A case of Sj?gren's syndrome with malignant lymphoma

A case of a 62-year-old female with Sj?gren's syndrome (SjS) who developed a malignant lymphoma (ML) is reported. The patient who became blind at 32 years of age due to retinitis, began to complain of sicca syndrome (dry eye and dry mouth) and polyarthralgia at 40 years of age. A rapidly progressive subcutaneous mass was noted in the right anterior chest wall at 62 years of age. The surgically resected mass was diagnosed histologically as ML, diffuse, large cell type. Immunohistological study was done. Almost all of the lymphocytes infiltrated around ductules of a small salivary gland biopsied 6 years earlier were B-cells (MB-1; +, Mx-Pan B; +, IgG k; +). Only a small number of them were evaluated as T-cells (UCHL-1; +). The ML tumor was studied as a B-cell lymphoma which did not produce immunoglobulins (MB-1; +, Mx-Pan B; +). The patient was treated with a CHOP-B protocol and radiation without exacerbation. In recent reports of this association, helper T-cells were dominant in the lymphocytes infiltrated in the salivary gland in the early stage when ML did not develop yet. In this case, B-cells were dominant in the small salivary gland in contrast to the former reports. It is interesting that there was a difference in the character of the infiltrating lymphocytes.     

Isolation and Characterization of ras-Transfected BALB/3T3 Clone Showing Morphological Transformation by 12-O-Tetradecanoyl-phorbol-13-acetate

The transformation frequency of mouse BALB/3T3 cells was significantly enhanced after transfection with an activated ras oncogene (v-Ha- ras ) followed by treatment with a tumor promoter, 12-O-tetradecanoyl-phorbol-13-acetate (TPA), suggesting that the ras oncogene acted as an initiator in two-stage carcinogenesis. A cell clone (Bhas42) containing the ras oncogene was isolated from the ras -transfected BALB/3T3 cells. Bhas42 cells were flat and showed contact inhibition, but the addition of TPA to quiescent Bhas42 cultures resulted in a dramatic change of cell morphology to spindle shape, doubling of the cell population, and increased DNA synthesis.     

An immunohistological study of metastatic adenocarcinoma of the lymph node: is it useful in diagnosing a primary tumor?

An immuno-histological study of metastatic adenocarcinoma has revealed the following results. Metastatic adenocarcinomas of the lymph-node of pulmonary and colonic origin were positive for CEA and negative for lysozymes, and those from gastric, pancreatic, and gallbladder tumors were positive CEA and lysozymes, and those from gastric and pancreatic tumors were positive for the secretory component. The prostate specific antigen was exclusively positive for metastatic prostatic adenocarcinoma with a low frequency and prostate acid phosphatase had many false positive results. Thyroglobulin was found to be positive only to colloid. Lactalbumin showed no specificity to metastatic breast adenocarcinoma. For achieving the final diagnosis of a primary tumor, its location in lymph nodes, the clinical history and the results of other examinations must also be taken into consideration.     

Familial juvenile polyposis of the stomach.

Innumerable polyps of the stomach were recognized in a 13-yr old girl. She had no extragastric polyps on roentgenographic and endoscopic studies. Her elder brother received a subtotal gastrectomy because of gastric polyposis at 14 yr of age. Their mother died of gastric cancer at 37 yr of age. Only these three subjects in this family had unusual brown hair and were low in normal intelligence. Polyps produced chronic and severe loss of both blood and protein, which resolved after a subtotal gastrectomy at 18 yr of age. Macroscopic and histologic observations of polyps in the resected stomach confirmed the diagnosis of juvenile polyposis. Both siblings are now in good health. Classification of this hereditary syndrome as a newly recognized entity, familial juvenile polyposis of the stomach, is proposed.     

Estrogen receptors in human breast cancer detected by the fluorescent estradiol histochemical and dextran coated charcoal techniques

