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Biomedical subjects

J C Yang

Publications and source records attributed to J C Yang.

240 records · Page 14Linked to original sources
PubMedDate not supplied

Treatment of 283 consecutive patients with metastatic melanoma or renal cell cancer using high-dose bolus interleukin 2.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the efficacy of treatment using high-dose bolus interleukin 2 (IL-2) in patients with metastatic melanoma or renal cell cancer. DESIGN AND SETTING: Consecutive series of all patients treated with high-dose IL-2 in the Surgery Branch of the National Cancer Institute from September 1985 through December 1992. PATIENTS: Two hundred eighty-three patients with metastatic melanoma or metastatic renal cell cancer who had failed standard treatment for their cancers. INTERVENTIONS: Patients received IL-2 at a dose of 720,000 IU/kg intravenously every 8 hours for a maximum of 15 doses per cycle. Two cycles constituted a treatment course, and patients with stable or responding disease received additional treatment courses. A total of 447 courses of treatment were administered. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Regression of measurable tumor, durability of response to treatment, and survival. RESULTS: Nine patients (7%) with metastatic melanoma achieved complete regression of all disease and 14 patients (10%) had partial regression. Ten patients (7%) with metastatic renal cell cancer experienced complete regression and 20 patients (13%) had partial regression. Of the 19 patients with complete regression, 15 have remained in complete remission from 7 to 91 months after treatment. Three treatment-related deaths (1.1%) occurred early in this series, but as experience with the administration of this IL-2 regimen increased, no treatment-related deaths occurred in 214 patients treated during the last 5 years of the study. CONCLUSION: Biologic therapy with IL-2 can cause significant antitumor effects in patients with advanced metastatic melanoma or renal cell cancer. Because IL-2 does not have a direct effect on cancer cells but rather mediates its antitumor activity by altering host immune reactions, these data represent the best available evidence that immunologic therapy for cancer can be effective in selected patients.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Effective reduction of Helicobacter pylori infection after upper gastrointestinal endoscopy by mechanical washing of the endoscope.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: To investigate the frequency of endoscopic transmission of Helicobacter pylori and the efficiency of disinfection in different washing methods of endoscopes. MATERIALS AND METHODS: IgG antibodies to H. pylori in patients prospectively followed who underwent first endoscopic examination at the National Taiwan University Hospital from 1982 to 1993 were measured. A total of 132 subjects who were negative for H. pylori IgG antibody test before examination and who were with negative endoscopic findings were enrolled. Among the 132 seronegative patients, 60 were examined before June 1989 when manual washing was adopted for endoscope cleaning and 72 received examination after mechanical washing were routinely used in our endoscopy unit. RESULTS: During a follow-up period of 6 months or more, 5 patients in the manual washing group sero-converted while none in the mechanical washing group seroconverted (5/60 vs 0/72. p = 0.02). CONCLUSION: The results suggested that the risk of endoscopic transmission of H. pylori is substantial and mechanical washing is efficient in preventing this iatrogenic spread.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Helicobacter pylori infection and duodenal ulcer in children and adolescents.

To investigate the relationship between H. pylori infection and duodenal ulcer in children and adolescents, the markers of H. pylori infection were studied in 22 children and adolescents who had duodenal ulcers and were followed prospectively (Group A). Another 36 patients with gastrointestinal symptoms, but without ulcer, were also studied for comparison (Group B). Antral and duodenal tissues were biopsied and analyzed for the presence of H. pylori using three standard methods: urease test, culture and histology. The specific IgG antibody against H. pylori positivity using the ELISA method were also analysed. By these three methods, H. pylori positivity in the antral tissues, chronic active antral gastritis, and seroprevalence rate were found to be much higher in Group A than Group B. However, a similar trend was not found in the duodenal tissues. H. pylori was found in four of five patients during postoperative follow-up for duodenal ulcer. Among the four patients, no duodenal ulcer but chronic active gastritis was detected endoscopically in three who received vagotomy. Only the one who received simple closure of the perforated duodenal ulcer had a recurrent duodenal ulcer. It was concluded that a close relationship among duodenal ulcer, chronic active gastritis and H. pylori is present in children and adolescents.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Correlates of response to IL-2 therapy in patients treated for metastatic renal cancer and melanoma.

