Search PubMed⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

C Urmacher

Publications and source records attributed to C Urmacher.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

Epidermoid cancer of the anal margin. Pathologic features, treatment, and clinical results.

Epidermoid cancer of the anal margin should be distinguished from that in the canal because of its different clinical and pathologic characteristics, the suitability of local excision for its treatment, and its better overall prognosis. In addition, margin cancer rarely metastasises to visceral sites. Forty-eight patients with epidermoid cancer of the anal margin were reviewed. Two refused treatment, 4 had palliative therapy for advanced, inoperable disease, 31 had local excision, and 11 were treated by abdominoperineal resection. Local excision provided satisfactory results with a corrected 5 year survival of 88 percent, although locoregional recurrence developed in 46 percent of these patients during follow-up. A second local excision or inguinal lymphadenectomy provided good results in the patients with recurrence. Abdominoperineal resection did not provide better overall survival figures.

Adult↗

Bursa formation in secondary chondrosarcoma with intrabursal chondrosarcomatosis.

Osteocartilaginous exostoses (osteochondromata) are rather common bone tumors. Although most are straightforward lesions, one may occasionally encounter one of a number of well-recognized complications. In the current case, secondary malignant transformation and bursal sac formation were present. Additionally, numerous malignant chondroid nodules were shed into the attached bursa, giving rise to a large soft tissue mass, a situation which we feel is both remarkable and, to our knowledge, unique.

Aged↗

Unexplained persistent lymphadenopathy in homosexual men and the acquired immune deficiency syndrome.

Ninety-three homosexual men with persistent lymphadenopathy were followed at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center for a mean period of 20.8 months. Histories and serologic evidence of a number of previous infections were common, but the lymphadenopathy was not due to recognizable infections or neoplastic disease. Leukopenia, lymphopenia, granulocytopenia, monocytopenia, decreased ratios of T-helper to T-suppressor cells, decreased natural killer cell activity and increased serum immunoglobulin concentrations were common. Lymph node biopsies showed reactive hyperplasia without any unique histopathologic features. Antibody to the human T-lymphotropic virus-III (HTLV-III or LAV), a newly described retrovirus believed to be the etiologic agent of the acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS), was detected in 91.4%. Over a 3-year period, 11 cases of AIDS were recognized in these patients: Kaposi's sarcoma developed in 7 and opportunistic infections in 4. The lymphadenopathy resolved in six patients and the others remained unchanged. Although most of these patients are asymptomatic and remain well, the risk of AIDS in this group of men was higher than in other groups of homosexual men in New York.

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome↗

Malabsorption and mucosal abnormalities of the small intestine in the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome.

Diarrhea and weight loss may accompany the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome. We studied 30 patients with the syndrome, 20 of whom had diarrhea and weight loss and 10 of whom did not. Patients with identifiable enteric infections or small intestinal Kaposi's sarcoma were excluded. Malabsorption was common in the patients with diarrhea and weight loss, as shown by abnormal D-xylose and 14C-glycerol-tripalmitin absorption tests. In these patients, duodenal biopsy specimens showed a histiocytic infiltrate containing numerous acid-fast organisms in 5 and a mild-moderate chronic inflammation in 13. In asymptomatic patients, duodenal biopsy specimens were normal in 6 and showed chronic inflammation in 4. These results suggest that malabsorption is common in patients with the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome with chronic diarrhea and may contribute to their weight loss.

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome↗

Treatment of epidermoid carcinoma of the anal canal.

Epidermoid carcinoma of the anal canal should be differentiated from that of the anal margin because of the different clinical presentations, pathologic characteristics, treatments and prognosis. The traditional treatment for carcinoma of the canal, abdominoperineal resection, produced a 55 per cent absolute five year survival rate but at the expense of permanent colostomy. Initial treatment with 5-fluorouracil and mitomycin C combined with external beam radiation therapy reduced the size of the tumor in 72 per cent of the patients and, with subsequent local excision or abdominoperineal resection, resulted in a 78 per cent survival rate in five years. The long term results from combined treatment are better than abdominoperineal resection alone with preservation of anal function in 45 per cent of the patients.

Adult↗

Kaposi's sarcoma. Gastrointestinal involvement correlation with skin findings and immunologic function.

We have evaluated 19 homosexual/bisexual male patients with biopsy-proven Kaposi's sarcoma (KS) of the skin in order to define the extent of gastrointestinal involvement and determine its correlation with oral mucosal disease, skin findings, and immunologic function. Nearly half the patients had oral mucosal lesions. In patients with oral mucosal lesions, 75% had gastrointestinal lesions. Some gastrointestinal involvement during the period of observation was present in 10 of the 19 patients. Involvement of the upper gastrointestinal tract was more common than colonic involvement: esophagus 1, stomach 8, duodenum 3, and colon 6. Significant immunosuppression was observed in these patients, measured in vitro by natural killer (NK) assay, and lymphocyte proliferation response to mitogens.

Adult↗

Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia: a comparison between patients with the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome and patients with other immunodeficiencies.

