Is chronic inflammatory change in the prostate the major cause of rising serum prostate‐specific antigen in patients with clinical suspicion of prostate cancer?

AIM: To evaluate the cause of elevated prostate-specific antigen (PSA) in patients with transrectal needle biopsy negative for prostate cancer. METHODS: Serum PSA concentration, prostate volume, and pathologic findings were examined in 223 patients with negative biopsy for prostate cancer. The degree of prostate inflammation was determined by the extent and degree of inflammation shown by biopsy specimens and is expressed as an inflammation score (range: 0-36). RESULTS: A significant correlation was found between PSA concentration and prostate total volume (P=0.0001). Prostate chronic inflammation showed no correlation with PSA concentration (P=0.485, F=0.488). After allocating patients to normal PSA (4 ng/mL) groups, we found that serum PSA concentrations in both groups were predominantly affected by prostate total volume. CONCLUSIONS: An increase in prostate volume appears to be the major contributor to a high serum PSA concentration in patients with negative biopsy for prostate cancer. However, in contrast to previous reports, there was no correlation between the degree of prostate chronic inflammation and serum PSA concentrations.     

Urinary cyclic AMP response to bovine parathyroid hormone during treatment with neuroleptics

The urinary cyclic AMP response to bovine parathyroid hormone and urinary concentrating ability (max Uosm) after des-amino-D -arginine vasopressin were studies in nine volunteers and seven patients receiving long-term neuroleptic treatment. Max Uosm was lower in the patient group (770 ± 70 mosmol/kg) compared with the controls (948 ± 152 mosmol/kg) but the trend to a lower cAMP response to bovine PTH was not statistically significant. These results suggest that, although adenylate cyclase inhibition may contribute, other mechanisms are also important in the genesis of reduced uring concentrating ability in patients treated with psychotropic drugs.     

BcL-2、Bax、CD44V6在乳腺癌表达及预后的研究

目的探讨影响乳腺癌患者预后的因素,协助临床制定手术方式及术后治疗方案。方法选择80例各型乳腺癌患者的标本,应用免疫组化SP方法,检测乳腺癌组织中癌基因BcL-2、Bax及黏附因子CD44V6的表达情况。结果乳腺癌中BcL-2、Bax及CD44V6的表达情况与肿瘤组织学分级、瘤体直径。有无转移及患者术后存活时间均有显著性相关(P<0.05或0.01)。结论BcL-2高表达、Bax低表达、CD44V6低表达的患者组织学分级好,肿瘤体积小,淋巴结转移少,术后存活时间长,这部分患者可做肿物扩大切除而保留乳房或即使已做乳房切除,术后也可减少放疗及化疗剂量。     

选择髂内或髂外动脉吻合对移植肾的影响

目的 探讨肾移植动脉重建选择髂外或髂内动脉时移植肾血流参数、肾脏功能和血管并发症的差异。方法 135例初次肾移植患者随机分为2组，2组患者平均年龄、HLA错配数目、淋巴细胞毒试验、冷／热缺血时间差异均无统计学意义（P〉0．05），术后免疫抑制剂应用方案相同。应用髂外动脉端侧吻合66例，髂内动脉端端吻合69例。随访3个月，比较2组患者肾脏功能、彩色多普勒肾脏血流参数和血管并发症发生率。结果 髂内动脉、髂外动脉组2组患者术后3个月时肾功能监测指标（Cr：118．41 vs123．68μmol／L），移植肾主肾动脉、段动脉、大叶间动脉血流及阻力指数差异无统计学意义（P〉0．05）。结论 肾移植动脉重建选择髂内外动脉对移植肾功能及血液流变学无明显影响，动脉选择应根据患者具体情况决定。     

中老年晚期非小细胞肺癌射频损毁治疗与化疗的临床比较

目的:探讨射频损毁治疗晚期非小细胞肺癌的疗效及应用价值。方法:自1999年12月至2000年8月收治73例晚期中老年非小细胞肺癌患者,分别给予射频损毁治疗和以铂类为主的联合化疗;观察比较其近期疗效、中位生存期、1年及2年生存率;并分析其治疗后生存质量。结果:射频损毁治疗组有效率(CR+PR)为71.5％(30/42),明显高于化疗组的43.3％,差异呈显著性,(x2=4.63,P<0.05)。射频损毁治疗组中位生存期、1年及2年生存率及治疗后生存质量均高于化疗组。结论:射频损毁治疗对晚期非小细胞肺癌治疗,具有较好的中期疗效,且能明显提高生存质量。     

Developmental expression of aldehyde dehydrogenase in rat: a comparison of liver and lung development.

