Lymphoma: clinical study and the clinical significance of serum phospholipase A2

Phospholipase-A2 is an important enzyme in prostaglandin synthetic pathway. Its activity levels were studied in 25 patients with non- Hodgkins lymphoma [NHL] as well as 30 patients with Hodgkins disease, besides 15 patients with non-neoplastic lymphadenopathy and 20 healthy subjects. The study revealed significantly increased levels of enzyme activity in patients with lymphoma compared with controls and cases with non-neoplastic lymphadenopathy. The activity levels were higher in NHL compared with HL but the differences did not reach the level of significance. Patients with advanced stages [III and IV] had significantly higher levels than those with early stages [I and II]. Hepatosplenic involvement is also associated with significant increase in enzyme activity levels. The activity levels of the enzyme did not correlate with total leucocytic counts in all patients groups. The altered enzyme activity could reflect increased oxidant stress known to be present in these patients. It seems to be a valuable new tumor marker which can aids the diagnosis, staging and can reflect the prognosis in cases with lymphoma

Cancer breast: surgical study and the clinical impact of plasminogen activators

In the present work clinical and surgical study together with study of the activity levels of urokinase tissue plasminogen activator in cytosols of 28 breast cancer patients together with 15 patients with non malignant breast lesions and 10 healthy breast tissues was done. The study revealed significantly enhanced activity of urokinase tissue plasminogen activator in malignant cytosols compared with both non malignant and healthy cytosols. However, the levels in non malignant, breast cytosols were significantly higher than normal cytosols, but in these cases the activity levels did not reach the levels observed in malignant tissues. Patients with advanced stages had higher levels compared with early stages of breast cancer. The activity levels were insignificantly higher in premenopausal compared with postmenopausal breast cancer cytosols. Despite the higher levels in estrogen receptor positive cases compared with estrogen receptor negative cytosols, the levels did not reach the level of significance. Patients with metastatic disease had significantly higher levels than patients with non-metastatic breast cancer. Nevertheless, patients with good prognosis have lower levels than patients with bad prognosis. Significant positive correlation existed between urokinase tissue plasminogen activator and number of lymph nodes with metastatic deposits [r = 0.8, p <0.001]. The present findings clearly indicated the utility of cytosolar urokinase tissue plasminogen activator as a valuably tumor marker in aiding diagnosis, staging and predicting prognosis of patients with breast cancer

Delorme's procedure for complete rectal prolapse

26 cases of complete rectal prolapse were operated upon by Delorme's procedure between January 1991 and December 1992 with a follow up for recurrence till December 1993. Age ranged between 23 and 82 years. There were 22 males and 4 females. Two cases of recurrence were seen [ages 58 and 76]; one of them was successfully reoperated and the other resorted to an abdominal procedure. Only one case developed mucosal prolapse which was treated by ligation excision. Four patients with associated incontinence to solid stools and gas were corrected for both by Delorme's procedure. This procedure proved to be easy and safe especially in debilitated patients