Squalane as a possible carrier of bone morphogenetic protein.

Gelatin capsules containing squalane partially purified bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) complex were placed on the perimuscular membrane of rats. Two kinds of control, gelatin capsules containing only BMP and those bearing squalane only, were used. The embedded areas were histopathologically examined at 3 and 6 wk after the operation. The observations revealed that the squalane/BMP complex elicited wide heterotopic bone formation with bone marrow tissue, suggesting that squalane is a possible carrier of BMP for clinical applications.

[Six cases of primary pulmonary cryptococcosis].

Six patients with asymptomatic primary pulmonary Cryptococcosis are reported. In all of the patients, the disease was detected by annual chest X-ray during mass screening for lung cancer or during follow-up for pulmonary tuberculosis or gastric cancer. The chest X-ray findings consisted of a solitary pulmonary nodule in 4 patients and multiple pulmonary nodules in 2. Only one patient who could not be histologically diagnosed by bronchofiberscopy underwent surgical resection. However, the other 5 patients were histologically diagnosed by transbronchial biopsy with bronchofiberscopy. They were treated with oral antifungal agents, namely flucytosine (5-FC) and/or fluconazole, with marked improvement of chest X-ray findings. These results indicate that transbronchial biopsy with bronchofiberscopy and oral administration of antifungal agents instead of initial surgical resection are useful in the diagnosis and treatment of primary pulmonary cryptococcosis.

[Patterns of relapse in patients with small cell lung cancer--the effect of chest irradiation and prophylactic cranial irradiation combined with intensive chemotherapy on long-term survival].

The pattern of relapse was analyzed in patients with small cell lung cancer (SCLC). Of 180 patients treated with intensive combination chemotherapy between 1976 and 1987, 75 achieved complete response (CR). Of 47 patients with limited disease (LD), 20 (43%) initially relapsed in the chest and 7 (15%) in the brain. Among 27 patients with extensive disease (ED), the chest was also the most frequent site of relapse (44%) followed by the brain (19%). In LD patients who had received chemotherapy plus chest irradiation, the initial relapse rate and the cumulative relapse rate in the chest at 2 years were only 29% and 35.4%, respectively. These rates were significantly lower compared with the rates of 69% and 76.5% for patients who had received chemotherapy alone (p less than 0.05). Survival was improved to some extent by the addition of chest irradiation, but not significantly, however, the long-term survival rate favored those receiving chest irradiation. Prophylactic cranial irradiation (PCI) reduced the frequency of brain relapse and significantly improved the survival of SCLC patients achieving CR. The median survival time and 5-year survival rate of patients who received PCI were 23.1 months and 26.7%, which these figures were only 14.0 months and 8.3% for those who had not respectively. Analysis using Cox's proportional hazard model showed that PCI was the greatest prognostic factor favoring the SCLC patients achieving CR. These results indicate that chest irradiation and PCI in conjunction with intensive combination chemotherapy are effective for cases of SCLC with CR.