Investigation of the Effect of Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy on Stage Ⅱ Breast Cancer

OBJECTIVE To investigate the effect of neoadjuvant chemotherapy in treatment of Stage Ⅱ breast cancer. METHODS The data from 113 patients with breast cancer of the same pathologic type in Stage Ⅱ,during the period of 1995 to 2001,were analyzed retrospectively.Among the patients,47 were treated with neoadjuvant chemotherapy,and 66 received no adjuvant therapy before surgery（control group）.After the patients of the neoadjuvant chemotherapy group had received 2 courses of chemotherapy with the CMF regimen,the surgical procedure was conducted. RESULTS Complete remission（CR）was attained in 9 of the 47 cases receiving neoadjuvant chemotherapy and partial remission（PR）was reached for 22 cases.The rate of breast-conserving surgery was enhanced from 22.73%to 46.81%（P〈0.05）in the neoadjuvant treatment group. There was no difference in the 5-year overall survival（OS）and disease-free survival（DFS）rate between the two groups（P〉0.05）,but the 5-year OS and DFS of the cases with clinical tumor remission was higher compared to the control group（P〈0.05）. CONCLUSION Neoadjuvant chemotherapy can enhance the rate of breast conservation for Stage Ⅱ breast cancer and may improve the prognosis of the cases with clinical remission.     

ACTIVIT OF HUMAN PLACENTAL GAMMA GLOBULININ BLOCKING IMMUNE FUNCTIONS IN VITRO AND IN ABROGATING THE XENOGENEIC, LOCAL GRAFT-VERSUS-HOST-REEACTEON

In order to understand the mechanism of immunosuppression caused by infusion of placental gamma globulin (PGG) in patients with renal allografts, rheumatoid arthritis, and graft – versus –host disease (GCHD) following bone marrow transplantation (BMT) ,we have examined the effect of PGG in vitro and in a model of the xenogeneic , local graft –ver- sus – host reaction (LGVHR) .PGG inhibited lymphocyte proliferation in mixed lymphocyte cultures (MLC) (P<0.005) and depressed interleukin -2 (IL-2) levels in such cultures at 72 hours (P<0.01) . In contrast phytohemagglutinin (PHA) –and pokeweed mitogen (PWM) –induced T and B lymphocyte blastogenesis was not affected by such PGG treatment .PGG treatment .PGG neither decreased the [3H] TdR pulse incorporation in unstimulated lymphocytes nor affected cell viability .Cell cycle analysis by flow cytometry showed that PGG reduced the percentage of cells in S and G2, M phases during the MLC, but did not alter cell cycling during PWM-stimulated proliferation . An immunosuppressive effect of PGG on the LGCHR was tested in a model of intracutaneous transplantation of PGG –treat human lymphocytes into cyclophosphamide – immunosuppressed rats. Lymphoprep – separated human tonsillar lymphocytes were incubated with RPMI-1640 buffer containing：（1）PGG,4mg/ml,(2) human plasma albumin,4mg/ml,(3)mitomycin-C,25ug/ml, or (4) no additive. Cell of each preparation (3x107cells in 0.1ml) were injected intracutaneously into cyclophosphamide-treated male rats at separate abdominal locations. A fifth site received only the buffer solution. Five days after injection of cells ,each rat received [125 I]IUdR (10uCi) intraperitoneally and was killed after 5 hours. For each site of injection, the diameters of induration were measured and 125 I was counted . There was no difference between buffer – treated and a ibumin – treated groups either in the diameter of the area of induration (t=0.66;P>0.5)or in radioactive counts(t=0.22;P>0.05).In the PGG –treated group, the induration and radioactivity measurements were significantly less than in control groups (t=3.72 and P<0.1;t=2.62 and P<0.02,respectively ) Cytophilic antibodies in PGG were thought to inhibit an early phase of T cell activation, and not to be cytotoxicity .In the LGVHR, the immune response might be abrogated either by immuno- regulatory suppression of T cell function or by toxicity to the infused lymphoid cells. For some clinical purposes, immuno- modulating, human antibodies might be preferred to murine, monoclonal antibodies.     

越南河内栽培薄荷精油的化学成分研究

越南薄荷通常种植于河内市Lang区以及郊区。水蒸汽蒸馏提取得到的精油,其主要成分为:香芹酮carvone 31．0％、柠檬烯limonene 29．5％、反式香芹醋酸盐trans-carvyl acetate 20．4％     

A Study of the Mechanism of Yinzhihuang（菌栀黄）Injection in the Treatment of Infantile Hepatitis Syndrome

ＡＳｔｕｄｙｏｆｔｈｅＭｅｃｈａｎｉｓｍｏｆＹｉｎｚｈｉｈｕａｎｇ（菌栀黄）ＩｎｊｅｃｔｉｏｎｉｎｔｈｅＴｒｅａｔｍｅｎｔｏｆＩｎｆａｎｔｉｌｅＨｅｐａｔｉｔｉｓＳｙｎｄｒｏｍｅＤｏｎｇＹｏｎｇ－ｓｕｉ（董永绥）；ＨｕａｎｇＺｈｉ－ｈｕａ（黄志华）；...     

