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W Doerr

Publications and source records attributed to W Doerr.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2001

The translational research chain: is it delivering the goods?

PURPOSE: To address whether the translational research chain has influenced clinical practice in radiation oncology. METHODS AND MATERIALS: Merits and limitations of the various steps of the translational chain, i.e., in vitro studies, animal experiments, biomathematical modeling, Phase I and II trials, and randomized Phase III trials are briefly reviewed. The process and value of translational research in radiation oncology are addressed using dose fractionation and the time factor in tumors as examples. RESULTS: The examples show that translational research may indeed change clinical practice in radiation oncology. However, it takes several decades and considerable efforts to define and test new strategies. The "translational process" is by no means unidirectional but a continuing multiway dialog among basic scientists, applied scientists, clinical scientists, and clinical oncologists. CONCLUSION: Translational research works in radiation oncology, and it is difficult to conceive a better alternative for future improvement of therapy. The slow speed of the translational process indicates that there is a need for improving the various steps of the translational network and the interaction as a whole. Massive investments in one part of the network are likely to be at least partly wasted unless the other links are strengthened as well.

Animals↗
PubMed1987

Thoracic aortic aneurysms.

The historical development of knowledge of aneurysms is surveyed, particularly of those of thoracic aorta. There follows detailed considerations of the structure and structural properties of the aorta and its supports ("bobbins"). The degenerations of the aorta is described and discussed in considering the various basic types of aneurysm. Improved pathological techniques make possible greater differentiation of inflammatory, degenerative and other changes of the aorta media. These investigations allow the conclusion that the vast majority of thoracic aortic aneurysms are the result of "extras" consumed in and essentials left out of the modern way of life. Progress in preventive measures depends on better knowledge of the metabolism of the "bobbins".

Adult↗
PubMed1985

[Cohnheim's inflammation doctrine and the current debate].

In a historical view the development of the concept of inflammation and the assessment of its importance are considered in the light of the situation in the field of pathologic anatomy in the last century dominated as it was by the work of Cruveilhier, Rokitansky and Virchow. It is to Cohnheim that we owe the realization that inflammatory cells originate in the circulation. He attributed this to an alteration of the vessel wall. Years before the tuberculosis bacillus was discovered, Cohnheim recognized the disease as a single entity. He also distinguished "tumours" of infectious origin from true neoplasms. Observations made by Cohnheim continue to form part of the contemporary body of knowledge, for example the rejection of an acellular origin for inflammatory cells. Cohnheim's work provides the basis for current notions of allergy, granuloma formation and the pathologic changes associated with tuberculosis. Similarly our pathobiochemical views of inflammation are ultimately based on the appreciation of changes in microcirculation and capillary permeability.

Germany↗
PubMed1984

Gestalt theory and morbid anatomy.

Contact with medical students as a university teacher has shown that there are different types of aptitude: 5/9 of German medical students possess a visual faculty, 3/9 are kinaesthetic and only about 1/9 have the gift of the auditive faculty. Apart from this, there is a general quality which may be termed gestalt perception or gestalt blindness. The fact that for decades the attempt was made to relate qualitative differences in the characteristics of medical observations and pathological and anatomical findings to quantitative changes was the reason for the development of the concept of Relationspathologie . Intellectual pre-occupation with the perception of "gestalt qualities" has resulted in pathology in general being seen as the expression of the biophysics of open systems and making an organismic evaluation of its phenomena. The aim of all natural science is the recognition of order. Theoretical biology seeks an order free from hypotheses. Theoretical pathology involves the application of gestalt philosophy to the detection and evaluation of all potentially dangerous disturbances. Theoretical pathology has nothing to do with "natural philosophy", the "natural history viewpoint", the " vitalism " of the turn of the century or the "holism" of the 1930s . Gestalt qualities can be characterized by means of the " Ehrenfels criteria". In most cases this means distinguishing between "space gestalt", "time gestalt", "tone gestalt", and "sentence gestalt". As defined by gestalt theory, mental and physical processes correspond. Gestalt can always be defined and understood in concrete terms. In the gestalt the conceptual contradiction between "external" and "internal" is overcome. External phenomena are the manifestations of internal nature. In the fields of pathological anatomy, gestalt theory has direct methodological relevance with regard to the following: a) the concept of homology b) the conceptual idea of what is known as "specific inflammation" c) the theory of stages in minor organ diseases d) the characterization of the various forms of pathomorphosis e) patho-anatomical diagnostics according to the laws of mathematical logic. The relationship between individual sciences and philosophy has always been critical. The individual science and philosophy are mutually obscured from one another. Research into facts and research into essence come together, as in a "gestalt circle", to form a single process of understanding. All lawfulness and order originates from a principle of the mind. The visible manifestation of this principle is the innermost nature of the gestalten .

