Serum lipids in uterine cancer]

In 40 patients with uterine cancer changes were studied in total lipids, beta-lipoproteids and cholesterol in serum prior to, during and 4 years following the treatment. All patients were characterized by a low level of total lipids and increased cholesterol values, the former were normalized under the influence of the therapy in disappearance of the symptoms. The level of beta-lipoproteids decreased prior to the treatment was reliably increased during it only in patients with cervical cancer subjected to the combination treatment (surgery & irradiation).     

Serum lipids and tissue DNA content in Egyptian female breast cancer patients

BACKGROUND: Several clinical studies suggest the prognostic significance of serum lipid levels and tissue DNA content in breast cancer. In the course of investigating the biological features of this disease among Egyptian female patients, we examined the serum lipid levels and tissue DNA content of premenopausal and postmenopausal breast cancer patients. METHODS: Levels of total lipid, total cholesterol, and triglycerides were measured in the sera of women with breast cancer and compared with those of the control women. The DNA content in breast cancer tissue was also measured in these patients. RESULTS: Total lipid levels showed a significant increase in both premenopausal (follicular and luteal) and postmenopausal patients. Total cholesterol levels significantly increased in premenopausal (follicular and luteal) patients with no significant change in postmenopausal women. Triglyceride levels showed a significant increase in postmenopausal women, whereas no significant differences were observed in premenopausal patients. Tumors of premenopausal patients, in both follicular and luteal phases, showed a higher DNA content as compared with those of postmenopausal patients. Breast cancer tissues of grade III showed significantly higher DNA content than those of grade I and grade II. CONCLUSIONS: This study suggests an association between high levels of serum, total lipid and total cholesterol, and increased breast cancer risk in premenopausal women. Such an association is also suggested for the high total serum lipid and triglyceride levels in postmenopausal women. The DNA content in breast cancer tissue might be useful in determining a suitable therapy for individual cases, based on the malignancy grade.     

Plasma lipids and prolactin in patients with breast cancer

In a comparative study of pre- and postmenopausal women with benign and malignant breast disease, a number of differences were observed in circulating plasma prolactin and lipid concentrations. Plasma lipids, phospholipids, triglycerides, cholesterol and free fatty acids were all higher in blood obtained from breast cancer patients prior to surgery. HDL-Cholesterol levels were significantly lower in these patients. These differences remained when the patient groups were sub-divided according to menopausal status. Plasma prolactin concentrations were also found to be higher in cancer compared with non-cancer patients, this effect being more marked in premenopausal than in postmenopausal patients. Premenopausal patients with invasive or poorly differentiated disease had significantly higher prolactin levels than those with non-invasive disease. No correlations were found between plasma prolactin and any of the lipid fractions.     

大肠癌患者血脂及脂蛋白变化的临床意义

目的：流行病学研究发现血清胆固醇水平与一些癌症的发生和死亡率呈负相关。本文旨在评价大肠癌（ＣＲＣ）患者血脂及脂蛋白水平与ＣＲＣ分化程度、Ｄｕｋｅ氏分期和预后的关系。方法：应用自动生化分析仪，测定了进展期ＣＲＣ患者（ｎ＝７６），良性大肠疾病患者（ｎ＝４０）和正常对照者（ｎ＝６０）的血脂和脂蛋白水平，分别用ｔ检验、方差分析或Ｋａｐｌａｎ－Ｍｅｉｅｒ曲线Ｌｏｇ－ｒａｎｋ检验等对结果进行统计分析。结果：ＣＲＣ患者血清总胆固醇（ＴＣ）和高密度脂蛋白胆固醇（ＨＤＬ－Ｃ）水平明显低于良性大肠疾病组和正常对照组（Ｐ＜００２或Ｐ＜００１）。分化不良的ＣＲＣ患者的血清ＴＣ和ＨＤＬ－Ｃ水平显著低于分化良好者（Ｐ＜００５）。根据Ｄｕｋｅ氏分期，随着ＣＲＣ的进展，患者的血清ＴＣ和ＨＤＬ－Ｃ水平逐渐下降。血清ＴＣ和ＨＤＬ－Ｃ水平正常的ＣＲＣ患者的６个月生存率明显高于血清ＴＣ和ＨＤＬ－Ｃ水平下降者（Ｐ＜００５）。结论：大肠癌患者血清ＴＣ和ＨＤＬ－Ｃ水平下降，并可能与大肠癌的分化程度、Ｄｕｋｅ氏分期和患者的预后有关。     

Serum lipids in hepatoma.

Serum lipids were determined in patients with hepatoma, liver cirrhosis and healthy controls. Serum total cholesterol, esterified cholesterol, triglycerides, and phospholipid were increased in cases with hepatoma compared to those with cirrhosis, irrespective of a history of liver cirrhosis in the hepatome group of patients. From this study one can conclude that the determination of serum lipids is useful in differentiating carcinoma from liver cirrhosis. This may be used as a tool for the early detection of hepatoma complicating liver cirrhosis.     