A preliminary study of the relationship between antibiotic administration and changes in bacteriological profile of wound infection in a burn unit

Objective:To investigate the relationship between antibiotic administration and the changes in bacteriological profile in a burn unit. Methods: The data of consumption of different kinds of antibiotics, including total antibiotic consumption [expressed as the number of defined daily doses (DDD)] as well as pathogen identification, were collected in a 8-year period. The constituent ratios of different kinds of antibiotics in total antibiotic consumption to isolation rates of various species of bacteria were calculated, and their correlation was analyzed. Results: Within this period, it was found that the aminoglycosides and first generation cephalosporins were used less frequently, while the polypeptides, carbopenem and macrolides were used proportionally more. At the same time, the isolation rates of Staphylococcus aureus, Acinetobacter sp, Enterobacter cloacae, Klebsiella pneumoniae and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus were gradually increased. The constituent ratios of predominant pathogens were correlated to the different kinds of antibiotics consumption in the burn unit. Conclusion: The results suggested that the consumption of different antibiotics was closely related to the trends of emergence of bacterial isolates from infected burn wounds. The result might imply that to regulate the administration of certain antibiotics might help decrease the emergence of certain pathogenic bacteria in burn infections.     

Butyrate increases production of human chimeric IgG in CHO-K1 cells whilst maintaining function and glycoform profile

The influence of sodium butyrate on the production and glycosylation of recombinant mouse/human chimeric antibody by transfected CHO-K1 cells was investigated. We selected cells expressing 'wild-type' antibody with a human IgG3 heavy chain and a mutant of this molecule in which Phe 243 is replaced by Ala. These proteins have previously been shown to exhibit very different glycoform profiles with the mutant IgG being comprised of glycoforms having a high galactose and sialic acid content. Cell culture with 0-5 mM butyrate was shown to effect a 2-4-fold increase in antibody production whilst the induction of apoptosis was observed in a dose-dependent manner. The optimal butyrate concentration was observed to be 2 mM. The glycoform profile of each antibody produced in the presence of butyrate was analyzed by HPAEC-PAD and shown to be unchanged, relative to that produced in the absence of butyrate. Biological activity was evaluated by the ability of the antibodies to trigger superoxide generation, through Fc gamma RI, and shown to be independent of production in the presence or absence of butyrate. A similar increase in production was observed for a high antibody-producing cell line when expanded in a hollow fibre bioreactor under low-serum conditions (1%). These results demonstrated that butyrate is of value for increasing the productivity of CHO-K1 for recombinant IgG and does not compromise either glycosylation or biological activity.     

Epithelioid variant of gastrointestinal stromal tumor: Diagnosis by fine-needle aspiration

Epithelioid gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs) may cause significant diagnostic confusion on fine-needle aspiration (FNA) with carcinomas, neuroendocrine tumors, and melanoma, particularly when metastatic. This study characterizes the cytologic features of nine cases of epithelioid GISTs that were obtained by computerized tomographic guidance in five, by endoscopic ultrasound in three, and from an excised liver tumor in one. Six cases presented as liver masses, one as a perisplenic mass, one as an abdominal mass, and one as a gastric mass. The aspirates revealed mainly single or small clusters of epithelioid cells with a moderate amount of granular to clear cytoplasm, small uniform nuclei with mild to marked nuclear envelope irregularities. Binucleation and intranuclear inclusions were frequent findings. Collagenous stroma was seen in most cases. In three cases, a neuroendocrine tumor was the initial diagnosis. Immunocytochemical staining for c-kit (CD117) was performed on cellblocks in six cases and was positive in five cases. On the subsequent surgical specimen, CD117 was positive in the c-kit-negative cytology case. The diagnosis of GIST should be considered in aspirates of the gastrointestinal tract, liver, mesentery, or abdominal wall mass lesions when epithelioid cells are the predominant cell type. Ancillary studies such as immunohistochemical stains are usually helpful in making a definitive diagnosis.     

Kinetics of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) coronavirus-specific antibodies in 271 laboratory-confirmed cases of SARS

The sensitivities and specificities of an immunofluorescence assay and an enzyme immunoassay for detection of antibodies specific for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV) were compared for 148 laboratory-confirmed SARS cases. The appearance and persistence of SARS-CoV-specific antibodies were assessed, with immunoglobulin G detected in 59% of samples collected within 14 days and persisting for 60 to 95 days after the onset of illness.     

Retrospective analysis of non-A-E hepatitis: possible role of hepatitis B and C virus infection

In an effort to determine the cause of non-A-E hepatitis, a retrospective study was undertaken on a group of patients with hepatitis but without serological infection markers of hepatitis viruses A-E. A total of 60 patients admitted to Beijing Ditan Hospital during the period of September 1997 and September 1999 were chosen for this study. These patients were diagnosed as either acute or chronic hepatitis, but no serological markers of hepatitis viruses A-E were detected. Since TT virus (TTV), human parvovirus B19 (B19), SEN virus (SENV), and GB virus C/HGV were reported to be associated with hepatitis, attempts were made to detect the presence of these viruses in the sera of patients with non-A-E hepatitis by a nested polymerase chain reaction (nPCR) method. Also, more sensitive nPCR and RT-nPCR methods were used to determine HBV DNA and HCV RNA in these patients. Results derived from these analyses demonstrate that HBV DNA was detected in most of these patients (47/60, 78.3%), suggesting that HBV infection played a major role in occult non-A-E hepatitis and detection of HBV DNA by more sensitive PCR methods such as nPCR should be considered for diagnosis of HBV infection. In addition, HCV RNA was detected in three (5%) of these patients. However, GBV-C (HGV) RNA was not detected, and TTV, B19, and SENV appear not to be associated with non-A-E hepatitis, as the prevalence rates of these viruses in patients with non-A-E hepatitis were similar to those in patients with viral hepatitis A-E. The results from this study indicate that co-infection of TTV or B19 with HBV did not increase the severity of the disease.