The role of innate immunity in spontaneous regression of cancer.

Nature has provided us with infections - acute and chronic - and these infections have both harmful and beneficial effects on the human system. Worldwide, a number of chronic infections are associated with a risk of cancer, but it is also known that cancer regresses when associated with acute infections such as bacterial, viral, fungal, protozoal, etc. Acute infections are known to cure chronic diseases since the time of Hippocrates. The benefits of these fever producing acute infections has been applied in cancer vaccinology such as the Coley's toxins. Immune cells like the natural killer cells, macrophages and dendritic cells have taken greater precedence in cancer immunity than ever before. This review provides an insight into the benefits of fever and its role in prevention of cancer, the significance of common infections in cancer regression, the dual nature of our immune system and the role of the often overlooked primary innate immunity in tumor immunology and spontaneous regression of cancer.

Primary carcinoma of the ureter--a 24-year-study from south India.

This study from India has envisaged a characterization of primary carcinomas of the ureter using a review of all available Indian literature over a period of 32 years. The character of the tumor in the Indian patients was clinically; pain, abdominal lump and haematuria with most neoplasms being single, situated in the ureteric pelvis and such neoplasms being squamous cell in type. The others were transitional cell carcinomas. Similar ureteric neoplasms reported from Western literature showed that the reporting authors gave the predominant complaint as haematuria alone, the neoplasm being usually multicentric and histologically mainly transitional cell carcinoma. Although a significant follow up could not be achieved among the 101 Indian patients, Western authors found that muscle invasion was the single most important histologically related point to endanger a good progress. The possible pathogenesis that could be thought of appears to be related to stasis.

Atmospheric temperature & anovulation in south Indian women with primary infertility.

An attempt at correlating atmospheric temperature, humidity and histologically diagnosed anovulatory endometrium has been made. A total of 140 women who had anovulatory endometrium among 1036 patients who had a clinical diagnosis of primary infertility, over a 5 yr period were studied. The principle of Edwards' test was used to analyse the seasonal trends and the seasonal index for the occurrence of anovulatory endometrium, atmospheric temperature and humidity was calculated using the average percentage method. The results suggest that anovulatory cycles in women with infertility tended to occur more during those months in the year when temperature increased (r = 0.63). However, humidity was not related to anovulation.

Determination of the probable date of delivery using vaginal cytology as an index.

70 normal pregnant females were used for the study, 47 of whom had vaginal cytological follow-up from week 32 till the first stage of labour. 23 additional patients had vaginal smears made in the first stage of labour. The combined intermediate cell value was used as an index of impending labour with values at week 38 being 90.35 +/- 0.0863, week 39 being 89.41 +/- 0.1934, week 40 being 81.25 +/- 0.0558 and at labour being 78.75 +/- 0.0995. The primigravidae showed a stepwise, gradual decrease in mean intermediate cell value from week 38 onwards, while the multigravidae showed a drop only at week 40. From this study, it has been shown, that it is possible to predict labour. It was also evident that there is a difference in reactivity of a primigravida versus multigravida to decreases in circulating progesterone as gauged by intermediate cell counts.

Endometrial biopsy in women with primary infertility.

Of 2616 endometrial biopsies received over a 55 month period, 1022 (39.1%) were from patients with primary infertility. All endometria from these patients were reviewed and while most diagnosis agreed with the primary diagnosis made by the reporting pathologist, an interobserver difference of 6.8 per cent was found. This difference occurred only on biopsies with anovulatory endometrium. Of the 1022 patients, 238 had definite hormonal derangements as assessed by morphological means on endometrial biopsy. Anovulation as assessed by glandular stromal dissociation and as a cause of infertility was noted in 12.6 per cent patients. The incidence of anovulation increased over the age period of 20-25 yr, with a peak at 25 yr. A close parallel was found of the period of anovulation and the period of nubility. An inflammatory cause for the infertility appeared to be negligible in our series.

Intestinal metaplasia in benign and malignant gastric lesions.

The purpose of this study has been to determine the prevalence of intestinal metaplasia (IM) and its subtypes in normal, benign and malignant states, with special reference to the significance of presence as well as location of sulphomucins in the metaplastic epithelium. Sixty-seven specimens of the normal, benign chronic gastric disease and gastric carcinoma have been studied. The overall prevalence of IM in gastric carcinoma has been found to be much higher (67 percent) than in the normal (nil) and benign lesions of stomach (11 percent). The sulphomucins producing IM also has a higher prevalence in gastric carcinoma (70 percent) but can occur in benign conditions also (40 percent). On the other hand Type III IM, characterized by sulphomucins in the columnar cells is seen only in gastric carcinoma, and not in the benign lesions.

Herpetic cervicitis--a histo-morphologic study.

The purpose of this paper has been to find out the prevalence of herpetic cervicitis among routine surgical cervical biopsies, categorize the morphological changes and study their evolution. In a 51-month-period, 879 human uterine cervices were examined histologically, 19 percent (168) conforming to predetermined criteria for herpetic cervicitis. These criteria were typed as A through D starting with nuclear homogenization and passing through vesicle formation, bulla formation and finally ulceration. The type D lesion showed an agglomeration of Type A-C morphological changes occurring together, in addition to which focal submucosal haemorrhages were seen with severe congestion. The presence of the Herpes virus was confirmed with the Peroxidase-Antiperoxidase stain and the evolution of the bullae studied by means of the Alcian Blue-Periodic Acid Schiff stain (AB-PAS), Methyl Green-Pyronine (MG-P) stain and the Reticulum stain.