Primary Sjögren's Syndrome Followed by Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia: A Case Report with a Ten Year History

We describe a female patient with primary Sjögren's syndrome who subsequently developed chronic myelogenous leukemia. The patient received a bone marrow transplant (BMT) from a genotypically HLA-identical brother after pre-transplant preparation with busulfan and cyclophosphamide. Eighteen weeks later, cutaneous and mucosal chronic graft-versus-host disease developed, followed by death 11 months after transplantation. Anti-Ro/SS-A antibodies disappeared within 6 months post-BMT, but antinuclear antibodies remained positive through the post-transplant course.     

Ability of enzymes to remove Candida

Infection by C. albicans is a significant cause of denture stomatitis. Therefore, the results of this study, which demonstrated that yeast lytic enzymes and proteolytic enzymes removed C. albicans from acrylic resin surfaces, suggest that these compounds are potentially useful denture cleansers.     

Etoposide Protects Mice from Radiation-induced Bone Marrow Death

Etoposide is known to inhibit the activity of topoisomerase II, and to possess radiosensitizing effects. In this paper we show that pretreatment of mice with etoposide one day before whole-body irradiation had a protective effect against radiation-induced bone marrow death. The LD50/30 of mice given radiation alone was 8.26 Gy while that of mice given etoposide one day before whole-body irradiation was 10.35 Gy. The number of endogenous colony-forming units surviving in whole body-irradiated mice was significantly increased by pretreatment with etoposide.     

In vivo Analysis of Tumor Vascularization in the Rat

By using transparent chambers in rats, we have directly observed tumor-induced neovascularization in the early stage and the formation of intricate networks in Yoshida rat ascites hepatoma AH109A and Sato lung carcinoma at high magnification. We counted branching point numbers per unit area in the microvascular network with and without tumors in order to clarify the sites from which new vascular sprouts originate. Branching point number per unit area in normal tissue was 13.6 ± 7.4/0.1 mm² in the field near a terminal arteriole, and 12.9 ± 7.3/0.1 mm² in the field distant from a terminal arteriole. There was no significant difference between these two fields in the normal vascular network. On the other hand, in the tumor vascular network, the branching point number in the field near a terminal arteriole was 50.4 ± 12.6/0.1 mm², and 30.1 ± 11.5/0.1 mm² in the field distant from a terminal arteriole. The difference is highly significant ( P <0.001). The frequency with which new capillaries originated from veins and venules was very low. We concluded from these results that the position from which tumor vessels originated was usually the terminal portion of a terminal arteriole.     

Lactate dehydrogenase isoenzyme-1 in the mediastinal yolk sac tumor

LDH isozymes in both the serum and tumor tissues of 4 patients with mediastinal yolk sac tumors, and in the cystic content of tumors transplanted into nude mice was examined. Our findings suggested that LDH-1, along with AFP, is an important marker of this tumor, and that LDH isozyme study is necessary for its diagnosis.     

Performance evaluation of a large axial field-of-view PET scanner: SET-2400W

The SET-2400W is a newly designed whole-body PET scanner with a large axial field of view (20 cm). Its physical performance was investigated and evaluated. The scanner consists of four rings of 112 BGO detector units (22.8 mm in-plane × 50 mm axial × 30 mm depth). Each detector unit has a 6 (in-plane) × 8 (axial) matrix of BGO crystals coupled to two dual photomultiplier tubes. They are arranged in 32 rings giving 63 two-dimensional image planes. Sensitivity for a 20-cm cylindrical phantom was 6.1 kcps/kBq/m/ (224 kcps/μCi/ml) in the 2D clinical mode, and to 48.6 kcps/kBq/ ml (1.8 Mcps/μCi/ml) in the 3D mode after scatter correction. In-plane spatial resolution was 3.9 mm FWHM at the center of the field-of-view, and 4.4 mm FWHM tangentially, and 5.4 mm FWHM radially at 100 mm from the center. Average axial resolution was 4.5 mm FWHM at the center and 5.8 mm FWHM at a radial position 100 mm from the center. Average scatter fraction was 8% for the 2D mode and 40% for the 3D mode. The maximum count rate was 230 kcps in the 2D mode and 350 kcps in the 3D mode. Clinical images demonstrate the utility of an enlarged axial field-of-view scanner in brain study and whole-body PET imaging.     

The mechanism of the increase in the serum CA125 concentration in patients with endometriosis

We discussed the mechanism of the increase in CA125 among patients with benign gynecologic diseases, especially with endometriosis. The tissue CA125 concentrations of surface endometrium in patients with adenomyosis were as follows; the highest tissue concentration was observed at the early proliferative phase followed by the late secretory one and was lowest in the late proliferative one. The tissue CA125 concentration showed the significantly different characteristics in surface and ectopic endometrium. The increase in CA125 in the intraperitoneal fluids was observed among cases of early pregnancy, acute appendicitis and ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS). Tissue samples from both the peritoneum obtained from patients with acute appendicitis and the cyst wall obtained from OHSS cases showed a high concentration of tissue CA125. From these findings, it was suggested that one of the causes of serum CA125 increase in patients with adenomyosis appeared to be the increase in the ectopic endometrial tissues in the myometrium and direct shedding from ectopic endometrial cells into peripheral circulation. On the other hand, in patients with chocolate cysts, the increase in serum CA125 was suppressed because it was secreted into the inside of the chocolate cyst. The production of CA125 may take place not only from ectopic endometrial cells of adenomyosis but also from the peritoneal tissues of patients with acute appendicitis.