JNCI: Journal of the National Cancer Institute

doi: 10.1093/jnci/64.5.CO3pmid: N/A

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doi: 10.1093/jnci/64.5.993pmid: N/A

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Rubin,, Harry

doi: 10.1093/jnci/64.5.995pmid: N/A

Article PDF first page preview Close This content is only available as a PDF. Author notes 1 Department of Molecular Biology and Virus Laboratory, Wendell M. Stanley Hall, University of California, Berkeley, Calif. 94720. Editor's note: Periodically, JNCI publishes solicited guest editorials as a means of transmitting to investigators in cancer research the essence of current work in a special field of study. The Board of Editors welcomes suggestions for future editorials that succinctly summarize current work toward a clearly defined hypothesis regarding the causes or cure of cancer.

Sega,, Ercole;Mottolese,, Marcella;Curcio, Corrado, Gallo;Citro,, Gennaro

doi: 10.1093/jnci/64.5.1001pmid: N/A

Abstract A human lung tumor fetal-associated antigen (LTFA) has been purified from lung tumor tissue by a combination of salt precipitation and Ion-exchange chromatography. The purification steps were monitored by double immunodlffusion with the use of a rabbit anti-LTFA-specific antiserum. The isolated protein was tested for its blastogenic properties toward peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBL) by [3H]thymldine Incorporation. PBL obtained from 25 healthy Individuals, 34 patients with tumors other than lung tumors, 13 patients with lung diseases other than lung tumors, and 51 lung tumor-bearing patients were tested. Only PBL with an in vitro positive response to phytohemagglutinin were employed. Whereas PBL of lung tumor patients showed a significant blastogenic response to the purified antigen in 14 of 22 patients tested (60%), PBL of other patients were completely unreactive (P<0.005). The present data suggested that a specific immune response toward an LTFA was present in patients with lung cancers. This content is only available as a PDF. Author notes 2 Laboratorio di Immunologia, Istituto Regina Elena per lo Studio e la Cura dei Tumori, Viale Regina Elena 291, 00100 Rome, Italy. 3 Servizio di Pre-osservazione, Istituto Regina Elena per lo Studio e la Cura dei Tumori.

Tal,, Chloe;Herberman, Ronald, B.;Gail,, Mitchell;Schutt,, Allan

doi: 10.1093/jnci/64.5.1007pmid: N/A

Abstract We evaluated the ability of polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE) to measure protein band #1 (PB1) in serum as a means of discriminating between the sera of cancer patients and controls. Serum samples from 123 cancer patients, 155 subjects without clinically diagnosed cancer, and 6 members of families with a high incidence of cancer (total, 284) were obtained in Israel. An additional 214 serum samples from 80 cancer patients and 134 subjects without cancer were obtained from the Mayo Clinic-National Cancer Institute Serum Bank. Although a significantly higher proportion of serum specimens from cancer patients had positive results for PB1 by the PAGE method, the test at its current stage of development does not seem sufficiently discriminating for use in screening for cancer. This content is only available as a PDF. Author notes 2 Department of Oncology, Hadassah University Hospital (HUH), Jerusalem, Israel. 3 Laboratory of Immunodiagnosis, Division of Cancer Biology and Diagnosis, National Cancer Institute (NCI), National Institutes of Health, Public Health Service, U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, Bethesda, Md. 20205. 4 Mayo Clinic-NCI Serum Bank, Rochester, Minn. 55901. 5 The devoted and skillful technical assistance of M. Halperin and M. Barash (Oncology Department, HUH) is acknowledged. Blood samples were obtained from Dr. H. Ratzkowski, Dr. S. Biran, and Dr. N. Wallach (Department of Oncology, HUH), Professor G. Isak (Department of Hematology, HUH), Dr. S. Ganor (Dermatology Clinic, General Workers' Sick Fund, Jerusalem, Israel), and Dr. H. Beham (deceased; Rokah Institute for Lung Disease, Jerusalem, Israel).

Nomura,, Hirotsune;Tokumitsu,, Shin-ichi;Takeuchi,, Tadao

doi: 10.1093/jnci/64.5.1015pmid: N/A

Abstract Ectopic production of salivary-type amylase was demonstrated in a human gastric carcinoma cell line (KMK-2) maintained in vitro for more than 3 years. Electron-dense granules, which appeared as zymogens, were observed in the tumor tissue, in cancer cells in the peritoneal fluid (from which the present cell line had been derived), and in cultured cells in early passages. These granules, however, decreased and gradually disappeared during cultivation. Although such a morphologic alteration was recognized, the property of amylase synthesis has been maintained. The presence of alpha-amylase in the cultured cells was demonstrated cytochemically by the immunoperoxidase method. The enzyme secreted and accumulated in the culture medium was partially purified and characterized. Alpha-amylase of KMK-2 cells closely resembled salivary-type amylase in gel filtration profile and disk gel electrophoresis. Immunologic cross-reaction was observed between these enzymes. Secretion into the medium was constant, and the enzyme concentration in the cytoplasm was relatively high when the cells had reached confluence. Prednisolone increased the amylase production twofold in the cells. This content is only available as a PDF. Author notes 2 Department of Pathology, Kumamoto University School of Medicine, 2-1, Honjo 2-Chome, Kumamoto 860, Japan. 3 We are indebted to Dr. M. Miyawaki, Department of Biochemistry, Kumamoto University School of Medicine, an attendant physician of the patient studied, for his invaluable advice and for supplying the material used. We also thank Dr. K. Tokumitsu and Dr. K. Kohnoe, Department of Pathology, Kumamoto University School of Medicine, for their technical support, particularly in the fields of electron microscopy and cell culture, and their advice.