Germany↗
PubMed1984

Volume, staging and grading of gastro-intestinal carcinoma--a population-based study.

All cases of the Regional Cancer Registry, North Baden who developed a gastro-intestinal cancer during the period 1975-1980 were re-examined according to the following parameters: tumor volume, pT stage, pN stage, grading. In the period considered, 8424 cases out of 14,061 cases with histologically proven gastrointestinal cancer could be grouped according to the pT stage. Most of the cases were operated at the pT2 or pT3 stage. Remarkable differences in the different tumor localizations were obtained. Stomach carcinoma had the highest percentage of the pT4 stage (36.2%), rectum carcinoma the lowest (7%). In all primaries a close coherence of tumor volume and pT stage was noted. Carcinoma at the pT1 stage measured 20 cm3 on average, those at the pT4 stage 170 cm3. No coherence of staging and age of the patients could be obtained. Younger patients showed a higher percentage of undifferentiated carcinoma than older patients. Survival data could not be obtained due to the data protection law.

Adult↗
PubMed1984

[Population based data in North Baden on malignant tumors of the gastrointestinal tract].

Population-based data of malignomas of the gastro-intestinal tract were evaluated from the regional cancer registry North-Baden for the period of 1971-1980. The age standardized incidence of oesophagus carcinomas shows a steady level of 4.5/100,000 (males) and 0.5/100,000 (females); the age standardized incidence of stomach carcinomas increased from 1971 to 1974, then shows a decline for both males and females, where the colon carcinomas show an increase of 80% for the same time period, also the cancer of the small intestines and of the rectum, increased slightly. Compared to data of other cancer registries the world standardized incidence of rectum carcinomas is of the same level as the data from the cancer registry of Bas-Rhin and is with an incidence of 25.8/100,000 males; 16.2/100,000 females above the incidence of all other cancer registries. The post-operative TNM-stage differs for the different primary topographies. Especially patients with colon carcinomas were operated when the carcinoma was in an advanced stage, patients with rectum carcinomas were operated at a less advanced stage. Male patients with an oesophagus carcinoma showed in a significant percentage an advanced smoking and alcohol consumption, compared to patients suffering from stomach, colon or rectum carcinomas. The specialized organisation of the cancer registry shows a high efficiency due to the requirements of the public health system, and is very useful in the evaluation of descriptive and analytic population-based cancer data.

Adult↗
PubMed1983

Heterochronia and general pathology illustrated by the example of the human heart.

Heterochronia, heterotopia and heterometria are important elements of the pathogenic process. Heterochronia has its historical roots in the philosophy of Aristotle. As the organs of living creatures and especially man have developed, the process has been one of fitting together a variety of evolutionary bricks. Each complex organ shows evidence of a gradual control of its cellular structure. Parts of organs observed at different stages of man's development all appear to retain certain heterologous (identical) organisational features. Thus, the different pathoclisis is explained. Classical Neuropathology has made headway in this field. Its methodical procedure was adopted - mutatis mutandis - by General Pathology. The inherent structural weaknesses within the organisation of the human brain are, in their organic type of differentiation, also present in the muscular heart. The right ventricle has developed mainly from the myoepicardium of the proampulla; the left ventricle has its origin in the metaampulla. The right ventricle consists mainly of priscomyocardium, the left one of neomyocardium. This is the basis on which are founded the main characteristics of the muscular structures, the arrangement of the coronary arteries and the organisation of the conduction system. A. Keith had already discovered in 1906 that the elements of specific muscle texture contain old structures. We believe that the pacemaker cell represents the historical paradigm of the working muscle cell of the heart (the transporter). Atrioventricular collateral connections (anastomoses) are only found within the priscomyocardium, the arteria coronaria dextra being the original. The coronaria sinistra was evolved later. From the summary of facts originating from the heterochronia of heart development we can draw conclusions about the development of the major heart diseases such as: Those which are dependent on interference with the ventricle walls following oxygen deprivation and the resulting toxic stress; Those which are characterised by infarction of the myocardium which occur in areas which have a predilection for such reaction and which can be set out in a predetermined topology; Those characterised by rhythmic interferences of the heart caused by atrioventricular collateral connections; as a result of an anthropological pathomorphology.

Anthropology, Physical↗