PURPOSE: We evaluated the characteristics of patients with metastatic renal cancer or metastatic melanoma prior to and during treatment with bolus intravenous interleukin-2 to define prognostic indicators of subsequent response to therapy. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A consecutive series of 509 patients with progressive metastatic cancer were treated with intravenous interleukin-2 from September 1985 to July 1993. Pretreatment demographic characteristics, treatment history, results of laboratory tests, and metastatic sites of disease were evaluated. The amount of interleukin-2 administered, toxicity, and changes in laboratory test results were recorded for the first course of therapy. Subsequent objective response to therapy and survival were determined and used to evaluate pretreatment and treatment characteristics that acted as prognostic indicators of response. RESULTS: At the end of the study, 22.6% of patients with renal cancer and 16.3% of patients with melanoma experienced an objective response to interleukin-2 therapy. Patients with renal cancer responded more frequently if they had not previously failed other immunotherapies. Also, renal cancer patients who achieved an objective response had a more profound thrombocytopenia during the first cycle of therapy. Patients with melanoma responded more frequently to interleukin-2 therapy when metastases were confined to subcutaneous tissue. In addition, responding patients with melanoma received more interleukin-2 in their first course and exhibited a more profound lymphocytosis 7 to 11 days after initiating therapy than did nonresponders. CONCLUSIONS: Renal cancer and melanoma displayed separate prognostic indicators with respect to response from interleukin-2 therapy. Although significant correlates to response were identified, there was much variability and a reliable predictive model of response to therapy could not be formulated based on these results.

Dose-Response Relationship, Drug↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Patterns of relapse and response to retreatment in patients with metastatic melanoma or renal cell carcinoma who responded to interleukin-2-based immunotherapy.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to examine the pattern of relapse and the treatment of relapse with either surgery or repeat immunotherapy in patients with metastatic melanoma or renal cell carcinoma who had previously responded to interleukin-2-based therapy. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Over a 10-year period 1051 patients with metastatic melanoma or renal cell carcinoma were treated with interleukin-2-based immunotherapy at a single institution. One hundred fifty-nine patients who relapsed after an initial partial response or complete response to interleukin-2-based immunotherapy formed the study population for this retrospective review. Medical records, physical examination forms, and relevant radiographs were reviewed to determine response, relapse site(s), and response to treatment for relapse. RESULTS: Relapse after an initial response to interleukin-2-based therapy occurred in 84 (80%) of 105 patients with metastatic melanoma and in 75 (70%) of 107 patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma. Relapse after an initial partial response involved 71 (97%) of 73 patients with metastatic melanoma and 55 (86%) of 64 patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma. The initial site(s) of relapse after a partial response involved a new site(s), old site(s), or both old and new sites with relatively even distribution. Relapse after an initial complete response occurred in 13 (41%) of 32 patients with metastatic melanoma and in 20 (47%) of 43 completely responding patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma. Surprisingly, the initial site of relapse after a complete response involved only new sites of disease in 70% of patients. Retreatment of relapses with the same interleukin-2-based therapy originally used was effective in only one (2%) of 54 selected patients, but a different interleukin-2-based therapy in 35 patients resulted in five responders (a 14% secondary response rate). Most re-responders, however, responded to treatment with tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes and interleukin-2, and only one of 20 patients responded to retreatment with interleukin-2 alone. Surgical metastasectomy with therapeutic intent in 25 selected melanoma patients and in 31 selected renal cell cancer patients resulted in a 2-year progression-free survival of 18% in patients with metastatic melanoma and 37% in patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma. DISCUSSION: In patients with metastatic melanoma or renal cell carcinoma, tumor relapse was common after a partial response to an interleukin-2-based therapy and included previously identified sites of disease in most patients. Relapse after a complete response was less frequent and involved only new sites in a majority of patients. In selected patients who relapsed, repeat treatment with the same interleukin-2-based therapy that provided the initial response was rarely effective. However, with a different interleukin-2-based therapy, usually using tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes, repeat treatment induced secondary responses in some patients. In addition, salvage metastasectomy resulted in durable progression-free survival in selected patients.

Carcinoma, Renal Cell↗