Radiologic diagnosis of oat cell cancer in a high-risk screened population

A screening program of 10,040 cigarette-smoking men over 45 years of age was undertaken in an attempt to achieve earlier diagnosis, thereby increasing the cure rate, of oat cell lung cancer. Of the 155 men who were found to have lung cancer, 27 (17%) had confirmed oat cell cancer. Only one case was diagnosed at the first examination. The other 26 cases (called incidence cancer) were diagnosed by subsequent examinations. In 24 of the 26 patients, the tumor was not found until it was advanced (Stage III), and of these patients, only one is alive at 21 months follow-up. Two tumors were diagnosed as oat cell carcinoma at an early stage (Stage I), and both patients are alive with no evidence of disease at seven and 24 months. The screening program used in this study did not succeed in detecting oat cell cancer at an early stage.     

Antiinflammatory agents protect opossum esophagus during radiotherapy

Eighteen opossums received 2250 rad⁶⁰Co to the entire esophagus and lower esophageal sphincter. Animals received treatment with 600 mg aspirin, 25 mg/kg hydrocortisone, or saline before irradiation and twice daily for 1 week after irradiation. At 10 days postirradiation, animals were evaluated for signs of acute esophagitis by esophagoscopy and barium esophagram. Each animal was then killed and the esophagus removed and evaluated histologically. Animals treated with either aspirin or hydrocortisone had significantly milder esophagitis than control irradiated animals.Supported by IN-121 from the American Cancer Society.     

Association of Total Cholesterol/High-Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol Ratio With Proximal Coronary Atherosclerosis Detected by Multislice Computed Tomography

The authors assessed the association between an elevated total cholesterol to high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (TC/HDL-C) ratio (≥4) and proximal coronary artery disease (CAD), as observed on multislice computed tomography. Coronary multislice computed tomographic angiography (96% on 40- or 64-slice) was performed in 295 individuals (39% women; mean age, 54±13 years) without documented CAD who were referred for coronary evaluation. Significant CAD was defined as ≥50% stenosis in the left main, proximal left anterior descending, or ≥2 epicardial vessels. Proximal plaque was defined as presence of any plaque in left main or proximal left anterior descending vessels. Individuals with an elevated TC/HDL-C ratio vs those without had a higher prevalence of proximal plaque (62% vs 48%, P =.04) and significant CAD (19% vs 9%, P =.009). On multivariate logistic regression analysis, only age, sex, and TC/HDL-C ratio ≥4 were associated with significant CAD and proximal plaque.