Disruption of CCR5 signaling to treat COVID-19-associated cytokine storm: Case series of four critically ill patients treated with leronlimab.

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is associated with considerable morbidity and mortality. The number of confirmed cases of infection with SARS-CoV-2, the virus causing COVID-19 continues to escalate with over 70 million confirmed cases and over 1.6 million confirmed deaths.

Outcomes following emergency colorectal cancer presentation in the elderly.

Aim: Colorectal cancer is predominantly a disease of the elderly and up to 30% of these patients will present as an emergency. We compared the outcomes of 'elderly' patients presenting to our unit with a colorectal cancer emergency over a 10-year period with those of a 'younger' cohort.

Methods: A single centre retrospective review of colorectal cancer emergencies between 1 April 2007 and 1 April 2017 was performed.

Gamma camera scintigraphy of tumours using (195m)Pt-cisplatin.

Platinum enriched with 194Pt was irradiated for 4 days in NRG's TIRO 1 reactor, to produce (195m)Pt. Spectral analysis of the product was performed using a calibrated hyper pure germanium detector and its constituent radioisotopes were identified as (195m)Pt, 199Au and 192Ir. Using the detector's intrinsic efficiency calibration, their activities were estimated to be 1049, 133 and 5.

Exenterative pelvic surgery--eleven year experience of the Swansea Pelvic Oncology Group.

Aims: To review indications for surgery and outcomes of patients with complex locally advanced pelvic malignancies treated by a multidisciplinary Pelvic Oncology Group.

Patients And Methods: Between March 1992 and March 2003, 130 patients were jointly assessed in a monthly clinic involving urological, gynaecological, colorectal and plastic surgeons, an oncologist and nurse specialists. Seventy-six patients proceeded to exenterative surgery.

Urinary modified nucleosides as tumor markers.

Extracts of urinary nucleosides have been sequentially purified and examined by mass spectrometric analysis. Seventeen modified nucleosides have been unequivocally identified and a further five provisionally identified. While several nucleosides were found only in a small number of extracts, the occurrence and levels of others were found to correlate with the tumour type and stage.

Synthetic organic hard capsule colouring agents: in vitro effect on human true and pseudo-cholinesterases.

Hard capsules are made of pure gelatin and small quantities of additives, including colouring agents permitted for use in food. In this study, the effects of three colouring agents (sunset yellow, quinoline yellow and erythrosine) on true and pseudo-cholinesterases (ChE) are assessed in erythrocytes and plasma, respectively. Results indicated that the synthetic compounds affected both true and pseudo ChE activity.

Swallowing and voice effects of Lee Silverman Voice Treatment (LSVT): a pilot study.

Objective: To define the effects of Lee Silverman Voice Treatment (LSVT on swallowing and voice in eight patients with idiopathic Parkinson's disease.

Methods: Each patient received a modified barium swallow (MBS) in addition to voice recording before and after 1 month of LSVT. Swallowing motility disorders were defined and temporal measures of the swallow were completed from the MBS.

In vivo measurement of platinum in the kidneys using X-ray fluorescence.

A noninvasive in vivo method has been developed and optimized for measuring platinum concentrations in the kidneys of patients receiving chemotherapy. The method is based on polarizing the X-ray beam from an orthovoltage radiotherapy treatment unit, the Pantak DXT-300, and using the beam to produce emission of the characteristic platinum X-rays from the kidney. The platinum is derived from platinum-based chemotherapy drugs, such as cisplatin and its analogues (carboplatin and iproplatin), used to treat cancer patients.

Plane polarized x-ray fluorescence system for the in vivo measurement of platinum in head and neck tumours.

A plane polarized x-ray fluorescence system based on an orthovoltage radiotherapy treatment unit, the Pantak DXT-300, has been developed and optimized to measure tumour platinum concentration. The platinum derives from platinum based chemotherapy agents, such as cisplatin and carboplatin used to treat tumours in the head and neck region. Photons from an x-ray tube are polarized by scattering through 90 degrees, and used to stimulate the emission of characteristic platinum x-rays from the tumour.

Optimisation of a polarised X-ray source for the in vivo measurement of platinum in head and neck tumours.

There is a continuing need to improve the understanding of kinetics of platinum-based chemotherapeutic agents, such as cisplatin and paraplatin. Although these agents demonstrate highly effective anti-cancer activity, they also have associated, often dose-limiting, side-effects such as nephrotoxocity. In vivo X-ray fluorescence (XRF) has been proven to be a suitable technique for measuring the uptake of these agents in tumour and critical organs, but radioisotope based systems have not found their way into routine clinical use due to their rapid increase in minimum detection limit (MDL) with depth.

Body composition measurements using DXA and other techniques in tamoxifen-treated patients.

Tamoxifen is an anti-oestrogenic drug which is widely used in the treatment of patients with breast cancer. There is increasing interest in using the drug both for benign breast disease and as a chemo-preventative agent of the drug in women at high risk of breast cancer. Despite the fact that the acute side-effects of the drug are few, its agonistic and antagonistic oestrogenic effects are not fully known and may have some undesirable effects for patients treated with the drug for several years.

Implant rehabilitation of irradiated jaws: a preliminary report.

Ten patients (3 maxilla, 7 mandible), who had been treated for a head and neck malignancy by undergoing radiotherapy, had 42 implants (10 maxillary, 32 mandibular) placed into the irradiated sites and either an overdenture or a fixed prosthesis fabricated. Of the 10 implants placed in the maxilla, 6 were lost; however, there was a 100% survival rate of the implants placed in the mandible (mean duration = 33 months). The use of longer implants and pre- or postimplant hyperbaric oxygen may be necessary in maxillary situations.

Primary penile lymphoma: the case for combined modality therapy.

A patient with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma with a penile mass as the only apparent site of clinical involvement is presented, and the literature reviewed. Our patient was treated initially with partial penile amputation. A year later the lymphoma recurred in the chest and the right tonsil.

Management of residual thymic cysts in patients treated for mediastinal Hodgkin's disease.

The pathogenesis of residual thymic cysts after treatment for mediastinal Hodgkin's disease is uncertain. Their presence after adequate treatment often presents the oncologist and the thoracic surgeon with a therapeutic dilemma. Two patients with residual thymic cysts after curative treatment for mediastinal Hodgkin's disease are described and the management discussed.

133Xe for the in vivo X-ray fluorescence measurement of platinum.

In vivo measurements of platinum are important for studying the pharmacokinetics of platinum-based cytotoxic drugs. The technique of in vivo X-ray fluorescence can be utilized for such measurements. The feasibility of using 133Xe in near-backscatter (almost 180 degrees ) geometry has been investigated and results compared to phantom measurements made using 99Tcm in the same experimental set-up.

Malignant branchioma--a further insight.

Two cases presented with solitary cystic mass in the usual position of a branchial cyst in the neck are reported. Histology on both cysts reported as carcinoma of a branchial cyst (malignant branchioma). In addition to pre-operative radiotherapy to the neck, and ipsi-lateral radical neck dissection, the oropharynx is irradiated in prophylactic manner only in the second case.

The place for conservative treatment in the management of Paget's disease of the nipple.

Four cases of Paget's disease confined to the nipple are presented. Three of them were treated conservatively by local radiotherapy and the fourth was treated by mastectomy. Histopathological examination of the breast in the last case failed to show any evidence of in situ or invasive carcinoma.