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Biomedical subjects

P Lavin

Publications and source records attributed to P Lavin.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources
PubMed1983

Contrasting effects of cyclophosphamide and prednisolone on the phenotype of human peripheral blood leukocytes.

The cell surface phenotype of human peripheral blood mononuclear cells has been characterized before and after intravenous injection of cyclophosphamide or prednisolone. Low doses of cyclophosphamide (100-600 mg/m2) temporarily decrease levels of circulating B lymphocytes. Slightly higher doses of cyclophosphamide (200-600 mg/m2) produce transient depression of T8-, M1-, and Ia-positive cells. After doses of 200-400 mg cyclophosphamide/m2, T4-positive cells are spared, resulting in a transient elevation of the T4/T8 ratio. With higher doses of cyclophosphamide (greater than or equal to 600 mg/m2), all T cells are affected and the T4/T8 ratio declines to pretreatment levels. By contrast, intravenous injection of prednisolone at 40 mg/m2 reduces the T4/T8 ratio. Levels of both T4 and T8 cells decline, but T4 cells are affected more markedly than T8 cells.

Adult↗
PubMed1983

Routine clinical chemistries as improved determinates of prognosis for patients with metastatic cancer of the stomach.

Pretreatment total serum protein of less than 6 g%, serum glumatic oxaloacetic transaminase (SGOT) greater than 40 mU/ml or a total serum bilirubin greater than 0.6 mg% predicted a bad prognosis for patients with metastatic gastric cancer. If two of these objective laboratory tests predicted a good prognosis, partially nonambulatory patients lived an additional 20 weeks (median survival 27.9 vs 8.7, p less than 0.001) and patients with no clinically recognized liver metastases lived an additional 22 weeks (median survival 34.2 vs. 12.4, p less than 0.001). Patients with liver metastases lived an additional 11 weeks (median survival 20.9 vs. 9.6, p less than 0.001). These objective laboratory tests improve the assessment of patients in clinical trials. The model corrected a false assessment of a poor prognosis for 38% of all patients and 64% of patients with liver metastases.

Antineoplastic Agents↗
PubMed1983

Cerebrospinal fluid trace element content in dementia: clinical, radiologic, and pathologic correlations.

Using inductively coupled argon plasma emission spectroscopy, we measured 19 trace elements in cerebrospinal fluid of 265 patients who were undergoing diagnostic lumbar puncture. Thirty-three patients had Alzheimer-type dementia (ATD); 16 patients had other dementing illnesses; and 20 had no neurologic disease. There were seven cases of autopsy-proven Alzheimer's disease (AD) and eight autopsy controls. We found elevated CSF silicon in 24% of ATD and 71% of AD patients. We found no relationship between CSF aluminum, arsenic, lead, or manganese and ATD, AD, or other dementing illnesses.

Aged↗
PubMed1983

Comparison of T Cu 200 and Progestasert IUDs.

Insertions of the T Cu 200 and the Progestasert IUDs in a total of 400 postpartum women were compared. Insertions were carried out within 10 minutes of delivery, either manually or with an inserter. There was a significant difference in the 6 and 12 month expulsion rates (P0.05) between the 2 groups, but no differences were found related to type of insertion. 12 month expulsion rates for the T Cu hand and inserter groups were 9.0 and 8.1, respectively, and 35.8 and 35.2 for the Progestasert hand and inserted groups, respectively. Overall, significantly fewer Progestasert users reported dysmenorrhea at follow-up and the specific 12 month dysmenorrhea rate was significantly lower for the Progestasert users than for the T Cu users. More women in the Progestasert groups reported intermenstrual spotting and bleeding, but specific 12 month rates of intermenstrual pain, spotting, and bleeding showed no differences between the groups.

Contraception↗
PubMed1982

Pulmonary complications during granulocyte transfusions: incidence and clinical features.

The use of granulocyte transfusions in profoundly neutropenic patients has increased markedly in recent years. Whenever a pulmonary infiltrate develops during the course of these transfusions, the question arises as to what role the transfusions are playing and whether the transfusions should be discontinued to prevent pulmonary deterioration. We have analyzed our recent experience of 593 granulocyte transfusions in 93 patients. 18 patients (19%) developed respiratory compromise or pulmonary infiltrates at some time during the course of granulocyte transfusion. 6 of the 18 cases were reactions to the granulocytes while the remainder were due to fluid overload or other causes. The risk of pulmonary complications did not correlate with the development of cytotoxic leukocyte antibodies, length of transfusion, or concomitant use of Amphotericin. They appeared to be more common in patients with active sepsis. Acute life-threatening pulmonary reactions were rare. Patients receiving granulocyte transfusions should be monitored carefully for pulmonary infiltrates, but other cases should be sought before the transfusions are discontinued.

Acute Disease↗
PubMed1981

Successful tumour immunotherapy with cimetidine in mice.

