Absence of simian virus 40 (SV40) DNA in lymphoma samples from Tasmania, Australia

AIMS: It has been postulated that the recent world-wide increase in the incidence of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) may have been caused by human infection with simian virus 40 (SV40) (a lymphotropic monkey virus that was introduced to man from contaminated poliovirus vaccines between 1955 and 1963); therefore, we set out to determine the incidence of SV40 DNA positivity in lymphoma samples from patients in Tasmania, Australia. METHODS: One hundred lymph node samples, 50 from patients with lymphomas and 50 from controls, were tested using PCR amplification of three SV40-specific primer pairs followed by dot-blot hybridisation. RESULTS: All of the samples tested contained amplifiable DNA, but none contained amplifiable SV40 sequences with any of the primer sets used. CONCLUSIONS: Our results demonstrate absence of SV40 in the lymphoid tissues of our study population in Tasmania, Australia. SV40 does not explain the increasing incidence of NHL in our population.     

Dosimetric effect of respiration-gated beam on IMRT delivery

Intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) with a dynamic multileaf collimator (DMLC) requires synchronization of DMLC leaf motion with dose delivery. A delay in DMLC communication is known to cause leaf lag and lead to dosimetric errors. The errors may be exacerbated by gated operation. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of leaf lag on the accuracy of doses delivered in gated IMRT. We first determined the effective leaf delay time by measuring the dose in a stationary phantom delivered by wedge-shaped fields. The wedge fields were generated by a DMLC at various dose rates. The so determined delay varied from 88.3 to 90.5 ms. The dosimetric effect of this delay on gated IMRT was studied by delivering wedge-shaped and clinical IMRT fields to moving and stationary phantoms at dose rates ranging from 100 to 600 MU/min, with and without gating. Respiratory motion was simulated by a linear sinusoidal motion of the phantom. An ionization chamber and films were employed for absolute dose and 2-D dose distribution measurements. Discrepancies between gated and nongated delivery to the stationary phantom were observed in both absolute dose and 2-D dose distribution measurements. These discrepancies increased monotonically with dose rate and frequency of beam interruptions, and could reach 3.7% of the total dose delivered to a 0.6 cm3 ion chamber. Isodose lines could be shifted by as much as 3 mm. The results are consistent with the explanation that beam hold-offs in gated delivery allowed the lagging leaves to catch up with the delivered monitor units each time that the beam was interrupted. Low dose rates, slow leaf speeds and low frequencies of beam interruptions reduce the effect of this delay-and-catch-up cycle. For gated IMRT it is therefore important to find a good balance between the conflicting requirements of rapid dose delivery and delivery accuracy.     

Attenuation of intracavitary applicators in 192Ir-HDR brachytherapy

Unlike the penetrating monoenergetic 662 keV gamma rays emitted by 137Cs LDR sources, the spectrum of 192Ir used in HDR brachytherapy contains low-energy components. Since these are selectively absorbed by the high-atomic number materials of which intracavitary applicators are made, the traditional neglect of applicator attenuation can lead to appreciable dose errors. We investigated the attenuation effects of a uterine applicator, and of a set of commonly used vaginal cylinders. The uterine applicator consists of a stainless steel source guide tube with a wall thickness of 0.5 mm and a density of 8.02 g/cm3, whereas the vaginal cylinders consist of the same stainless steel tube plus concentric polysulfone cylinders with a radius of 1 or 2 cm and a density of 1.40 g/cm3. Monte Carlo simulations were performed to compute dose distributions for a bare 192Ir-HDR source, and for the same source located within the applicators. Relative measurements of applicator attenuation using ion-chambers (0.125 cm3) confirmed the Monte Carlo results within 0.5%. We found that the neglect of the applicator attenuation overestimates the dose along the transverse plane by up to 3.5%. At oblique angles, the longer photon path within applicators worsens the error. We defined attenuation-corrected radial dose and anisotropy functions, and applied them to a treatment having multiple dwell positions inside a vaginal cylinder.     

