Alteration of beta-2-microglobulin level in malignant lymphoproliferative diseases after a high dose of alpha-2-recombinant interferon.

A group of 10 patients with malignant lymphoproliferative diseases resistant to any standard therapeutical modalities were treated with a high dose of alpha-2-recombinant interferon (alpha-2-rIF). Alpha-2-rIF was administered at a total dose of 120 x 10(6) IU in a continuous infusion during 48 h. Two cycles of alpha-2-rIF immunotherapy were employed with an interval of 1 month in between each.

A technical equipment for workroom with californium-252 used for the gamma-neutron brachytherapy.

A proposal for the 252Cf intracavitary brachytherapeutic workroom with the description of the technical equipment for the radioactive source storage and manipulation and the personal protection against the gamma-neutron radiation is provided.

Quality control study of estradiol and progesterone receptor determination.

Lyophilized calf uterine tissue cytosol standards for estradiol receptor (ER) and progesterone receptor (PR), and freeze-dried tissue powders for PR determination were prepared. For the ER assay 4 standards were produced with no, low, medium, and high ER levels. The ER binding capacities (mean +/- SD) were low--261 +/- 46 (Brno) and 221 +/- 64 (Budapest), medium--451 +/- 100 and 340 +/- 59, high--712 +/- 139 and 581 +/- 102 fmol/mg protein, respectively.

Comparison of some environmental pollutants on the incidence of digestive tract malignancies mapped in district Blansko (Czechoslovakia).

The basic economic and geographic regionalization and the rate of environmental pollutants in the investigated district were firstly defined. The incidence of digestive tract malignancies in years 1976-1984 was compiled with the aid of a computer, and modelling by isolines a as graphic representation was used. The state of environment is compared with the geographical places of maximal and minimal incidence of the cancer types studied.

Skin tests with autologous cholesteryl hemisuccinate-treated tumor cells, DNCB and PPD and their relationship to prognosis in malignant melanoma patients.

Skin tests with autologous cholesteryl hemisuccinate-treated tumor cells were performed in Stage II malignant melanoma patients. In the majority of cases an evident reaction having features of delayed type hypersensitivity was noted. No significant correlation between this reactivity and subsequent course of the disease was found.

Occurrence of carcinoembryonic antigen in tumor tissue and serum of breast cancer patients.

In 116 breast cancer patients, the levels of carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) were determined before operation in the serum using RIA, and after operation in sections of breast tumor tissue using the immunohistological PAP technique. CEA circulating in the serum was found in 49 patients (42%). Elevated values (over 10 micrograms/l) were found in only 12 patients (10%).

Optimization of radiation therapy in prostatic cancer.

The results of a study on the optimization of external irradiation of prostatic cancer are discussed. The study was performed with the aid of an automatic water phantom, an automatic densitometer, and a computerized treatment planning system using an anthropometric phantom Alderson. The following parameters were studied: Dose gradient, the size of areas of selected isodoses, and the shape of the 90% isodose.

Serum beta 2-microglobulin after five-day administration of cisplatin.

Patients with testicular tumors receiving the Einhorn combination chemotherapy with cisplatinum administration for five consecutive days were evaluated for signs of glomerular filtration rate impairment by means of serum beta 2-microglobulin measurements before and on days 2 and 5 after cessation of cisplatin administration and then before repeated cycles of the same chemotherapeutic regimen. Though no significant changes in the level of serum beta 2-microglobulin could be found, an evident increase in the values was seen indicating that in more aggressive cisplatin administration schedules not only tubular impairment might contribute to possible nephrotoxic effects.

The DNA content of colorectal carcinomas: an analysis of the heterogeneity of aneuploidy and correlation with immunopathological parameters.

DNA ploidy patterns of 107 colorectal adenocarcinomas were retrospectively analyzed by flow cytometry (FCM) and correlated with clinicopathological and immunohistological parameters as grade, vascular and serosal invasion, carcinoembryonic antigen, secretory component (SC) and expression of HLA-DR antigens. Using the classical division into DNA diploid and DNA aneuploid tumors, a correlation with SC expression was observed. Subdivision of aneuploid tumors according to the discussed hypothetical functional criteria into hyperdiploid, hypotetraploid, tetraploid and hypertetraploid groups led to statistically significant correlation with serosal invasion.

HLA-DR antigens on differentiating human mammary gland epithelium and breast tumours.

The staining pattern of a monoclonal antibody directed to the monomorphic determinant of HLA-DR antigens was examined on sections of human mammary gland tissues at various stages of differentiation as well as on 50 benign and 72 malignant breast lesions. Normal resting breast epithelium lacked HLA-DR, whereas late-pregnant and lactating epithelia expressed high levels of HLA-DR antigens, followed by a decline in the post-weaning regression period. Most benign breast lesions revealed heterogeneous staining ranging from very few up to 20-25% positive epithelial Greater variability was observed among carcinomas, where a small group (approximately 7%) of cases showing 40-95% positive tumour cells was found, in addition to negative tumours and those with the minority of HLA-DR expressing carcinoma cells.

Lack of beta-casein production by human breast tumours revealed by monoclonal antibodies.

An immunohistochemical study with four monoclonal antibodies to human beta-casein was carried out to examine the expression of this milk protein in a wide range of normal tissues, in 127 breast tumours and in a heterogeneous panel of 42 malignancies of other histogenesis. The only normal tissue stained positively by the antibodies was the mammary gland in late pregnancy, during lactation and in the post-lactational regression period. None of the tumours of non-mammary origin showed any staining.

A latent form of cathepsin B in pleural effusions. I. Characterization of the enzyme in breast cancer patients.

A latent cysteine proteinase has been found in the pleural effusion fluid of patients with breast cancer. It can be converted by pepsin to an active form, the properties of which, including the pH optimum, pH stability, substrate specificity, and sensitivity to various proteinase inhibitors, were found to be closely related to those of cathepsin B. Unlike the pepsin-generated enzyme, which was rapidly inactivated above pH 7.

Phenotypic alterations of 7,12-dimethylbenz(a)anthracene and N-methyl-N-nitrosourea induced rat mammary tumors during repeated transplantations.

New transplantable rat mammary tumor lines derived from 7,12-dimethylbenz(a)anthracence (DMBA)- and N-methyl-N-nitrosourea (MNU)-induced carcinogenesis were established and characterized for biological and morphological criteria in the course of multiple tumor generations growing in female or male Wistar rats. DMBA-derived tumors RMT-1, RMT-2 and RMT-3 converted from adenocarcinoma to fibrosarcoma in the early passages. Conversion proceeded earlier in tumors with a well differentiated epithelial component compared to less differentiated ones, providing evidence for clonal spindle cell selection as the most probable mechanism responsible.

Cytochemical and biochemical evidence of cathepsin B in malignant, transformed and normal breast epithelial cells.

Human breast cancer cell lines, as well as transformed mammary epithelial cells (HBL-100) and growth-stimulated normal breast epithelial cells showed positive cytochemical reaction with the proteinase substrate 2-(N-benzyloxycarbonyl-L-arginyl-L-arginylamido)-4-methoxynapht halene, in the presence of 5-nitrosalicylaldehyde. The reaction product, small fluorescent granules, was distributed throughout the cytoplasm, in the perinuclear zone, in some cytoplasmic projections, and at the cell surface. Using a panel of various proteinase inhibitors, we found that the formation of the reaction product was an enzymic function of a cysteine proteinase.