Ferritin concentration was measured in cytosol extracts of 44 mammary carcinomas and 14 benign breast tissues. A six‐fold difference was observed (mean, 364.6 ± 223.3 ng/mcp in malignant tissue versus mean, 60.2 ± 42.1 ng/mcp in benign tissue P < 0.001). Thirty‐five malignant tissue specimens were reviewed independently by a pathologist without knowledge of their ferritin contents. Higher concentrations of ferritin were present in malignancies with greater degrees of epithelial proliferation and plemorphism suggesting the malignant epithelium as the major site of the increased ferritin. There was no correlation between desmoplastic reaction within the tumors or inflammation within or adjacent to the tumors and ferritin concentration. Ferritin in breast tissue may be important as a marker of neoplasia, a source of elevated serum ferritin, an indicator of clinical prognosis or an immunosuppressive substance.

Tumors from patients with Paget disease of the breast were positive for c-erbB-2, Cyclin D1, and Ki-67, molecular markers commonly associated with more aggressive tumor behavior and poorer survival in breast cancer patients. Few of these tumors expressed Bcl-2 or ER and PR, which are generally associated with a better prognosis. Similar expression of these markers in both Paget cells and the underlying carcinoma supports the theory that these cells are the result of an intraepidermal spread of ductal carcinoma.

Absorbable gelatin sponge (Gelfoam) has been used for many years in middle ear surgery. Although the sponge is generally well tolerated, fibrosis occasionally forms in the mesotympanum; some studies indicated that the absorbable gelatin sponge may be responsible. Many of these studies lack statistical analysis. We prospectively studied three absorbable hemostatic agents in the middle ear of adult male Sprague-Dawley rats to determine which promotes fibrosis to the greatest degree: absorbable gelatin sponge (Gelfoam), absorbable gelatin sheet (Gelfilm), or absorbable collagen sheet (Instat). The materials were implanted in the middle ear through a post-auricular approach and the temporal bones were serially harvested at different time intervals so we could examine histologic changes. The nonimplanted ear served as surgical control. Examination of the specimens at 6, 8, and 10 weeks by light microscopy revealed that although absorbable gelatin film and collagen-absorbable hemostat are well tolerated in this animal model, absorbable gelatin sponge promoted the presence of fibrosis to a significantly greater degree, (p = 0.0344). We conclude that absorbable gelatin sponge promotes fibrosis more frequently than do collagen-absorbable hemostat and absorbable gelatin film in this animal model.

Coxsackieviruses B1-B4 were inoculated intraperitoneally into 48-hr-old, 14-day-old, and three- to five-month-old Swiss-Webster mice. Immediate death occurred only among mice less than 48 hr old, which died from fulminant encephalitis. Older mice usually survived. Myocarditis ensued in mice less than 48 hr old that were infected with coxsackieviruses B1 and B4. Several of the surviving mice developed left ventricular aneurysms, which resulted from transmural necrotizing myocarditis. In this group (coxsackieviruses B1 and B4), pathologic changes in the heart were synchronous with maximal cardiac titers of virus. Fourteen-day-old mice infected with coxsackieviruses B2 and B3 developed nontransmural necrotizing myocarditis in which maximal pathologic changes followed peak cardiac titers of virus by several days, whereas three- to five-month-old mice infected with coxsackieviruses B1, B2, B3, or B4 showed maximal susceptibility to destructive lesions in the exocrine glandular pancreas. Therefore, specific susceptibilities to infection with coxsackieviruses group B vary with age of the mouse, virus type (and strain), and organ.