The kinetics of repair in mouse lung after fractionated irradiation.

The kinetics of repair of sublethal damage in mouse lung was studied after fractionated doses of 137Cs gamma-rays. A wide range of doses per fraction (1.7-12 Gy) was given with interfraction intervals ranging from 0.

Cancer in survivors of childhood soft tissue sarcoma and their relatives.

One hundred fifty-nine 3-year survivors of childhood soft tissue sarcoma and their relatives were surveyed to determine the frequency of second malignant neoplasms (SMNs) in patients and cancer in their relatives. The cancer experience of the patients, their offspring, siblings, parents, parental siblings, and grandparents was compared to that expected of the general population based on age-, sex- and calendar year-specific rates from the Connecticut Tumor Registry. A significant excess of SMNs was observed in the patients (observed expected = 8:0.

Toxicity and therapeutic effects in mice of liposome-encapsulated nystatin for systemic fungal infections.

The therapeutic activity of nystatin (NYS) incorporated in multilamellar liposomes (L-NYS) was studied in vivo. Hale-Stoner mice injected intravenously with various doses of L-NYS and free NYS showed a significant reduction in toxicity of NYS after the NYS was incorporated into liposomes (maximal tolerated doses, 16 and 4 mg/kg of body weight, respectively). The maximal tolerated dose of free NYS had no effect in the treatment of mice infected with Candida albicans, whereas L-NYS at an equivalent dose improved the survival of mice.

Formulation, toxicity, and antifungal activity in vitro of liposome-encapsulated nystatin as therapeutic agent for systemic candidiasis.

Multilamellar vesicles containing nystatin (NYS) were compared with vesicles containing the free drug for toxicity to erythrocytes and for antifungal activity in vitro. Liposomal nystatin was as active as free NYS was against a wide variety of yeasts and fungi. The antifungal activity against Candida albicans was maintained with different liposome compositions and without sterols.

Sexual rehabilitation in a cancer center: diagnosis and outcome in 384 consultations.

A program of sexual rehabilitation in a cancer center evaluated 308 men and 76 women, using a structured interview. The site of the malignancy was pelvic or genital in 79% of men and 58% of women. Most patients (73%) had one or two sessions of sexual counseling, but therapy was more intensive for about a quarter of patients.

Growth hormone, somatomedin C, and nonsuppressible insulin-like activity levels compared in premature, small, average birth weight, and large infants.

We have investigated the relationship between growth hormone, somatomedin C, nonsuppressible insulin-like activity, weight, gestational age, and 1-minute Apgar score in newborn infants. The 153 infants were categorized as small for gestational age (n = 19), average for gestational age (n = 59), large for gestational age (n = 60), and premature (gestational age at birth, 36 weeks or less (n = 15). Our study showed that (1) growth hormone levels were elevated in premature infants and correlated with Apgar scores and birth weights; (2) somatomedin C and nonsuppressible insulin-like activity levels were significantly lower in premature than in term infants; and (3) the birth weight of all infants studied had a significant overall effect on both somatomedin C and nonsuppressible insulin-like activity levels, suggesting that these factors may be involved in fetal growth.

Expression of autoantigens in human colorectal carcinomas. Implications for a generic vaccine.

The antibody response of patients was used to characterize the autoantigens in human colorectal carcinoma. Twenty-seven primary and 13 metastatic carcinomas with paired normal tissues were extracted and transferred onto nitrocellulose membranes by the Western transfer technique. After the transfers were incubated with the serum of the patient from whom the tumor was derived, autoantigens were identified by indirect immunoperoxidase staining.

Combined antiestrogen and cytotoxic therapy with pseudomonas vaccine immunotherapy for metastatic breast cancer. A prospective, randomized trial.

One hundred thirty-three consecutive, previously untreated patients who had metastatic breast cancer were treated with a combination of 5-fluorouracil, doxorubicin (Adriamycin), and cyclophosphamide (FAC). They were randomly assigned to receive nonspecific immunotherapy with a heptavalent pseudomonas vaccine. Sixty-five patients were treated with pseudomonas vaccine, whereas 68 did not receive immunotherapy.

