Search PubMed⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

B Wahren

Publications and source records attributed to B Wahren.

At least 361 records · Page 20Linked to original sources
PubMed1979

Carcinoembryonic antigen in serum of unselected breast-cancer patients and of non-hospitalized controls.

A series of consecutive unselected patients with primary breast carcinoma and their age-matched controls were studied for serum CEA in relation to clinical findings. Raised CEA was found in a similar frequency in patients with primary breast cancer (pre- and postoperative) and in the control women: 16%, 11% and 11%, respectively, exceeded the selected upper limit of the reference range (13 ng/ml) with a double-antibody radioimmunoassay. In the breast-cancer patients, however, 48% of the raised CEA levels exceeded 16 ng/ml, compared with only 20% in the controls. Significant correlations (r approximately 0.3) were found between CEA levels and tumour size, TNM classification and a combined clinical and histopathological classification. A high frequency of raised CEA values in the advanced breast-cancer patients was the essential contribution to these positive correlations. A correlation coefficient of 0.6 was found between pre- and postoperative CEA values. The frequency of smoking and/or chronic disease was unexpectedly high in patients as well as in controls with high CEA.

Adult↗
PubMed1979

Pleocytosis and immunoglobulin changes in cerebrospinal fluid and herpesvirus serology in patients with Guillain-Barré syndrome.

In a follow-up study of 24 patients with Guillain-Barré syndrome, 55% developed a cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) mononuclear pleocytosis, which persisted for 4 months or more. Raised index values of CSF-immunoglobulin G (IgG), CSF-IgA, and CSF-IgM, indicating synthesis of the immunoglobulin in question in the central nervous system, were found in 63, 35, and 25%, respectively. Agarose gel eletrophoresis revealed oligoclonal immunoglobulin in CSF in 21% and in both CSF and serum in another 21% of the patients. Twenty-five percent had abnormally low kappa/lambda ratios of CSF and/or serum, indicating synthesis of oligoclonal immunoglobulin, mainly of the lambda light-chain type. The inflammatory reaction in the central nervous system, as reflected by pleocytosis, immunoglobulin synthesis, and oligoclonal immunoglobulin, was not correlated to the severity or course of Guillain-Barré syndrome. A raised CSF-IgM index and oligoclonal immunoglobulin were found more often in the Guillain-Barré syndrome patients who displayed pleocytosis. All patients had or developed antibodies to Epstein-Barr virus. Three patients had serology indicating a primary infection, 11 patients had antibody changes indicating a reactivated infection, and 10 had serology indicating previous exposure. Two patients showed serological evidence for a primary cytomegalovirus infection, 2 had serology indicative of a reactivated infection, 12 had titers as caused by previous exposure, and 8 remained seronegative. Virus-specific IgM was measurable in all cases of primary infection. Neither primary or reactivated Epstein-Barr virus nor cytomegalovirus infections were obviously related to CSF pleocytosis.

Adult↗
PubMed1979

Possible tumour markers in patients with oesophagus cancer.

Carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), alpha-foetoprotein (AFP), and enzymes were determined in the blood of 59 patients with primary oesophagus carcinoma. Raised CEA values were encountered in 59% of the patients, and AFP above that of an age-matched control group in 33% of the patients. Values of CEA during progression were significantly higher than in regression of disease. Two patients had exceptionally high serum AFP, but in most cases AFP levels were not related to disease progress. CEA and AFP could appear in a discordant fashion. The combined assay did not improve diagnostic sensitivity.

Adenocarcinoma↗
PubMed1979

Elevated serum levels of a biliary glycoprotein (BGP I) in patients with liver or biliary tract disease.

Human hepatic bile contains a glycoprotein (biliary glycoprotein I, BGP I) which cross-reacts with the carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA). A radioimmunoassay for BGP I was developed. The interference of CEA or 'non-specific cross-reacting antigen' (NCA) in the assay was small. The serum levels of BGP I were determined in healthy subjects, in patients with hepato-biliary diseases and in patients with various infectious or inflammatory disorders. Healthy individuals, including pregnant women, had a serum BGP I concentration of about 0.5-1 mg/l. Diseases of the liver or biliary tract (e.g. hepatitis A or B, cytomegalovirus hepatitis, obstructive jaundice or primary biliary cirrhosis) were associated with elevated serum levels of BGP I, as opposed to infectious diseases not affecting the liver mostly showing values within the normal range. Raised levels of serum BGP I activity may reflect biliary obstruction as a result of interference with normal BGP I secretion to the bile.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1978

Cellular content of carcinoembryonic antigen in urothelial carcinoma.

