Sequential treatment of patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma with autologous tumor vaccine and subcutaneous administration of recombinant interleukin-2 and interferon α2b

Summary Thirty patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma (RCC), 23 of whom had distant metastases in at least one organ, were entered after nephrectomy into a protocol involving vaccination with Newcastle disease virus (NDV)-modified autologous tumour material, with a subsequent induction week and repetitive bi-weekly cycles of interleukin-2 (rIL-2) and interferon _2b/rIFN-_2b at a lower s. c. dose (1.5 million Cetus units m^–2 day^–1 every 12 h on 2 days and 3 million IU/m² once a day on days 1, 3 and 5). The inpatient treatment was followed by a maintenance phase during which 0.3 million Cetus units/m² rIL-2 was given s. c. every 12 h on days 1–5 and 3 million IU m^–2 day^–1 rIFN-_2b was administered on days 1, 3, and 5 on an outpatient basis. All but 3 patients completed the induction week and 6 weeks of outpatient therapy. No grade 3 or 4 toxicities occurred during the therapy. Therapy was discontinued for 3 patients because of rapid tumour progression. Of the 23 evaluable RCC patients, 3 exhibited a complete response and 4 displayed partial remission, 7 showed stable disease during 1–18 months (median = 5 months) of therapy, and progression was seen in 9. We conclude that vaccination with autologous tumour material combined with s. c. rIL-2 and rIFN-_2b administration can induce regressions in patients with advanced RCC and that even in non-responding patients a more favourable course of the disease can be achieved.     

We are all people living with AIDS: myths and realities of AIDS in Brazil

Although AIDS was expected in Brazil, no serious efforts were undertaken to prevent AIDS from taking root. Irresponsible press and media coverage highlighted the spread of AIDS within the gay community of the United States, creating an aura of immunity in Brazil to what was characterized as a "foreign" disorder. When AIDS did surface in 1983, the official response was to adopt an abstract, inappropriate, and ideological "Western" model, in which only stigmatized "others" and "minorities" were at risk of HIV infection. Brazilian health authorities subsequently downplayed the significance of the sale of contaminated blood in HIV transmission, and likewise ignored the rising rates of AIDS among Brazil's one unarguable majority group: the poor. An analysis of efforts to force the "facts" of AIDS to fit a false model's predictions leads to a clearer definition of the broader context of the Brazilian epidemic: we all are people living with AIDS, precisely because we live in this age of AIDS; it is sheer folly to discriminate against persons infected by HIV and to obstruct their participation in efforts to curtail the epidemic's spread; and the necessary response to AIDS is solidarity, not because it is poetic, but because no other response will suffice.     

Seasonal and geographical variation of organochlorine residues in birds from Northwest Mexico

Eight species of birds (129 individuals) were collected from three agricultural areas with long histories of pesticide use in northwestern Mexico. Plucked carcasses were analyzed for organochlorine (OC) pesticides and polychlorobiphenyls (PCBs). DDE was found in all of the samples and at higher levels than other OCs. Mean (geometric) DDE concentrations varied from 0.04 (g/g) ppm in mourning doves (Zenaida macroura) to 5.05 ppm in double-crested cormorants (Phalacrocorax auritus). Hexachlorocyclohexane (HCH) was detected in 95% of the samples, but at lower levels than DDE. Hexachlorobenzene (HCB) residues were detected more frequently in birds from Mexicali (62%, p < 0.05) than in those from Yaqui and Culiacan. HCH and HCB concentrations were significantly higher in birds from Mexicali during the winter than in the summer (p < 0.05), indicating accumulation of these compounds during that period. Other OCs such as DDT, DDD, dieldrin, oxychlordane, heptachlor epoxide, endosulfan, and endrin were found at lower levels and less frequently. PCBs (quantitated as Aroclor^® 1260) were found mostly in cattle egrets (Bubulcus ibis) and cormorants at the three locations. Overall, concentrations of OCs were higher for Mexicali than for Yaqui and Culiacan (p < 0.01). In a few cases, DDE levels were above those that might adversely affect birds.     

