[Diagnosis and therapy of malignant testicular neoplasms]. / Diagnostik und Therapie maligner Hodentumoren.

For successful treatment of even advanced testicular tumors an accurate histological classification and clinical staging is necessary. The pathohistomorphological classification can be completed by the so-called tumor markers such as alpha-fetoprotein and beta-humanchoriongonadotropin (beta-HCG). These markers are especially valuable in the follow-up of the patient and in the control of the therapeutical effectivity. By optimal diagnosis and therapy seminomas in stage I and II are in 70% to 100%, teratomas in 40% to 80% curable; in the more advanced stages in 30 to 40% a two years relapse-free time can be obtained.

[Immune diagnosis of malignant diseases. X. Value of the electrophoresis mobility test in the diagnosis of broncho-pulmonary diseases]. / Immundiagnostik maligner Erkrankungen X. Der Wert des Elektrophorese-Mobilitäts-Tests in der Diagnostik broncho-pulmonaler Erkrankungen.

The frequency of bronchial carcinoma has increased significantly during the last five years. The prognosis depends very much on early diagnosis. With non-invasive methods the diagnosis can often not be certified and the dignity of a tumor can often not be judged preoperatively. With the EMT a differentiation between malignant and non-malignant pulmonary diseases is possible. The EMT is an in vitro cancer test to detect specific sensitised lymphocytes. After incubation with the encephalitogenic factor (EF) lymphocytes of patients with malignant diseases release a factor that slows the mobility of tanned and sulphosalicylic-acid stabilised sheep erythrocytes (ETS) in an electrical field. 96 patients with pulmonary diseases were checked; all malignant pulmonary diseases but one showed an inhibition of the ETS mobility, while the controls showed an acceleration; in the groups with benign pulmonary diseases most patients showed an acceleration, only in sarcoidosis in four out of twelve patients a slight ETS inhibition was registered. The differences between both groups are significant (p less than 0.001). The EMT differentiates reliably in malignant and non-malignant diseases. False-negative results are obtained during radiation and chemotherapy. In connection with other diagnostic aids the EMT is a valuable diagnostic method, by which the early cancer detection can be improved and the prognosis of the patients bettered significantly.

Immunodiagnostics of malignant disease. VI. Electrophoretic mobility test (EMT) in malignant melanoma.

The electrophoretic mobility test (EMT) is an in vitro assay for demonstrating cellular immunity. In the presence of tumor antigens lymphocytes of tumor patients liberate lymphokines, which reduce the charge of indicator particles resulting in a measurable reduction of their eletrophoretic mobility. Lymphocytes of 174 patients were tested by EMT. The antigens used were a basic myelin protein termed encephalitogenic factor (EF) and a 3M KCl extract from melanoma tissue. In 91% of the cancer patients there was a positive lymphocyte response. In contrast to this the controls and non-malignant diseases showed a positive result in only 8.7% of the cases. Using the 3M KCl extract from melanoma tissue as tissue as antigen 1 of the benign controls, 3 patients with nonmalignant diseases and none of the 49 patients with malignant diseases reacted positively, whereas in the melanoma group 86% showed a positive lymphocyte response. The results show the possibility of demonstrating tumor specific immune reaction in the EMT.

[Value of the nitroblue tetrazolium test (NBT) in the clinical diagnosis of bacterial infections]. / Wertigkeit des Nitroblautetrazolium (NBT)-Testes in der klinischen Diagnostik bakterieller Erkrankungen.

107 patients and 27 normal individuals underwent the NBT test, as described by PARK et al., in order to ascertain whether it helps to diagnose a bacterial infection. The patients studied consisted of a group with bacterial infections, and a further group suffering from a variety of internal organic diseases of non-bacterial genesis. At the same time, the absolute leucocyte count, the differential blood count, the erythrocyte sedimentation rate, and the leucocyte phosphatase were evaluated. In 84% of the patients with bacterial infections, the values of the NBT test, which are normally between 3 and 14%, were considerably higher, while the value in patients without bacterial infection was only 4% higher than the normal rate. Neither with the leucocyte count, the erythrocyte sedimentation rate, the deviation to the left, nor with the alkaline leucocyte phosphatase was such accuracy obtainable. It is, however, essential that the methodology is closely observed, as even slight changes during the processing can alter the result. The evaluation of the preparations by an experienced analyst is, of course, prerequisite.

