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Biomedical subjects

W D Winters

Publications and source records attributed to W D Winters.

At least 73 records · Page 4Linked to original sources
PubMed1981

BCG immunotherapy of bladder cancer: inhibition of tumor recurrence and associated immune responses.

Fifty-one patients with confirmed bladder cancer have enrolled in a prospective evaluation of BCG immunotherapy. Following resection of existing tumors, patients were stratified according to tumor grade and number of previous recurrences and randomly assigned to control or BCG treatment groups. Immunotherapy consisted of six weekly administrations of Pasteur strain BCG using 120 mg intravesically and 5 mg percutaneously. Immunotherapy side effects were minimal and no patient required postponement of BCG treatments. Eleven control (46%) compared with five (22%) BCG-treated patients had tumor recurrence (P = 0.078, chi 2). Prolongation of the disease-free interval with BCG treatment was significantly at the P = 0.016 level by Wilcoxon analysis. Four control and two BCG-treated patients had multiple recurrences. Comparing total episodes of recurrence, nineteen of 79 (24%) control and eight of 85 (7%) BCG group cystoscopic examinations revealed tumor (P = 0.006, chi 2). Immunologic correlates of response to immunotherapy were not statistically significant since only five BCG-treated patients had tumor recurrence. However, four of these five patients evidenced impaired LIF response to PPD at the time of tumor recurrence, and impairment of skin test reactivity and BCG humoral antibody response were more commonly seen in this subgroup of patients.

Antibody Formation↗
PubMed1981

Time dependent decreases of maternal canine virus antibodies in newborn pups.

Levels of passively transferred maternal antibodies to three canine viruses, rabies virus (RV), canine distemper virus (CDV) and infectious canine hepatitis (ICH) virus, in serum specimens from 14 fetal pups and in serial serum specimens collected up to 45 days after whelping from 14 neonate pups were compared with levels of antibodies to these viruses in milk and sera collected concurrently from their respective dams. Radioimmunoassays using RV-, CDV- and ICH virus-specific antigens showed that sera from all fetal pups had detectable levels of antibodies to all three canine viruses and ICH neutralising antibodies were detected in sera from 10 of the 14 fetal pups. As the time after whelping increased, titres of RV-, CDV- and ICH virus antibodies measured by radioimmunoassay and ICH virus neutralising antibody tests in serially collected specimens of milk from dams rapidly decreased, while titres of the antibodies in serum specimens from newborn pups in their litters steadily decreased. Individual fetal and newborn pups with a high titre of antibody to one virus also had high titres to the other two viruses, although a wide range of titres was observed among pups in each of the litters studied. Markedly higher titres of antibody to all three viruses were observed in serially collected specimens of sera from dams than in sera from fetal and newborn pups in their litters. Results show that maternal RV, CDV and ICH virus antibodies are transferred from dams to pups in utero and by nursing. Levels of these maternal virus-specific antibodies in newborn pup sera decreased at similar rates as time after whelping increased.

Adenoviruses, Canine↗
PubMed1981

Serodiagnosis of tuberculosis by radioimmunoassay.

Mycobacteria antigens derived from whole cells and cell walls of M. tuberculosis and M. bovis (BCG) and soluble purified protein derivative (PPD) prepared from M. tuberculosis were used in solid phase radioimmunoassays to measure the amount of reactive IgG antibody in serums from 54 patients with active (culture-positive) tuberculosis (Group I), 6 patients with inactive (culture-negative) tuberculosis (Group II), 15 healthy subjects who were skin test positive to PPD (Group III), and 30 healthy persons who were PPD skin test negative (Group IV). Patients with active tuberculosis had statistically larger (p less than 0.001) amounts of IgG antibody to M. tuberculosis whole cells, cell walls, and PPD and to BCG whole cells and cell walls when compared with the amount of antibody in serums from healthy subjects who were PPD skin test negative. However, no significant differences were detected in the mean antibody response or frequency of positive antibody responses between patients with active disease and those in clinical remission. Moreover, significant amounts of antibody were detected in 7 to 20% of healthy, tuberculin-reactive subjects. On the basis of these results, it is unlikely that antibody assays alone will prove useful in the diagnosis of this disease.

Adult↗
PubMed1981

Antibody responses to Bacillus Calmette-Guérin during immunotherapy in bladder cancer patients.

Levels of serum antibody to Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) were determined by solid-phase radioimmunoassays in 48 normal donors and 60 patients with bladder cancer. Of 57 patients enrolled in a randomized prospective controlled trial of BCG immunotherapy, 47 were followed for up to 30 months, thus permitting comparisons of tumor recurrence, delayed cutaneous hypersensitivity responses to purified protein derivative (PPD), and serum BCG antibody levels at specific intervals during the clinical course. Sera from normal donors and cancer patients prior to BCG therapy had equally low levels of BCG antibody. AFter administration of intravesical and percutaneous BCG, significant rises of serum BCG antibody levels were detected in 23 of 24 randomized BCG immunotherapy patients. Skin test responses to PPD and serum BCG antibody levels had a close correlation as immune response indicators in 14 of 24 BCG therapy patients, while rises in serum BCG antibody levels were a better response indicator than PPD skin test reactions in the other 10 patients. Eleven of the 23 patients randomized into the non-BCG treatment group had tumor recurrence, although tumors recurred in only six of the 24 randomized patients in the BCG therapy group. Two additional nonrandomized BCG-treated patients had tumor recurrence. All eight BCG-treated patients with tumor recurrence had documented increases in serum BCG antibody levels after BCG therapy. Only three of these eight patients had conversion of PPD skin test responses from negative to positive; three were positive before immunotherapy and two remained negative after BCG therapy. Levels of antibodies reactive with human adenovirus type 5 and with Escherichia coli antigens were similar in sera from normal donors and from the randomized bladder cancer patients in both the BCG and non-BCG treatment groups. These results suggest that serum BCG antibody responses are as useful as PPD skin tests in identifying immunological responses to the immunoadjuvant BCG during immunotherapy trials in cancer patients.

Antibodies, Bacterial↗
PubMed1980

Real-time detection of the EEG using a two-component wave model.

The EEG signal is modeled as consisting of faster, smaller waves superimposed on slower, larger waves. A program, written for the Data General Corporation NOVA series of minicomputers, is described. It performs the continuous detection, in real-time, of both wave types for a simple, quantified characterization of the EEG. The program was written as a special User Clock Routine which is part of a larger multitask package which also provides continuous real-time analysis of the EEG and provides simultaneous line printer, analog and graphical outputs.

Analog-Digital Conversion↗