Carcinomas of the cervix and corpus uteri in humans: stage-dependent blood levels of substance(s) immunologically cross-reactive with insulin.

Inasmuch as the elevated levels of substance(s) immunologically cross-reactive with insulin (SICRI) in a diabetic woman with carcinoma of the corpus uteri decreased following the surgical removal of the uterus and ovaries, 80 women with cervical carcinomas of various stages and 70 women with carcinomas of the corpus uteri of various stages were screened for the levels of SICRI and C-peptide. The levels of SICRI in the second, third, and fourth stages of the cancers were elevated (up to six times above the normal levels of immunoreactive insulin) and stage-dependent. The levels of C-peptide, which are related to the insulin-secreting activity of pancreatic beta-cells, were normal and independent of the stage of cancer.

[The value of the lymphocyte transformation index induced by mitogens in cervical carcinoma]. / Vrijednost indeksa blasticne transformacije limfocita izazvane mitogenom u bolesnica s karcinomom grla maternice.

Dynamics of immune reactivity in patients with the carcinoma of the cervix was determined. The transformation of their lymphocytes was induced in vitro by phytohemagglutinin (PHA), and the transformation index--a correlate of immunological reactivity--was determined at the following intervals: just before the start of the therapeutic procedure, at the end of the procedure, and every three months afterwards. Very low values of the transformation index, i. e. pronounced immunosuppression, characterized the initial period in all the patients, regardless of either the degree of the disease or the age of the patients. The suppression was prominent during 6 to 18 months following the therapeutic procedures and was overcome earlier in young patients bearing smaller tumors. The results indicate that in tumor-bearing patients a pronounced suppression of immune reactivity occurs after the PHA administration and that it could persist several months after the therapy.

[Immunoglobulins and complement in pregnant women with EPH gestosis (author's transl)]. / Imunoglobulini i komplement trudnica s EPH gestozom.

In pregnant women with EPH gestosis immunoglobulins in the serum, urine, amnionic fluid, and the umbilical cord serum were determined. The complement value was determined only in mother's serum. The control group consisted of pregnant women without any pathologic changes in the course of pregnancy and with a normal delivery. All children were normal. In the sera of pregnant women with EPH gestosis low IgG and IgM and normal IgA value were recorded. The total hemolytic activity of the complement was within normal, while the C3 component values was somewhat decreased. The finding of decreased IgG values could be explained, partly, by the permeability of the kidney and--the increased concentration of IgG in the urine and partly by the IgG binding into immunocomplexes. The decreased IgM values are assumed to be due to the IgM binding into EPH immunocomplexes. Normal complement values in EPH gestosis do not indicate an active immunologic reaction. Of special interest is the increased IgM level in the serum of the umbilical cord of children from women with EPH gestosis, which remains inexplicable but might suggest an intensified immunological challenge in the fetus.

[Desmoid in a laparatomy scar]. / Desmoid u oziljku laparotomije.

A patient, aged 55, three years after having undergone abdominal histerectomy and adnexectomy for a myoma, developed a hard swelling near the surgical cut in the abdominal wall. A similar swelling appeared also in another patient, aged 33, as early as three months following salpingectomy for tubal pregnancy. In both cases these hard tumours radially permeating the facia and muscles were surgically removed and histologically verified as desmoids.

[Immunoglobulins in women with cancer of the uterine body (before treatment)]. / Imunoglobulini u zena s rakom trupa maternice (prije lijecenja).

Thirty-five women aged 40 to 79 years with the carcinoma of the body of the uterus were before treatment examined for humoral immunity to find out if the diminished function of the immunological system and immunodeficiency lead to an increased proneness to malignant diseases. Concentrations of total serum proteins, electrophoresis of proteins, and the quantitative determination of G-, A-, and M- immunoglobulins were performed. Lower mean values of IgG (11.94 g/L) and IgA (1.91 g/L) were observed, whereas IgM concentrations did not reveal a statistically significant difference compared with healthy women. The classes, light and heavy chains, as well as immunoglobulin fragments were investigated by immunoelectrophoresis with monospecific antisera. The results revealed a significant accumulation of certain parts of the immunoglobulin molecule, such as gamma heavy chains (in 63% of patients), kappa (77%) and lambda light chains (37%), and fragments--Fab (37%), Fc (57%) i Fd (40%), showing no antibody properties in comparison with the control group of healthy women.