Evaluation of chemosensitivity in vitro of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma using trypan blue cell viability test, a pilot study

The response of 10 patients with nodal non-Hodgkin's lymphoma to several chemotherapeutic regimes including CHOP, BECOP, and C-MOPP was evaluated by in-vitro assessment of cell viability using trypan blue dye exclusion test. Tumor cell samples were obtained by needle aspiration of the largest lymph node prior to treatment and/or during the course of chemotherapy. In freshly prepared cell suspension, the total number of cells and the number of viable cells which excluded the dye were counted to calculate percent viability. Air dried smears from the same samples were stained with Romanowsky stain for cytomorphologic studies. The percent viability of tumor cells ranged between 78 and 99% [mean 92.5%] in the samples examined prior to treatment. Persistence of high percent viability [mean 96.6%], while receiving chemotherapy occurred in 5 patients. Four out of these 5 patients still did not achieve clinical complete remission [CR]. Marked drop of percent viability [mean 23.3%] was noticed in 3 patients. Two of them entered into CR and the third showed clinical partial remission [PR] in a very short time. This drop in percent viability may provide an early prediction to the response of cases to treatment. Cytomorphologic evaluation confirmed the previous findings in most of samples examined. Thus, percent cell viability test may prove to be a simple and efficient technique for monitoring the effects of chemotherapy, specially in cases not responding to treatment. However, a final conclusion needs a larger number of cases and a longer period of follow-up

In vitro study of estrogen receptor status in breast cancer

The estrogen receptor [ER] of 10 invasive duct carcinomas [IDC] of the breast were evaluated in vitro using a modified immunoperoxidase technique. Tumours were grown on gelfoam rafts in short term organ culture. Samples of tumour tissue were studied both histologically and histochemically prior to culture [zero time], and after 2.7 and 10 days of in vitro growth. At zero time 9 out of 10 cases studied were ER+ve. The average percentage of positive cells was higher [78.5%] in grade two than in grade three [67.5%] tumours. Moreover, the reaction was more intense in grade two neoplasms. These zero time values were maintained in vitro for [2-7] days before a decline both in average percentage of ER+ve cells [50%] and mean intensity of reaction [+] was noticed. Grade three tumours showed earlier decline [7th day] compared to grade two [10th day]. One case of grade three tumours showed total loss of its ER content on 2nd day of culture due to tissue degeneration. A positive correlation was observed between ER status of tumour prior to and during short term in vitro growth. The decline notices in ER content of tumours during culture was probably due to cellular proliferation in vitro which was associated with dedifferentiation rather than cellular degeneration. This investigation suggests that ER status is a dynamic rather than a static phenomenon, a situation that could exist in vivo

Detecion of mutagenicity in Urothelial cells of bilharzial patients by "the micronucleus test"

The association between bilharzial cystitis and cancer bladder has been repeatedly reported. No direct evidence however could be demonstrated to prove and disclose the exact nature of this relation. The present study represents an original attempt to detect evidence of mutagenicity in urothelial cells exfoliated from bilharzial patients, by the use of the micronucleus test. This new technique, which is being used for the first time in Egypt, was applied to 23 patients with active urinary bilharziasis and 15 controls. Cases exposed to known mutmutagenic factors like heavy smokers and alcoholics were excluded. Urine smears were prepared from the studied cases, stained with Feulgen-fast green and examined for chromatin fragments seen as free paticles in the cytoplasm of the interphase cells. A significantly higher frequency of these microunculeated urothelial cells was observed in smears taken from patients with bilharzial cystitis [7.17%] as compared to the control group [0.53%]. A possible mutagen is thus suspected in the urine of bilharzial patients as detected by the micronucleus test, which proved to be simple and efficient. Our results could offer an explanation for the higher incidence of bladder cancer in patients with urinary bilharziasis. Further studies are needed to confirm our findings and to reveal the exact nature of these mutagenic and potentially carcinogenic agents

Malignant fibrous histiocytoma of soft tissue

Malignant fibrous histiocytoma is a common soft tissue sarcoma characterised by mixed fibro-histiocytic cells and storiform pattern. Its frequency in Egypt to other soft tissue sarcomas has not been previously reported. A retrospective study was done on 70 cases of soft tissue sarcomas registered at the Department of Pathology, National Cancer Institute of Cairo University. The records as well as the pathologic material of this series were revised. Out of these 70 sarcomas, twelve showed the morphological, features of malignant fibrous histiocytoma; a relative frequency of 17.1. Ten cases were previously mistyped as fibrosarcoma, rhabdomyosarcoma and other sarcomas. The tumors were located at the lower limb [8], retroperitoneum [3] and head and neck regions [1] .Their sizes varied from 1 cm. to 15 cm. The average patient's age was 50.6 years, and the male sex predominated [11: 1]. The management and prognosis of this recently recognised tumor is outlined