A head-to-head comparison of measurement properties of the EQ-5D-3L and EQ-5D-5L in acute myeloid leukemia patients

Quality of Life Research - This study aimed to compare the measurement properties of EQ-5D-3L(3L) and EQ-5D-5L(5L) in patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) in China. We consecutively recruited...     

乳腺癌波形蛋白表达的生物学意义

应用波形蛋白童克隆抗体（Ｖｉｍ）免疫组化ＡＢＣ法对７５例乳腺癌进行标记分析。结果显示，Ｖｉｍ阳性３４例，阳性率４５．３％。统计分析表明，Ｖｉｍ表达与肿瘤的组织学分级有关（Ｐ＜０．００５），Ｖｉｍ阳性肿瘤的ＡｇＮＯＲ均数大于阴性组）Ｐ＜０．０１），Ｖｉｍ阳性组病人的５年生存率低（Ｐ＜０．００５）。以上提示了乳腺癌Ｖｉｍ表达是肿瘤分化低、细胞增生活跃和病人预后不良的指征。     

应用AF系统治疗胸腰椎不稳定骨折17例临床分析

目的分析总结应用AF系统治疗胸腰椎不稳定骨折的效果与治疗时间选择的差异。方法对17例胸腰椎不稳定骨折采用AF治疗后进行回顾性总结性分析。结果17例胸腰椎不稳定骨折中爆裂型7例,屈曲压缩型9例,合并脱位1例,其中11例合并不同程度神经损伤,按Frankel分级,A级2例;B级2例;D级9级;E级4例。术后按Frankel分级神经功能恢复情况为:B级1例;C级2例;D级1例;E级13例。椎体高度及节段弧度恢复为:术前椎体前缘平均高度50%(25%~70%),术后平均高度为95%(75%~100%)。Cobb’s角,术前平均22°(12°~40°),术后平均2.4°(0°~10°)。结论胸腰椎不稳定骨折应用AF系统治疗效果满意,且手术疗效与时间成正比,越早手术则椎体高度的恢复及神经功能恢复越能接近正常。     

孕妇血、脐血、乳汁的乙型肝炎病毒DNA水平及其相关性

【目的】探讨乙型肝炎病毒 (HBV)母婴垂直传播的规律 ,为预防和阻断HBV的母婴传播提供依据。【方法】对 6 8例HBsAg阳性孕产妇以荧光定量PCR方法检测其静脉血、脐血、乳汁HBVDNA含量并分析其相关性。【结果】孕妇血与脐血HBVDNA的含量相关系数为 0 34 46 (P =0 0 0 8) ,孕妇血与乳汁HBVDNA的含量的相关系数为 0 144 9(P =0 2 6 1)。【结论】孕妇血HBVDNA水平与脐血HBVDNA水平呈正相关 ,降低孕妇血HBVDNA水平 ,有利于控制HBV宫内感染 ;对HBsAg阳性产妇应检测乳汁HBVDNA ,以便指导母乳喂养。     

P_(16)蛋白在卵巢上皮性肿瘤的表达及临床意义

目的 :探讨P16蛋白在卵巢上皮性肿瘤中的表达及临床意义。方法 :采用SP免疫组化法检测P16蛋白在 82例卵巢上皮性肿瘤组织 (良性 2 0例 ,恶性癌 6 2例 )及 1 5例正常卵巢组织常规石蜡标本的表达。结果 :P16蛋白在卵巢上皮性癌中检出率为 5 3 2 % ,低于良性卵巢瘤 90 0 %及正常组织 93 3% (P <0 0 1 )。不同分化程度卵巢癌之间P16蛋白的阳性率无显著差别 (P >0 0 5 ) ,P16蛋白表达与临床分期及预后有关 (P <0 0 5 ,P <0 0 1 )。结论 :P16蛋白在卵巢上皮性恶性肿瘤的发生、发展中起作用 ,P16的缺失表达与卵巢癌的进展和预后不良有关。