Controversies in tuberculosis

Tuberculous infection among children continues to be a significant cause of morbidity. The symptom complex are so variable among children that the final diagnosis often rests on the laboratory tests. Proper interpretation of the tests, specially tuberculin test and radiographic studies, are necessary for establishing correct diagnosis. The usefulness of tuberculin test in both unimmunized and BCG vaccinated children is highlighted. BCG accelerated response as a test should be reserved for identifying serious form of pulmonary disease or CNS tuberculosis when the tuberculin test is negative. Radiographic assessment may be sensitive in some instances but not always specific and hence needs cautious interpretation. Tuberculosis among BCG vaccinated children though not uncommon, needs proper documentation. Current trends in the management of tuberculosis including CNS forms are briefly outlined.     

Review of clinical and haematological response to low-dose cytosine arabinoside in acute myeloid leukaemia

15 patients with acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) were treated with low-dose cytosine arabinoside (LD ARA-C). 2 patients had complete remissions, which lasted for 8 and 3 months, and 5 patients had a partial remission. 46% of the patients thus responded to LD ARA-C. This included 1 responding patient who had not previously responded to therapy with 6-mercaptopurine, thioguanine, or vinblastine. The 2 patients with complete remission did not show LD ARA-C-induced hypoplasia of bone marrow, although 1 had hypoplastic AML before therapy. Leukaemic cells from 1 patient showed in vivo maturation from M1 to M3 after LD ARA-C treatment. The present results, together with the published data, indicate that: a. LD ARA-C treatment, although it may have some toxic effects, is an effective treatment for some patients with AML, especially those with hypoplastic AML; b. Response to LD ARA-C can be obtained after one or several courses of treatment; c. LD ARA-C-induced remissions are sometimes obtained even in patients who fail in more conventional treatments; d. LD ARA-C-induced remissions can be achieved without bone marrow hypoplasia, and induction of hypoplasia by itself does not always result in complete remission; e. LD ARA-C can induce in vivo maturation of leukaemic cells. It is suggested that induction of remission in AML patients by LD ARA-C may result from either differentiation of leukaemic blast cells, cytotoxicity to leukaemic blasts, or both mechanisms acting together.     

DSA—Control of implanted devices for arterial hepatic perfusion

In contrast to conventional film angiography, the perfusion pattern of hepatic arterial chemotherapy was consistently visualized by DSA in 40 patients with implanted Infusaid pump or Port-A devices. Incomplete perfusion of a liver region by the cytotoxic agent was recognized by DSA as accurately as by nuclide scintigraphy. Furthermore, DSA appeared to be more sensitive in determining aberrantly perfused extrahepatic regions; this was especially true when there was a nonligated right hepatic artery. Specific details of vascular lesions and associated complicating events also could be satisfactorily analyzed by DSA only.     

Palliative treatment of malignant ascites by intraperitoneal bleomycin after dialytic ultrafiltration with haemofilter

Dialytic ultrafiltration with haemofilter was performed in 16 patients with malignant ascites refractory to treatment with sodium restriction, diuretic and systemic chemotherapy. A continuous flow of ascitic fluid at a rate of 300–400 ml/min through a haemofilter was maintained by a blood pump. The protein-rich ascitic fluid was re-infused into the peritoneal cavity with sodium and water removed. An average of 5.2 1 of filtrate was removed over a mean interval of 3.5 h. Bleomycin (60 mg) was administered intraperitoneally following the procedure. Complete response was observed in six patients (37.25%) and partial response occurred in four (25%). The remaining patients showed no response. Complications of the dialytic ultrafiltration procedure and toxicity of intraperitoneal administration of bleomycin were minimal. The technique of dialytic ultrafiltration is simple, safe and cost-effective and could be used as an adjuvant therapy for intraperitoneal chemotherapy.     

PREVIOUS INTRAVENOUS CHEMOTHERAPY DOES NOT ALTER RESPONSE RATE OR SURVIVAL TIME OF PATIENTS WITH HEPATIC METASTASES FROM COLORECTAL CANCER TREATED BY HEPATIC ARTERY CHEMOTHERAPY

Background : The present paper addressed the issue of whether pretreatment with intravenous (IV) chemotherapy affects response rate or survival in patients receiving hepatic artery chemotherapy (HAC). Methods : Case note reviews of 164 patients treated in a teaching hospital from June 1990 to July 1996 were carried out. Results : The response rate and carcino-embryonic antigen (CEA) fall in the two groups was almost identical. There was a nonsignificant survival advantage in the non-pretreatment group. Conclusions : Previous administration of IV chemotherapy did not affect the CEA response of patients receiving HAC.     

