pattern are significantly more likely to develop tumours which are ER-positive. In 92 patients who subsequently developed secondary disease, those whose primary tumour arose in a DY pattern breast were significantly more likely to respond to endocrine therapy irrespective of their ER status.

The measurement of tamoxifen and metabolites in the rat and relationship to the response of DMBA-induced mammary tumours.

The concentrations of tamoxifen and two of its metabolites, N-desmethyltamoxifen and 4'-hydroxytamoxifen (metabolite B), have been measured in rat plasma and DMBA-induced tumours using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. At a dose of 100 micrograms/day all three compounds produced tumour regression and, in the case of tamoxifen, the number and extent of regressions and the inhibition of new tumours were dependent upon dosage. No correlation was observed, however, between tumour regression and the concentrations of tamoxifen or N-desmethyltamoxifen in the plasma of individual animals.

Therapeutic significance and the mechanism of action of the LH-RH agonist ICI 118630 in breast and prostate cancer.

The influence of the LH-RH agonist ICI 118630 on circulating levels of the pituitary gonadotrophins LH and FSH and the gonadal steroids oestradiol, progesterone, 17-hydroxyprogesterone and testosterone has been studied in phase I clinical trials of the drug in patients with advanced breast or prostate cancer. ICI 118630 initially stimulated plasma levels of LH and FSH. On continued treatment however, the drug reversed this response and produced a rapid decline in plasma testosterone and progesterone in male and female patients respectively.

Identification by n.m.r. spectroscopy of a stable intermediate structure in the unfolding of staphylococcal beta-lactamase.

The unfolding of beta-lactamase (penicillinase) from Staphylococcus aureus by guanidinium chloride was followed by using n.m.r.

Therapeutic potential of the LHRH agonist, ICI 118630, in the treatment of advanced prostatic carcinoma.

8 patients with advanced prostatic carcinoma were treated with the luteinising-hormone releasing-hormone agonist, ICI 118630, for up to 3 months. Patients received subcutaneous injections of ICI 118630 (either 100 micrograms or 250 micrograms daily). At the higher dose level, plasma testosterone concentrations were significantly reduced by day 14 and approximated to those previously recorded in castrated or diethylstilboestrol-treated patients.

Lateral lumbosacral fracture dislocation: a case report.

A case of lateral fracture dislocation of the fifth lumbar vertebra on the sacrum successfully treated by open reduction is described. The literature of this injury is reviewed.

The major heat-shock protein (hsp70) gene family: related sequences in mouse, Drosophila, and yeast.

Heat shock induces the synthesis of a 70-kdalton protein in Escherichia coli, Drosophila, yeast, and mouse. We show that the genes for this heat-shock protein in mouse, yeast, and Drosophila share extensive sequence homology as determined by heteroduplex formation at different stringencies. We calculate that the heat-shock gene homology is 74% between yeast and Drosophila and 85% between mouse and Drosophila.

Studies with steroid-fluorescein conjugates on oestrogen target tissues.

Steroid--fluorescein amine and steroid-BSA-fluorescein-isothiocyanate conjugates have been prepared and their ability to bind to oestrogen receptors assessed in competitive binding studies. The binding of all the fluorescent conjugates to uterine cytosol proteins was low when compared with either oestradiol or diethylstilboestrol. A comparative study was carried out to assess the relationship between oestrogen receptor content, determined biochemically, and histochemical localisation of the oestrogen binding components on thin sections of rat uteri, DMBA-induced mammary tumours and also human breast tumour tissue taken at mastectomy.

A prognostic index in primary breast cancer.

From a multiple-regression analysis of prognostic factors and survival in a series of 387 patients with primary breast cancer, a prognostic index has been constructed, based on lymph-node stage, tumour size and pathological grade. This index is more discriminating than lymph-node stage alone, and enables a larger group of patients to be identified with a very poor prognosis.

Psychological and social evaluation in cases of deliberate self-poisoning seen in an accident department.

The outcome in 115 consecutive patients with mild self-poisoning seen by junior medical staff and discharged from the accident department was compared with that of 98 similar patients admitted to the medical wards. Psychiatrists saw only four patients in the accident department and 25 admissions. In making their assessments the junior medical staff considered psychosocial factors as well as the patients' physical condition.