The Hypocalcemic Effects of Actinomycin D and Mithramycin

Both actinomycin D and mithramycin are useful agents in the treatment of cancer. They can also produce hypocalcemia, a comparatively rare phenomenon in cancer. Two such cases are presented in detail. Neither patient had the classic symptoms of hypocalcemia. Instead, the clinical picture was more compatible with hypercalcemia. The mechanism of action of each drug is explained; therapeutic implications are made with regards to their synergistic effects when used in combination with the standard calcium-lowering agents. Attention is drawn to the inhibitory action of these two agents on the calcium-mobilizing effect of the parathyroid hormone. The hypocalcemic effects of these two drugs are peripheral and not due to inhibition of parathyroid hormone synthesis. Because of their potentially fatal biochemical side effects, extreme caution is advocated in their use

Fever in Neoplastic Disease

A comparison is made between incidence of fever in 132 patients with various types of disseminated cancer and 57 patients with diseases other than cancer during a 2- month observation period. Fifty-three febrile episodes were observed in cancer patients. Of these, 15 were of undetermined origin and 6 were noninfectious; none of the episodes occurred immediately following surgery. In the control group of 57 patients, there were 12 febrile episodes; of these, 7 were due to proven bacterial infection, 2 were due lo possible bacterial infection, and 3 were of undetermined etiology. All three febrile episodes in this latter group occurred postoperatively. The pathogenesis of fever is discussed, especially unexplained fever, in the absence of infection. Tissue necrosis, with the release of endogenous pyrogen, is suggested as a pathogenic mechanism in neoplastic fevers. It is of interest that unexplained fever was more prevalent in patients with demonstrable liver metastases. The metabolism of naturally occurring steroid hormones may be impaired by hepatic dysfunction. The role of steroid pyrogens remains undefined. Hepatic dysfunction may be a contributory factor

Chemotherapy of Metastatic Renal Adenocarcinoma with a Five- Drug Regimen*

In the past, chemotherapy of renal adenocarcinoma has been relatively unsuccessful. The progestational agent, medroxy progesterone acetate (MPA), has been the most effective single agent, even though the response rate probably does not exceed 12%. This report describes the results of a program of combination therapy with MPA, cyclophosphamide, hydroxyurea, vinblastine and prednisone that was used on 42 patients, ten of whom had received prior MPA therapy. One complete remission and seven partial remissions were observed, oniyone of whom had received prior MPA therapy. Treatment of metastatic renal adenocarcinoma with combination chemotherapy should probably include MPA and adriamycin. The role of estrogen receptor (ER) and progesterone receptor (PR) as predictions of response to hormonal therapy in this disease looks encouraging, but the results reported to date have been limited

Effect of Levamisole on the Incidence of Spontaneous Mammary Tumors in C3H Mice

Spontaneous mammary carcinoma in C3H mice is preceded by premalignant hyperplastic alveolar nodules. When a primary tumor is evident, examination of the other mammae will reveal a number of microscopic precancerous lesions in various stages of transformation to overt malignant tumors. In an effort to inhibit the development of additional malignant tumors after surgical removal of the first apparent tumor, we treated female C3H/HeJ mice with subcutaneous injections of levamisole (0.6 mg per kg of body weight) on a twice weekly regimen. All further tumors were surgically excised when they became palpable. The surgical excision of bulk tumor burden, immunorestoration by levamisole, and the presence in the tumor cells of immunogenic surface antigens related to the virus all might be expected to enhance immunodulation of tumor cell growth or immunorejection of tumor cells. Immune activity measured by assaying macrophage migration inhibition factor, extractable from splenocytes, was significantly greater in the levamisole-treated mice than in the controls throughout the experiment. Although fewer tumors developed in the treated animals during the first eight weeks, this apparent effect of immunopertubation was only transitory. By the end of 14 weeks, there was no longer a statistically significant difference in cumulative tumor index between the two groups

Winter mixed layer development in the central Irminger Sea : the effect of strong, intermittent wind events

Author Posting. © American Meteorological Society, 2008. This article is posted here by permission of American Meteorological Society for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Journal of Physical Oceanography 38 (2008): 541-565, doi:10.1175/2007JPO3678.1.The impact of the Greenland tip jet on the wintertime mixed layer of the southwest Irminger Sea is investigated using in situ moored profiler data and a variety of atmospheric datasets. The mixed layer was observed to reach 400 m in the spring of 2003 and 300 m in the spring of 2004. Both of these winters were mild and characterized by a low North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) index. A typical tip jet event is associated with a low pressure system that is advected by upper-level steering currents into the region east of Cape Farewell and interacts with the high topography of southern Greenland. Heat flux time series for the mooring site were constructed that include the enhancing influence of the tip jet events. This was used to force a one-dimensional mixed layer model, which was able to reproduce the observed envelope of mixed layer deepening in both winters. The deeper mixed layer of the first winter was largely due to a higher number of robust tip jet events, which in turn was caused by the steering currents focusing more storms adjacent to southern Greenland. Application of the mixed layer model to the winter of 1994–95, a period characterized by a high-NAO index, resulted in convection exceeding 1700 m. This prediction is consistent with hydrographic data collected in summer 1995, supporting the notion that deep convection can occur in the Irminger Sea during strong winters.KV and RP were supported by National Science Foundation Grant OCE-0450658. GWKM was supported by the Canadian Foundation for Climate and Atmospheric Sciences. MHR was supported by the Nordic Council of Ministers (West-Nordic Ocean Climate)

Phase II evaluation of mitoxantrone in advanced pancreatic carcinoma: A Southwest Oncology Group study

Patient with advanced adenocarcinoma of the pancreas and no prior chemotherapy were treated on a Phase II trial of mitoxantrone. Doses were adjusted for hepatic dysfunction as defined by bilirubin. Twenty-four patients with a bilirubin ⩽ 1.5 mg% received mitoxantrone 12 mg/m 2 i.v. repeated every three weeks. Myelosuppression in the form of leukopenia was the major toxicity. There were no responses in twenty-four evaluable patients.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/45319/1/10637_2004_Article_BF00216928.pd

The state of the Martian climate

60°N was +2.0°C, relative to the 1981–2010 average value (Fig. 5.1). This marks a new high for the record. The average annual surface air temperature (SAT) anomaly for 2016 for land stations north of starting in 1900, and is a significant increase over the previous highest value of +1.2°C, which was observed in 2007, 2011, and 2015. Average global annual temperatures also showed record values in 2015 and 2016. Currently, the Arctic is warming at more than twice the rate of lower latitudes

Una enfermedad lejana: la información sobre poliomielitis y síndrome post-polio en la prensa hispanolusa, 1995-2009

Se explora el cambio en la percepción social de la polio en la Península Ibérica a través del análisis de contenidos, entre 1995 y 2009, de dos periódicos de gran tirada. La desaparición en la agenda periodística de la polio y de las personas que viven con sus secuelas influyó en el olvido de la misma en la agenda pública. La poliomielitis se vinculó a la pobreza y la ignorancia en países lejanos, susceptibles de acciones de cooperación, siendo objeto de atención solo cuando es percibida como amenaza para Occidente, vinculada a crisis sanitarias o en un sentido metafórico. Así, el síndrome post-polio fue invisibilizado en el caso portugués y débilmente representado en España por el movimiento asociativo