Eosinophilic cystitis: a therapeutic challenge.

Eosinophilic cystitis is a rare disease with only 42 cases reported since first described in 1960. We report a case in a twenty-four-year-old woman and present the different therapeutic alternatives. A review of all reported cases shows that except for children and male adults with benign prostatic hypertrophy, this is a chronic inflammatory process of unknown causation for which no specific therapy is available.

Preliminary reticulum cell sarcoma of prostate gland.

A case of primary reticulum cell sarcoma of the prostate gland is presented. This is the seventh well-documented case we have found in the literature. No evidence of extraprostatic extension has been found two and a half years after diagnosis was made, despite no chemotherapy nor radiotherapy.

Comparative performance of three radioimmunoassays for prostatic acid phosphatase.

Three commercial radioimmunoassays and one enzymatic assay for prostatic acid phosphatase (PAP) have been tested on 122 patients to determine their relative specificity, sensitivity, and diagnostic value. Each of the three radioimmunoassays was found to have special merits. For distinguishing Stage IV prostatic cancer from normal patients without prostatic disease, the Smith Kline (SKF) and New England Nuclear (NEN) assays provide more significant differences. The SKF test also best distinguishes all stages of prostatic cancer from benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), but is inferior to the Malinckrodt (MAL) assay for contrasting Stage IV prostatic cancer from BPH. Values obtained with the NEN assay best distinguish the stages of prostatic cancer. Only with the MAL assay are significantly higher PAP values obtained in patients with metastases to bone than those without positive bone scans. Viewed from the point of sensitivity, the SKF assay proves best at all levels of specificity examined in detecting all stages (I-IV), and Stage IV prostatic cancer. By none of the assays can estrogenized Stage III and IV cancer patients be distinguished from those not on estrogen.

Chemotherapy of bladder carcinoma with cyclophosphamide and adriamycin.

We assigned 49 patients with transitional cell carcinoma of the bladder to 1 of 3 groups: 21 patients (group 1) received cyclophosphamide alone, 10 patients (group 2) received adriamycin alone and 18 patients (group 3) received cyclophosphamide and adriamycin. The objective responses were 52.3 per cent in group 1, 10 per cent in group 2 and 50 per cent in group 3. These results suggest a significant activity of the drugs (especially in groups 1 and 3) tested in bladder cancer.

Interaction of prolactin and testosterone in the human prostate.

Three experiments were performed to determine whether human prolactin (hPr) affects prostatic uptake and metabolism of testosterone (T). 1) Patients with prostatic cancer were infused twice with radio-labelled androgens, the first time with basal hPR, the second time with oral thyrotrophin-releasing hormone (TRH)-elevated hPr. In 5/7, significant increases in metabolic clearance of dihydrotestosterone (DHT) and in conversion of T to DHT accompanied increased hPR. 2) The incorporation of labelled T into minced benign prostatic hypertrophy (BPH) tissue from subjects with high (40 ng/ml) hPR was measured and was found to be more than twice the uptake into tissue from those with low hPR (6.5 +/- 1.9 ng/ml). 3) Uptake and metabolism in vivo of a bolus of 3H-T by BPH and carcinomatous prostates was measured and was far greater in subjects whose hPR was elevated by chlorpromazine than in untreated controls. It is concluded that prolactin increases prostatic uptake and metabolism of T. It is suggested that the best management of prostatic cancer should include depletion of prolactin as well as androgen.