Phase II study of high-dose ifosfamide in hepatocellular carcinoma

Summary A phase II study of high-dose ifosfamide in hepatocellular carcinoma was conducted among 17 Chinese patients. The dose of ifosfamide used was 2.5 g/m² daily given as a continuous infusion for 5 days. In all, 15 patients were evaluable for tumour response. There was no complete or partial responder. The treatment was well tolerated. The most frequent toxicity was alopecia, which occurred in 11 patients, and 5 patients developed mild haematological toxicity. There was no evidence of liver or bladder toxicity. Overall, 14 patients were evaluable for survival. The median survival was 92 days (range, 30–568 days). We conclude that high-dose ifosfamide is well tolerated but ineffective in hepatocellular carcinoma in Chinese patients.     

Effects of sulfobromophthalein and ethacrynic acid on glyceryl trinitrate relaxation.

The effects of sulfobromophthalein (SBP) and ethacrynic acid (ECA), both inhibitors of glutathione S-transferase (GST), or glyceryl trinitrate (GTN)-induced vasorelaxation were investigated in rabbit aortic strips. The aortic strips were pre-contracted with phenylephrine, followed by relaxation with 0.5 microM GTN, with or without 0.1 mM SBP or ECA. ECA was observed to inhibit GTN relaxation approximately 32%, whereas SBP did not alter the GTN activity. The dinitrate metabolites (GDN) of GTN in the tissues were also measured. The amounts of both GDNs were decreased in the ECA-treated, but not the SBP-treated group. Moreover, in the ECA-treated group, a strong correlation was obtained between the loss of GTN activity and the decrease in GTN metabolism. Concentration-response studies also revealed that ECA attenuates GTN relaxation. The slope factor of the concentration-response curves was decreased by ECA, but not by SBP, although both inhibitors caused a mild decrease in Emax. In the 9000 g supernatant of rabbit aorta, ECA was also observed to inhibit GTN metabolism more significantly than SBP. The results suggest that the mechanism of GTN activation may involve a GST isozyme that possesses high activities towards ECA.     

Rectus sheath haematoma requiring laparotomy

Rectus sheath haematoma is a well‐documented but unusual cause of acute abdomen. Combination of clinical features and appropriate radiological investigations can make for a prompt diagnosis. Most authors advocate conservative management and it has been reported that patients were directly discharged from the emergency department. We report a case of rectus sheath haematoma which progressed with clinical deterioration and necessitated surgical intervention for clot evacuation. Causes, physical signs, radiological features and classification of rectus sheath haematoma are discussed. It may be necessary to continue close clinical monitoring after diagnosis of rectus sheath haematoma.     

Hwa-byung. A community study of Korean Americans.

One hundred nine Korean American community subjects were interviewed regarding their experiences with hwa-byung (HB), a Korean folk illness label commonly used by Koreans with a myriad of physiological and psychological complaints. During these interviews, standard instruments were also used to assess their depressive and somatic symptoms. The results indicated that a relatively high proportion (12%) of the subjects labeled themselves as having suffered from HB. While no apparent sociodemographic differences were found between HB and non-HB subjects, significantly more HB subjects fulfilled the diagnosis of DSM-III major depression and also had previous diagnoses of depression. The HB subjects also had significantly higher scores for the total, depressive, and somatic subscales and 16 of the 20 individual items of the Center for Epidemiologic Studies-Depression Scale. These data confirm previous observations of substantial overlap between HB and DSM-III major depression among Koreans and Korean Americans, and suggest that HB may be a culturally patterned way of expression for Koreans experiencing major depression and related conditions. The clinical and theoretical implications of these findings are also discussed.     

Serum intact parathyroid hormone levels in elderly Chinese females with hip fracture

Summary Serum intact parathyroid hormone (PTH), 25 hydroxyvitamin D(25OHD), 1,25 dihydroxyvitamin D (1,25(OH)₂D), albumin, and ionized calcium were measured in 61 Chinese female patients with hip fracture and 61 control subjects. Hip fracture patients had low albumin, ionized calcium, and 250HD levels. Serum PTH and 1,25 (OH)₂D values were not different between the two groups. We conclude that although 250HD level in hip fracture patients is low, there is no evidence of secondary hyperparathyroidism, suggesting that the low 250HD levels may be a secondary phenomenon in response to the fracture.     

D2-40 immunohistochemistry in the differential diagnosis of seminoma and embryonal carcinoma: a comparative immunohistochemical study with KIT (CD117) and CD30.