CEA containing cells can be demonstrated in 25--60% of urothelial carcinomas. No staining was seen with benign urothelial cells. Using microfluorometry of single cells, mean fluorescence intensity with anti-CEA antisera was 3--6 times that of preparations stained in parallel with nonimmune sera. A comparison of the IF results with RIA implies a possibility to detect less than 1 pg CEA/cell in unfixed specimens. The cells which stained with anti-CEA antisera did not have any apparent morphologic properties differentiating them from neighboring nonstained cells but it was mainly in the cell populations from well- and moderately well-differentiated tumors that CEA containing cells were seen. Therefore quantitative measurements of CEA amount/cell may be a parameter, in addition to morphologic differentiation, to study new properties of tumor cell populations.

Carcinoembryonic Antigen↗
PubMed1978

Carcinoembryonic antigen and other tumor markers in tissue and serum or plasma of patients with primary mammary carcinoma.

50 patients with primary breast cancer were studied to determine the CEA and HCG contents in their tumor cells before any treatment was initiated. Tumor cells were obtained by needle biopsy and each tumor cell population was stained by immunofluorescence. In 21 of the 50 patients, CEA containing cells were found in a frequency ranging from 5 to 80% of the tumor cell population. The results were confirmed by radioimmunoassay of tumor extracts. No apparent relation was seen to cytologic type or grade of differentiation. HCG was detected by IF in 4 tumors with an apocrine cytologic cell type. The level of CEA in plasma was determined before treatment and followed for 2-6 months in 72 patients. CEA was the only measured serum parameter that correlated initially with size and extent of the localized tumor. It was too low to be of use for monitoring primary disease, but should be of value in early detection of metastasis. Posttreatment a low or decreased plasma CEA was seen more often in patients who had had curative treatment than in those given palliative radiation. No raised serum HCG levels were found. Raised serum liver enzymes did not predict the extent of the primary tumor but may be an indication of distant spread. Tumor CEA content and CEA plasma concentration were correlated, although not very strongly. This means that CEA, although present in the tumor, is not always released in measurable amounts.

Alkaline Phosphatase↗
PubMed1978

Immunoperoxidase staining of carcinoembryonic antigen in urinary bladder cancer.

An immunoperoxidase study of the presence of carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) in primary cancers of the urinary bladder, metastases to the bladder, non-malignant diseased bladder, and normal bladder tissues revealed that approximately 10 percent of the urothelial carcinomas (transitional cell and squamous cell types) contained detectable quantities of this antigen. The other tissues were devoid of stainable CEA. It thus appears that the incidence of positive CEA by immunoperoxidase staining of formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tumour tissue sections is much less than the frequency of blood or urinary CEA elevations in patients with urothelial cancer.

Carcinoembryonic Antigen↗
PubMed1978

Carcinoembryonic antigen in serum, urine and cells of patients with bladder carcinoma.

A raised level of CEA-like substance has been demonstrated by radioimmunoassay in the urine of patients with bladder carcinoma, in concentrations which increase with a more advanced stage, and in serum of patients with advanced disease. In a 2-year follow-up of patients receiving chemotherapy, a correlation of raised urinary CEA to local recurrence was seen, as well as rising and high serum values with metastases. In the patients who responded to treatment, CEA values became normal. CEA was also located in carcinoma cells from bladder washings in 24--61% of the cases. Combined studies of CEA in serum, urine and cells may be used to study the biology of the tumour and perhpas also in the monitoring of patients with urothelial carcinoma.

Carcinoembryonic Antigen↗
PubMed1978

The polyclonal B cell activator dextran-sulphate induces formation of colony stimulating activity.

