Contact plate thermography: a new technique for diagnosis of breast masses.

Ninety-four consecutive patients who underwent breast biopsy were prospectively evaluated with contact plate thermography. Final diagnosis based on surgically excised tissue was used as the standard of comparison. There were 77 benign lesions and 17 malignant lesions in the study group. A diagnosis of cancer was made by contact plate thermography in 11 of the 17 patients with malignant neoplasms, with six false-negative diagnoses. Among the 77 histologically benign lesions, contact plate thermography made the correct diagnosis in 66 cases, with 11 false-positive results. Considering all 94 patients, contact plate thermography was accurate in 81.9%, with 6.4% false-negative and 11.7% false-positive diagnoses. These data compared favorably with other diagnostic data used in this study, namely physical examination and mammography. Contact plate thermography is a quick, inexpensive, and harmless diagnostic procedure. Further evaluation of it is indicated, including its possible inclusion in breast cancer screening programs.

Arterial catheter embolization followed by surgery for large chemodectoma.

We report on the first successful preoperative arterial catheter embolization of a large neck chemodectoma followed by its surgical removal. A 21-year-old man presented with a large mass in the right neck diagnosed 5 years previously by biopsy as a chemodectoma. The patient previously had refused therapy. Because of concern over the large size of the mass and increasing difficulty in swallowing, he agreed to undergo therapy. The patient underwent selective occlusion of the occipital and posterior auricular arteries and the thyrocervical trunk using Ivalon sponge emboli injected through a No. 5 Fr Hanafee catheter. A postembolization arteriogram showed 90% occlusion of tumor vascularity and 30% decrease in size of the tumor. This was followed by removal of the tumor surgically. A review of the difficult management of the patient is presented, and implications for future use of the combined procedures are discussed.

Immunotherapy of cancer with "immune" RNA. A preliminary report.

A phase I clinical trial of immunotherapy with "Immune" RNA was undertaken fifteen months ago. Twenty-six cancer patients were treated with RNA extracted from the lymphoid organs of sheep immunized with either autologous tumor cells or allogeneic tumor cells of the same histologic type. Eighteen patients had gross disease and eight had minimum residual disease. RNA was administered weekly, intradermally, at doses up to 9 mg/week without any significant local or systemic toxicity. Four patients improved, thirteen achieved stability of disease or possible improvement, seven were treatment failures, and two are indeterminate. Lymphocyte-mediated cytotoxicity to allogeneic tumor target cells of the same histologic type were monitored in eleven patients. In seven patients, cytotoxicity increased after "Immune" RNA therapy; no change was observed in three patients; a decrease was noted in one patient. There appeared to be a possible correlation between cytotoxicity assessed in vitro and clinical response. There is some evidence that these responses may be specific for the particular tumor used to immunize the RNA donor.

Local delayed cutaneous hypersensitivity reactions in breast cancer patients with and without removal of axillary lymph nodes.

Fifty-five patients were sensitized to dinitrochlorobenzene (DNCB). Two weeks later they were challenged. The minimal concentration yielding 2+ reactivity and one dilution above and below were then applied to the anterior chest wall on both the operated and nonoperated sides. Using multinomial chi-square statistical analysis, we found that the operated and nonoperated sides evidenced equal reactivity. Futhermore, the absence of axillary lymph nodes did not diminish the reactivity in the operated area. These data support the contention that maintenance of local cellular immunity, as assessed by DNCB skin test reactivity, is systemic and counters the argument that regional lymphadenectomy impairs local and/or systemic cellular immunity.

Mediation of cytotoxic immune responses against human tumor-associated antigens by allogeneic immune RNA.

Allogeneic immune RNA (I-RNA), extracted from the peripheral blood lymphocytes of patients putatively cured of cancer, mediated cytotoxic immune reactions that apparently were directed specifically against human tumor-associated antigens. I-RNA was extracted from the peripheral blood lymphocytes of patients with various types of cancer. Patients selected had not been previously sensitized to HL-A or other normal transplantation antigens or to blood group antigens. Normal human peripheral blood lymphocytes were incubated with these allogeneic I-RNA preparations and tested for cytotoxicity against human target cells in vitro. Allogeneic I-RNA mediated cytotoxic immune reactions only against tumor target cells of the same histologic type as the I-RNA donor. I-RNA's extracted from peripheral blood lymphocytes of melanoma patients mediated cytotoxic immune reactions only against melanoma cells. Similarly, only I-RNA's extracted from the lymphocytes of patients with colon cancer mediated cytotoxic immune reactions against colon carcinoma cells, and only I-RNA's from the lymphocytes of breast cancer patients mediated immune reactions against breast cancer target cells. Allogeneic I-RNA extracted from peripheral blood lymphocytes of cancer patients possibly mediated specific cytotoxic immune reactions that were directed against common tumor-associated antigens shared by human tumors of similar histologic type.