Metabolism is one of the major determinants for age-related changes in susceptibility to chemicals. Aldehydes are highly reactive molecules present in the environment that also can be produced during biotransformation of xenobiotics and endogenous metabolism. Although the lung is a major target for aldehyde toxicity, early development of aldehyde dehydrogenases (ALDHs) in lung has been poorly studied. The expression of ALDH in liver and lung across ages (postnatal day 1, 8, 22, and 60) was investigated in Wistar-Han rats. In adult, the majority of hepatic ALDH activity was found in mitochondria, while cytosolic ALDH activity was the highest contributor in lung. Total aldehyde oxidation capability in liver increases with age, but stays constant in lung. These overall developmental profiles of ALDH expression in a tissue appear to be determined by the different composition of ALDH isoforms within the tissue and their independent temporal and tissue-specific development. ALDH2 showed the most notable tissue-specific development. Hepatic ALDH2 was increased with age, while the pulmonary form did not. ALDH1 was at its maximum value at postnatal day 1 (PND1) and decreased thereafter both in liver and lung. ALDH3 increased with age in liver and lung, although ALDH3A1 was only detectible in lung. Collectively, the present study indicates that, in the case of aldehyde exposure, the in vivo responses would be tissue and age dependent.     

EDTA-induced urothelial cell shedding for the treatment of superficial bladder cancer in the mouse

AIM: The aim of this study was to determine the effect of intravesical EDTA instillation on the development of intravesically implanted tumor cells in normal mice. METHODS: The mouse bladder tumor (MBT-2) model was used in female C3H/eb mice to evaluate the amount of normal urothelial cell shedding, and the degree of tumor growth inhibition following intravesical EDTA instillation in comparison with phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) instillation. RESULTS: At 1 h after instillation, the number of urothelial cells aspirated was 500-1000 per PBS-treated mouse and 10,000-20,000 per EDTA-treated mouse (P < 0.00001). The bladder weight, which reflected the effect of the agent on the tumor, was similar in the untreated and PBS-treated mice (105.46 +/- 46 mg and 106.2 +/- 50 mg, respectively). It was significantly lower in the EDTA-treated mice (80.4 +/- 42 mg) (P = 0.0045). CONCLUSIONS: Intravesical administration of EDTA results in significant normal and neoplastic urothelial cell shedding. Intravesical irrigation with EDTA may prevent adherence of the malignant cells to the bladder wall following tumor resection.     

Immunohistochemical localization of cathepsin D, proliferating cell nuclear antigen and epidermal growth factor receptor in human breast carcinoma analysed by computer image analyser: correlation with histological grade and metastatic behaviour

 

Aims:

The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between immunohistochemical localization of cathepsin D (CD), proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) and epidermal growth factor receptor (EGF-R) in 65 cases of breast carcinoma in Japanese women and traditional prognostic factors such as histological grade, lymph node status, mitotic rate and clinical stage, in order to possibly identify some indicator(s) that may be specifically associated with prognosis.  

Methods and results:

Serial sections of 5-μm thick were cut from the archival formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissue blocks, and processed for CD, PCNA and EGF-R immunostaining. The results were analysed by computer-based image analysis system. All samples showed a positive immunoreaction for cathepsin D in both the parenchyma and stroma. However, the staining area and intensity varied from cell to cell in the parenchyma and stroma as well as among samples. Subsequently, the evaluation of immunostaining for CD was separately performed in both the parenchyma and stroma (CDpar and CDstr, respectively) and the combination of both components (CDtotal). PCNA and EGF-R showed positive immunostaining almost exclusively in the parenchymal component of the carcinoma tissue specimens. CDtotal significantly correlated with the histological grade, PCNA index (PI), mitotic rate (MR), EGF-R and lymph node metastasis. Significant correlation was also demonstrated between CDpar and the histological grade, EGF-R and lymph node metastasis, or between CDstr and MR, EGF-R and lymph node metastasis. EGF-R correlated highly with the histological grade, MR score, lymph node metastases and recurrence-free survival.  

Conclusions:

Both the CD parameters and EGF-R are valuable indicators for predicting the biological behaviour of human breast carcinoma.     

福建省原发性肝癌遗传因素分析

为了探讨遗传因素与福建省原发性肝癌的关系,应用多种对照配对的病例对照研究方法,对100个原发性肝癌和200个对照家系进行了遗传流行病学分析。结果显示,原发性肝癌先证者一、二级亲属患病率明显高于对照组患病率,分离比为0.04146～0.08654,遗传度加权均值为63.52±4.22％。提示原发性肝癌系多基因遗传病,遗传易感性是原发性肝癌的危险因素之一,原发性肝癌的发生是遗传和环境多种因素共同作用的结果。