Controversies in tuberculosis

Tuberculous infection among children continues to be a significant cause of morbidity. The symptom complex are so variable among children that the final diagnosis often rests on the laboratory tests. Proper interpretation of the tests, specially tuberculin test and radiographic studies, are necessary for establishing correct diagnosis. The usefulness of tuberculin test in both unimmunized and BCG vaccinated children is highlighted. BCG accelerated response as a test should be reserved for identifying serious form of pulmonary disease or CNS tuberculosis when the tuberculin test is negative. Radiographic assessment may be sensitive in some instances but not always specific and hence needs cautious interpretation. Tuberculosis among BCG vaccinated children though not uncommon, needs proper documentation. Current trends in the management of tuberculosis including CNS forms are briefly outlined.     

艾灸对宫颈癌放疗患者血象影响的观察

目的 探讨艾灸减轻放疗对宫颈癌患者血液系统损伤的作用。方法 61例宫颈癌患者分为艾灸治疗组、对照组，观察艾灸对宫颈癌放疗患者血象的影响。结果 艾灸能提高宫颈癌放疗患者的红细胞（P＜0．05）、血色素（P＜0．01）及血小板数，减轻放疗对白细胞的损害（P＜0．01）。结论 艾灸具有抗放疗对宫颈癌（肿瘤）患者血液系统损害的作用，起到抗肿瘤、增强机体免疫功能、有利机体康复的作用。     

Review of clinical and haematological response to low-dose cytosine arabinoside in acute myeloid leukaemia

15 patients with acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) were treated with low-dose cytosine arabinoside (LD ARA-C). 2 patients had complete remissions, which lasted for 8 and 3 months, and 5 patients had a partial remission. 46% of the patients thus responded to LD ARA-C. This included 1 responding patient who had not previously responded to therapy with 6-mercaptopurine, thioguanine, or vinblastine. The 2 patients with complete remission did not show LD ARA-C-induced hypoplasia of bone marrow, although 1 had hypoplastic AML before therapy. Leukaemic cells from 1 patient showed in vivo maturation from M1 to M3 after LD ARA-C treatment. The present results, together with the published data, indicate that: a. LD ARA-C treatment, although it may have some toxic effects, is an effective treatment for some patients with AML, especially those with hypoplastic AML; b. Response to LD ARA-C can be obtained after one or several courses of treatment; c. LD ARA-C-induced remissions are sometimes obtained even in patients who fail in more conventional treatments; d. LD ARA-C-induced remissions can be achieved without bone marrow hypoplasia, and induction of hypoplasia by itself does not always result in complete remission; e. LD ARA-C can induce in vivo maturation of leukaemic cells. It is suggested that induction of remission in AML patients by LD ARA-C may result from either differentiation of leukaemic blast cells, cytotoxicity to leukaemic blasts, or both mechanisms acting together.     

DSA—Control of implanted devices for arterial hepatic perfusion

In contrast to conventional film angiography, the perfusion pattern of hepatic arterial chemotherapy was consistently visualized by DSA in 40 patients with implanted Infusaid pump or Port-A devices. Incomplete perfusion of a liver region by the cytotoxic agent was recognized by DSA as accurately as by nuclide scintigraphy. Furthermore, DSA appeared to be more sensitive in determining aberrantly perfused extrahepatic regions; this was especially true when there was a nonligated right hepatic artery. Specific details of vascular lesions and associated complicating events also could be satisfactorily analyzed by DSA only.     

Palliative treatment of malignant ascites by intraperitoneal bleomycin after dialytic ultrafiltration with haemofilter

Dialytic ultrafiltration with haemofilter was performed in 16 patients with malignant ascites refractory to treatment with sodium restriction, diuretic and systemic chemotherapy. A continuous flow of ascitic fluid at a rate of 300–400 ml/min through a haemofilter was maintained by a blood pump. The protein-rich ascitic fluid was re-infused into the peritoneal cavity with sodium and water removed. An average of 5.2 1 of filtrate was removed over a mean interval of 3.5 h. Bleomycin (60 mg) was administered intraperitoneally following the procedure. Complete response was observed in six patients (37.25%) and partial response occurred in four (25%). The remaining patients showed no response. Complications of the dialytic ultrafiltration procedure and toxicity of intraperitoneal administration of bleomycin were minimal. The technique of dialytic ultrafiltration is simple, safe and cost-effective and could be used as an adjuvant therapy for intraperitoneal chemotherapy.     

