Investigative & cell pathology最新文献

The incidence of mammary tumours in the bitch is probably three times as great as in women. While many of these tumours are mixed mammary tumours about one-third are carcinomas which resemble human breast carcinomas. Allowing for differences in life span, the age at onset is similar in both species. The World Health Organization classification of tumours and dysplasias of the canine mammary gland follows as far as possible the WHO classification for human breast tumours. Clinical staging of canine mammary tumours has now been completed. Some prognostic factors are similar in both species but regional lymph node metastasis does not seem to be of major importance in the bitch; mitotic activity may also not be as important as in women. Metastatic spread is broadly similar in both species except that involvement of the liver and skeleton is not as common in the bitch as in women. In older normal Beagles hyperplastic and neoplastic nodules commonly appear in the mammary gland, and they occur earlier in animals receiving large doses of progestogens. This has produced problems for the drug industry when conducting long-term carcinogenicity tests on progestogens present in the human contraceptive pill. Despite considerable endocrinological differences between the two species, oophorectomy is sparing for breast cancer in both. As in women, oestrogen and progesterone receptors have been detected in mammary carcinomas in bitches. Canine tumours can be grown in tissue culture but cloned cell lines have not yet been obtained. Transplantation can be made into nude mice and immunosuppressed neonatal dogs. The prognosis following mastectomy for invasive tubular adenocarcinoma and invasive solid carcinoma in the bitch is poor and these histological types make the best models for breast cancer in women. International trials are planned using chemotherapy and/or immunotherapy following mastectomy and, as results can be obtained within 3 years of commencement, it is expected that canine mammary tumours will play an increasingly important role in research which may lead to improved methods of treatment in human breast cancer.

This paper discusses the role of radiosensitizers not only as adjuncts in the radiotherapy of local neoplastic disease but also in the potential management of metastases by virtue of their direct cytotoxic effects upon hypoxic cells.

This paper examines the extent to which understanding of six of the principle disorders of connective tissue: the glycosaminoglycan storage diseases, ankylosing spondylitis, rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus, chondrocalcinosis, and osteoarthrosis, has progressed during the past ten years. The paper recalls the pioneer observations of PAUL KLEMPERER on the systemic diseases of collagen, and introduces a series of reviews in which advances in present understanding of some of the connective tissue diseases will be examined in greater detail.

The plasma acute phase reactant proteins are a group consisting mainly of glycosialated proteins, whose levels rise in response to a wide variety of injuries. This review discusses how by considering several APRPs coincidentally the pattern of change can have a discriminant function which can be used alone or to enhance other biochemical tests, especially in the monitoring of disease.

A case of extrarenal nephroblastoma in a girl aged 5 1/2 years is reported. From a review of the few other published instances, it is apparent that extrarenal Wilms' tumours are rare occurrences which present a number of unanswered questions of great theoretical interest, particularly as far as their relation to teratomas is concerned.

The distribution of ruthenium red (RR)-bound cell surface carbohydrates and desmosomes was studied during epithelial adhesion and seam formation stages of palatal development in the hamster. Before closure, RR-positive material was observed on the plasma membrane of the superficial cells and in the intercellular spaces of the palatal epithelium. At the time of initial contact, RR-bound substance was absent or reduced on the outer plasma membrane and desmosomes were forming between the epithelial cells of the opposing palatal shelves. Except in the oral and nasal triangular areas, RR-positive material was absent in the epithelial seam. Quantitative analysis showed a three-fold increase in the number of desmosomes from the vertical stage to the epithelial fusion stage which correlated well with the disappearance of RR-bound material. Desmosome formation appears crucial during initial adhesion between epithelia of the opposing palatal shelves and during the formation and maintenance of the seam.

The I/i Pr1-2 and Gd antigens are the targets of cold agglutinins. The expression of these antigens in the main organs of four mammalian species was studied by indirect immunofluorescence. Specific distribution patterns were observed and possible clinical aspects of the findings are discussed.