Effect of mesna on lethal effect and hematological toxicity of taxol and vepeside in mice.

Mesna, an SH-containing uroprotector, attenuates the lethal effect and hematological toxicity of vepeside and taxol, but did not reduce specific activities of the studied cytostatics in mice with transplanted tumors. This selective antitoxic effect of mesna towards vepeside and taxol allows to intensify the anticancer chemotherapy with these highly effective but extremely toxic cytostatics and to improve the efficiency of anticancer therapy.

Soluble Fas antigen in the serum of patients with colon cancer.

Serum concentration of soluble Fas antigen (sFas) was measured in 60 normal subjects and 33 patients with colon cancer. The incidence of sFas detection and its serum content were higher in patients with colon cancer compared to normal subjects. No relationships between the incidence and level of sFas and patient's sex, age, duration and stage of the disease were found.

[Significance of argyrophilic proteins of the nucleolar organizer region in differentiation of benign and malignant growth of thyroid epithelial tumors].

Argyrophilic proteins of nucleolar organizers (NO) were measured in 47 benign (24 follicular and 8 atypical adenomas) and malignant (8 papillary and 7 follicular carcinomas) tumors. The content of argyrophilic NO proteins was significantly higher in malignant cells. The proportion of cells with at least 5 silver grains per cell was 16.

[Histological variants of thyroid medullary carcinoma].

A total of 114 medullary carcinomas of the thyroid were studied clinically and histologically. Females and subjects aged over 40 years predominated among the patients (2-fold more than others). Five- and ten-year survival was 74 and 46.

[An antigen related to the mouse mammary cancer virus env gene product, detected in human lymphocytes, is associated with human breast cancer].

Expression of DNA sequences homologous to sequences of env gene of mouse mammary tumor virus (MMTV) in the lymphocytes of patients with breast cancer and in subjects at a high risk of breast cancer has been reported. Antigen analogous to envelope protein gp52, product of MMTV env gene, is detected in T lymphocytes of virtually all patients with breast cancer and extremely rarely in T cells of controls, where its expression is confined to B cells. For explaining such unexpected results, we studied the molecular basis of this antigen synthesis.

Prostaglandin E(2) release by human and Syrian hamster tumor cells and their sensitivity to cytostatic activity of natural killers.

The release of prostaglandin E(2) by human and Syrian hamster tumor cells in response to contact with natural killers and their sensitivity to cytostatic activity of natural killers were studied. A previously reported correlation between prostaglandin E(2) release by Syrian hamster tumor cells and their resistance to cytostatic activity of natural killers was confirmed. This resistance can be cancelled by inhibition of prostaglandin E(2) release with indomethacin.

Urokinase and tissue plasminogen activators and their inhibitor PAI-1 in human tumors.

The content of urokinase and tissue plasminogen activators and their inhibitor PAI-1 in tumors and histologically intact tissues from patients with breast, ovarian, and non-small-cell lung cancer was measured by enzyme immunoassay. The content of urokinase plasminogen activator and PAI-1 considerably increased in all malignant tumors, however the correlation between the expression of components of the plasminogen activation system and clinical morphological feature and prognosis of the disease depends on the type of tumor.

Expression of phosphatidylinositol-3 kinase in lung cancer.

The expression of phosphatidylinositol-3 kinase in tumors and homologous tissues from 29 patients with lung cancer, 5 patients with lung metastases of various tumors, and some non-tumorous pulmonary diseases was studied by Western blot analysis. The expression of phosphatidylinositol-3 kinase was increased in these tumors in comparison with histologically intact lung tissue in 5 patients with non-small-cell cancer. In 20 patients expression of phosphatidylinositol-3 kinase was the same as in homologous tissue and in 4 patients it was decreased.

Modern methods for diagnosis and monitoring of nephrotoxicity during antitumor therapy with platinum derivatives.

Chemotherapy is an important method of antitumor therapy. Nephrotoxicity characteristic of many cytostatics, including platinum compounds, is a serious complication limiting the drug dose [4,5,7-9]. Platinum derivatives, in particular, cisplatin, are drugs of choice in the treatment of the majority of solid tumors.

Leptin and apoptosis inhibitor soluble Fas antigen in the serum of patients with osteosarcoma and neuroectodermal bone tumors.

Serum contents of leptin and soluble Fas antigen were measured in 28 patients with osteosarcoma, 7 with neuroectodermal bone tumors, and 17 healthy subjects. The incidence and levels of soluble Fas antigen in patients with osteosarcoma and neuroectodermal bone tumors were higher than in healthy subjects and did not depend on sex and age in both healthy subjects and patients. Serum concentration of leptin in women was higher than in men (both in healthy controls and patients) and was lower in healthy subjects compared to patients with osteosarcoma and neuroectodermal bone tumors.

Immunotoxicological characteristics of preparations based on carcinoembryonic antigen and mucin containing CA 125 antigen.

Experiments on male hybrid mice demonstrated that specific immunotherapy with preparations based on carcinoembryonal antigen and mucin containing CA 125 antigen was not associated with general toxicity, local irritating effect, and hepatorenal dysfunction. The absence of toxicity is apparently due to the fact that antigens injected intramuscularly or subcutaneously virtually do not enter the blood. Injections of preparations based on carcinoembryonal antigen and mucin containing CA 125 antigen to mice induced a standard immune response with predominance of class M immunoglobulins during the early terms and class G immunoglobulins at later terms.