腹腔游离癌细胞测定在大肠癌治疗中的临床意义

目的：评价腹腔游离癌细胞测定的临床价值。方法：126例进展期大肠癌患者，术中探查前先用100ml生理盐水冲洗腹腔，然后从Douglas窝中取出50ml生理盐水进行细胞离心检测，共检测出癌细胞阳性72例（57.14%)，将其随机分成两组，一组接受早期腹腔温热化疗及静脉化疗，另一组接受静脉化疗，结果：静脉化疗组腹腔内复发9例，肝转移4例；早期腹腔温热化疗组，腹腔内复发2例，肝转移3例，两组复发率有显著差异；两组均未见严重并发症。结论：腹腔游离癌细胞测定有助于指导大肠癌术后早期进行腹腔温热化疗并对判断大肠癌预后有一定的价值。     

PREVIOUS INTRAVENOUS CHEMOTHERAPY DOES NOT ALTER RESPONSE RATE OR SURVIVAL TIME OF PATIENTS WITH HEPATIC METASTASES FROM COLORECTAL CANCER TREATED BY HEPATIC ARTERY CHEMOTHERAPY

Background : The present paper addressed the issue of whether pretreatment with intravenous (IV) chemotherapy affects response rate or survival in patients receiving hepatic artery chemotherapy (HAC). Methods : Case note reviews of 164 patients treated in a teaching hospital from June 1990 to July 1996 were carried out. Results : The response rate and carcino-embryonic antigen (CEA) fall in the two groups was almost identical. There was a nonsignificant survival advantage in the non-pretreatment group. Conclusions : Previous administration of IV chemotherapy did not affect the CEA response of patients receiving HAC.     

术前动脉灌注化疗加乳腺区段切除治疗乳腺癌的探讨

目的　探索早期乳腺癌保留乳房治疗的新途径。方法　 1995 - 1997年采用术前动脉插管化疗加乳腺区段切除治疗Ⅰ、Ⅱ期乳腺癌共 2 6例 ,并随访 5年以上。结果　 2 6例中 1例术后 2年 4个月死于肺转移 ,另 1例术后 4年死于其他疾病。 1例术后 1年复发 ,行全乳房切除后至今无瘤生存 6年。本组 3年生存率 (OS) 96 .15 % ,3年无瘤生存率 (DFS) 92 .3% ;5年OS 88.4 6 % ,5年DFS 88.4 6 %。结论　术前动脉插管化疗能提高肿瘤区域的药物浓度 ,杀灭部分癌细胞 ,减少术后复发。该疗法对部分Ⅰ、Ⅱ期乳腺癌病例是可行的。     

Expression of the cell surface antigen detected by the monoclonal antibody A7 in pancreatic carcinoma cell lines

In a previous study, we used a murine monoclonal antibody, A7, against human colon carcinoma as a drug-carrier to treat colorectal cancer.¹ In the present study, we found that MAb A7 also reacted immunohistochemically with 73% of human pancreatic carcinoma cell lines, with the A7 antigen mainly being detected on the cell surface. However, the A7 antigen was found in only 9% of the spent media of these human pancreatic carcinoma cell lines by ELISA. On the other hand, the positive incidence of CA19-9, POA, ferritin, CEA, DU-PAN-2 and SLX in those spent media was 100%, 64%, 64%, 55%, 55% and 36%, respectively. These results suggest that the A7 antigen may only rarely be shed into the sera of pancreatic cancer patients, in which case MAb A7 could be a suitable drug-carrier in targeting chemotherapy for pancreatic cancer patients.