An analysis of the survival rate after radiotherapy in lung cancer patients with bone metastasis: is there an optimal subgroup to be treated with high-dose radiation therapy?

We investigated the prognostic factors after radiotherapy for bone metastasis from lung cancer while taking the recent findings in the treatment of such cases into consideration. A total of 132 patients with bone metastases from pathologically confirmed lung cancer were evaluated regarding the following potential prognostic factors: treatment for primary site (surgery vs. other), treatment site (spine vs. other), number of bone metastases (solitary vs. multiple), number of metastatic organs (0 vs. 1 vs. ≥2), neurological symptoms (no symptoms vs. numbness vs. paresis), degree of pain (no pain vs. mild pain vs. severe pain), performance status [PS] (0-1 vs. ≥2), biological effective dose [BED] (≥40 Gy vs. <40Gy), time to distant metastasis (≥1 year vs. <1 year), histology (adenocarcinoma vs. others), and use of epidermal growth factor receptor [EGFR]-targeted agents (Yes vs. No). The univariate analysis demonstrated that all factors except for the treatment site were significant. Surgery as treatment for primary site, solitary bone metastasis, no visceral organ metastasis, no symptoms or numbness, no pain, PS<2, BED≥40 Gy, time to distant metastasis ≥ 1year, adenocarcinoma histology, and use of EGFR-targeted agents were correlated with a favorable prognosis. In a multivariate analysis, solitary bone metastasis, PS<2, BED≥40 Gy, adenocarcinoma histology, and the use of EGFR-targeted agents were significantly correlated with a better survival (p = 0.038, 0.006, 0.003, 0.014, and <0.001, respectively). A contingency table to assess the relationship between each variable and the median survival time of the patients according to the administered BED showed that in patients with the time to distant metastasis ≥ 1year and the use of EGFR-targeted agents, the subgroups treated with BED≥40 Gy had a favorable prognosis. Our study suggests that high-dose radiotherapy is associated with a better prognosis in combination with other favorable prognostic factors.

[The effect of immunoglobulin preparation to cell infection with cytomegalovirus in vitro].

To evaluate the effectiveness of the immunoglobulin (IG) treatment for the prevention of cytomegalovirus (CMV) pneumonia in the cases with allogenic bone marrow transplantation (BMT), we examined the neutralizing activity of the IG preparation against both the free CMV particles and the cells infected with CMV in vitro. The results were as follows: 1) IG neutralized the free CMV particles but not the cells infected with CMV. 2) There was no difference in the number and size of plaques between the two overlay media with and without IG. These findings suggest that IG can not obstruct the cell to cell infection with CMV. Accordingly, it is concluded that if the effect of IG treatment in BMT cases is originated from the neutralizing antibody, it may be explained by neutralizing of the free viruses but not by obstructing the cell to cell infection with CMV.

A microplate method for isolation of viruses from infants and children with acute respiratory infections.

Between December 1984 and December 1986, a microplate technique was adopted for isolation of viruses from infants and children with acute respiratory infections. By using two kinds of tissue culture microplates, i.e., the HHVM plate, containing human embryonic fibroblast (HEF), HEp-2, Vero and MDCK cells, and the MK plate which contains secondary monkey kidney cells, 1,080 field viruses were isolated from 1,061 (24.9%) out of 4,254 throat swabs. Of these 1,080 isolates, 1,003 (92.9%) were recovered in the HHVM plates and the remaining 77 (7.1%) in the MK plates. With the HHVM plate, influenza A and B viruses were cultivated in MDCK, RS virus in HEp-2, parainfluenza and mumps viruses in Vero, adenoviruses in both HEF and HEp-2, polioviruses in HEF, HEp-2 and Vero, coxsackie B viruses in both HEp-2 and Vero, rhino and echo viruses in HEF, herpes simplex virus in both HEF and HEp-2, and cytomegalovirus in HEF, although MK were more sensitive than Vero to parainfluenza and coxsackie B viruses. There was no difference in the rate of isolation of viruses between the microplate and ordinary tube methods. Cross contamination in the microplates was negligible for routine work.

[Distant metastases from carcinoma of the oral cavity and pharynx].

Distant metastases were detected clinically in 25 (14%) of 173 patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the oral cavity and pharynx admitted from 1975 to 1982. The probability of distant metastases was higher in patients with advanced tumor (stages III and IV: 21%; T4: 27%; N3: 37%), lymphoepithelioma (57%) and in patients with a decreased lymphocyte count in the peripheral blood at presentation (less than 1300/microliter; 58%). The incidence of metastases in advanced cases was 45% in the oropharynx, 24% in the nasopharynx and 20% in the oral cavity. Whether the regional tumor had been controlled or not in advanced cases, there was no difference between the incidence and the period of detection of distant metastases.

Virus excretion and cell-mediated immunity during cytomegalovirus infection among healthy infants and children.

Specific cell-mediated immunity (CMI) and virus isolation were examined longitudinally to clarify the mechanism of the cessation of virus excretion in inapparent cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection among healthy infants and children. We measured leukocyte procoagulant activity (LPCA) responses to CMV antigen and to a purified protein derivative of tuberculin (PPD), with results expressed as a percentage reduction of recalcification (RC) time. Based on the results in seropositive and seronegative adult control subjects, reductions in RC time of more than 10% were considered indicative of a positive LPCA response. The CMV-specific LPCA response was negative in all infants shedding the virus, despite the presence of circulating antibodies, but were converted from negative to positive when the virus excretion ceased. This suggests that cessation of the virus excretion in inapparent CMV infection among healthy infants and children probably results from the specific CMI.

Steroid metabolism in Bombyx mori, I. Catabolism of ponasterone A and ecdysterone in Bombyx mori.

Ponasterone A, when injected into silkworm larvae (Bombyx mori), was hydroxylated at C-25 and C-26 with the formation of ecdysterone and inokosterone, followed by fission at C-20:C-22 to form poststerone. The catabolism of ecdysterone to poststerone was also clarified. These conversions are thought to constitute part of the detoxication mechanism for exogenous ecdysones in the insect.