A randomized study of low and high doses of leukocyte alpha-interferon in metastatic renal cell carcinoma: the American Cancer Society collaborative trial

A prospective randomized trial of low versus high doses of human leukocyte alpha-interferon (1 X 10(6) units/day for 28 days versus 10 X 10(6) units/day for 28 days) was carried out in 30 patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma, to test the tolerance and relative antitumor effects of these interferon doses. Both doses were tolerated well, and responses to the human leukocyte alpha-interferon were observed overall in seven individuals, including complete, partial, and minimal tumor regressions. Six of the seven responses occurred in patients who received the high dosage, and three of these responses were major responses. While not statistically significant, this result suggested a dose-response relationship. One minimal response was observed in a patient treated at low dosage. Nine individuals who were stable after 1 month of therapy at low dosage were randomized to a further month of therapy at low or high dosage, during which one of four at high dosage had a partial response, and none of five at low dosage manifested response. Regression of pulmonary disease in one individual was delayed, occurring 3 months after therapy at the high dose and enduring for a period of 28 months. Major objective responses in other patients were of 4 and 15 months duration. Human leukocyte alpha-interferon is an active agent in renal cell carcinoma at the dosage of 10 million units daily. No relationship of toxicity to response was evident in this trial. Optimum dosage and duration of treatment have yet to be established.     

Quality of life following pelvic exenteration

Nineteen patients were interviewed postoperatively to assess their social, sexual, and psychological adaptation after pelvic exenteration. The data uncovered a negligible incidence of psychiatric disorders among these patients, a significant loss of sexual life, poor occupational recovery, and decrease of social activities. In spite of all these significant changes, patients appeared well adjusted and subjectively appraised the quality of their lives as good and revealed hope and optimism. The data are discussed and compared with previous research; thus this study contributes to a better understanding of the psychosocial impact of pelvic exenteration.     

Small area analysis and health service research

Summary Small area analysis has developed as a tool for research in community medicine over the last two decades. It offers the advantage that populations within small areas are more homogeneous in character than in larger areas, and therefore tend to display a wider range between areas in their social and economic characteristics, thus making it easier to establish the relationships between these variables and health data. A ready made set of data on population and environmental characteristics is available from the Census output, and the increasing use of postcodes for assigning area of residence in routine data begins to offer opportunities for analysis without additional data collection. A number of problems arise, however, in small area analysis: the potentially low number of events in particular points to the need for aggregation over a number of years or over areas, and the use of the Census as a data base imposes certain constraints. A number of studies illustrate the uses of this approach in identifying areas of high health service need and in determining the association between health indicators and socio-economic factors, and point to its potential for evaluation of health service provision. The Census output constitutes an essential part of the data base for small areas, and the occasion of the 1981 Census should stimulate some consideration of the possibilities it provides.     

Variations in blood viscosity of insulin-dependent diabetic subjects controlled by artificial pancreas (author's transl)

A study of blood viscosity at 3 rates of determination (0.232-0.348 and 1.16 sec-1) in insulin-dependent diabetic subjects controlled by artificial pancreas, shows a reduction in this parameter after 30 hours of feed back control. The relationship between these variations, the mechanical cohesion of the agglutinated red cells, and the deformability of these structures are discussed.     

A Serological Approach to the Study of the Male Isoantigen in Mice

Earlier tests for the H-Y (male) antigen in mice were limited to male graft rejection by syngeneic females. The experiments described in this report attest to the specificity of a new serological test for this antigen. Anti-H-Y sera and immune ascites fluid with statistically significant cytotoxic indices were produced in C57BL/6Ha females; a cytotoxicity test of sufficient sensitivity to detect and titrate cytotoxic activity, or, conversely, to detect the presence of the male antigen on C57BL/6Ha male lymphoid cells in vitro, was devised.