Non-surgical treatment of primary female urethral cancer

Primary carcinomas of the female urethra are extremely rare, with an annual incidence of less than ten in one million. Currently, there is no consensus regarding management of this malignancy. However, there have been several case reports demonstrating the efficacy of chemoradiation in the treatment of female urethral cancer. In this report we present two cases of female primary urethral adenocarcinoma that were treated by concomitant chemotherapy and external beam radiotherapy, followed by interstitial brachytherapy

The organization of the QA gene cluster in neurospora crassa and its expression in escherichia coli : eucaryotic gene regulation, quinic acid catabolic enzymes, recombinant DNA, pBR322 plasmid

PLEASE SEE SUMMARY pg 49NORMAN H. GILES, N. K. ALTON, M. E. CASE, J. A. HAUTALA, J. W. JACOBSON, S. R., KUSHNER, V. B. PATEL, W. R. REINERT, P. STROMAN, D. VAPNEK, Program in Genetics, Departments of Zoology, Biochemistry and Microbiology, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia

In vivo transcription of R-plasmid deoxyribonucleic acid in Escherichia coli strains with altered antibiotic resistance levels and/or conjugal proficiency

The amounts of plasmid deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) and the levels of the in vivo transcription of the Escherichia coli plasmids R538-1 (repressed for conjugal transfer) and R538-1drd (derepressed for transfer) were determined by DNA-DNA hybridization and DNA-ribonucleic acid hybridization, respectively. The results demonstrate that the level of plasmid transcription is increased by two-fold in the strain carrying the derepressed plasmid, compared to an isogenic strain carrying the repressed plasmid, whereas the amount of plasmid DNA is approximately the same, suggesting that the transfer genes are under transcriptional control. Levels of plasmid DNA, plasmid DNA transcription, and chloramphenicol acetyltransferase activity were also compared in a mutant strain that carried the R538-1drd plasmid and was resistant to high levels of antibiotics. This strain produces about 13 copies of plasmid DNA per chromosome compared to five copies for the parent strain. The level of transcription of plasmid DNA was found to be twofold higher in the high-level resistant strain, whereas the level of chloramphenition, acetyltransferase activity was increased by 10-fold. In addition the levels of plasmid DNA transcription and chloramphenicol acetyltransferase activity in the high-level resistant strain were found to be further increased by the presence of high levels of chloramphenicol in the growth medium. The amount of plasmid DNA remained constant under these conditions, indicating that high levels of chloramphenicol can stimulate the expression of plasmid genes at the level of transcription in this strain.</jats:p

Atypical fibrous histiocytoma of the scrotum.

Atypical fibrous histiocytoma is a rare neoplasm. A scrotal location for this tumor is even more unusual. We report a case of a 90-year-old man with scrotal atypical fibrous histiocytoma. Our case had histologic features consistent with those cases previously reported in the literature. The tumor consists of cells with large hyperchromatic irregular nuclei, bizarre multinucleated cells (monster cells), and xanthomatous cells with large prominent nuclei set in a background of classic fibrous histiocytoma. Rare mitotic figures are identified. Immunohistochemical studies showed the tumor cells to be positive for vimentin, smooth muscle actin, desmin, KP-1, factor XIIIa, and MIB-1 (less than 10%). In addition to the expected immunohistochemical studies, the tumor stained diffusely positive for CD117. To our knowledge, this is the first report of atypical fibrous histiocytoma of the scrotum

Solifenacin for overactive bladder with incontinence: symptom bother and health-related quality of life outcomes.

BACKGROUND: Approximately one-third of patients with overactive bladder (OAB) experience incontinence, a bothersome symptom with a clear negative effect on quality of life. OBJECTIVE: To assess OAB patients\u27 perceptions of improvements in symptom bother and quality of life after taking solifenacin under conditions reflecting day-to-day practice. METHODS: VOLT (the VESIcare Open-Label Trial) was a prospective, open-label study in patients with OAB (defined as urgency, urge urinary incontinence, daytime frequency, or nocturia for \u3e or =3 mo) who were treated with flexibly dosed, once-daily solifenacin for 12 weeks. This study included subjects enrolled in VOLT who, at baseline, had urge incontinence and reported incontinence as their most bothersome symptom. All patients were started on solifenacin 5 mg/day; at week 4, the dosage could be increased to 10 mg/day and at week 8 could be maintained or decreased back to 5 mg/day. Efficacy was assessed by 3 independent patient-reported outcomes: the Patient Perception of Bladder Condition (PPBC) scale, a visual analog scale (VAS) for assessing individual symptoms, and the Overactive Bladder Questionnaire (OAB-q). RESULTS: Of the 2205 patients in the VOLT full analysis set, 1586 (71.9%) had urge incontinence at baseline, of which 582 (36.7%) reported incontinence as their most bothersome symptom. In this cohort, mean PPBC score at baseline was 4.6 (indicating moderate-to-severe problems) and at endpoint had decreased significantly to 2.9 (very minor to some minor problems; p \u3c 0.001). At endpoint, 80.4% of patients achieved improvement in their PPBC score. These patients reported significant improvements from baseline in urinary urgency, urge incontinence, frequency, and nocturia on the VAS (p \u3c 0.001) and all OAB-q domains (symptom severity, coping, concern, sleep, social, health-related quality of life) at endpoint (p \u3c 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Patients reporting urge incontinence as their most bothersome OAB symptom can be expected to demonstrate significant improvements in multiple patient-related outcomes following treatment with flexibly dosed solifenacin