The effect of dextran-sulphate (DS), a polyclonal activator known to stimulate immature murine B-cells, was assayed in a culture system allowing the growth of myeloid cells. It was known that DS induced the production of a myeloid colony stimulating factor (CSF) by cells from both spleen and bone marrow. Nylonwool purified mouse spleen cells, enriched for T cells, showed a dimished CSF production in response to DS, while CSF production in response to Con A was increased. Furthermore, DS induced CSF in both spleen and bone marrow cells from nude mice. Removal of macrophages did not affect CSF production. The CSF induced was non-dialysable and no small molecular weight or lipoprotein inhibitors could be demonstrated. The results suggest that DS activates cells other than T cells or macrophages (possibly B cells or null cells) to produce a myeloid stem cell stimulating substance. These results indicate that interactions between lymphoid and myeloid cells can take place during differentiation.

Animals↗
PubMed1978

Increased serum alpha-fetoprotein levels in cytomegalovirus infections.

Among 54 patients with a clinically and serologically verified cytomegalovirus infection, 8 (15%) had raised alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) levels in sera taken after the onset of infection. No raised serum AFP was seen in acute or convalescent sera of 45 patients with other viral diseases, including infectious mononucleosis and acute herpes simplex virus infection. No definite correlation was found between raised AFP and raised S-ALAT values, indicating hepatic damage. The highest single AFP values were seen in two immunosuppressed patients and in a patient who received a blood transfusion. Two possible explanations for this phenomenon are advanced.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1977

Characterization of urothelial carcinoma with respect to the content of carcinoembryonic antigen in exfoliated cells.

A sutstance immunologically similar to carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) was demonstrated in urothelial bladder carcinoma cells. When indirect immunofluorescence with specific anti-CEA antisera was used, CEA-containing cells were seen in 18 out of 40 cases in 5% to 30% of the cells. Among patients with tumor cells of well differentiated morphology, 61% had CEA-containing cells, compared with only 24% of patients with a poorly differentiated tumor. Microfluorometry of single cells was performed in six cases to estimate the range of CEA content. The mean fluorescence intensity with anti-CEA antiserum was three to six times that of the same tumor cell population stained with non-immune rabbit sera. This fluorescence was decreased when the anti-CEA anti-sera were incubated with CEA but not with nonspecific cross-reactive antigen. The results show a wide range of CEA antigen content in exofoliated bladder tumor cells. In addition to proliferative status and differentiation, quantitative CEA measurements give further possibilities to study characteristics of tumor cell populations.

Carcinoembryonic Antigen↗
PubMed1977

Multiple antigens as marker substances in germinal tumors of the testis.

Germinal cell tumors of the testis were studied for the presence of several tumor-associated antigens. Antisera were produced by immunizing rabbits with the purified antigens of alpha-fetoprotein (AFP), carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), and hepatoma ferritin. Indirect immunofluorescence on embryonal carcinoma with or without teratoma components demonstrated that their staining range was 1--60 per cent with antiserum against AFP, 0--16 per cent with anti-serum against ferritin, and 0-40% with antiserum against CEA. Ferritin-like substances have not been described previously in germinal tumors of the testis. No staining was seen with seminoma cells or benign testicular tissues. Raised serum levels of AFP and the ferritin-like substance were related both to the presence of tumor and to dissemination of the disease. CEA occurred transiently in serum. Eleven patients with primary tumors had no antigen in their sera and have all survived, but the median survival time for 8 patients with either antigen in preoperative sera was 12 months. Five patients with advanced tumor in whom neither AFP nor ferritin was detected had a much longer median survival time (58 mo) than did 13 patients with high levels of serum AFP or ferritin (12 mo). The presence of either AFP or ferritin in sera of patients with primary or advanced disease, therefore, seemed to indicate a poor prognosis. The determination of both substances in serum may be useful in the follow-up of patients with certain types of testicular tumors. The proportion of cells containing each antigen varied in the different tumors. Similarly, each antigen could occur independently in serum. This suggested that certain germ cell tumors contained subpopulations of cells, which differed in their production and release of the antigens studied.

Antigens, Neoplasm↗