A double-blind study comparing the Limulus in-vitro endotoxin assay with the direct Gram stain of uncentrifuged urine for detection of significant bacteriuria was performed. One-thousand seventy-seven urine specimens were examined by the two methods and the results compared with results of quantitative urine cultures. Two hundred three samples produced growth of greater than 10-5 organisms per ml. urine. The Limulus assay detected 86.2% of these specimens, and 98.8% of urines that contained greater than 10-5 Gram-negative bacilli per ml. The Gram stain procedure detected only 69.5% of urines containing greater than 10-5 organisms per ml. and 74.5% of specimens with greater than 10-5 Gram-negative bacteria per ml. urine. The Limulus assay demonstrated both greater sensitivity and greater specificity than the Gram stain procedure. Moreover, the Limulus test is much less susceptible to errors of interpretation than methods involving microscopy.

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BACKGROUND: Data on patients who received breast-conserving therapy (BCT) for early stage breast cancer were examined to detect differences in disease presentation, management techniques, long-term treatment outcomes, and toxicities based on race. METHODS: Six hundred ninety-nine women with breast cancer (39 African-American [AA] women and 660 Caucasian [C] women) who received BCT were analyzed on race, clinical and pathologic characteristics at presentation, management techniques, treatment-related toxicities, recurrence, and survival. The median follow-up was 12.2 years. RESULTS: At diagnosis, AA women were younger (aged <50 years, 49% vs 29%; P ¼ .002), had larger tumors (mean, 17.0 mm vs 13.9 mm; P ¼ .032), had more estrogen receptor-negative tumors (56% vs 18%; P < .001), and higher nuclear grade tumors (grade 3, 52% vs 29%; P ¼ .006). Compared with C women, AA women more frequently received adjuvant chemotherapy (59% vs 19%; P < .001) and lymph node irradiation (26% vs 13%; P ¼ .033). No other significant treatment differences were observed. After treatment, AA women experienced more breast pain (P ¼ .001), more arm edema (P ¼ .046), and less excellent cosmetic results (P ¼ .008), but there were no statistically significant differences in local recurrence (P ¼ .232), distant metastasis (P ¼ .263), overall survival (P ¼ .131), or cause-specific survival (P ¼ .092) based on race. CONCLUSIONS: The current results suggested that AA women present with larger and more aggressive breast tumors and, as a result, more frequently received adjuvant chemotherapy and lymph node irradiation. Small differences in treatment-related toxicities and cosmesis were observed, but no differences in efficacy were identified. Cancer 2010;116:3485-92.

Despite differences in presenting characteristics, AA men did not have inferior clinical outcomes but rather improved cause-specific survival when treated with standard of care radiation therapy. Regardless of the treatment modality used, toxicities between AA and W men were comparable.

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