[Role of radiotherapy in the combined treatment of uterine choriocarcinoma with brain metastasis]. / Rol' luchevoi terapii v kombinirovannom lechenii bol'nykh khoriokartsinomoi matki s metastazami v golovnoi mozg.

A retrospective analysis of data on 27 patients with uterine choriocarcinoma metastatic to the brain and other distant sites treated at the Center's Clinic (1980-1996) has been undertaken. Advantages offered by combined treatment (irradiation of the brain + combination chemotherapy) of 15 patients are discussed and practical advice is given.

[A trial of the use of diflucan (fluconazole) in patients with vaginal candidiasis]. / Opyt primeneniia difliukana (fliukonazol) u bol'nykh vaginal'nym kandidozom.

Fifty females with vaginitis due to Candida albicans were treated with fluconazol (diflucan) in a single dose of 150 mg administered per os. A complete elimination of the clinical signs in 42 out of 50 patients (84 per cent) and a significant improvement of the clinical picture in 4 out of 50 patients (8 per cent) were recorded. The cultures of the smears produced no fungal growth with respect to 31 out of 36 patients (86.1 per cent), while microscopically the presence of the fungus with the signs of pathomorphosis was detected. Such cells could be a source of the fungal reinfection. Therefore, diflucan proved to be a highly efficient drug in the treatment of vaginal candidiasis and might be considered as an additional agent for the therapy of the disease.

[Ganglioside content and profile in the ovarian tumor tissues and in the biological body fluids of patients]. / Soderzhanie i profil' gangliozidov v tkaniakh opukholei iaichnikov i biologicheskikh zhidkostiakh organizma bol'nykh.

Lipid-bound sialic acid (LSA) content and ganglioside composition in resected tumours and body fluids of patients with benign ovarian tumours, borderline ovarian tumours, ovarian cancer and also in unaltered ovaries of patients with uterine cancer were examined. LSA levels in tissues and relation of the main gangliosides GD3/GM3 progressively decreased from unaltered ovaries to ovarian cancer. Distribution of gangliosides GD3 and GM3 in the borderline tumours was not uniform. Absolute content of GD3 increased more than twice in profuse growth from the inner surface and decreased almost three times in the cyst capsule as compared to the intact tumour. Ganglioside GD3 content decreased in malignant ovarian tumours but increased in ascitic fluid of cancer patients as compared to GM3. These results suggest that ganglioside GD3 is shed more intensively in the borderline ovarian tumours.

[Prognostic importance of the tumor receptor status in patients with ovarian cancer]. / Prognosticheskoe znachenie retseptornogo statusa opukholi u bol'nykh rakom iaichnikov.

Estrogen (ER), progesterone (PR), androgen (AR) and glucocorticoid (GR) receptor levels were assayed in 70 malignant epithelial ovarian tumors from untreated patients and in 23 malignancies from those receiving preoperative chemotherapy. Both PR+ and AR+ frequency and their mean levels in tumor were found to be relatively lower after preoperative chemotherapy. The prognostic significance of receptor status in tumor was identified: the efficacy of combined chemotherapy in PR- and RA- tumor patients was much lower as compared with PR+ and RA+ tumors; a 2-year recurrence-free survival of 12.5% and median duration of remission of 6 months were observed in the former group, while in the latter the disease-free survival rate was as high as 66.7%, and a median duration of remission had not been reached at 24 months of follow-up.

[Cytoplasmatic receptors of steroid hormones in malignant epithelial ovarian tumors]. / Tsitoplazmaticheskie retseptory steroidnykh gormonov v zlokachestvennykh épitelial'nykh opukholiakh iaichnikov.

The levels of estrogen, progesterone, androgen and glucocorticoid receptors were assayed in 70 malignant epithelial tumors of human ovaries. The percentage of progesterone, androgen and glucocorticoid receptor-positive tumors was significantly higher in reproductive patients than in menopausal ones. Well-differentiated serous cystadenocarcinomas showed a higher level of progesterone receptors than those characterized by poor differentiation of cells. It was found that steroid hormone receptor profile of primary tumor may be determined in its metastases into the greater omentum whenever tumor cannot be removed. In cases of preoperative chemotherapy, the percentage of receptor-positive ovarian tumors was lower.