Orthotopic placement of the dunning R3327 AT-3 prostate tumor in the copenhagen X fischer rat

Orthotopic placement of in vitro propagated Dunning R3327 AT-3 tumor cells resulted in a greater percentage of tumor takes and a two-fold shift in the exponential growth curve compared to flank implantation. The orthotopic tumor appeared to disseminate preferentially to regional lymph nodes, rather than to the lungs which is characteristic of flank tumors. The results suggest an important role of stromal-epithelial interactions in the growth of this tumor. © 1995 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

Effects of tamoxifen and somatostatin analogue on growth of human medullary, follicular, and papillary thyroid carcinoma cell lines: tissue culture and nude mouse xenograft studies

The knowledge that (1) the normal thyroid contains somatostatin, (2) polypeptide growth factors influence thyroid cell function, and (3) thyroid cells contain steroid hormone receptors prompted us to add somatostatin analogue No. 201-995 (SMS) (5 ng/ml) and/or tamoxifen citrate (TAM) (5 mumol/L) to 7-day monolayer cultures (50,000 cells/well) of three separate human thyroid carcinoma cell lines: DR081 (medullary), WR082 (follicular), and NPA'87 (papillary). Results, tabulated as cell numbers/well (X10(5) on day 7, revealed that TAM inhibited growth of medullary and follicular cells and that TAM plus SMS inhibited growth of papillary cells. In vivo studies of subcutaneous tumor cell xenografts in nude mice have documented that TAM (5 mg subcutaneous pellet) significantly inhibits the growth of medullary implants. Flow cytometric DNA studies of medullary cell cultures demonstrated a reduced G2 + M phase with TAM treatment. For papillary cell implants, TAM plus SMS (5 micrograms subcutaneously, twice daily) did not suppress tumor growth. All three cell lines were negative for estrogen receptor; addition of estradiol (5 ng/ml) to medullary cell cultures neither stimulated replication nor reversed the inhibitory effects of TAM in vitro. We conclude that (1) TAM slowed the growth of a cell line of human medullary carcinoma, both in vitro and in vivo; (2) this effect was not reversed by estradiol; (3) TAM plus SMS inhibited replication of a papillary carcinoma cell line in vitro, but not in vivo; and (4) TAM alone and TAM plus SMS inhibited replication of cultures of a human follicular thyroid carcinoma cell line. TAM and SMS may be useful in treatment of some human thyroid carcinomas.     

Autoantibodies and levels of polychlorinated biphenyls in persons living near a hazardous waste treatment facility.

BACKGROUND: Increased autoantibody prevalence has been described in instances of high-dose exposure to polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). In 1996, an equipment malfunction at the Swan Hills Treatment Centre in Alberta, Canada, caused the release of gases containing PCBs into the ambient air. In view of the immune effects of PCBs and their potential as endocrine disruptors, we assessed autoantibody prevalence and looked for correlations with PCB levels. METHODS: Fifty-seven persons living within a 100 km radius of the waste treatment facility were assessed. Autoantibodies were measured by indirect immunofluorescence, double immunodiffusion, and immunoblotting. The levels of 26 congeners of PCBs were measured by gas chromatography and mass spectrometry. Provincial health records for physician visits and hospitalizations were reviewed for diagnoses of autoimmune disease. RESULTS: The prevalence of autoantibodies was 11% in the study participants and 0% in healthy controls. There was no correlation of PCB levels with autoantibody results. There was no associated increase in autoimmune disease noted on physician visits or hospitalizations. PCB levels were comparable to background levels reported for other populations. CONCLUSION: A correlation of titers of autoantibodies in the sera of individuals at risk and the blood levels of PCBs was not found, and the prevalence of autoantibodies in the at-risk group was not statistically different (p > .05) from that of an unexposed control group. The study group had higher titers of autoantibodies and some strong reactivity with intracellular antigens, but the significance of this observation may be understood only after long-term clinical assessments and follow-up.     

Attitudes of direct-care workers at a residential facility

A self-administered questionnaire was developed to examine two dimensions of staff attitudes: (a) the perceived importance of skills that direct-care workers who are asked to teach their clients, and (b) staff expectations that clients will show improvement in these areas. The relationship between importance/ expectancy ratings and self-reported teaching activity was studied in a sample of 32 direct-care workers at a residential facility for adults with developmental disabilities. In general, direct-care workers reported that they were most frequently engaged in escorting clients, watching and teaching clients during recreational activities, and dealing with client's emotional/behavioral outbursts. Improtance/expectancy ratings were correlated significantly with the education level of respondents, but not with self-reported teaching activity.     

Feasibility of near real-time image-guided sinus surgery using intraoperative fluoroscopic computed axial tomography.

OBJECTIVE: One of the main limitations of image-guided surgery is that navigation relies on the use of a CT scan obtained before surgery and is unable to be updated during the procedure. A software addition has been developed to allow reconstruction of CT-like images from a series of fluoroscopic scans and integrate these into an image-guided system (GE Healthcare Surgical Navigation, Lawrence, MA). We report our initial experience with a series of patients undergoing intraoperative fluoroscopic navigation in sinus surgery. STUDY DESIGN AND SETTINGS: After institutional review board clearance, we prospectively studied 14 consecutive patients undergoing image-guided sinus surgery with the use of intraoperative fluoroscopy. RESULTS: All patients had preoperative and postoperative fluoroscopic images reconstructed into CT-like images. By the conclusion of the study, images were adequate in quality and accurate navigation was achieved. CONCLUSION: Real-time image-guided sinus surgery using fluoroscopy is feasible. Future studies will need to focus on defining the procedures that could benefit, such as tumor resection, to enhance patient safety during these operations.     

Psychotic symptoms and disorders and the risk of violent behaviour in the community

This study uses data from the Epidemiologic Catchment Area (ECA) surveys to examine the strength of the association between psychotic symptoms and violent behaviour, controlling for underlying mental disorder, substance abuse, sociodemographic characteristics and use of mental health services, in a representative sample of community residents. A replication is conducted of a study that found an increased risk of violence associated with a particular cluster of psychotic symptoms involving perceived threat and internal control-override (TCO). Respondents who reported TCO symptoms were about twice as likely to engage in assaultive behaviour as those with hallucinations or other psychotic symptoms, and about five times as likely as those with no mental disorder. The combination of substance use disorders with TCO symptoms added significantly to the risk of violent behaviour. Those with a history of using mental health services also posed a higher risk of violence, probably due to the differential selection of more severely ill and ‘dangerous’ individuals into treatment settings. Copyright © 1996 Whurr Publishers Ltd.