In vitro drug screening and individualized treatment planning for cancer patients.

We have developed an in vitro screening test for anticancer agents, using monodispersed tumor cells derived from 7,12-dimethylbenz(a)anthracene (DMBA)-induced mammary tumors in rat. Monolayer cell cultures in multiwell plates are maintained in medium supplemented with hormones and fetal calf serum. Guided by a randomized table, drugs are administered to cultures singly or in combination.

Selective maintenance of cultured epithelial cells from DMBA-induced mammary tumours by bovine colostrum supplement.

Growth kinetics in cultures of DMBA-induced mammary tumours supplemented with bovine colostrum were compared with the kinetics of cultures maintained with the conventional supplement of foetal calf serum. Although the latter permitted a greater degree of cell proliferation, a substantial amount of the cell growth was due to the fibroblastic proliferation. In the presence of bovine colostrum, epithelial islands surrounded by a few solitary cells became established.

A simple method for scanning electron microscope preparation of cells grown in multiwell culture plates.

The closeness of wells in multiwell tissue culture plates makes it difficult to remove individual ones without distributing the adjacent wells. Moreover, critical point drying frequently introduces artifact into the culture monolayer grown on plastic substrate. These problems make it difficult to process such cultures for scanning electron microscopy.

The relationship of thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH), thyroxine (T4), and triiodothyronine (T3) in primary thyroid failure.

Thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH), serum thyroxine (T4) and triiodothyronine (T3) in sera of 100 patients with primary thyroid failure were measured by radioimmunoassay. Effective thyroxine ratio (ETR) was also measured in 69 of these sera. TSH was elevated in all, with a mean of 76.

Radioimmunoassay for serum cortisol with 125I-labeled ligand: comparison of three methods.

We evaluated a previously modified double-antibody radioimmunoassay for serum cortisol. It was compared with the conventional double-antibody method that includes the usual extraction step, and also with an antibody-coated tube method. In this modified method, cortisol was released from its binding globulin by enzymatic degradation rather than by extraction with ether, and a preincubated mixture of first and second antibody was used to separate antibody-bound cortisol from free.

Treatment of hyperthyroidism with a large initial dose of sodium iodide I 131.

A retrospective study was undertaken of 229 patients with hyperthyroidism due to Graves disease treated at the Cleveland Clinic with a large initial dose of sodium iodide I 131 (mean dose, 12.7 +/- 7.5 millicuries).