The ECF regimen displays high anti-tumour activity with moderate toxicity in patients with gastric cancer and in some cases enabled resection of previously inoperable tumours.

This randomised trial has shown a significant reduction in the surgical requirements for mastectomy, after treatment with neoadjuvant chemoendocrine therapy, with no deterioration in local or distal relapse.

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A total of 34 patients with advanced cancer were given weekly or daily escalating doses of oral gossypol, a cottonseed-oil constituent showing evidence of antineoplastic activity in pre-clinical studies. No major adverse events occurred and there was no evidence of haematological or biochemical disturbance. As determined by dose escalation in 17 patients, the dose-limiting toxicity was emesis in 16 patients. There was no evidence of tumour regression in any of the 20 patients assessed for response. We conclude that gossypol is safe but unlikely to be clinically useful in patients with advanced cancer.

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Summary.-We have developed a technique for the immunocytochemical staining of marrow smears using antiserum to epithelial membrane antigen (EMA). This membrane component is confined to, but widely distributed in, epithelial tissues and tumours derived from them, and is strongly expressed by infiltrating breast carcinoma cells. Marrow aspirates from patients with both early and metastatic breast cancer have been examined, and the results of immunocytochemical staining compared with conventional cytology and histology. Staining with antiserum to EMA enabled us to detect small numbers of carcinoma cells, and increased the yield of positive samples. Furthermore, using this technique, we found malignant cells in the marrow of patients with primary breast cancer with no other evidence of metastatic disease. Thus immunocytochemical staining for EMA may be of value in the detection of micrometastases in patients with primary breast carcinoma.