Does an oral analgesic protocol improve pain control for patients with cancer? An intergroup study coordinated by the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group

BACKGROUND: Cancer pain is highly prevalent and commonly undertreated. This study was designed to determine whether dissemination of a clinical protocol for pain management would improve outcomes in community oncology practices. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A pain management protocol was developed based on accepted guidelines. After baseline assessment, oncology practices were randomly assigned to 'analgesic protocol' (AP) sites, where oncologists implemented the guidelines in a group of lung or prostate cancer patients, or to 'physician discretion' (PD) sites, where customary treatment was continued. Patients treated on protocol and a comparison group of patients with pain due to breast cancer or myeloma were monitored for change in pain using the Brief Pain Inventory, and for change in other symptoms or mood. RESULTS: The protocol terminated early because of poor accrual. We compared groups using proportions of patients who had no or mild pain at follow-up. Although measures of protocol adherence did not suggest the occurrence of major practice change, the proportion of lung or prostate cancer patients with no or mild pain increased significantly from baseline for those treated at AP sites compared with those treated at PD sites. There was no significant difference between the breast and myeloma patients treated at AP sites versus those treated at PD sites. CONCLUSION: A protocol for cancer pain management can improve pain control. Diffusion of these benefits to other patients was not confirmed. Given the small sample size, these findings require confirmation in a larger trial.     

Impact of lymph node metastasis on survival in patients with pathological T1 carcinoma of the ampulla of vater

To determine the prognostic factors for patients with pathological T1 (pT1) carcinoma of the ampulla of Vater, 36 consecutive patients with carcinoma of the ampulla of Vater who underwent surgery were retrospectively analyzed in terms of clinicopathological features. The overall 5-year Kaplan-Meier survival in all patients was 50.2%, and the median survival of all patients was 64.0 months. Factors favorably influencing a long-term outcome were the absence of lymph node metastasis (P<0.0001), the absence of ulcer formation of the tumor (P=0.0062), and the absence of tumor invasion into the duodenum (P = 0.0025) and the pancreas (P=0.0098). In a multivariate analysis, lymph node metastasis was the only predictor of survival (P=0.0023). In the pT1 stage patients, 20% of the patients had lymph node metastasis, and their survival was statistically poor compared to the pT1 patients without lymph node metastasis (P=0.017). As for survival after the operation, there was no significant difference between pancreatoduodenectomy and pylorus-preserving pancreatoduodenectomy.     

严重Ⅱ型糖尿病人在直肠癌晚期空腹血糖转正常1例报告

1病例报告 病人男性，52岁，住院号：101642。患原发性2型糖尿病11年，曾因吃杨梅出现了“糖尿病酮症酸中毒昏迷”在我院抢救成功1次，当时体重达85kg，身高165cm，血糖最高〉20mmol／L。近5年来，予控制饮食及口服降糖药治疗，体重维持在80kg左右，空腹血糖仍高，一般在8～12mmol／L。因渐进性便秘1年，服用肠清茶不再有效，B超发现肝脏多发占位性病变，大小约直径25mm不等。肠镜示：距肛缘约12cm处见巨大浸润肿块，表面高低不平，有糜烂出血，质脆，占肠腔全周，形成狭窄，肠镜不能通过，于2005年2月4日入院，入院时T37．2℃，P72次／min，R18次／min，BP110／70mmHg，体重65kg，身高165cm，甘油三酯0．8mmol/L，胆固醇3．2mmol/L，空腹血糖5．0mmol／L。肝脏CT示：多发性低密度结节灶，直径大小25mm左右，考虑肝内多发转移瘤。     

In vivo MRI of cancer cell fate at the single-cell level in a mouse model of breast cancer metastasis to the brain.

Metastasis (the spread of cancer from a primary tumor to secondary organs) is responsible for most cancer deaths. The ability to follow the fate of a population of tumor cells over time in an experimental animal would provide a powerful new way to monitor the metastatic process. Here we describe a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technique that permits the tracking of breast cancer cells in a mouse model of brain metastasis at the single-cell level. Cancer cells that were injected into the left ventricle of the mouse heart and then delivered to the brain were detectable on MR images. This allowed the visualization of the initial delivery and distribution of cells, as well as the growth of tumors from a subset of these cells within the whole intact brain volume. The ability to follow the metastatic process from the single-cell stage through metastatic growth, and to quantify and monitor the presence of solitary undivided cells will facilitate progress in understanding the mechanisms of brain metastasis and tumor dormancy, and the development of therapeutics to treat this disease.     

