Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0011570 (depression)
 172,036 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

We have studied the prevalence of mental disorder in a variety of patients with head and neck cancer in different stages of disease and treatment. All together, 59 patients were studied according to a comprehensive psychopathologic rating score and nutritional status. Six patients refused to answer the comprehensive psychopathologic rating score questionnaire. Of the remaining 53 patients, 13 patients were classified as mentally disordered. Five patients were classified as mentally depressed according to a specific comprehensive psychopathologic rating scale depression score. We found that depression was significantly linked to malnutrition. In total, 30% of our patients with cancer with weight loss demonstrated features that were consonant with depression. This suggests that mental depression is associated with physical improvement rather than with the malignant condition per se.
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PMID:Mental depression is associated with malnutrition in patients with head and neck cancer. 319 Aug 74

In advanced inoperable head and neck cancer radiotherapy alone is unsatisfying. Better results can be obtained by simultaneous 5-Fluorouracil/Cisplatin-chemotherapy and irradiation. The cytotoxicity of 5-Fluorouracil can be enhanced synergistically by adding Folinic Acid in excess. In a clinical phase II trial 62 previously untreated patients suffering from unresectable AJCC-stage III (4 pts.) and IV (58 pts.) squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck were treated with a simultaneous chemoradiotherapy consisting of high-dose Folinic Acid in addition to a 5-Fluorouracil/Cisplatin combination and of accelerated split-course radiotherapy. As results, three pts. died from tumor arrosion bleeding during the treatment. Median follow up time of the surviving pts. is 27 + months (range 18-44 months). 48/62 pts. (77%) achieved complete remission, 11/62 pts. (18%) partial remission. Presently, 32 pts. (52%) are without evidence of disease. Actuarial three years overall survival rate (Kaplan-Meier method) out of 62 pts. in 53%. Actuarial disease free survival and local tumor control rates at three years are 58% and 72%. Mucositis was severe but tolerable, bone marrow depression was moderate to marked. In conclusion, this combined simultaneous modality approach is highly effective in locally advanced head and neck cancer. It seems to provide superior survival and local control rates as compared to conventional radiotherapy or sequential chemo-radiotherapy or as compared to simultaneous 5-Fluorouracil/Cisplatin and non-fractionated radiotherapy. A comparative phase III study is required.
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PMID:5-Fluorouracil/folinic acid/cisplatin-combination and simultaneous accelerated split-course radiotherapy in advanced head and neck cancer. 326 27

Natural killer (NK) cells are a subpopulation of lymphocytes involved in host defense against tumor cells. Although a great deal of clinical research has focused on the role of NK cells in the blood of patients with cancer, very little has been done to determine what role they may play at the regional or lymph node level. One hundred seven lymph nodes from 22 patients with head and neck cancer and eight control patients were assayed for NK cell cytotoxicity against the human erythroleukemia cell line K562. Six of these nodes contained a discrete intracapsular focus of metastatic tumor. Lymphocytes from these focally positive nodes exhibited a significant depression of NK cell cytotoxicity compared with all other nodes. These data suggest that the presence of metastatic tumor inhibits NK cell function at the regional level in patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.
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PMID:Depressed natural killer cell activity in cervical lymph nodes containing focal metastatic squamous cell carcinoma. 334 25

Interleukin-2 (IL2) is essential for the expansion of antigen-triggered lymphocytes and cytotoxic T-cells, processes necessary for tumor control that are frequently depressed in malignancy. The authors measured certain aspects of IL2 function in cancer patients and controls and correlated the findings with the general immune response as indicated by the proliferative response to phytohemagglutinin (PHA) in peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBL). The major questions focused on the capacity of PBL to produce IL2, the correlation of this with the proliferative response to PHA, and whether exogenous IL2 could restore T-cell responses and natural killer cell activity in immunodepressed cancer patients. IL2 production was measured by the 3H-thymidine-labeled CT6 assay on the supernatants of the PBL of cancer patients and normal controls after 24 hours of stimulation with PHA. There were 115 cancer patients (70 head and neck, 13 melanoma, 12 breast, 10 colorectal, and 6 other) and 52 controls. IL2 production was essentially normal in the head and neck cancer patients as a group, although their PHA response was depressed. The mean IL2 generated per 3 X 10(6) PBL over 24 hours were 129 mu/ml in the head and neck patients and 132 mu/ml in the breast patients, similar to the 129 mu/ml generated in the controls. There was modest but not significant depression in the melanoma (78 mu/ml) and colorectal cancer patients (81 mu/ml). Although subsets of patients showed depressed IL2 production, there was no significant correlation of IL2 production with the PHA response. Depressed IL2 production showed only limited correlation with depressed lymphocyte responses (r = -0.25), which suggested a dissociation of these functions. Of interest was the finding that indomethacin did augment IL2 production in both cancer patients and controls, suggesting that prostaglandin-mediated regulation is involved. Addition of exogenous IL2 of recombinant origin (Biogen) produced significant augmentation in more than three fourths of the cancer patients and controls. Adding indomethacin further increased this response. Addition of IL2 also significantly increased natural killer activity in both groups. It was concluded that PBL in cancer patients generally have a normal capacity to generate IL2, and this capacity is not related to the proliferative response, which is frequently depressed in these patients. Exogenous IL2 can significantly augment lymphoproliferative and natural killer responses in cancer patients, suggesting that there is merit in exploring the potential therapeutic role of IL2 in these patients.
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PMID:Production of and response to interleukin-2 in peripheral blood lymphocytes of cancer patients. 348 60

