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Biomedical subjects

J Lachter

Publications and source records attributed to J Lachter.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1994

Radiation therapy in epidemic, AIDS-related Kaposi's sarcoma in southern Africa.

AIMS AND BACKGROUND: Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) associated Kaposi's Sarcoma (EKS) is widely spread in the Southern African Region. No large studies concerning the role of radiation therapy in the Southern African variant of EKS have been reported to date. METHODS: Over a 10 year period (1982-1992) 25 patients with EKS (disseminated skin involvement) were treated primarily with radiation therapy at the Johannesburg General Hospital. Radiation fields were individually tailored to the extent of the disease. Total administered doses ranged between 8-12 Gy (single fraction) to 24-30 Gy fractionated over 2-3 weeks. RESULTS: Overall response and symptomatic relief rates were 72% and 80%, respectively. Toxicity was mild and manageable. CONCLUSIONS: Our retrospective analysis supports the use of radiation therapy for the Southern African type of EKS.

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome↗
PubMed1994

Intracardiac mass as the initial manifestation of metastatic germ cell tumor.

Cardiac metastases as initial presentation of disseminated germ cell tumors have rarely been reported. The hematogenous route is believed to be the most common pattern of dissemination by germ cell tumour, mainly to the lung, central nervous system and liver. We report a 33-year-old patient with embryonal cell carcinoma who presented with an intraatrial metastatic mass as the initial manifestation of metastatic disease.

Adult↗
PubMed1993

Second primary cancer in irradiated stage I testicular seminoma.

The incidence of second primary cancer (SPC) was determined in 64 irradiated stage I testicular seminoma patients, treated and followed at the Northern Israel Oncology Center from 1968 to 1988. Seven (11%) patients developed a total of eight second cancers. The cumulative risk for developing second primary cancer at ten, 15 and 20 years following the diagnosis of seminoma was 2.5%, 5.1% and 8.9%, respectively. Two patients developed SPC within the radiation field (urinary bladder, sigmoid colon) and four patients outside the radiation field (bronchogenic cancer, thymoma, malignant melanoma, thyroid cancer). In two patients, who developed lung cancer and testicular seminoma, respectively, scatter dose from the main radiation field could not be excluded as one of the factors contributing to the SPC. Three patients died as a direct result of their SPC. It is concluded that there is a low, but significant risk of solid SPC among patients apparently cured of early stage seminoma. It will be important in future surveillance studies of stage I seminoma to assess the risk of SPC in the non-irradiated patients.

Actuarial Analysis↗
PubMed1992

Second cancer in patients treated for testicular seminoma.

The exact risk of developing a second primary cancer following radiotherapy for testicular seminoma is not known. At the Northern Israel Oncology Center, between the years 1968-1988, 75 patients with early stage (I,IIA) testicular seminoma were treated by orchiectomy followed by radiation therapy. The overall 10- and 20-year survival probability was 95% and 90%, respectively. Eight patients (11%) developed nine second cancers, with a cumulative rate of one case per 1,000 years of follow-up. The second primary cancers were: two bronchogenic carcinomas, one contralateral seminoma, one thymoma, one papillary carcinoma of the thyroid, one carcinoma of the stomach, one transitional cell carcinoma of the urinary bladder, one carcinoma of the colon, and one malignant melanoma. Three of these tumors developed within the irradiated field. Five of these eight patients are alive with no evidence of recurrent cancer. We conclude that patients treated for seminoma have an increased risk of developing a second cancer. There is a need for greater awareness of this possibility. The overall prognosis remains favorable.

Combined Modality Therapy↗
PubMed1991

Thyroid cancer and multiple primary malignancies in Israel.

The exact risk of multiple primary neoplasms in patients with thyroid cancer is difficult to ascertain from the data available in the literature. Three thousand seventy-two patients with thyroid cancer, listed in the Israel Cancer Registry during a 16-year time span, were studied to determine the true incidence of another primary cancer. Ninety-two cases were reported as having an additional primary cancer. The prevalence of multiple primary malignancies was 3%. The frequency was higher among patients of European rather than of Asian or African origin. The second primary cancers in order of decreasing frequency were of the breast, lung, colorectum, head and neck, and lymphoma/myeloma. Most of the deaths were due to the additional cancer. The 5-year survival rate was highest for head and neck and lowest for lung cancer patients. These results emphasize the need for greater awareness of the possibility of developing additional cancers, and indicate the need to incorporate strategies for the prevention, early detection, and treatment of multiple primary neoplasms.

Breast Neoplasms↗
PubMed1991

Integration of form across saccadic eye movements.

To perceive a stable world, one must somehow be able to relate visual information from successive fixations. Little is known, however, about the nature of the integrative process. By using a task which requires the integration of spatial position information from different fixations, it is demonstrated that visual information from previous fixations is preserved in a world-centered representation which is precise enough to support judgements of geometric shape. It is also shown that successive views are aligned with respect to common visual features, indicating that visual stability may be normally accomplished by a visual matching strategy in combination with cancellation by an eye-position signal.

Attention↗
PubMed1991

Fine-needle aspiration cytology of abdominal wall scar lesions for diagnosing recurrent colorectal cancer.

Nodules in the abdominal wall scar after resection of colorectal cancer may represent nonmalignant or malignant lesions. We report clinical and fine-needle aspiration (FNA) cytologic findings in five patients with nodules suspected of being malignant. All patients had had adenocarcinoma, four of the colon and one of the rectum. Postoperative abdominal wall irradiation had been administered to three patients. The median time from surgical removal of the cancer to FNA of scar nodules was 27 months. Three patients had malignant and two patients had nonmalignant FNA cytology, histologically confirmed at surgical biopsy of scar nodules. The malignant histologic cell type demonstrated by FNA cytology of the scar lesions was identical to that exhibited by histology. The survival of patients with positive cytology and histology ranged between 9 and 43 months; survival of patients with negative cytology and histology was between 53 and 138 months. We conclude that FNA cytology is a simple, sensitive, and specific procedure to evaluate patients with scar nodules appearing after resection of colorectal cancer. This procedure may safely replace surgical biopsy in the initial evaluation of scar nodules.

