We compared histological effects following radiotherapy in relation to the DNA ploidy pattern and the proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) positivity rate in 37 patients with rectal cancer who underwent preoperative radiation therapy. Twelve of 23 cases in which the PCNA positivity rate before irradiation was more than 25% showed the effectiveness of radiotherapy (52.2%), against 2 of 6 cases with a rate of less than 25%. Cases in which the rate was more than 25% tended to show more effectiveness. Seventeen of 23 cases in which the PCNA positivity rate was more than 25% showed a decrease in PCNA positivity rate (73.9%). The rate in 6 cases showed no change, and no cases had an increase. In particular, in 12 cases in which the PCNA positivity rate was more than 55%, half showed effectiveness, and the PCNA rate decreased 20% on average. The PCNA positivity rate tended to decrease as a result of irradiation, and especially in diploid cases there were significant differences in the rate before and after irradiation. We suggest that cases in which the PCNA positivity rate is more than 55% with diploid DNA pattern would show most effect. The effects of irradiation could be predicted with biopsy materials and by measuring the DNA ploidy pattern and the PCNA positivity rate.
It is well known that the early diagnosis of maxillary cancer (MC) is very difficult on the basis of its clinical appearance and symptoms, since nasal obstraction, bloody discharge, toothache and loosening of the teeth are common in the early stage.A new technique was devised for the isolation and charactrization of maxillary cancer associated antigens (MCAA), since elucidation of MCAA has been one of the major achievements of tumor immunology.Frozen sections of MC 10μm thick were applied directly to PAG-plates for isoelectric focusing. Saline extract of tumor tissues and sera were treated in the same manner.Specific components at around pH 6.1 were determined on PAG-plates and collected by chromatofocusing. Anti-MCAA rabbit serum was obtained by immunization with the components around pH 6.1 and anti-MCAA IgG serum was purified by protein A sepharose CL-4B.The purpose of this study was to demonstrate the location of MCAA in tumor sections and determine its approximate molecular weight. Tissues of 10 out of 11 (91%) cases of MC were stained positively by indirect immunofluorescence and immunoperoxidase techniques. This definitely positive staining was demonstrated on the cell membranes of MC, while in 8 control cases (normal maxillary sinus membrane, paratine tonsil, parotid gland and membranes from patients with chronic paranasal sinusitis) the staining was definitively negative.The molecular weight of MCAA was investigated by SDS-PAG and Immune-Blotting. The former showed two components (170k-225k), and the latter detected two components (120k-136k) and one minor component of 76k.
Ovarian tumor is known to show histological variation. Each tumor shows various clinical behavior. Ovarian epithelial tumors consist of several types of histological findings. Epithelial tumors can be classified into benign, borderline malignancy and malignant for their biological behavior. Recently the therapeutic effectiveness against ovarian cancer is increasing in order to establish the operation technique and development of chemotherapeutic method with cisplatin. Therefore it is important that borderline malignant tumors which are said to have a good prognosis be defined from obviously malignant tumors to evaluate accurately the effectiveness of the therapy against the ovarian cancer. On the other hand, borderline malignant tumors with characters of a malignant tumor, must be distinguished from benign adenoma because long-term follow up is required. However, it is difficult to make an exact histological diagnosis of benign adenoma, borderline malignancy and malignancy because the histological criteria of borderline malignancy is lacking in concreteness. The histological criteria should be defined more clearly and concretely. For example, mitotic counts per 10 HPF of borderline malignancy and DNA ploidy. Next, because of good prognosis, we need a quick therapeutic guide line for borderline malignancy, especially for stage I and young women.
Adenocarcinoma of the thymus is a very rare malignant tumor. The standard treatment for advanced thymic carcinoma has not yet been established, and the prognosis is poor. We report a case of thymic carcinoma that involving the aortic arch and the innominate vein. A 78-year-old woman was admitted to our hospital complaining of hoarseness in April 2007. The computed tomography (CT) scan showed an anterior mediastinal tumor contiguous to the aortic arch and the innominate vein with swelling lymphnodes. Microspcopic examinations of specimens obtained by CT-guided needle biopsy revealed poorly differenciated adenocarcinoma. The carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) level of serum elevated at 54.9 ng/ml. Thymic carcinoma was diagnosed. The chemoradiotherapy [concurrent, carboplatin (CBDCA) + paclitaxel(TXL)-->vinorelbine (NVB), 60 Gy] was performed, but the effect of the therapy was limited. The resection of the tumor with a part of aortic arch and other peripheral tissues was performed in Augast 2007. The postoperative course was uneventful and the CEA level of serum lowered to the normal. She was discharged 30 days after surgery.
