Clinical effects of danazol on endometrial hyperplasia in menopausal and postmenopausal women

Article Abstract:

Endometrial hyperplasia is the overgrowth of the endometrium or lining of the uterus. While not a cancerous condition itself, it is widely regarded as a borderline condition which may progress to cancer. Endometrial hyperplasia may occur in the form of cystic, adenomatous, or atypical hyperplasia. Endometrial hyperplasia is regarded as especially serious in menopausal and postmenopausal women, although the precise likelihood of cancerous transformation remains a matter of discussion. Generally, endometrial hyperplasia is treated hormonally, often with progesterone. The drug danazol, a derivative of the compound 17-ethinyltestosterone, is used in the treatment of endometriosis. Now, tests of danazol in the treatment of 15 women with endometrial hyperplasia confirm that the drug may be useful in the treatment of this condition as well. Twelve menopausal and three perimenopausal women with endometrial hyperplasia were treated with 400 milligrams of danazol per day. Within the first month, the glands of the endometrium showed noticeable regression and, by the end of the 3-month treatment period, regression of the endometrium was observed in all 15 women. While the study consisted only of older women, the authors suggest that danazol may find a useful role in the treatment of younger women as well. In cases of adenomatous hyperplasia and atypical hyperplasia in younger patients, danazol treatment may be an important alternative to hysterectomy among women who may wish to have children when the hyperplasia resolves. Of course, it is critical that the presence of uterine cancer be absolutely ruled out before drug therapy is chosen over surgery. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)

Health aspects, Drug therapy, Postmenopausal women, Danazol, Endometrial hyperplasia

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Clinical presentation, treatment, and outcome of trilateral retinoblastoma

Article Abstract:

Retinoblastoma is a congenital hereditary malignant tumor of the eyes. However, there have been reports of rare instances in which bilateral retinoblastomas have been accompanied by a third retinoblastoma along the midline within the cranium, for example in the pineal gland. Such occurrences of single retinoblastomas occurring in the midline of the brain in cases of bilateral retinoblastoma have been given the somewhat unlikely sounding name trilateral retinoblastoma. The authors report three new cases of trilateral retinoblastoma and compare them with the 32 previously reported cases. The three patients received a diagnosis of bilateral retinoblastoma at birth, 6 months, and 10 months of age. In all three cases the retinoblastoma was treated with irradiation, but in all three cases the patients subsequently relapsed with tumor in the pineal area visible on computed tomography. In all three cases, further treatment was unsuccessful and the patients died at 21, 38, and 57 months of age. When all 35 cases were tabulated, the time from diagnosis of trilateral retinoblastoma to death averaged 6.6 months. Only two patients remain alive, and they are not free of disease. Invariably, the patients died with metastatic tumor in the spinal cord. In 68 percent of the cases, a family history of retinoblastoma could be confirmed. However, the rapid deterioration and uniform fatality of trilateral retinoblastoma indicates that this is a particularly severe form of the disorder. Very aggressive radiotherapy, including a minimum of 5,500 cGy to the tumor bed and 3,000 to 3,500 cGy to the craniospinal axis is recommended. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)

Case studies, Complications and side effects, Genetic disorders, Retinoblastoma, Brain tumors

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The colony stimulating factors: discovery, development, and clinical applications

Article Abstract:

The author was awarded the 1989 Alfred P. Sloan Prize by the General Motors Cancer Research Foundation for his research on colony stimulating factors. In a lecture, Dr. Metcalf reviewed the discovery and importance of these factors. In the 1960s, little was known about how to grow white blood cells in tissue culture. Experiments revealed that some cells were capable of secreting chemical substances capable of stimulating macrophages and granulocytes, two types of white blood cell. Further research revealed that there are at least four such substances. These proteins, now referred to as colony stimulating factors or CSFs, are labelled GM-CSF for granulocyte-macrophage CSF, G-CSF for granulocyte, M-CSF for macrophage, and Multi-CSF for the multipotential CSF. Multi-CSF is often called interleukin-3. CSFs have proved to exert a powerful influence on not only the replication of some cells, but also on their commitment to their adult role in life. Despite efforts to use these powerful regulatory substances in the treatment of leukemias, any clinically significant role of these substances remains to be demonstrated. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)

Research, Growth factors, Colony-stimulating factors (Physiology), Colony-stimulating factors

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