Carboplatin-cyclophosphamide proved to have a significantly better therapeutic index than cisplatin-cyclophosphamide in patients with stage III (suboptimal) and stage IV ovarian cancer.

In attempting to differentiate early-onset Group B streptococcal infection from hyaline-membrane disease we found features of severe Group B infection to be rupture of the membranes for more than 12 hours before delivery (four or eight versus one of nine), gram-positive cocci in the gastric aspirate (four or four versus none of one), apnea and shock in the first 24 hours of life (seven of eight versus none of nine), and the generation of lower peak inspiratory pressures on avolume-cycled respirator (mean of 36.5 +/- 2.8 versus 63.9 +/- 6.2 cm of water; P = 0.005). In eight fatal cases of Group B infection, four patients had radiographic features indistinguishable from hyaline-membrane disease whereas the other cases were consistent with neonatal pneumonia. Seven of the eight infected infants had no histologic evidence of coexisting hyaline-membrane disease. Microscopical features of Group B infection included cocci in unevenly distributed hyaline membranes and minimal atelectasis. Group B streptococcal infection differs clinically and pathologically from hyaline-membrane disease. Differentiating clinical features include early apnea and shock and lower inspiratory pressures on mechanical ventilation.

Some derivatives of hematoporphyrins are strongly retained by tumor tissue as compared to normal tissue, and exposure of these photosensitizers to radiation in the visible spectrum can cause serious biological damage. These properties have been exploited in the development of a new treatment for cancer termed photodynamic therapy (PDT). However, recent studies have also demonstrated that PDT can also induce a state of systemic immunosuppression. The purpose of this study was to determine whether PDT-induced suppression of contact hypersensitivity (CHS) responses was an active phenomenon that could be adoptively transferred by viable splenocytes from PDT-treated mice. Although induction of adoptively transferable suppressor cells in PDT-treated mice required exposure to antigen, the suppressor cells were found to be antigen nonspecific in their function. Furthermore, splenocytes from PDT-treated mice were capable of generating levels of allospecific cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) activity which were comparable to those generated by normal control mice, but the ability of irradiated spleen cells from PDT-treated mice to stimulate a mixed lymphocyte response (MLR) was dramatically impaired. Finally, chromatographic separation of T cells, B cells and macrophages showed that the cell type which mediates adoptively transferable suppression of CHS responsiveness is in the macrophage lineage.

Aims-To determine, by in situ immunohistochemistry, whether ovarian carcinomas have increased expression of DNA topoisomerase I. Methods-Paraffin wax blocks obtained from 15 samples of normal human tissues and from 14 cases of ovarian cancer were cut on to glass slides and immunohistochemically stained for topoisomerase I. The primary antibody was a mouse monoclonal that recognises topoisomerase I in western blots. Colour was detected using a peroxidase system with diaminobenzidine as the chromogen. The expression of topoisomerase I in the tissues and tumours was graded subjectively from 0 to 3+ based on the colour intensity of the immunostain. Results-In normal tissues, topoisomerase I expression was strongest in the mucosal lymphocytes in the gastrointestinal tract and in the germinal centres ofthe tonsil. Weak topoisomerase I staining was found in the columnar epithelium of the gastrointestinal tract and in squamous mucosa. In the series of ovarian carcinomas, raised topoisomerase I was observed in 43% (6 of 14) of the tumours. Of the tumours with raised topoisomerase I, only three contained a population of rapidly cycling cells. Therefore, 21% of our series of ovarian carcinomas (3 of 14) had raised topoisomerase I expression and were proliferating rapidly. Conclusions-Topoisomerase I expression in formalin fixed, paraffin wax embedded human tissues can be evaluated by immunohistochemical staining. Increases in topoisomerase I occur in some cases of ovarian cancer.

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