乳腺癌患者血清Leptin和VEGF的表达

目的：研究瘦素（Leptin）、血管内皮生长因子（VEGF）在乳腺癌患者血清中的表达，探讨其在乳腺癌诊断中的意义。方法：选择乳腺癌患者36例，乳腺良性增生病变患者31例，另选56例健康女性作为对照。分别用放射免疫分析（RIA）和酶联免疫吸附试验（ELISA）测定这些患者术前血清Leptin、VEGF。结果：正常对照组与良性病变组、乳腺癌组Leptin存在明显差异，正常对照组与乳腺癌组，良性病变组与乳腺癌组VEGF存在明显差异。乳腺癌患者术前血清Leptin、VEGF含量与有无淋巴结转移具有相关性。结论：乳腺癌患者术前血清Leptin、VEGF可作为鉴别乳腺良恶性肿瘤有无转移的指标。     

Influence of aminoglutethimide on plasma oestrogen levels in breast cancer patients on 4-hydroxyandrostenedione treatment

Summary The clinical and biochemical effects of combined treatment with the two aromatase inhibitors aminoglutethimide and 4-hydroxyandrostenedione were evaluated in 10 patients suffering from advanced breast cancer. All patients had become resistant to treatment with one of the drugs before having combined treatment. Seven patients progressing on 4-hydroxyandrostenedione who had aminoglutethimide added to their treatment and achieved a further suppression of plasma oestradiol by a mean of 40.0% (p<0.05). Plasma oestrone was suppressed by a mean of 40.6% (p<0.025) and plasma oestrone sulphate was suppressed by a mean of 63.6% (p<0.025). Two of the patients, neither of whom had responded to 4-hydroxyandrostenedione alone, experienced objective tumour regression when aminoglutethimide was given in concert. Three patients progressing on aminoglutethimide who had 4-hydroxyandrostenedione added showed no further suppression of their plasma oestrogen levels, and no tumour regression was observed. These findings suggest a dose-response relationship between plasma oestrogen suppression at low postmenopausal levels and objective tumour response in breast cancer.     

A Bayesian approach to subvoxel tissue classification in NMR microscopic images of trabecular bone

NMR microscopy is currently being used as an investigational tool for the evaluation of micromorphometric parameters of trabecular bone as a possible means to assess its strength. Since, typically, the image voxel size is not significantly smaller than individual trabecular elements, partial volume blurring can be a major complication for accurate tissue classification. In this paper, a Bayesian segmentation technique is reported that achieves improved subvoxel tissue classification. Each voxel is subdivided either into eight subvoxels twice the original resolution, or up to four subvoxels along the transaxial direction and the subvoxels optimally classified as either bone or marrow. Based on a statistical model for partial volume blurring, the likelihood for the number of marrow subvoxels in each voxel can be computed on the basis of its measured signal. To resolve the ambiguity of the location of the marrow subvoxels, a Gibbs distribution is introduced to model the interaction between the subvoxels. Neighboring subvoxel pairs with the same tissue label are encouraged, and pairs with distinct labels are penalized. The segmentation is achieved by maximizing the a posteriori probability of the label image using the block ICM (iterative conditional mode) algorithm. The potential of the proposed technique is demonstrated in real and synthetic NMR microscopic images.     

肺癌与感染──附28例肺癌患者下呼吸道细菌检查结果

肺癌常继发肺内感染，且使其预后恶化。２８例肺癌患者中，９例下呼吸道分泌物培养生长细菌，多为大肠杆菌，流感杆菌和金黄色葡萄球菌。     

The inclusion of an omental flap in pancreatoduodenectomy

A technique for reducing the morbidity and mortality of pancreatoduodenectomy by using an omental flap to protect the anastomoses and splanchnic vessels exposed during dissection is described herein.     

胰腺癌细胞的增殖同膜脂质饱和度,膜胰岛素受体的关系

外源性表皮生长因子(或生长抑素)能促进(或抑制)胰腺癌细胞的增殖。胰腺癌细胞增殖速率的高低与细胞膜脂质饱和度的降、升;与膜胰岛素受体数量的增减密切相关。测定细胞膜脂质饱和度和胰岛素受体数量,是判断胰腺癌增殖状态的灵敏指标,有一定临床价值。