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Biomedical subjects

E B Cox

Publications and source records attributed to E B Cox.

6 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1979

Treatment of metastatic endocrine-unresponsive carcinoma of the prostate gland with multiagent chemotherapy: indicators of response to therapy.

Eighty-eight patients with metastatic and hormonally unresponsive carcinoma of the prostate gland were treated with a multiagent chemotherapy protocol. Because of the difficulty in evaluating the response of patients to therapy, data were collected in a prospective fashion and analyzed for clinical or laboratory changes that correlated with improved survivorship. Decrease of initially abnormal values of either acid or alkaline phosphotase into the normal range was associated with prolonged survival; weight gain of more than 10% was also associated with improved survival. Thirty-three patients demonstrated a fall of acid or alkaline phosphatase into the normal range or they increased their weight by at least 10%. The median survival time for this group of patients was 76.1 weeks as compared to 28.2 weeks for patients who failed to exhibit these changes. In future studies of the treatment of metastatic prostate cancer, these changes might be used as criteria of response to therapy.

Acid Phosphatase↗
PubMed1978

Provocative agents and the diagnosis of medullary carcinoma of the thyroid gland.

Twenty-six patients with known or suspected medullary thyroid carcinoma (MTC) and 21 normal control subjects were tested intravenously on four separate days with calcium gluconate (CG), 2 mg Ca(++)/kg/1 min.; pentagastrin (P), 0.5 ug/kg/ 5 sec.; calcium chloride (CC), 3 mg Ca(++)/kg/10 min.; and a combination of calcium gluconate and pentagastrin (CG + P). Calcitonin (CT) levels were determined by radioimmunoassay on plasma collected before and immediately following each test infusion. In none of the 21 control subjects was there a clear increase in CT above 200 pg/ml following any of the four provocative tests. Conversely, in all 26 patients with known or suspected MTC, plasma CT levels were markedly increased (>300 pg/ml) following the combined infusion of CG + P. The peak CT response was greater with CG + P than with a) CG alone (22 of 24 patients, p < 0.002), b) P alone (25 of 26 patients, p < 0.002), or c) CC alone (17 of 17 patients, p < 0.002). Of 12 MTC patients with undetectable basal calcitonin levels, all had peak responses greater than 300 pg/ml following CG + P, whereas such responses occurred less often following CG alone (8 of 12) or P alone (8 of 12). The results demonstrate that the combined administration of pentagastrin and calcium gluconate constitutes a more effective and reliable stimulus for CT secretion from MTC cells than the use of either agent alone, and appears the most useful single screening test for the detection of occult MTC.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1976

A kinetic model for the sodium conductance system in squid axon.

We describe a kinetic reaction sequence for the sodium conductance system in the squid axon. It closely matches the original Hodgkin and Huxley model for voltage clamp experiments but it generates an action potential without a bump on the falling phase. When calcium ions are included in the reaction, this model faithfully reproduces the experimental observations of Frankenhaeuser and Hodgkin on the effects of altered calcium in the medium. The fit to experiment is much better than when a voltage shift in rate constants is assumed. The gating currents recently observed by Armstrong and Bezanilla are not compatible with the Hodgkin and Huxley model but can be reprocuced in considerable detail by the kinetic model. Thus it appears that the kinetic model differs from that of Hodgkin and Huxley perhaps in an important and fundamental way that makes it more realistic.

Animals↗