Clinical features of 49 episodes of Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia in patients with the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome were compared with those of 39 episodes in patients with other immunosuppressive diseases. At presentation patients with the syndrome were found to have a longer median duration of symptoms (28 days versus 5 days, p = 0.0001), lower mean respiratory rate (23.4 versus 30, p = 0.005), and higher median room air arterial oxygen tension (69 mm Hg versus 52 mm Hg, p = 0.0002). The survival rate from 1979 to 1983 was similar for the two groups (57% and 50% respectively). Patients with the syndrome had a higher incidence of adverse reactions to trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (22 of 34 versus 2 of 17, p = 0.0007). Survivors with the syndrome at initial presentation had a significantly lower respiratory rate, and higher room air arterial oxygen tension, lymphocyte count, and serum albumin level compared to nonsurvivors. Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia presents as a more insidious disease process in patients with the syndrome, and drug therapy in these patients is complicated by frequent adverse reactions.

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome↗

A model for human colon carcinoma evolution based on the differential response of cultured preneoplastic, premalignant, and malignant cells to 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate.

Small colonic adenocarcinomas can be found in focal areas within benign tumors (adenomas), strongly suggesting an adenoma-to-carcinoma sequence. The induction of plasminogen activator (PA) secretion by the tumor promoter 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA) has been used to order histologically distinct classes of human colonic adenomas in primary culture into a sequence from the most benign to the most advanced premalignant state. This ordering is based on the observation that each of five carcinomas examined in an earlier study by E. A. Friedman (Cancer Res., 41: 4588-4599, 1981) and each of seven carcinomas tested in this study released PA in response to TPA, inducing easily scored morphological alterations. Benign tumors either resembled carcinomas in their response to TPA or exhibited no morphological changes. The most benign adenomas by histopathology criteria were the small pure tubular adenomas without dysplasia. Six of seven of these adenomas did not secrete PA in response to TPA. We concluded that malignant cells had acquired the ability to respond to TPA by PA secretion, while tubular adenoma cells were not an advanced enough preneoplastic stage to so respond. TPA treatment of two cultured villous adenomas, one with infiltrating carcinoma and one with focus of moderately dysplastic cells, in the presence of low serum to decrease the plasmin concentration, demonstrated that only a subpopulation of cells secreted PA. Local areas of the monolayer were morphologically altered by the protease, forming clusters of cells loosely attached to the dish. The presence of such subpopulations within cultured adenomas was demonstrated by screening an additional five villous adenomas, 15 villotubular adenomas, and 11 tubular adenomas. The presence of dysplastic cells in 23 of 24 cases correlated with PA secretion. A subpopulation of villous cells, in the absence of dysplastic cells in each of three cases, also secreted PA. We conclude that, during tumor evolution, this villous subpopulation is the first preneoplastic cell type to acquire responsiveness to TPA by PA secretion. This property is maintained as the cells further evolve through premalignant dysplastic stages to carcinoma.

Adenoma↗

Cis-diamminedichloroplatinum(II) nephrotoxicity and its relationship to renal gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase and glutathione.

To investigate the mechanism of cis-diamminedichloroplatinum(II) (cisplatin) nephrotoxicity, male Sprague-Dawley rats were given one injection of cisplatin (6 mg/kg i.v.). Urinary levels of amino acids and gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase were monitored for 8 days; kidney homogenate content of gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase was followed for 50 hr, and that of selenium-dependent glutathione peroxidase and total glutathione was followed for 4 hr. Peak urinary levels of amino acids and gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase occurred 4.5 hr after the i.v. dose. Glutamine, glycine, and ethanolamine were all elevated greater than 20 times that of the control at 4.5 hr and were still significantly elevated at 50 hr. Total renal glutathione content increased 51 +/- 17% (S.D.) of control values 20 min after cisplatin was given, before returning to base-line levels. No depletion of either renal glutathione or glutathione peroxidase was detected over the time interval studied. These results demonstrate an earlier physiological impairment than has hitherto been shown. Furthermore, depletion of glutathione and glutathione peroxidase does not occur in the rat kidney following therapeutic doses of cisplatin, in contrast to the changes observed in cardiac tissue following doxorubicin treatment.

Acyltransferases↗

Disseminated Mycobacterium avium-intracellulare infection in acquired immunodeficiency syndrome mimicking Whipple's disease.

We report a patient with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome whose clinical presentation and histologic features resembled Whipple's disease. The unique feature of this case was the absence of Whipple's bacillus and the presence of Mycobacterium avium-intracellulare within macrophages infiltrating the small intestinal lamina propria.

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome↗

Outbreak of Kaposi's sarcoma with cytomegalovirus infection in young homosexual men.

Kaposi's sarcoma, a multicentric malignant neoplasm, occurs in certain geographic areas in the world. It is most common in Equatorial Africa and Eastern Europe. The annual incidence of Kaposi's sarcoma in the United States is between 0.021 and 0.061 per 100,000 persons. The appearance of an outbreak of Kaposi's sarcoma in young homosexual men in New York and California is a new and unique phenomenon. Certain differences are already recognized between the disease in these young men and the ordinary Kaposi's sarcoma. Herein we report our observations of the first 10 cases of Kaposi's sarcoma in young homosexual men. In these patients, the disease follows an aggressive clinical course characterized by widespread skin lesions with early involvement of the lymph nodes. In some of these patients, the result was death in a short period of time after initial diagnosis. In addition, cytomegalovirus infections were seen in these patients, which suggests at least a possible association between this viral and the disease.

Adult↗