Cimetidine significantly slowed metastatic development and prolonged survival in tumour-bearing mice, in association with inactivation of suppressor cells. Pharmacological blockade of the suppressor cell system may represent a new strategy for successful immunotherapy of human neoplasia.

Animals↗
PubMed1981

Histiocytosis-X.

Twelve of 17 patients with histiocytosis-X were immunologically abnormal, as shown by the presence of circulating lymphocytes spontaneously cytotoxic to cultured human fibroblasts or of antibody to autologous erythrocytes. The patients also had a notable lack of histamine H2 surface receptors on their T lymphocytes, suggesting a suppressor-cell deficiency. The lymphocyte abnormalities were reversed in vitro after incubation in a crude extract of calf thymus gland, and therefore all 17 patients were treated with daily intramuscular injections of this extract. With this therapy, 10 patients entered complete remission -- a response at least as good as that observed in historical controls treated with chemotherapy. A positive clinical response was associated with an increase in the number of T-cell histamine H2 receptors to normal levels and with correction of the other immunologic abnormalities. The results of this preliminary study justify a larger prospective clinical trial of thymic extract and further investigation of the immunoregulatory mechanisms in histiocytosis-X.

Cell Membrane↗
PubMed1981

Corneal donor material selection.

The authors conducted the first long-range study to demonstrate possible negative effects on the recipients of corneal transplantation from donors who had died of a systemic malignancy or of chronic neurologic disease. The results are reported of a long-term retrospective analysis of 73 patients who received 86 grafts from donors with various systemic malignancies. These patients were followed for a mean of 127 months. There was no evidence of the transfer of the same malignancy to any of the recipients. There was no increased incidence of malignancy or earlier mortality in our patient population when compared with a reference population. Graft infection, endophthalmitis, or local tumor growth was not observed. The authors state that at the present time there is no basis for excluding donors dying of systemic malignancy as a source of material for use in keratoplasty. The authors examined the case histories of six patients who received grafts from donors who had died of a neurological disease with a suspected viral etiology. In a follow-up period ranging from 120 to 174 months, no evidence of neurologic disease developed in any of the patients. The sample was too small to provide data necessary for drawing conclusions concerning the safety of the use of material from this source. The authors strongly advise excluding any patient with a neurologic disease of suspected viral etiology as a source of corneal donor material.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1980

Survival and response to chemotherapy for advanced colorectal adenocarcinoma: an Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group report.

A series of 1,314 cases of advanced measurable colon or rectal cancer were evaluated for objective tumor response and survival. All patients received chemotherapy according to protocols conducted by the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group during the period between 1974 and 1977. For those patients who had not received chemotherapy prior to study entry, no therapy program under evaluations was significantly more active than the oral or intravenous 5-fluorouracil treatment programs with respect to survival or objective tumor response. The survival and response rates therapy programs under study, including methyl-CCNU, appeared to be comparable. Initial performance status (P < 0.01), weight loss in the six months prior to study entry (P < 0.001), and prior chemotherapy status were shown to be most prognostic for survival, and thus merit inclusion as stratification factors in any comparative trial involving this population. These factors were shown to have a cumulatively greater influence upon survival than the treatment program. Treatment differences were most accentuated within the favorable subgroups of the leading prognostic factors. The location of the primary tumor had a significant effect upon the eventual sites of metastatic disease involvement at the time of study entry (P < 0.001). The consequences of this analysis suggest that investigators need to address characteristics of the population under study. It is also noted that patients with chemotherapy prior to study entry are best suited for survival studies, while patients with no chemotherapy prior to study entry are well suited for both objective tumor response and survival studies.

Antineoplastic Agents↗
PubMed1978

Chemotherapy studies in primary liver cancer: a prospective randomized clinical trial.

One hundred and sixty-eight patients with unresectable primary liver cancer were prospectively studied by members of the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group. These patients were randomized to receive treatment with oral 5-Fluorouracil (5FU), oral 5-Fu plus Streptozotocin, oral 5-Fu plus Methyl-CCNU or Adriamycin. The single agent treatments (oral 5-Fu and Adriamycin) were associated with less gastrointestinal toxicity than were the oral 5-Fu treatment combinations. A total of 15 partial responses were reported. Adriamycin appears to be the most active agent and responsible for 9 of the 15 responses. No response was seen in any of the 48 patients randomized to oral 5-Fu alone. The survival associated with oral 5-Fu alone was significantly shorter than the survival time associated with the remaining 3 treatment programs among both North American and South African patients. A multivariate model of survival was formulated. Covariates of prognostic significance were treatment, initial performance status and sex. South African black patients had a shorter survival time than North American black patients. Excluding oral 5-Fu from consideration, prognostic variables appeared to dominate any differences between the remaining treatments under study.

Adenoma, Bile Duct↗