HLA class II antigen associated invariant chain gene expression in malignant lymphoma.

Expression of the gene encoding HLA class II antigen-associated invariant chain was studied in several types of fresh human malignant lymphoma by Northern blot analysis or slot-blot analysis. The invariant chain mRNA levels decreased with the stage of B-lymphocyte differentiation to plasma cells such as in immunoblastic lymphoma (IBL) or multiple myeloma (MM). The invariant chain gene (In-gene) was expressed in diffuse large cell lymphoma (DLCL), while its expression was hardly detected in IBL.

Perturbation of epidermal Langerhans cells in basal cell carcinomas.

Epidermal Langerhans cells (LC) play a pivotal role in a variety of local immune responses. Using ATPase-stained preparations, we evaluated the density and morphologic features of these cells in the skin of 12 patients with basal cell carcinoma (BCC). In three patients, we compared the density of LC in the tumor to that in the perilesional skin.

Repair of UV-induced lesions in Xenopus laevis oocytes.

We characterized a DNA repair system in frog oocytes by comicroinjection of UV-irradiated pBR322 DNA and radiolabeled nucleotides. Repair synthesis was monitored by incorporation of label into recovered pBR322 DNA and by a novel method in which the removal of UV photoproducts was determined from the shift of DNA topoisomers that occurs during gel electrophoresis upon repair of these lesions. We investigated the effects of several drugs in the oocyte system and found that although novobiocin, an inhibitor of topoisomerase II, was an effective inhibitor of repair, VM-26, another inhibitor of topoisomerase II, was not.

Phase II pilot study with cisplatin, etoposide, and continuous-infusion 5-fluorouracil in metastatic non-small cell lung cancer.

A pilot study was conducted using a combination of cisplatin (70 mg/m2 i.v., day 1), etoposide (60 mg/m2 i.

Adenoid cystic carcinoma of the breast.

Twelve cases of pure adenoid cystic carcinoma of the breast were reviewed. Patients ranged in age from 34 to 69 years. Seven carcinomas were in the right breast, and five in the left; five of the 12 were located in the central region of the breast, five in the upper outer quadrant, and the two in the upper inner and lower inner quadrants, respectively.

Involvement of chromosome 7 in primary lung tumor and nonmalignant normal lung tissue.

By using the newly developed adhesive tumor cell culture system, we analyzed the chromosomal constitutions of primary lung tumor and nonmalignant normal lung tissue from 10 previously untreated patients with non-small cell lung cancer. Chromosomal analyses were successfully carried out in banded chromosome preparations from 10 tumor and 8 normal lung tissue samples. All analyzed tumor and normal lung tissue samples had a predominantly normal diploid chromosome number.

Synergistic antifungal activity and reduced toxicity of liposomal amphotericin B combined with gramicidin S or NF.

Amphotericin B (AmpB) disrupts membrane integrity by binding to sterols in fungal and mammalian cell membranes. The gramicidins, which form pores in all membranes but exhibit poor antifungal activity, are too toxic to mammalian cells to be used systemically. This study demonstrated synergistic antifungal activity of free and liposomal forms of AmpB when combined with the free and liposomal forms of gramicidin S and gramicidin NF against five Candida strains.

Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in bone. Pathologic and radiologic features with clinical correlates.

Thirty-seven lymphomas of bone were studied, including 33 diffuse large cell lymphomas, three undifferentiated (small noncleaved cell) lymphomas, and one well-differentiated (small) lymphocytic lymphoma. The large cell lymphomas were subclassified as large cleaved, large noncleaved, multilobated cell, and immunoblastic sarcoma (large cell lymphoma, immunoblastic type). Eleven of 26 large cell lymphoma patients with adequate follow-up were long-term survivors (free of disease for more than 5 years).

Formation of a type I collagen RNA dimer by intermolecular base-pairing of a conserved sequence around the translation initiation site.