The distinction between seminoma and embryonal carcinoma based on morphology alone can sometimes be problematic, requiring the use of immunohistochemistry to facilitate diagnosis. D2-40 is a monoclonal antibody that reacts with an oncofetal antigen expressed by fetal germ cells and testicular germ cell tumors. The diagnostic value of D2-40 immunohistochemistry in distinguishing seminoma from embryonal carcinoma has not been determined. D2-40 immunoreactivity was evaluated in a series of testicular germ cell tumors and compared with that of KIT (CD117) and CD30, to assess the relative utility of this marker in discriminating between seminoma and embryonal carcinoma. Forty testicular germ cell neoplasms were examined, which included 19 seminomas, three embryonal carcinomas, three teratomas, one yolk sac tumor, and 14 mixed germ cell tumors. The 14 cases of mixed germ cell tumors contained components of seminoma (n=7), embryonal carcinoma (n=11), teratoma (n=10), yolk sac tumor (n=2), and choriocarcinoma (n=1). All cases of pure seminoma and the seminomatous components of mixed germ cell tumors exhibited positive immunoreactivity for D2-40. Focal positivity for D2-40 was also observed in 29% of the embryonal carcinoma samples. D2-40 immunoreactivity in seminomas was characterized by diffuse membrane staining, whereas for embryonal carcinomas, staining was focal and distributed along the apical surfaces of the neoplastic cells. Immunohistochemical staining for KIT was observed in 92% of the seminoma samples and in none of the embryonal carcinomas. Conversely, CD30 expression was identified in 93% of the embryonal carcinoma samples and in none of the seminomas. Other germ cell components showed no immunoreactivity for D2-40, KIT, or CD30. KIT and CD30 are effective immunohistochemical markers in separating seminoma from embryonal carcinoma. Although a highly sensitive marker for seminomas, D2-40 positivity was also observed in a subset of embryonal carcinomas, thus limiting the utility of this antibody for discriminating between these two malignancies.     

B-cell and T-regulatory cell dysfunction in six Chinese children with hypogammaglobulinaemia

We report six Chinese boys with hypogammaglobulinaemia. All but one had very low or undetectable circulating B-lymphocytes, two had reversed CD4/CD8 ratios (in one of whom this later became normal), one had reduced lymphocyte proliferative responses to concanavalin A and pokeweed mitogen and three had deficient responses to OKT3. Generation of antibody-secreting cells in response to pokeweed mitogen was markedly defective in all patients. Co-cultures of purified lymphocyte subsets from the patients with those of normal donors revealed that in addition to B-cell deficiency seen in all patients, two had T-helper cell deficiency and two had T-suppressor cell hyperactivity. One of the latter patients was treated with cimetidine in an attempt to ablate histamine type 2 receptor-bearing suppressor cells: the absolute number of such cells was temporarily reduced but there was no concurrent correction of the functional hyperactivity. These studies point to the variable nature of T-regulatory cell deficiencies in hypogammaglobulinaemia.     

Unifocal origin of advanced human epithelial ovarian cancers.

Ovarian cancers are often diagnosed at a late stage, after the cancer cells have spread to extraovarian sites. Failure to diagnose these tumors earlier may reflect the lack of symptoms and the need for a sensitive, reliable screening test. Alternatively, this can be explained by the hypothesis that some of the extraovarian tumor implants do not represent metastatic spread from the primary cancer but instead are multiple primary tumors developing simultaneously in the peritoneal epithelium. If this is the case, some patients with advanced ovarian cancer may never have had a stage I disease, making early detection theoretically impossible. In this study, we examined the mutational pattern of the p53 gene in 9 patients with epithelial ovarian cancers using tissue collected from different sites within the same patient. In all 9 cases, the mutational pattern of the p53 gene was identical in cancer cells from different sites within the same patient, strongly suggesting that these ovarian tumors were of unifocal origin and that cancer tissues collected from different sites are derived from a single origin.     

Comparison of two-dimensional vs three-dimensional camera systems in laparoscopic surgery

Background: The lack of depth perception and spatial orientation in video vision are the drawbacks of laparoscopic surgery. The advent of a three-dimensional camera system enables surgeons to regain binocular vision and may be advantageous in complex laparoscopic procedures. Methods: We prospectively studied two groups of surgeons (with and without experiences in laparoscopic surgery) who performed a designated standardized laparoscopic task using a two-dimensional camera system (Olympus OTV-S4) vs a three-dimensional camera system (Baxter-V. Mueller VS7700) and compared their time performances. Results: The results suggested that only experience in laparoscopic surgery had significant effect on individual's performance. We could not demonstrate any superiority of the 3D system over the 2D system. However, two-thirds of the surgeons commented that the depth perception did improve. Conclusions: With further refinement of the technology, the 3D system may improve its potential in laparoscopic surgery.