Prion diseases: epidemiology in man.

Prion disease in man was first described as Creutzfeldt-Jacob disease (CJD) in the 1920s. CJD may have three different origins: sporadic, familial, due to mutations in the prion gene, or infectious, due to iatrogenic exposure to infectious brain material. As an example of the latter, kuru, in Papua New Guinea, was a variant of CJD transmitted by cannibalism.

Immunohistochemical demonstration of tumour associated antigens in carcinoma-in-situ of the testis.

Atypical germ cells or so-called carcinoma-in-situ of the testis are often found in the tissue adjacent to germ cell tumours. The present study was performed to investigate if tumour associated antigens demonstrated immunohistochemically in the tumours could also be demonstrated in the carcinoma-in-situ. Using indirect immunoperoxidase technique 39 orchidectomy specimens were examined for the presence of a series of antigens: alpha-foetoprotein (AFP), alpha -antitrypsin (A AT), human chorionic gonadotrophin (hCG).