Serum lipids in vertigo and sensorineural deafness

The study shows that the serum lipid value increases in vertigo and sensorineural deafness cases. The study was carried out in twenty vertigo and fifteen sensorineural deafness patients with a control group of 20 cases in the age group of 30–70 years. The present study indicates that the serum cholesterol, serum phospholipid, and serum triglycerides are the major serum lipids which show a significant rise in blood levels. The serum cholesterol, serum phospholipid and triglyceride levels in vertigo cases are significantly higher when analysed statistically as the ‘p’ value is less than 0.05 while the other lipids are not raised significantly as the ‘P’ value is more than 0.05. Similarly in sensorineural deafness patients the raised serum cholesterol, phospholipid and triglyceride levels are highly significant as the ‘P’ value is lower than 0.01 when analysed statistically. In sensorineural deafness patients the serum uric acid is raised significantly when analysed statistically. Serum lipid studies are not only important from the diagnostic point of view but also for prognosis too. Serum lipid studies should be carried out in all patients of vertigo and sensorineural deafness as a preliminary test. Once a raised serum lipid level is established, the main treatment is by dietic control.     

Changes in serum lipids and lipoproteins in cancer patients during chemotherapy

Summary We studied serum lipid and lipoprotein changes occurring during chemotherapy in 57 patients with chemosensitive cancers, including 18 malignant lymphomas, 18 breast carcinomas, 14 small-cell lung carcinomas, and 7 urothelial-cell carcinomas. Patients who responded favorably to chemotherapy demonstrated a significant increase in serum total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol values, with the singular exception of breastcancer patients, who exhibited a nonsignificant decrease in both of these parameters. Serum levels of free cholesterol and HDL cholesterol did not show any significant changes. Finally, serum triglycerides tended to increase after effective chemotherapy, but this was of statistical significance only in breast-cancer patients. Although our findings were based on a rather small number of patients, they indicate that the lipid and lipoprotein disorders reported in cancer patients are reversible by effective treatment of the tumor, suggesting that these disorders are a secondary phenomenon of malignancy.     

Serum erythropoietin level in anemic cancer patients

Anemia is a frequent complication of cancer and its treatment. A defect in erythropoietin production has been advocated as being the main cause of anemia in cancer patients. We studied serum erythropoietin levels in 74 patients with solid tumors and in a control group consisting of 20 otherwise healthy individuals without any malignancy, who have only iron deficiency anemia. Serum erythropoietin levels were measured by enzyme immunoassay in cancer patients without anemia (n=34), and in anemic cancer patients (n=40); either receiving chemotherapy (n=21) or not (n=19). Anemic cancer patients were found to have decreased response of erythropoietin for a given hemoglobin level (mean, 40.1±34.7 u/ml), compared with the patients having only iron deficiency anemia (mean, 69.7±68.6 u/ml) (P<0.05). In patients with iron deficiency anemia having no malignancy, erythropoietin response was remarkably high and inversely correlated with the level of hemoglobin (r=−0.69;P=0.05). Although there was no correlation between hemoglobin and erythropoietin response in cancer anemia (r=−0.07), serum levels of erythropoietin were found to be higher in anemic cancer patients (mean, 40.1±34.7 u/ml), compared with cancer patients with normal hemoglobin values (mean, 19.96±18.4 u/ml). There was not any statistically significant difference between erythropoietin levels in anemic cancer patients with or without chemotherapy (mean, 43.7±37.7 u/ml and 41.9±30.08 u/ml respectively;P>0.05). No difference in serum erythropoietin levels were noted in patients treated with cisplatin or non-cisplatin containing regimens (mean, 48.36±33.12 u/ml and 38.55±43.52 u/ml, respectively;P>0.05). In this study, we demonstrated that anemia in cancer patients was caused by blunted erythropoietin response, rather than its quantitative deficiency. Serial measurements, however, should be considered in patients receiving chemotherapy.     

Predicting mood disorders in breast cancer patients

Prediction of delayed psychiatric disorders in breast cancer patients by using a screening procedure was investigated. Two questionnaires, the Psychological Distress Inventory and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, were administered before and during chemotherapy, and at the first follow-up visit. A psychiatric diagnosis was assigned to 50 of the 132 patients (38%) evaluated at follow-up. Including a set of clinical and demographic variables in a logistic regression, increasing age (P=0.001) and psychiatric history (P<0.001) were associated with psychiatric morbidity at follow-up. The accuracy of the two questionnaires in predicting delayed psychiatric disorders increased from the evaluation before chemotherapy to the evaluation during chemotherapy. The most accurate prediction was observed for the concurrent evaluation at follow-up. The accuracy of three predictive models developed for each evaluation point by including age, psychiatric history and psychological distress measured with each of the two questionnaires was not significantly better than that observed using only the questionnaires' scores as predictors.     

Serum ribonuclease activity in cancer patients.

A study was made of the levels of ribonuclease (RNase) in human serum, using 2 independently collected banks of samples from Scripps Clinic and Research Foundation and the Mayo Clinic, each bank representing more than 100 individuals. These serum samples originated from a cross-section of normal individuals, smokers, patients with benign tumours, and patients with a variety of neoplasms. Elevated levels of serum RNase occurred in 68% of the samples from individuals with malignant disease. Elevated levels also occurred in 24% of the samples from individuals with benign tumours and in 38% of the smoker controls from the Mayo Clinic serum bank. Using ion-exchange chromatography, pooled sera from normal individuals and cancer patients were fractionated by differential salt elution. Each pool showed 2 distinct peaks of RNase activity, and both peaks were elevated to the same degree in the cancer serum pools. Similar results were obtained after thin-layer-gel isoelectric focusing of both normal and cancer sera; no new species of RNase could be detected in the sera of patients with malignant diseases. The results suggested a generalized nonspecific increase in serum RNase in these patients.