The correlations between blood flow or glucose metabolism and distribution of DNA synthesizing cells were simultaneously investigated in the same rat brain tumors using autoradiographic technique and immunoperoxidase stain. Two rat brain tumor strains (A and B) induced by Rous sarcoma virus were used. A suspension of 1 X 10(4) rat brain tumor cells was stereotactically implanted into the right basal ganglia of syngenic Fischer 344/Du Crj rats. The tumor strain A bearing rats died 12.0 +/- 1.8 days and the tumor strain B bearing rats died 17.6 +/- 1.3 days after the tumor implantation. Blood flow and glucose metabolism were measured with 14C-iodoantipyrine and 14C-2-deoxy-D-glucose autoradiography. All rats also received a 1-h i.v. infusion of BrdU, 5-20 mg, at the autoradiographic procedure. The immunoperoxidase staining for BrdU (Avidin Biotin peroxidase complex method) and other conventional stainings were performed in the sections alternating with the autoradiographic sections. BrdU-positive nuclei (S-phase cells) were heterogeneously distributed and labeling index ranged from less than 1% to more than 40% in the tumors. Neoplastic vessels tended to be distributed in the peripheral part of the tumor and were surrounded with S-phase cells in a part of the tumor. The blood flow was heterogeneously distributed in the tumor and the average blood flow reduced to about 50% in the tumor strain A and to about 60% in the tumor strain B, respectively in comparison with contralateral cortex. The distribution of blood flow did not correlate with the distribution of S-phase cells nor the distribution of neoplastic vessels.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

A mass screening has been performed for the early detection of colon cancer by evaluating Hemocult II slides of blood relatives of patients with endometrial cancer. Though the defect of this screening is that the subject of the investigation, which was undertaken in all parts of Japan, is restricted, one case of colon cancer, two cases of colon polyposis, two cases of hemorrhoids, and one case of colon diverticulum have been uncovered by this screening. The rate of discovery of colon cancer proved to be 0.45%, a rate that is higher than seen in usual screening method. It has been concluded that blood relatives of patients with endometrial cancer should be screened, since they represent a high risk group for developing colon cancer.

A 72-year-old male was admitted because of right lower quadrant pain, Barium enema and total colonoscopy disclosed multiple colon cancers and sequentially, a subtotal colectomy was performed. The resected specimen demonstrated 3 advanced carcinomas and an adenomatous cancer with additional multiple polyps. Investigation of his family history revealed that his mother and his elder sister had died of uterine cancer, and that his elder brother, his nephew, and his niece had been operated on for colorectal cancer. We thus supposed a case of "Cancer Family Syndrome" presenting multiple neoplasms of the colon.

A new tumor cell line derived from the ascites of a patient with adenocarcinoma of the head of pancreas was established in culture and the nude mouse. The cell line was characterized by the growth with a population doubling time of 22 hr., a high plating efficiency on the plastic surface and a modal chromosome number of 66. The tumorigenicity was proved by the growth in nude mouse and in soft agar. Morphologically the cell line grew as a confluent monolayer with tight adhesion to the plastic surface. Histologically the cell line was epithelial-like in culture and poorly differentiated adenocarcinoma in nude mouse. Ultrastructurally the cell line showed a characteristic pancreatic epithelium. Furthermore, the cell line expressed carbohydrate antigen 19-9 and carcinoembryonic antigen. This cell line, designated JHP-1, has been cultured for at least 100 passages in vitro and maintained for more than 2 years. This cell line would be used as a new model for human pancreatic carcinoma.

In 25 cases of primary hepatocellular carcinomas, the relationships between clinical, pathological features and DNA histogram patterns were investigated. Nuclear DNA histogram that represents cell cycle and indicates biological malignancy of carcinoma was analyzed by rapid image sensor analytical system scanning enable to measure the density, area and perimeter of nuclei even on thin tissue sections. Histograms of over 65 years old patients showed low ploidy pattern rather than that of less than 65 patients whose AFP values are over 1000 ng/ml showed statistically higher ploidy pattern compared to those of under 10 ng/ml. No significant relations were verified between pathological findings and DNA histogram patterns. But patients who died within 18 months after hepatectomy showed broad and high ploidy histogram patterns compared to patients who lived over 18 months. These results suggested that DNA histogram analysis is useful for evaluate the biological malignancy of primary hepatocellular carcinoma.

