Early glottic carcinoma involving the anterior commissure

Between 1958 and 1990 67 patients with an early glottic carcinoma involving the anterior commissure were treated by radiotherapy. Excluding three with carcinoma in situ, 64 had a T₁N₀M₀ squamous cell carcinoma; in eight of these (12.5%) the tumour was only located in the anterior commissure, in 45 (70.3%) it also involved one vocal cord and in 11 (17.2%) both vocal cords. The overall 5-year survival rate was 85%. For those with only anterior commissure involvement it was 60%, with involvement of one vocal cord and the anterior commissure it was 89% and with involvement of both vocal cords 82%. The 3-year recurrence rate was 58% for patients with involvement of only the anterior commissure, 24% with involvement also of one vocal cord, and 45% for those with involvement of both vocal cords. It was found that in cases of early glottic carcinoma, involving the anterior commissure and treated by radiotherapy, the prognosis for recurrence and survival was poorest when the carcinoma was only located in the anterior commissure, and it was concluded that this group of patients deserves special consideration.     

Prekallikrein-Kallikrein conversion rate as a predictor of contrast material catastrophies

An in vitro is described that attempts to detect patients with a potential for adverse systemic reactions to contrast material. This test involves measuring the rate of conversion of prekallikrein to kallikrein under certain standard conditions. In a preliminary retrospective study, the test could be used to identify such patients with a sensitivity of 88%, a specificity of 82%, and a predictive value of 79%.     

Dietary fat, body weight, and cancer: contributions of studies in rodents to understanding these cancer risk factors in humans

Understanding diet and energy balance as risk factors for breast, colon, and other cancers requires information on the contribution of each factor and of interactions among factors to cancer risk. Rodent models for breast cancer provide extensive data on effects of dietary fat and calories, energy balance, body weight gain, and physical activity on tumor development. Analyses of the combined data from many studies have shown clearly that quality and quantity of dietary fat and energy balance contribute independently to increased mammary gland tumorigenesis. These findings were seen in female rats fed diets high in fat (35-40% of calories) compared to rats fed control diets, with approximately 10% of calories as fat (Fay and Freedman, 1997, Breast Cancer Res. Treat. 46, 215-223). The methods used permit comparison of experimental and epidemiological data, and they may be useful in extrapolating between species and developing public health recommendations. In addition to the contributions of lifetime-diet composition, intake, energy balance, and physical activity to cancer risk, there are questions about the timing and duration of alterations in these factors and about the "dose-response" characteristics of cancer risk to the factors. Endocrine mechanisms may be significant in mammary gland tumor risk, but experimental and epidemiological data indicate that cancers at other sites, such as colon and liver, also are influenced by the factors listed. Other diet and lifestyle factors that influence energy, or specifically fat, metabolism may also affect risk for cancers that are promoted by increased intake of fat and calories. Studies of separate and interactive effects of dietary fat, black tea, weight gain, and mammary gland tumorigenesis (Rogers, et al, 1998, Carcinogenesis 19, 1269-1273) have been analyzed. Using adjustment of carcinogenesis endpoints for body weight, tumor burden, and latency, they were found to be related to weight gain within treatment groups in 2 of 3 experiments.