[Gliadin-induced migration inhibition of peripheral leucocytes by the agarose-plate technique in patients with coeliac disease (author's transl)]. / Gliadin-induzierte Migrationshemmung peripherer Leukozyten in der Agaroseplattentechnik bei Patienten mit Coeliakie

Sensitisation to gliadin was studied--using a modified leucocyte-migration inhibtion test after Clausen--in patients with coeliac disease (10 patients), ulcerative colitis (9), terminal ileitis (9), bacterial diarrhoea (9), and other gastro-intestinal diseases (14). Only the group of patients with coeliac disease had such specific sensitisation. The migration index, at 0.72 +/- 0.06, was significantly lower in them than in other groups. This reaction is disease-specific and indicates that in coeliac disease cellular immune mechanisms also play a role. The specificity of the reaction can also be used diagnostically.

[Immunodiagnosis of malignant disease. I. The electrophoresis-mobility test in the diagnosis of bronchial carcinoma (author's transl)]. / Immundiagnostik maligner Erkrankungen. I. Der Elektrophorese-Mobilitäts-Test in der Diagnostik des Bronchialkarzinoms

The electrophoresis-mobility test is an in-vitro method for demonstrating specific sensitized lymphocytes. After incubation with the encephalitogenic factor, lymphocytes from patients with malignant disease liberate a factor which causes a decrease in migration velocity of indicator cells (tanned and sulphosalicyl acid-stabilised sheep erythrocytes = ETS) in an electrical field. 84 patients with pulmonary disease and 20 control persons were examined. An inhibition of ETS migration was found only in patients with malignant pulmonary disease, while in the control subjects and those with inflammatory or degenerative pulmonary disease or benign pulmonary tumour ETS migration was accelerated. The difference between the two groups is statistically significant so that it provides a reliable differentiation between benign and malignant disease. False-negative results, however, occur under radiotherapy and chemotherapy.

Immunodiagnostics of malignant diseases. II. The electrophoretic mobility test in the diagnosis of gynecological malignancies.

We applied the electrophoretic mobility test (EMT) to 117 patients. 49 patients suffered from gynecological malignant tumors of different types and eleven had a carcinoma in situ. 57 patients served as a control group, 26 of whom were clinically healthy volunteers and 31 had benign gynecological diseases. In the EMT all malignant cases had inhibition values of at least-5% or even more. All other tested persons, the so-called non-malignant or healthy cases, had an inhibition of less than -5% or even an acceleration of the tanned sheep erythrocytes stabilized with sulfosalicylic acid (ETS).

[The leucocyte-migration-inhibition-test in the diagnostic of sarcoidosis (author's transl)]. / Der Leukocytenmigrations-Inhibitions-Test in der Diagnostik des Morbus Boeck

The positive diagnosis of a sarcoidosis is often difficult since reliable laboratory and radiological parameters are not available. It is therefore often necessary to make the diagnosis with invasive methods. The Kveim skin test has many disadvantages, so that there have been many trials to facilitate the diagnosis by in vitro systems. With a modified and easy handable leucocyte migration technique in agarose (Clausen technique), 30 patients with certified sarcoidosis were tested. As controls served healthy volunteers and patients with various diseases such as Hodkins disease, Crohn's disease, tuberculosis etc. As antigene a Kveim suspension typ I was prepared according to Chase and was used in a concentration of 100 mug/ml. It could be shown, that leucocytes from patients with sarcoidosis demonstrated a significant inhibition of their migration in presence of Kveim antigene. Besides patients with Crohn's disease in no other group there was a migration inhibition. Therefore this in vitro system allows diagnostic differentiation and helps to find the diagnose which compares well to the results obtained with the Kveim skin test. Since the test is easy to perform and the results are available after 24 h the test is of diagnostic value for the clinical routine.