Surgical specimens from 60 Japanese women with breast cancer were studied histochemically to detect estrogen receptors (ER). Forty-six were analyzed in a double blind study designed to compare the histochemical method using fluorescent estradiol conjugate for detection of ER (FITC method) with findings in case of the currently employed dextran coated charcoal (DCC method) techniques. The ER test was positive in 39 (65 percent) of the 60 cases studied by FITC method. Of the 46 cases analysed in a double blind study, 41 (89.8 percent) showed the same results. Of the 5 with inconsistent test results, 2 showed positive DCC and negative FITC, and 3, negative DCC and positive FITC. According to the histologic type, the FITC method demonstrated a low positive ER response rate in scirrhous cases (57 per cent), whereas the positive rate was 67 percent among papillotubular-type cases and 65 percent among medullary tubullar-type cases. In relation to menstrual status, the positive rates were 68 percent and 64 percent among premenopausal and postmenopausal women, respectively. However, in relation to tumor size, no difference was noted in the positive response rate by either method. Therefore, both the DCC and FITC methods are clinically useful to determine the indications for hormone therapy. Presented at the 83rd Annual Meeting of Japanese Surgical Society, Osaka City, April 5–7, 1983     

UNDIFFERENTIATED NEUROECTODERMAL TUMORS INDUCED BY HUMAN ADENOVIRUS TYPE 31 IN SYRIAN HAMSTERS

Human adenovirus type 31 was inoculated intraperitoneally into 18 and intracranially into 98 Syrian hamsters within 24 hours of birth. Intra-peritoneal tumors developed multicentrically in 94.4%, 93 days on an average after virus inoculation, while brain tumors developed in 6.1%, 154 days. Intraperitoneal tumors primarily developed in the subserosal tissues and protruded into the peritoneal cavity. Some of five enlarged brain tumors seemed to have extended from the paraventricular regions to the neighboring structures, and one microtumor was located in the subependymal layer. Twenty-six of the 98 hamsters inoculated with virus intracranially unexpectedly developed tumors in the subcutaneous tissue of the skull. Histological, immunohistochemical and electron micrscopic studies revealed that the tumors which developed in the different sites had essentially the same features and were composed of undifferentiated small cells of primitive neuroectodermal nature. The incidence and the characteristics of the tumors were discussed in comparison with those of adenovirus type 12-induced tumors described previously. ACTA PATHOL. JPN. 34: 1313–1326, 1984.     

The Effect of Fusaric Acid, Inhibitor of Dopamine β-hydroxylase, on Reaction to Alcohol in Chronic Alcoholics: Clinical Findings

In order to explore the question if dopamine β-hydroxylase inhibitor alone has a disulfiram-like effect on alcohol, fusaric acid, a potent inhibitor of dopamine β-hydroxylase, was administered to 23 gamma alcoholics. The alcohol-test was made twice, prior to administration of fusaric acid and after one week of the treatment. Significant effects of the agent on reaction to alcohol were observed in the symptom of flushing of face, a fall in blood pressure, change of the taste, and feeling of getting drunk. These symptoms were more slight than those of the alcohol-disulfiram reaction. However, it was emphasized that the mechanism of the alcohol-disulfiram reaction is not explained by only a transient hyperacetaldehydemia, but may be also related to the metabolism of both catecholamines and serotonin. Further clinical studies are needed to assess therapeutic use of te compound in the treatment of chronic alcoholism. The fusaric acid was supplied from Banyu Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. with a favor of Professor Hamao Umezawa, Director of Institute of Biseibutsu Kagaku to meet with the request of one of the authors, Motoi Ogata, M.D.     

Anti-tumor effect of bisphosphonate (YM529) on non-small cell lung cancer cell lines

Background  

YM529 is a newly developed nitrogen-containing bisphosphonate (BP) classified as a third-generation BP that shows a 100-fold greater potency against bone resorption than pamidronate, a second-generation BP. This agent is, therefore expected to be extremely useful clinically for the treatment of osteoporosis and hypercalcemia. Recently, YM529 as well as other third-generation BPs have also been shown to exert anti-tumor effects against various types of cancer cells both in vitro or/and in vivo. In this study, we investigate the anti-tumor effect of YM529 on non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).     

An Obstructed Venous Aneurysm Presenting as an Abdominal Mass: Report of a Case

We report herein the case of a 32-year-old woman found to have a venous aneurysm originating from the ovarian vein. The patient presented with a 9-cm abdominal tumor, and surgery was performed under the preoperative diagnosis of a mesenteric cyst. The tumor was easily ablated from the mesentery and resected with the right ovarian artery and vein. His-tologically, the wall of the cyst showed the structure of a vein, and the diagnosis of a venous aneurysm was made. This disease is difficult to diagnose preoperatively when a patient presents with no symptoms other than a palpable mass, or when the lumen is obstructed by thrombus. This report serves to demonstrate that a venous aneurysm should be considered in the differential diagnosis of an asymptomatic abdominal mass. Received: December 20, 1999 / Accepted: November 20, 2000