Antitumor activity of specific immunotherapy with mucin containing CA 125 antigen in mice with CaO 1 ovarian carcinoma.

Experiments in CBA mice with transplanted CaO 1 ovarian carcinoma possessing common antigenic determinants with human ovarian carcinoma showed that specific immunotherapy with mucin containing CA 125 antigen inhibited tumor growth by 60% and prolonged animal lifespan by 40-60% in comparison with the control. The correlation coefficient between the tumor size and antibody titer after injection of mucin was -0.4 for IgM and -0.

[Differential diagnosis of B-cell lymphoma rich in T cells and peripheral T-cell lymphomas].

Clinicomorphological analysis of T-cell-rich B-cell lymphoma in a 50-year-old female and literature data revealed objective difficulties in morphological diagnosis using cytological and histological methods. Large number of epithelioid histiocytes and tumor cells polymorphism resembled Lennert's lymphoma (peripheral T-cell lymphoma). Immunohistochemical study confirmed B-cell origin of tumor cells and large number of reactive T-cells.

[Dipeptidyl aminopeptidase-IV as a histochemical marker of differential diagnosis of large cell anaplastic CD30+-lymphoma and Hodgkin's disease].

Using histochemical methods, we studied distribution of dipeptidylaminopeptidase-IV (DPP-IV) in tumor cells of 16 patients with non-Hodgkin's malignant lymphomas (NHL) including B-cell NHL (10 cases), pleomorphic T-cell lymphoma (1 case), CD30+ anaplastic large cell lymphoma (ALCL) of T-cell (1 case) and ALCL of null-cell type (4 cases) and of 13 patients with Hodgkin's disease (HD). The results indicate that tumour cells of pleomorphic T-cell NHL and ALCL of T- and null-cell type showed DPP-IV activity. In contrast, no DPP-IV activity was seen in the tumor cells of B-cell NHL (lymphocytic, centroblastic/centrocytic, centroblastic, immunoblastic), in Berezovsky-Reed-Sternberg and Hodgkin's cells of different HD variants.

[Exposure to chloroprene as an occupational hazard (a cohort epidemiologic study)].

A cancer epidemiological study was conducted in chloroprene workers in Yerevan. In a cohort of male workers, the total morbidity rates for all tumor patterns were significantly lower (32%) than expected, which was attributed to the effect of "the healthy worker". Risk for hepatic tumor was 3.

[Cefepime in the treatment of infection in neutropenic patients].

Cefepime, a fourth-generation cephalosporin, was used in the treatment of 11 febrile episodes in 8 patients with profound neutropenia. The patients were neutropenic because of high-dose chemotherapy with stem-cell rescue or second-line salvage chemotherapy for malignant lymphomas (5 patients) or solid tumors (3 patients). The median duration of grade-IV neutropenia (according to the WHO classification) was 11 days (7 to 14).

[Electron microscope study of lung carcinoid].

123 lung carcinoids were studied, 32 of them electron-microscopically. Ultrastructural features were evaluated with the use of multivariate analysis. The most informative ultrastructural features were the following: correlation between differentiated and undifferentiated cells, the number of cytoplasm organoids including endocrine granules, degree of nuclei polymorphism and their size, specialized contacts, mitoses.

[Chordoma].

Chordoma is characterized clinicomorphologically and epidemiologically using own observations for 1955-1995 and literature data. Chordoma is a rare tumor. Its histogenetic association with the notochorda remnants and location in the region of axial skeleton results in a grave clinical course due to alteration of nervous structures of the brain and spinal cord.

[Metabolism of androgens in various histological variants of bone tumors].

The role of androgens in human normal and neoplastic bone tissues is still unclear. The paper presents data on metabolism of androgens in homogenates of malignant (osteosarcoma, chondrosarcoma, Ewing and giant cell) and benign primary tumors from 46 male and female patients aged 14-58 years. Using two substrates (testosterone and 5 alpha-dihydrotestosterone) for the first time are shown activities of main enzymes of androgen metabolism in all tumor types.

[Desmoplastic malignant melanoma].

A rare case of desmoplastic malignant melanoma which produced many difficulties in diagnosis is reported. Analysis of histological structure of the primary tumor and its metastases as well as signs of melanocytic differentiation found at electron-microscopic level enabled differentiation of this tumor with neoplasms of another histogenesis which is important for treatment and prognosis.

Cellular aspects of alpha-fetoprotein reexpression in tumors.

The cellular basis of AFP synthesis in normal development, liver regeneration, hepatocarcinogenesis and in tumors is discussed in the review. The attempt is made to interpret the production of AFP by germ cell and liver tumors as a consequence of their origin from the cell types producing AFP in normal conditions. Thus, AFP in germ cell tumors is explained by the development of the yolk sac visceral endoderm (YSVE) in teratocarcinomas, since YSVE is the first site of AFP synthesis in the embryo.

Cancer incidence and mortality in a cohort of chloroprene workers from Armenia.

We evaluated the risk of cancer among 1897 men and 417 women exposed to chloroprene (2-chloro-1,3-butadiene, CP) at a production plant in Yerevan, Armenia, between 1940 and 1988. The cohort was followed up for cancer incidence for the years 1979-1990 and for cancer mortality for 1979-1988. In the cohort, incidence and mortality from all cancers were below expectation, but increased incidence (standardized incidence ratio 3.