Continuous intraarterial infusion chemotherapy for early lip cancer

Most lip cancers are usually diagnosed and can be treated with good prognosis at an early stage. This study reports our experience of treating seven, previously untreated, patients with lip cancer in stage I or II using intraarterial infusion chemotherapy with a single agent. They were all males with ages ranging from 37 to 69 years. An implantable port-catheter system was used for catheterization. Methotrexate 50mg was infused continuously to the external carotid artery every 24h using a portable pump. Methotrexate was given continuously for a mean period of 7 days (range, 4-10 days) and the total administrated dose of methotrexate for intraarterial infusion ranged from 200 to 500 mg (mean, 350 mg). These seven patients were then given weekly bolus of methotrexate (25mg) via intraarterial route for a range of 6-12 weeks. In every case the tumor regressed dramatically and disappeared completely after treatment within a mean period of 2.5 months. Only one patient died, of non-disease related pneumonia 3 years after infusion therapy. The remaining patients are still alive and no recurrence of carcinoma has been observed at a median follow-up period of 28 months. There was no catheter-related complication. The side effects of infusion chemotherapy were mild and tolerable. Our technique of continuous intraarterial infusion therapy for treatment of early lip cancers seems to be as effective as other standard techniques such as surgery or radiation therapy. This modality achieves good tumor response rates, an excellent cosmetic result, preservation of function and minimal side effects.     

Circulating intercellular adhesion molecule 1 (ICAM-1), E-selectin and vascular cell adhesion molecule 1 (VCAM-1) in head and neck cancer

The sera from patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma (n = 30), oral carcinoma (n = 22) and laryngeal carcinoma (n = 22) was extracted before treatment. The concentration of circulating intercellular adhesion molecule 1 (ICAM-1), E-selectin and vascular cell adhesion molecule 1 (VCAM-1) was measured by enzyme-linked immunoassay and compared with those from normal subjects (n = 20). The concentration of circulating ICAM-1, E-selectin and VCAM-1 was significantly increased in nasopharyngeal carcinoma. Correspondingly, VCAM-1 and E-selectin were significantly increased in laryngeal carcinoma, whereas only E-selectin was elevated in oral carcinoma. The concentrations of these adhesion molecules did not significantly differ with respect to the early and late stages of these carcinomas. Elevated levels of soluble adhesion molecules in the sera of cancer patients at three different head and neck regions, although appearing to be implicated in these tumour formations, may be unrelated to tumour progression. © 1999 Cancer Research Campaign     

Characterization of acetylcholinesterase from Korean electric ray and comparison withTorpedo californica

This study has been undertaken to examine the acetylcholinesterase (AChE) of electric organ from korean electric ray (Narke japonica). Korean electric ray was caughted at Chungmu sea and transported to the laboratory, where electric organs were removed and stored at −70°C until used. Acetylcholinesterase(AChE) of electric organ was purified by affinity column that was prepared with dicaproyl-methylpyridinium linked to Sepharose 4B. Upon purification, the specific activities in Ellman unit were increased by 52 and 39 times for high salt soluble AChE (HSSE, 870.86 ΔOD/min/gram of tissue) and detergent soluble AChE(DSE, 105.42 ΔOD/min/gram of tissue), respectively. Each subunit of AChE separated by SDS polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis(SDS-PAGE) was transferred to immobilon P by western blotting and detected by mAbs raised against each subunit of AChE from electric organ ofTorpedo californica. Collagenic tail of AChE fromNarke japonica were identified by monoclonal antibody specific to collagenic tail of AChE fromTorpedo californica, likewise 103Kd protein of AChE fromNarke japonica was detected by monoclonal antibody specific to 103Kd of AChE fromTorpedo californica. However, molar ratio of three subunits of AChE fromNarke japonica is different from that ofTorpedo californica. Furthermore, catalytic subniit of AChE fromNarke japonica was not identified by monoclnal antibody specific to catalytic subunit of AChE fromTorpedo californica. These results showed differences in molecular structure of AChE fromNarke japonica and AChE fromTorpedo californica eventhough they showed same enzymatic activities.     

Differential associations of sex and D2 dopamine receptor (DRD2) genotype with negative affect and other substance abuse risk markers in children of alcoholics

Children of alcoholics have increased risk for substance abuse problems. Self-medication of negative affect may be one developmental path to future substance abuse. Because the 146 young (adolescent) children of alcoholics in the current sample had not used enough abused substances to study substance use directly, the relation of substance abuse risk markers to negative affect was assessed. Because the D₂ dopamine receptor (DRD2) A₁ allele has been associated with alcoholism and other substance use disorders, negative affect, measured by the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), was determined in four groups of children: boys and girls with the A₁⁺ allele (A₁A₁ and A₁A₂ genotypes) and with the A₁⁻ allele (A₂A₂ genotype). The other risk markers were stress, low amplitude of the P300 evoked potential, poor visuospatial functioning, novelty seeking (NS), and harm avoidance (HA). Stress was correlated with BDI scores in all groups. In contrast, low P300 was associated with BDI scores only in boys with the A₁⁺ allele (P = .04), NS was associated with BDI scores only in girls with the A₁⁺ allele (P = .02), and HA was associated with BDI scores only in boys with the A₁⁻ allele (P = .01). In addition, boys with the A₁⁺ allele had lower BDI (P = .05) and HA (P = .005) scores than the respective scores for boys with the A₁⁻ allele. Girls with the A₁⁻ allele had lower HA scores compared with scores for boys with the A₁⁻ allele (P = .02). Girls with the A₁⁺ allele had lower visuospatial functioning than that of boys with the A₁⁺ allele (P<.001). Results indicate that both sex and DRD2 genotype modify associations between negative affect and other substance abuse risk markers.     

Bacteremia in patients with cirrhosis of the liver.

Infections are frequent in patients with liver cirrhosis, as their defenses against infectious agents are altered. But bacteremia occurring in cirrhotic patients has seldom been reported in the literature. From 1981 to 1986, we collected 197 cases with 228 episodes of bacteremia for this retrospective study. The incidence of bacteremia in cirrhotic patients was 8.8%; no significant difference was noted between cirrhotic patients with variant etiologies of HBV(+), HBV(-) and alcohol. But the incidence increased with the severity of the disease (1%, 4.8%, 17.1% in Child's A, B, C groups, respectively). Gram-negative bacteria were the predominant microorganisms of bacteremia (75.6%). Among them, Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae and Aeromonas hydrophilia were the three most commonly detected microorganisms. Gram-positive bacterias were detected in 21.2% of patients with bacteremia, with predominance of the Streptococcus group and Staphylococcus aureus. In about 26.3% of cases the infectious sources were the same by bacteria cultures as from blood. The most common sources were spontaneous bacterial peritonitis, urinary tract infection, pneumonia and biliary tree infection. In cirrhotic patients with and without bacteremia, the mortality rate increased significantly in the bacteremia group (54.8% vs 23.2%, P less than 0.05). By Child's classification, the mortality of patients with classes B and C increased significantly after onset of bacteremia. There was no significant difference in mortality between bacteremic patients in the HBV(+), HBV(-) and alcohol groups. In conclusion, bacteremia is a severe complication of liver cirrhosis and a sign of a poor prognosis.