This study is a systematic analysis of the literature on psychosocial aspects in head and neck cancer patients. Patients with head and neck cancer experience a variety of physical as well as psychosocial problems. Physical problems include swallowing or chewing, speech and physical appearance. Psychosocial problems include anxiety, depression, loss of self-esteem and uncertainty about the future. Because of these problems, isolation from friends typically occurs, re-employment is difficult, and there are social and sexual tensions within families. Information and support by professionals, partners and/or fellow patients are related to positive rehabilitation outcomes such as the acquisition of speech, increases in constructive social functioning and decreases in depression.
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PMID:Psychosocial aspects of head and neck cancer--a review of the literature. 354 57

Five organically impaired and depressed head and neck cancer patients had a marked therapeutic response to methylphenidate (MPD). There was a rapid remission of depressive and cognitive dysfunctions without adverse side effects. The relationship of cognitive, behavioral, and affective symptoms to brain function is discussed. To rule out treatable cognitive and affective disorders, neurobehavioral assessment of the depressed head and neck cancer patient is stressed, and diagnostic and treatment guidelines are given. The results suggest that further evaluation is warranted of the use of MPD in treating seriously ill cancer patients who have either compromised brain function or depression.
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PMID:Methylphenidate treatment of patients with head and neck cancer. 374 58

Patients attending a regional head and neck Oncology Unit were assessed for depression and anxiety (using the Leeds self-assessment scales) before diagnostic biopsy investigations. At the time of the assessments, neither patients nor investigators knew the biopsy results. Patients whose biopsies subsequently proved positive (showing the presence of a tumour) had significantly higher depression scores than those whose biopsies were negative. Differences in mean anxiety scores did not differ between groups. It is suggested that depression is part of the clinical picture of head and neck cancer.
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PMID:Depression and anxiety in patients undergoing diagnostic investigations for head and neck cancers. 381 34

The proliferative response of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) to the mitogens PHA and Con A significantly depressed in 86% of 45 head and neck cancer patients compared with 44 normal controls. This depression of immune competence was greatest in older patients and in those with more advanced disease stages. The abnormal mitogen responses could be restored toward normal (especially with Con A stimulation) by incubating the cells with either of two prostaglandin synthetase inhibitors (indomethacin or RO-205720). This augmentation of immune response was independent of other factors, including the primary tumor site, disease stage, treatment (surgery, radiation therapy, or chemotherapy) or the patients's age or race. The most likely explanation for this depressed level of immunocompetence was an excessive production of PGE2 by suppressor cells. This was confirmed by the finding that PBMC from patients produced more PGE2 than PBMC from normal individuals (8.4 ng/ml vs. 5.2 ng/ml, p=0.002). This difference was greatest among patients less than 60 years of age whose cultured PBMC produced 91% more PGE2 than controls (p less than 0.0007). Virtually all of the PGE2 was produced by a population of monocytes defined by a monoclonal antibody and purified with a fluorescence-activated cell sorter. Patients with epidermoid cancer of the head and neck thus have an abnormality of immunoregulatory monocytes that can contribute significantly to their depression of cellular immunity by elaborating prostaglandin E2. This abnormality could be partially corrected in vitro by incubating their PMBC with a prostaglandin synthetase inhibitor.
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PMID:Excessive prostaglandin E2 production by suppressor monocytes in head and neck cancer patients. 621 63

Scant attention has been paid to emotional changes as possible symptoms of impaired cerebral functioning in cancer patients. A retrospective study was conducted to determine the variety of organic brain syndromes (OBS) that presented with depressive symptoms in 20 head and neck cancer patients. The impressions of referring surgeons were in error in 16 patients (80%). Twelve (60%) had unsuspected OBS, with treatment resulting in reversal of symptoms in almost half. Of the eight patients with functional disorders, four received a final diagnosis of depression. Head and neck surgeons should be aware that (1) emotional changes in their patients frequently reflect OBS, some potentially reversible, (2) because of the ages of the patients, senile dementia may be a more common occurrence in head and neck cancer than suspected, and (3) because of the difficulties of evaluating changes in higher mental functions, more neuropsychiatric consultations may be warranted for head and neck patients.
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PMID:Does the diagnosis of depression in head and neck cancer mask organic brain disease? 644 77

A clinical trial of NPT 15392, a purine derivative, was run in ten head and neck cancer patients presenting signs of immunosuppression and undergoing repeated chemotherapy. A battery of ten tests was used to assess the immune status of the subjects. Those tests included skin tests, lymphocyte investigations (count, E-rosetting, membrane fluorescence and lymphoblastic transformation) and determination of serum levels of C'3 fraction of complement and IgA. The drug induced transitory, immune stimulation during or after treatment without any side effects. NPT 15392 seemed to selectively exert an action on T lymphocytes. Inasmuch as transitory, immune stimulation and secondary immune depression were noted after treatment, the therapeutic protocol for use of this drug should be reexamined.
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PMID:Immunomodulation by NPT 15392 in cancer patients under chemotherapy. 665 Feb 81


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