Brain acetylcholinesterase activity in forest songbirds exposed to a new method of UULV fenitrothion spraying

Brain acetylcholinesterase (AChE) activity was measured in forest songbirds exposed to Ultra Ultra Low Volume (UULV) aerial spraying of fenitrothion in New Brunswick for spruce budworm control. Brain AChE activity was determined in 324 songbirds from the sprayed blocks and 47 from an unsprayed control area, and represented four species. In most cases, more than half of the individuals of any species sampled were diagnosed as exposed (20% inhibition) to the fenitrothion sprays and had a mean percent level of inhibition of 40% or greater, relative to mean control values. The proportion of birds with life-threatening levels of inhibition (50%) was usually less than 20%. The largest proportion of birds with life-threatening inhibition was found after the first 210 g AI/ha spray. The White-throated Sparrow had the highest proportion (25–55%) of individuals with life-threatening inhibition after all sprays. Brain AChE inhibition was greater in exposed birds collected after the first 210 g AI/ha spray than after the second one. Variation among species' responses to the sprays is discussed in relation to habitat and foraging preferences. Several sampling biases which may contribute to underestimation of the impact of fenitrothion spraying on birds are identified.     

Lack of a bimodal distribution of ventricular size in schizophrenia: a Gaussian mixture analysis of 1056 cases and controls.

The finding of clinical and laboratory differences between schizophrenic patients with large and small cerebral ventricles has led to the widespread assumption that large ventricles are a marker that characterizes a subgroup of patients with schizophrenia. We reviewed all published English language ventricle-to-brain ratio (VBR) studies in which individual data points were available (schizophrenics: n = 691, medical controls; n = 205, normal volunteers: n = 160). Using a univariate normal mixture model to examine the distribution of ventricular size in each group, we found no evidence of a mixture of Gaussian distributions (i.e., "bimodality") within any of the three groups. The same analysis was then performed on the combined sample of schizophrenic patients and normal and medical controls, respectively. In each case the improvement in fit of a mixture of normal distributions compared to a single component normal distribution was significant. The data do not support the notion that ventricular enlargement is a discontinuous marker of a subtype of schizophrenia.     

Dibromoethane effects on the induction of γ-glutamyl-transpeptidase positive foci in rat liver

The initiating and promoting activities of 1,2-dibromoethane in rat liver were investigated using the enzyme-altered foci bioassay. The incidence of -glutamyl-transpeptidase (GGT)-positive foci was used as an early histochemical marker for hepatocarcinogenesis. To determine the initiating activity of 1,2-dibromoethane, the halogenated hydrocarbon was administered orally in corn oil as single or multiple doses (60 or 120 mg/kg) either before or after partial hepatectomy. The animals were then given a promoting regimen of 500 ppm phenobarbital in their drinking water. No increase in the incidence of GGT-positive foci was observed in any of the 1,2-dibromoethane initiation groups. The tumor promoting activity of 1,2-dibromoethane was determined in partially hepatectomized rats which were initiated with N-nitrosodiethylamine (30 mg/kg; po), and one week later were administered 1,2-dibromoethane (10 or 30 mg/kg) orally in corn oil five times weekly for 8 weeks. Control groups receiving sham hepatectomy or no initiator were also treated with the halogenated hydrocarbon five times weekly. Only in those animals which received partial hepatectomy, N-nitrosodiethylamine initiation, and 1,2-dibromoethane was the incidence of GGT-positive foci significantly increased. These results do not support significant initiator activity of 1,2-dibromoethane in rat liver, but do indicate that 1,2-dibromoethane possesses promoter activity which may contribute to its carcinogenic activity.     

"Congenital" hematic cyst of the orbit.

A case of true hematic cyst of the orbit in a 10-year-old girl, apparently resulting from birth trauma, is presented. Ultrasonic and clinical features believed to aid the examiner in correctly diagnosing such a lesion are presented. While apparently unique among reported cases, "congenital" hematic cysts of the orbit undoubtedly occur occasionally and the possibility of this entity should be considered in appropriate circumstances.