A symmetrical sequence around the translation initiation site of several collagen genes is highly conserved. Deletions in this sequence increase translational efficiency of an alpha 2(I) collagen - CAT chimeric gene after DNA transfection of NIH 3T3 fibroblasts (Schmidt, Rossi and de Crombrugghe, submitted). The secondary structure, predicted by the sequence of this segment, was shown to exist in solution in 200 mM NaCl at 37 degrees C.

Dosage Compensation in Drosophila: Evidence That daughterless and Sex-lethal Control X Chromosome Activity at the Blastoderm Stage of Embryogenesis.

Dosage compensation is a mechanism that equalizes the expression of X chromosome linked genes in males, who have one X chromosome, with that in females, who have two. In Drosophila, this is achieved by the relative hyperactivation of X-linked genes in males, as was first shown by Muller using a phenotypic assay based on adult eye color. Several genes involved in regulating dosage compensation have been identified through the isolation of mutations that are sex-specific lethals.

A microdosimetric characterization of a cyclotron-produced therapeutic neutron beam.

The therapeutic neutron beam of the Cyclotron Corporation's CP-42 negative-ion cyclotron is generated by protons of 42 MeV bombarding a thin beryllium target. Microdosimetric measurements were made for this neutron beam in a full-scatter water phantom at nine positions inside and outside the useful beam. The lineal energy distribution and the variations of dose-mean, frequency-mean, and saturated lineal energy are compared for these positions.

Low-grade fibromyxoid sarcoma. A report of two metastasizing neoplasms having a deceptively benign appearance.

Two deceptively benign-appearing, unclassifiable but very similar fibromyxoid sarcomas characterized histologically by bland, innocuous-appearing fibroblastic cells and a swirling, whorled growth pattern are presented. The tumors both occurred in women in their late twenties and were located in the soft tissues of the scapular area and the axillary-chest wall area, respectively. Lung metastases developed in both cases; one patient died 94 months after excision of the primary neoplasm, whereas the other was alive at 82 months.

Treatment of metastatic stromal tumors of the ovary with cisplatin, doxorubicin, and cyclophosphamide.

From September 1981 until June 1986, eight patients with metastatic ovarian stromal tumors were entered into a prospective phase II study to determine the efficacy of a chemotherapy regimen combining cisplatin, doxorubicin, and cyclophosphamide. Patients received cisplatin 40-50 mg/m2 intravenously (IV), doxorubicin 40-50 mg/m2 IV, and cyclophosphamide 400-500 mg/m2 IV, all on day 1 every 28 days. The median age was 43 years (range 24-65 years).

Limiting-dilution analysis of the effects of colony-stimulating factors, phytohemagglutinin, and hydrocortisone on hematopoietic progenitor cell growth.

The effects of colony-stimulating factors (CSFs), phytohemagglutinin (PHA), and hydrocortisone on the growth of human bone marrow hematopoietic progenitor cells (granulocyte-macrophage; GM) were analyzed in a limiting-dilution assay (LDA). Both low-density bone marrow cells separated by discontinuous Percoll gradients and a T cell-depleted and progenitor-enriched cell fraction obtained by the combination of counterflow elutriation centrifugation and Percoll gradients were examined in LDA. GCT (monocytoid cell line-conditioned medium containing GM-CSF), human placenta-conditioned medium, bladder carcinoma cell line 5637-conditioned medium (containing GM- and G-CSF), and recombinant CSF (G-CSF) directly induced proliferation of progenitors with single-hit kinetics.

Experimental metastasis: a novel application of the variance-to-mean power function.

An empiric power function relationship between a population's mean density (m) and its corresponding variance (v), written v = a.mb (a, b, constants), may be applied to the analysis of experimentally induced pulmonary metastases within syngeneic (C57BL/6 X C3H)F1 mice. The mean and variance of the numbers of resultant B16 F1 and B16 F10 melanoma metastases strongly correlated with the power function (r2 greater than 0.