Abdominal Muscles↗
PubMed1988

Colon cancer bearing rats produce a lymphokine which induces macrophage migration inhibition (MIF) in vitro.

We studied a series of 40 rats at various stages of colorectal carcinoma, as induced by N-methyl-N-nitro-Nitrosoguanidine. Lymphokine containing supernatants were obtained simultaneously from splenic and peripheral lymphocytes, after exposure to rat colon cancer antigen in vitro. The lymphokine was found capable of performing Macrophage Migration Inhibition (MIF) when obtained from rats with: carcinoma through serosa, carcinoma of submucosa, carcinoma of the mucosa and carcinoma in situ. All control rats were free of cancer and were MIF negative. The MIF response in this study was evaluated as a marker of chemically induced colorectal carcinoma in rats in order to better understand the lymphocyte response to tumor progression from atypia to adenocarcinoma of the colon.

Adenocarcinoma↗
PubMed1987

The macrophage migration inhibition (MIF) assay as a marker of colorectal cancer. Studies in patients with colorectal cancer, noncolonic neoplasms, and conditions predisposing to colorectal cancer.

A specific macrophage migration inhibition assay, using patient lymphocytes incubated with a human colonic cancer extract, was studied in 92 patients with proven colorectal cancer and in 134 other individuals (20 normal controls, 80 patients with various nonmalignant gastrointestinal diseases, and 34 patients with extracolonic malignancies). A positive response was obtained in 78 of 92 colorectal cancer patients, but in none of the 20 normal controls. A positive response occurred in four of 34 patients with extracolonic malignancies and in approximately half of patients with colonic adenomas and in one third of patients with ulcerative colitis. The significance of positive results in these patients (with diseases considered premalignant) is unclear, and is being studied further. In patients with previous resection of colorectal cancers, positive responses were frequent during the first year following resection, and rare thereafter. The results suggest that this method may be useful as a clinical marker for colorectal cancer, and warrants further technical refinement and study of specific patient populations.

Antigens, Neoplasm↗
PubMed1987

Comparison of two lymphokines (macrophage migration inhibition, leukocyte adherence inhibition factors) and carcinoembryonic antigen, in colorectal cancer and colonic premalignant lesions.

Previous studies in our laboratory on 92 patients with colonic cancer have suggested a promising degree of specificity and sensitivity for a macrophage migration inhibition factor (MIF) test using patient's lymphocytes incubated with a human colon cancer extract. This study compares the results of the MIF technique with serum carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) levels and with the lymphocyte adherence inhibition (LAI) test in 18 colon cancer patients and 27 patients with conditions considered to predispose to colon cancer (colonic adenomas, ulcerative colitis, and Crohn's disease). Among colonic cancer patients, MIF and LAI were positive in 17 out of 18, but CEA was elevated in eight. MIF and CEA were negative in all 16 normal control subjects; LAI was negative in 13. Among patients with colonic adenomas, MIF and LAI were positive in three of five; CEA was negative in all. In the ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease group, MIF was positive in seven of 22, LAI was positive in 11, and CEA was negative in all 22. Thus, MIF and LAI appear to be sensitive marker's for human colonic cancer. More extensive studies and precise characterization of these groups are warranted.

Carcinoembryonic Antigen↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Topical pharyngeal anesthesia for easing endoscopy: a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled study.

The aim of this work was to compare the efficacy of the Cetacaine topical anesthetic spray preparation to placebo. Cetacaine and placebo, from coded but otherwise identically packaged and scented sprays, were administered to 150 consecutive patients. After endoscopy, patients and physicians completed questionnaires evaluating the difficulty of the endoscopy. No statistically significant differences were found between the full formula and placebo-treated patient responses to the amount of cough or gag, or the degree of difficulty of intubation of the endoscope. Analysis of physician responses showed that in the subgroup of patients being endoscoped for the first time, the gastroscope was introduced more easily (p less than 0.05) when the premedication had been full formula rather than placebo.

4-Aminobenzoic Acid↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Neutropenic colitis predominantly involving the transverse colon: CT aspect of an unusual presentation.

A 62-year-old woman developed fulminant neuteopenic colitis following aggressive chemotherapy for limited-stage small cell lung cancer. An urgently performed computerized tomographic [CT] study demonstrated the predominant involvement of the transverse colon. We present a brief description of the CT features of neutropenic colitis in this unusual presentation.

Antineoplastic Agents↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Carcinoma of Papilla Vateri presenting as recurrent acute pancreatitis.

Tumors of the Papilla of Vater can cause several clinical symptoms, the most prominent being jaundice, weight loss, anorexia, fever, abdominal pain and itching (1). Acute pancreatitis as a presenting symptom of ampullary carcinoma is rare. Few previous cases have been described in the literature (2,3). The prognosis of patients with jaundice is unfavorable in comparison with non icteric patients at the time of diagnosis (4) due to different staging, hence more complications, but not due to different histology. We report here a case of recurrent pancreatitis that was the only presentation of Vater ampullary carcinoma diagnosed by endoscopic ultrasound followed by duodenoscopy with guided biopsy. Recurrent pancreatitis without identifiable cause, particularly in elderly patients, could suggest tumor of the head of pancreas or the periampullary region among other causes such as intraductal papillary mucinous tumor, microlithiasis etc. An endoscopic ultrasound can allow earlier diagnosis and mandates biopsy in these cases.

Acute Disease↗