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Biomedical subjects

R B Buchanan

Publications and source records attributed to R B Buchanan.

27 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1980

The metabolic effects of abdominal irradiation in man with and without dietary therapy with an elemental diet.

The metabolic effects of abdominal radiotherapy were assessed in patients with pelvic neoplasms, and the effects of supplementation of the diet with an 'elemental' diet assessed. Therapeutic irradiation led to significant mean weight losses of 1.4 kg in control patients and 1.0 kg in patients receiving 'elemental' diet supplements. Irradiation was associated with small falls in plasma potassium and calcium concentrations in both groups. In the 'elemental' group there was a small increase in circulating alanine and insulin concentrations and a fall in glycerol and ketone body concentrations, but all variables remained within or close to normal basal reference ranges. Plasma albumin fell slightly but significantly in the 'elemental' diet group from 44 +/- 1 to 42 +/- 1 g/litre during treatment. Is is concluded that modern radiotherapy is no more than a modest catabolic stimulus. Long-term dietary supplementation with 'elemental' diets in ill subjects did not produce adverse effects.

Aged↗
PubMed1978

Treatment of early breast cancer.

The early follow-up of patients treated by simple mastectomy alone or simple mastectomy combined with radical radiotherapy is presented. Both groups were well matched for age, menopausal status, duration of symptoms, size of tumour, and lymph-node involvement. There was no significant difference in survival of patients in the two groups at three years, but local recurrence was significantly more frequent (28%) in the mastectomy-alone patients. Early survival was not adversely affected by radiotherapy.

Age Factors↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Mediastinal germ cell tumour associated with malignant histiocytosis and high rubella titres.

Two further cases of a haematological malignancy are reported in patients with mediastinal germ cell tumours. Two young men developed bone marrow infiltration with histiocytes showing erythrophagocytosis shortly after subtotal excision of a malignant teratoma of the anterior mediastinum. Serial viral titres showed a rise in rubella antibody titres by haemoagglutination inhibition in both cases, antirubella IgG (ELISA) in one case and rubella RH zone in the other, in the absence of detectable IgM rubella antibodies. In case 1 a diagnosis of virus associated haemophagocytic syndrome was made and he was treated with interferon and steroids. In case 2 the diagnosis was initially idiopathic thrombocytopenia purpura but he deteriorated on steroids, and was subsequently unsuccessfully treated with chemotherapy and gamma globulin infusions. The disease ran a rapid downhill course with progressive marrow failure and they both died 5 months after diagnosis. Review of the presenting histology, the progressive course of the disease and post mortem histology, suggests that they had malignant histiocytosis. The association between mediastinal teratoma and haematological malignancy is of biological importance. Serial viral titres should be measured in patients with malignant histiocytosis to see if there is a raised rubella titre. Such viral studies are also warranted where there is an association between a mediastinal germ cell tumour and haematological malignancy.

Adult↗