Acute myelogenous leukemia after exposure to strontium-89 for the treatment of adenocarcinoma of the prostate.

Background: Strontium-89 is a pure Beta-emitting radioactive analogue of calcium that has been shown to be beneficial in the palliation of pain due to osseous metastases from adenocarcinoma of the prostate. The most significant reported toxicity is dose-related, reversible, myelosuppression characterized primarily by thrombocytopenia.

Methods: A report of two patients in whom acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) developed after treatment with strontium-89 and a review of the literature are presented.

Frontal lobe dysfunction in progressive supranuclear palsy: evidence for oxidative stress and mitochondrial impairment.

Recent data from our laboratory have shown a regionally specific increase in lipid peroxidation in postmortem progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) brain. To extend this finding, we measured activities of mitochondrial enzymes as well as tissue malondialdehyde (MDA) levels in postmortem superior frontal cortex (Brodmann's area 9; SFC) from 14 pathologically confirmed cases of PSP and 13 age-matched control brains. Significant decreases (-39%) in alpha-ketoglutarate dehydrogenase complex/glutamate dehydrogenase ratio and significant increases (+36%) in tissue MDA levels were observed in the SFC in PSP; no differences in complex I or complex IV activities were detected.

Infrared spectroscopic study of cervical smears in patients with HIV: implications for cervical carcinogenesis.

Patients with HIV have an increased incidence of cervical cancer, necessitating increased surveillance. Infrared spectroscopy (IRS) has the potential of aiding the diagnosis of cervical neoplasia and also of providing clues into its pathogenesis. We studied by IRS cervical scrapings from 22 HIV-infected and 23 control women; 8 of the former and none of the latter had dysplasia.

HIV infection in Haiti: natural history and disease progression.

Objective: A study was conducted to define the natural history and disease progression of HIV infection in a developing country.

Design: A prospective longitudinal cohort study.

Methods: Forty-two patients with documented dates of HIV seroconversion were followed in Port-au-Prince, Haiti.

Psychoanalysis and sexual fantasies.

Psychoanalysis began as a depth psychology, heavily based on the sexual experiences and memories of patients. A long-term treatment, utilizing a free association method, psychoanalysis has provided a window onto the meanings and functions of fantasy, including sexual fantasy. Although psychoanalysis has produced some scientific research, the field has tended to rely on observational data collected from individuals studied in depth.

Cancer-testis antigens and ING1 tumor suppressor gene product are breast cancer antigens: characterization of tissue-specific ING1 transcripts and a homologue gene.

SEREX (serological analysis of recombinant tumor cDNA expression libraries) has been applied to several different tumor types and has led to the identification of a wide range of tumor antigens. In this study, a breast cancer library and a normal testicular library were analyzed using autologous and allogeneic breast cancer sera. Thirty genes were isolated, including 27 known genes and 3 previously unknown genes.

A theory for the mechanism of homocysteine-induced vascular pathogenesis.

An attempt is made to reveal the mechanism of homocysteine-induced vascular pathogenesis and a theory is developed on the basis of an analysis of available data. In the blood, homocysteine molecules, which possess the capacity of forming chelate complexes with metallic cations including calcium ions, interact with the calcium ions of the calcium-dependent cell adhesions/junctions of the vascular endothelium. Such an action results in the departure of calcium ions from some cell adhesions/junctions, causing the latter structures to dissociate and the vascular endothelium to be injured.

A theory for the mechanism of action of the alpha-hydroxy acids applied to the skin.

A theory for the mechanism of action of alpha-hydroxy acids topically applied to the skin is proposed on the basis of an analysis with the experimental and clinical data. The alpha-hydroxy acids reduce the calcium ion concentration in the epidermis and remove calcium ions from the cell adhesions by chelation. This causes a loss of calcium ions from the cadherins of the desmosomes and adherens junctions, from the tight junctions, and possibly also from other divalent metallic cation-dependent cell adhesion molecules.

Superantigens: mechanisms by which they may induce, exacerbate and control autoimmune diseases.

Superantigens are polypeptide molecules produced by a broad range of infectious microorganisms which elicit excessive and toxic T-cell responses in mammalian hosts. In light of this property and the fact that autoimmune diseases are frequently the sequelae of microbial infections, it has been suggested that superantigens may be etiologic agents of autoreactive immunological responses resulting in initiation, exacerbation or relapse of autoimmune diseases. This article relates the biology of superantigens to possible mechanisms by which they may exert these activities and reviews the evidence for their roles in various human and animal models of autoimmune disease.

Oedipal dynamics in panic disorder.

Both research and clinical work have revealed factors that can lead to the onset and persistence of panic disorder. Preoedipal conflicts intensify the danger of oedipal longings for panic patients. Competition with the same-sex parent is linked with angry preoedipal fantasies and associated fears of disruption in attachments.

