Journal of cancer research and clinical oncology
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J. Cancer Res. Clin. Oncol. · Jan 1998
The role of serum and gastric juice levels of carcinoembryonic antigen, CA19.9 and CA72.4 in patients with gastric cancer.
The aim of the present study was to investigate carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), CA19.9, and CA72.4 in the serum and gastric juice of patients with gastric cancer. ⋯ Levels of both serum and gastric juice tumor markers continue to have only limited diagnostic usefulness in gastric cancer patients. CEA and CA19.9 in the preoperative sera are good prognostic factors, whereas the presence of tumor markers in the gastric juice does not play any prognostic role.
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J. Cancer Res. Clin. Oncol. · Jan 1998
Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study Clinical TrialContinuous-infusion granisetron compared to ondansetron for the prevention of nausea and vomiting after high-dose chemotherapy.
The serotonin receptor antagonists effectively prevent emesis with little toxicity when employed with standard doses of emetogenic chemotherapy. The optimal approach to the prevention of the emesis associated with the high doses of chemotherapy used for autologous stem cell transplantation is not known. A randomized controlled trial was designed to assess the relative efficacy and toxicity of granisetron compared to ondansetron in the setting of autologous stem cell transplantation. ⋯ There was no significant difference between granisetron and ondansetron in either efficacy or toxicity. At our institution, the use of granisetron resulted in a moderate cost saving.
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J. Cancer Res. Clin. Oncol. · Jan 1998
Inability of galactoside-specific mistletoe lectin to inhibit N-methyl-N-nitrosourea-induced tumor development in the urinary bladder of rats and to mediate a local cellular immune response after long-term administration.
Extracts from mistletoe (Viscum album L.) are assumed to exert an antineoplastic activity through their toxicity at high doses or by immunomodulation by nanogram quantities of a lectin. They are used as an unconventional therapy modality in the management of a wide range of cancer diseases, although no anticancer potential has yet been demonstrated. This prompted us to study the effect of galactoside-specific lectin (VAA)--a major protein constituent of mistletoe with immunomodulatory properties--on chemically induced tumor development in the urinary bladder of rats and on the local cellular immune response after long-term administration. ⋯ Quantitative immunohistochemistry analyzing a panel of immune cell types, including T lymphocytes, T helper/inducer cells (CD4), T suppressor/cytotoxic cells (CD8), T cells positive for interleukin-2 receptor (CD25), B lymphocytes and plasma cells, macrophages, natural killer cells, granulocytes and all leukocytes expressing the leukocyte common antigen (CD45), yielded no evidence for the ability of VAA to stimulate a substantial cellular immunological reaction in the wall of the normal urinary bladder or during urothelial carcinogenesis. In conclusion, the current experimental findings provide no support at all that the galactoside-specific mistletoe lectin is capable of inhibiting chemically induced bladder carcinogenesis and triggering a local cellular immune response after prolonged application. It thus seems highly improbable that commercial mistletoe preparations or VAA will be effective in the management of human bladder cancer by a cell-mediated immunological mechanism.