We have examined the efficacy of various drugs in 44 patients with MDS and found the different effectiveness which depends on the type of MDS. Namely, RA appears to respond to steroid hormone, androgen, and/or vitamin D3, regardless of single or combined use. In particular, it is obvious in androgen, and as our previous reports, high content of acidic ferritin in RBC with RA have changed to more basic ones by treatment with androgen. On the contrary, these drugs were not effective on RAEB, RAEB-T, and CMML. A long-term observation is needed to determine whether the prolonged or decreased occurrence of leukemia could be obtained in the effective cases with RA. Most of the cases who did not develop overt leukemia during this study died of bleeding or infections due to thrombocytopenia or leukocytopenia, thus indicating that supportive therapies are important in patients with MDS. Since it has recently been reported that recombinant G-CSF or GM-CSF is helpful to increase the number of leucocyte and to enhance their functional recovery in MDS, these factors may be powerful agents against infections when they are carefully used with regard to the activation of leukemic clones.

The expressions of epidermal growth factor (EGF), EGF receptor, transforming growth factor (TGF) alpha and c-Ha-ras p21 in human gastric carcinomas were studied immunohistochemically. Any of these four marker proteins from gastric tumor cells was closely correlated with the depth of tumor invasion. The incidences of cases with EGF or synchronous expression of TGF alpha and c-Ha-ras in metastatic tumors were significantly higher than those in primary tumors (p less than 0.05 or p less than 0.01). Patients with synchronous expression of EGF and its receptor or TGF alpha and ras p21 had a far poorer prognosis than those without such synchronous expression. These findings strongly suggest that the EGF-related growth factors, EGF-receptor and ras p21 mutually play an important role in tumor progression and could be useful as potential metastatic and/or prognostic markers for gastric carcinoma.

Small cell lung carcinoma (SCLC) is histologically simple, and shows a characteristic ultrastructure and very complex functions. Recently, a large amount of information has been accumulated by fundamental research, largely involving studies on many cultured cell lines. Now their potential application to the therapy of SCLC is being sought. A characteristic ultrastructural feature is the presence of dense-cored neurosecretory-type granules 100-200 nm in diameter. In addition, epithelial cell characteristics are noted. Predominance of either a neurosecretory or epithelial nature may affect the responsiveness of tumors to therapy. Many kinds of brain-gut hormones are produced by SCLC. Gastrin-releasing peptide (GRP) has attracted much attention as an autocrine growth factor for SCLC. Aromatic L-amino acid decarboxylase (AADC), neuron-specific enolase (NSE) and creatine kinase BB (CK-BB) are rather specific to SCLC. NSE and CK-BB together with GRP are good monitoring markers during treatment. Amplification of c-myc, N-myc and L-myc is seen in SCLCs. Areas both with and without N-myc amplification are found in both the primary site and metastatic sites in a single case. Del 3p(14-23) is characteristic for SCLC but SCLCs without such deletion are also present. A cytologically "variant" type is composed of cells simulating "large cells", in which the doubling time is short, AADC and GRP are undetectable, granules are rare, and the cells are resistant to radiation. However, one cell line of the classic type has revealed reversible squamous cell change in the absence of retinoic acid, becoming radioresistant without showing any remarkable changes in AADC, NSE or CK-BB. Since SCLC mixed with "large cells" or "small cell carcinoma of undifferentiated type" is resistant to therapy and possesses a more epithelial nature, small cell carcinoma with a large cell component has been proposed as a subtype. The question of whether this subclassification is practical should be confirmed by prospective study.