术前动脉灌注化疗加乳腺区段切除治疗乳腺癌的探讨

目的　探索早期乳腺癌保留乳房治疗的新途径。方法　 1995 - 1997年采用术前动脉插管化疗加乳腺区段切除治疗Ⅰ、Ⅱ期乳腺癌共 2 6例 ,并随访 5年以上。结果　 2 6例中 1例术后 2年 4个月死于肺转移 ,另 1例术后 4年死于其他疾病。 1例术后 1年复发 ,行全乳房切除后至今无瘤生存 6年。本组 3年生存率 (OS) 96 .15 % ,3年无瘤生存率 (DFS) 92 .3% ;5年OS 88.4 6 % ,5年DFS 88.4 6 %。结论　术前动脉插管化疗能提高肿瘤区域的药物浓度 ,杀灭部分癌细胞 ,减少术后复发。该疗法对部分Ⅰ、Ⅱ期乳腺癌病例是可行的。     

Expression of the cell surface antigen detected by the monoclonal antibody A7 in pancreatic carcinoma cell lines

In a previous study, we used a murine monoclonal antibody, A7, against human colon carcinoma as a drug-carrier to treat colorectal cancer.¹ In the present study, we found that MAb A7 also reacted immunohistochemically with 73% of human pancreatic carcinoma cell lines, with the A7 antigen mainly being detected on the cell surface. However, the A7 antigen was found in only 9% of the spent media of these human pancreatic carcinoma cell lines by ELISA. On the other hand, the positive incidence of CA19-9, POA, ferritin, CEA, DU-PAN-2 and SLX in those spent media was 100%, 64%, 64%, 55%, 55% and 36%, respectively. These results suggest that the A7 antigen may only rarely be shed into the sera of pancreatic cancer patients, in which case MAb A7 could be a suitable drug-carrier in targeting chemotherapy for pancreatic cancer patients.     

阿苯达唑脂质体治疗包虫病的初期临床观察

目的：评价阿苯达唑脂质体（L－ABZ）口服液的临床疗效及药物副作用，为该药的临床应用提供依据。方法：选择53例包虫病患者，分为3组：A组为单纯服药组（35例），连续口服L－ABZ 3－6个月；B组为包虫囊肿穿刺前后服药组（4例），穿刺前3－7d开始服药，穿刺后连服1个月；C组为手术前后服药组（14例），术前3－7d开始服药，术后可进食水后即开始服药，疗程1个月。3个治疗组服药剂量均为每天10mg/kg，2次／d。同时动态随访病人服药前后的血常规、肝肾功、胸部X线片、B超或CT以及病人对药物的毒副反应。用治愈率、有效率、部分有效率和无效率来衡量A组的疗效。以复发率（观察至少1年）来判断B、C组的疗效。结果：A组治愈16例（45．7％），有效9例（25．7％），部分有效6例（17．1％），无效4例（11．4％），总有效率88．6％；B组、C组随访时间1－3年，尚无复发。临床药物治疗的53例服药病人中，尚未见因药物的副反应而终止治疗的病例。结论：阿苯达唑脂质体（L－ABZ）口服液对包虫病病人疗效较为肯定，毒副反应轻，患者能够长期服用，尤其适用于某些不宜施行手术治疗或复杂的包虫病例。     

5-FU多聚缓释体植入技术治疗脑胶质瘤

目的观察5-氟尿嘧啶(5-FU)多聚缓释体植入胶质瘤内化疗的临床效果,探索化疗药物的新剂型和新途径。方法在60例胶质瘤病人在开颅术中或以立体定向方式植入5-FU多聚缓释体,5-FU含量100～150mg。随访5～24周,通过影像学检查,计算肿瘤平均径。比较手术前及各随访时间段肿瘤平均径的变化,并观察瘤周水肿情况。结果38例病人术后病情稳定。无化疗不良反应。肿瘤平均径在术后5、12和24周以上均有显著缩小。其中第12周随访病例肿瘤平均径缩小最显著。肿瘤周边水肿带在开颅手术的病人比较宽,而在立体定向手术病人无明显加重表现。结论低剂量5-FU瘤内缓释体植入术治疗脑胶质瘤安全有效,无明显不良反应。