Abdelfattah-Gad,, Mostafa;Denk,, Helmut

doi: 10.1093/jnci/64.5.1025pmid: N/A

Abstract Blood group antigen content of human carcinomas located in the distal large bowel (descending colon, sigmoid colon, and rectum) was determined by the specific red cell adherence reaction and was compared to several morphologic features of prognostic significance, e.g., differentiation, extent of tumor spread, peritumoral lymphoplasmocytlc infiltration, and growth patterns. About 50% of the carcinomas expressed blood group antigens in either diffuse or patchy distribution. Classification of tumors according to the extent of local spread revealed that 60% of Dukes stage A tumors were blood group antigen-negative, whereas 58% of those in Dukes stage B were positive. Dukes stage C lesions had an intermediate position, and this limits the prognostic usefulness of blood group antigen determinations. No significant correlations were found between blood group antigenicity and the degree of histologic differentiation, the degree of peritumoral lymphoplasmocytic infiltration, and the mode of tumor growth. 2 Supported in part by grant 3580 from the Austrian Research Council. 3 Research procedures were in accord with the ethical standards of the Helsinki Declaration of 1975 and the Committee for Review of Clinical Experimentation, University of Vienna School of Medicine. This content is only available as a PDF. Author notes 4 Division of Gastroenterologic Pathology and Hepatopathology (Hans-Popper-Laboratory), Department of Pathology, University of Vienna School of Medicine, Vienna, Austria.

Aubert,, C.;Rougé,, F.;Galindo, J., R.

doi: 10.1093/jnci/64.5.1029pmid: N/A

Abstract Of 16 cell lines derived from 12 human melanomas obtained from 11 patients, all were established as permanent cell lines: 7 from primary tumors and 9 from metastatic tumors. Study of the early subcultures and established cell lines showed that melanocytes passed through a phase of dedifferentiation during which they took on a fibroblast-like appearance and were hypodiploid and nontumorigenic in nude (thymus-deficient) mice. Phenotypic modulation in vitro was shown to be dependent on the culture medium. The lines varied considerably in karyologic and phenotypic expression (as assessed by morphologic appearance and 5-S-cysteinyldopa production). Fibroblast-like, epithelioid, nonpigmented, achromic, and pigmented cells were obtained from the same tumor. Heterotransplantation into nude mice revealed wide variations in tumorigenicity: The latency of the tumors, their size, and infrequent metastases bore no relationship to the phenotypic modulation of the melanocytes as expressed in vitro. Melanogenesis is therefore not related to malignancy; they are two independent characteristics. 2 Supported by grant 76.5.124.2 from the Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM). 3 Animals were maintained under the guidelines set forth by INSERM. This content is only available as a PDF. Author notes 4 Laboratoire de Neuro-Endocrinologie, Unité 119 de l'INSERM, 27, Bd Leï Roure, 13009 Marseille, France. 5 We thank Clare Gichard for help with the translation and Victor Pirisi for expert technical assistance.

Cobleigh, Melody, A.;Braun, Donald, P.;Harris, Jules, E.

doi: 10.1093/jnci/64.5.1041pmid: N/A

Abstract Human peripheral blood T-cells were divided into subsets on the basis of their ability to bind to the Fc receptor portion of IgG (TG cells) or IgM (TM cells). These subsets were studied in 25 patients with newly diagnosed disseminated malignant solid tumors. When compared to a group of healthy, agematched controls, cancer patients as a group exhibited significantly increased percentages of TG cells and significantly decreased percentages and numbers of TM cells. Comparison of the values determined for individual patients to those determined for groups of 10 healthy individuals in the same decade of life revealed that most cancer patients had normal levels of lymphocytes and T-cells, but many had aberrant values for T-cell subsets. 2 Portions of this work were supported by the Wadsworth Memorial Trust Fund. 3 Research procedures were in accord with the ethical standards of the Human Investigations Committee, Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke's Medical Center. This content is only available as a PDF. Author notes 4 Section of Oncology, Indiana University Medical Center, Indianapolis, Ind. 46233. 5 A Wadsworth Memorial Trust Fund Fellow. 6 Section of Medical Oncology, Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke's Medical Center, 1753 West Congress Parkway, Chicago, Ill. 60612. 8 We thank Ms. Lillian Jovanovic for technical assistance and Mrs. Felice Witmer for typing the manuscript.

Hunt, Steven, C.;Williams, Roger, R.;Skolnick, Mark, H.;Lyon, Joseph, L.;Smart, Charles, R.

doi: 10.1093/jnci/64.5.1047pmid: N/A

Abstract With the use of data from the Utah State Cancer Registry and Utah genealogical data, an analysis of 236 breast cancer patients and 937 controls matched on year of birth showed that a late age at the birth of the first child was most strongly associated with incidence of breast cancer (relative odds = 2.0; P<0.001). A strong interaction was found between age at first delivery (AFD) and age at last delivery (ALD). The association of AFD with breast cancer incidence was strongest for women with an ALD before 35 years of age even after adjustment for parity (relative odds=4.1; P<0.001). Decreased parity was not significantly associated with breast cancer. 2 Supported in part by Public Health Service (PHS) grant CA16573-04 from the National Cancer Institute (NCI); by PHS contract N01-CP43382, through the Field Studies and Statistics Program, from the Division of Cancer Cause and Prevention, NCI; by American Cancer Society institutional research grant IN-102A; and by PHS Research Career Development Award HL00379-02 to R. R. W. from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. This content is only available as a PDF. Author notes 3 Department of Medical Biophysics and Computing, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah 84132. 5 Department of Internal Medicine, University of Utah. 6 Department of Family and Community Medicine, University of Utah. 7 Chief of Surgery, LDS Hospital, Salt Lake City, Utah 84143.