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J G Connolly

Publications and source records attributed to J G Connolly.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

Comparison of growth of human bladder cancer in tissue culture or as xenografts with clinical and pathological characteristics.

Seventy-four biopsies of human bladder carcinoma were assessed by implantation as xenografts in immune-deprived mice and/or by culture of cell suspensions in agar or methylcellulose. The quality of the cell suspensions was assessed immediately after plating in vitro. The results were compared with the pathological stage and grade of the biopsies and with the clinical course of the disease in patients from whom the biopsies were obtained. We found that (a) progressively growing xenografts were generated from 20 of 53 biopsies (38%). These xenografts grew with mean volume doubling times in the range of 1 to 3 weeks; all of them examined histologically were consistent with transitional cell carcinoma. (b) Colony formation occurred from 21 of 49 cell suspensions (43%), and plating efficiency was in the range of 0.0004 to 1.7%. The majority of cell suspensions were found to have residual small clusters of cells. Colony formation sometimes originated from these clusters, an effect that would be expected to introduce artifacts when the in vivo cloning assay is used for chemosensitivity testing. (c) There was no evident correlation between expression of clonal growth in vitro and success of xenografting, and no correlation between the results of either of these experimental procedures with stage, grade, or clinical course of the disease. Further improvements in tissue culture and xenograft technology will be required before these methods can be used as a guide to patient management.

Animals↗

Nonrandom chromosomal changes in transitional cell carcinoma of the bladder.

Nine cases of transitional cell carcinoma (eight from the urinary bladder and one from the ureter; six noninvasive and three invasive) were subjected to detailed cytogenetic analysis with a G-banding method. The synchronization of primary cultures with methotrexate for high-resolution banding was performed in five cases. In the remaining four cases, the chromosomes were obtained from short-term cultures after prolonged (16 hr) exposure to Colcemid. Two cases were near-tetraploid, one was hypotriploid, and six were near-diploid (three hyperdiploid and three hypodiploid). All but one case showed various structural abnormalities in the karyotype. The chromosomal changes ranged from the presence of only two abnormal chromosomes (markers) to complex karyotypes with as many as 15 markers. In most tumors, the origin of the marker chromosomes could be readily deciphered. The nonrandom chromosomal aberrations included: (a) an isochrosome of the short arm of chromosome 5 (three cases); (b) monosomy of chromosome 9 found in four cases (this was the sole abnormality in one case); (c) involvement of chromosome 8 as an isochromosome of the long arm (two cases) or loss of the short arm due to deletion (one case) or translocation (one case); and (d) interstitial deletion of chromosome 13 (three cases). Our results indicate that the formation of i(5p) and monosomy 9 may be the primary karyotypic changes in two subgroups of transitional cell carcinoma. Involvement of chromosomes 8 and 13, on the other hand, seems to be a result of secondary karyotypic evolution. Two invasive tumors showed the presence of secondary clones, with additional structural chromosome aberrations superimposed on those already existing in the main cell population. In both cases, the additional aberrations involved the short arm of chromosome 11, resulting in loss of genetic material from the short arm. The short arm of chromosome 11, is the putative site of an oncogene which has been isolated from human bladder carcinoma cell lines. Deletion of the 11p was also seen in one case of noninvasive transitional cell carcinoma localized in the ureter; the material from 11p was probably translocated to chromosome 13. These findings suggest that the loss of genetic material from the short arm of chromosome 11 is a secondary event in the karyotypic evolution of transitional cell carcinoma, probably related to the invasive behavior of the tumor.

Aged↗

Concentration and cellular distribution of androgen receptor in human prostatic neoplasia: can estrogen treatment increase androgen receptor content?

The concentration of androgen receptor in cytosol (free and total sites) and nuclear fractions from benign (28 specimens) and malignant prostatic tissue from treated (16 specimens) and untreated patients (10 specimens) were assayed using [3H]methyltrienolone (3H R-1881) as ligand under conditions which stabilize AR and prevent binding of 3H R-1881 to progesterone receptor. It was found that optimum results were obtained when sodium molybdate (10 mM) was added after separation of the nuclear pellet rather than during tissue homogenization; when cytosol and nuclear exchange assays were carried out at 15 degrees C rather than at 0 degrees C; and when hydroxylapatite was used to separate free and bound steroid in the nuclear assay. Although AR values were variable in both BPH and carcinoma tissue, certain patterns of concentration, occupancy, and cellular distribution were observed in different patient groups. In BPH and untreated carcinoma tissue, the mean occupancy of cytosol AR by endogenous androgens was high, but the mean nuclear AR concentration was higher in BPH than in carcinoma tissue. Androgen receptor concentrations in tissue from orchiectomized patients were consistent with the effects of androgen deprivation: total cell AR was depleted, and a higher proportion was present as free cytosol AR. However, in tissue from most patients who had been treated with diethylstilbestrol (DES) on a long-term basis, total cell AR values were high. Although most of the AR was present as free cytosol AR, in three of four patients who had been treated with both orchiectomy and DES, the concentrations of bound cytosol AR and nuclear AR were similar to those in untreated patients.

Castration↗

The effect of therapy on the concentration and occupancy of androgen receptors in human prostatic cytosol.

With a protamine sulphate precipitation method, total and free cytosol AR was assayed in BPH and prostatic carcinoma tissue, in order to investigate possible differences in AR concentration that might relate to the histo-pathology of the tissue or to endocrine manipulation of the patients. Similar ranges of total cytosol AR concentrations were observed in BPH and untreated prostatic carcinoma, but the latter tended to have a higher proportion of apparently free sites. Moreover, the proportion of "free" sites in the untreated carcinoma tissue appeared to be related to the proportion of poorly differentiated carcinoma in the specimen. In patients whose endogenous androgen levels had been lowered by treatment, the proportion of free sites tended to be higher, but a considerable proportion of sites appeared to be still occupied. Carcinoma tissue from some estrogen-treated patients had high cytosol AR concentrations. It is suggested that, in some treated patients, androgens of adrenal origin may occupy some AR sites and that some carcinomas may contain a considerable concentration of nonfunctional AR.

Castration↗

Bladder brush.

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Biopsy↗