The premature removal of tissue expanders in breast reconstruction.

The role of tissue expanders in breast reconstruction is well established. Little information exists, however, regarding the incidence and etiology of premature removal of the tissue expander before planned exchange to a permanent breast implant. The purpose of this study was to review our 10-year experience with tissue expander breast reconstruction and identify factors relating to the premature removal of the tissue expander.

Chemoprevention of breast cancer.

A critical question is, why do the European studies fail to confirm the US study? Clearly, the answers are complex and uncertain. Differences in power, age, risk, compliance, the use of ERT, and follow-up in the European studies may all be relevant. The efficacy of tamoxifen in BRCA 1 or 2 carriers is an important issue; recent data have shown a DNA repair defect in those with BRCA 1 gene alterations.

Paclitaxel in the treatment of patients with angiosarcoma of the scalp or face.

Background: Angiosarcomas are rare tumors. Based on a complete response observed in a patient with angiosarcoma of the scalp treated with paclitaxel in a Phase II trial, the authors treated a cohort of patients with angiosarcoma of the scalp or face with paclitaxel as single agent.

Methods: The authors identified nine patients with angiosarcoma of the scalp or face treated at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center with paclitaxel between January 1992 and December 1998.

Strategies to eradicate minimal residual disease in small cell lung cancer: high-dose chemotherapy with autologous bone marrow transplantation, matrix metalloproteinase inhibitors, and BEC2 plus BCG vaccination.

In the last 25 years, treatment for small cell lung cancer (SCLC) has improved with advances in chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Standard chemotherapy regimens can yield 80% to 90% response rates and some cures when combined with thoracic irradiation in limited-stage patients. Nonetheless, small cell lung cancer has a high relapse rate due to drug resistance; this has resulted in poor survival for most patients.

Chemotherapy in esophageal cancer.

The incidence of esophageal cancer continues to increase due to a rapid increase in adenocarcinoma of the distal esophagus and gastroesophageal junction. At least 50% of patients present with metastatic cancer and most patients with localized disease will develop metastases despite potentially curative local therapy. Thus, the majority of esophageal cancer patients will become candidates for palliative chemotherapy.

Robot training enhanced motor outcome in patients with stroke maintained over 3 years.

In an attempt to improve motor recovery of the upper limb after stroke, we added a robot (MIT-Manus) experience that provided additional goal-directed sensorimotor activity to standard rehabilitation treatments. The first trial produced a significant decrease in motor impairment in the upper limb for the treated group. In re-evaluating 12 of those 20 patients, nearly 3 years later, robot-trained patients showed further significant decreases in impairment measures of the affected limb.

Purification of an EH domain-binding protein from rat brain that modulates the gating of the rat ether-à-go-go channel.

Mutations in the gene encoding ether-à-go-go (EAG) potassium channel impair the function of several classes of potassium currents, synaptic transmission, and learning in Drosophila. Absence of EAG abolishes the modulation of a broad group of potassium currents. EAG has been proposed to be a regulatory subunit of different potassium channels.

Identification, isolation, and promoter-defined separation of mitotic oligodendrocyte progenitor cells from the adult human subcortical white matter.

Previous studies have suggested the persistence of oligodendrocyte progenitor cells in the adult mammalian subcortical white matter. To identify oligodendrocyte progenitors in the adult human subcortical white matter, we transfected dissociates of capsular white matter with plasmid DNA bearing the gene for green fluorescence protein (hGFP), placed under the control of the human early promoter (P2) for the oligodendrocytic protein cyclic nucleotide phosphodiesterase (P/hCNP2). Within 4 d after transfection with P/hCNP2:hGFP, a discrete population of small, bipolar cells were noted to express GFP.

Induction of Purkinje fiber differentiation by coronary arterialization.

A synchronized heart beat is controlled by pacemaking impulses conducted through Purkinje fibers. In chicks, these impulse-conducting cells are recruited during embryogenesis from myocytes in direct association with developing coronary arteries. In culture, the vascular cytokine endothelin converts embryonic myocytes to Purkinje cells, implying that selection of conduction phenotype may be mediated by an instructive cue from arteries.

Effect of body weight changes on changes in ambulatory and standardized non-physician blood pressures over three years.

Purpose: This study examines the relationship of changes in body mass index (BMI) to changes in measures of both casual and ambulatory blood pressures over three years.

Methods: In this prospective study of men aged 30-60 years, a cohort of 198 participants was followed for three years. Height, weight, demographic characteristics, and casual and ambulatory measures of blood pressure (BP) were obtained at baseline and 3-year follow-up.

Complete pelvic ring failure after posterior iliac bone graft harvesting.

Study Design: Case report.

Objective: To present a rare complication of posterior iliac bone graft harvesting.

Summary Of Background Data: Although iliac bone graft harvesting is a common procedure in spinal surgery, it is not without complications.