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Query: UMLS:C0029463 (osteosarcoma)
 16,637 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Natural products may increase cytotoxic activity of Natural Killer Cells (NK) Tumor Necrosis Factor alpha (TNF-alpha) while decreasing DNA damage in patients with late-stage cancer. Pilot studies have suggested that a combination of Nutraceuticals can raise NK cell function and TNF-alpha alpha activity and result in improved clinical outcomes in patients with late stage cancer. The objective of the study is to determine if Nutraceuticals can significantly raise NK function and TNF levels in patients with late stage cancer. After informed consent was obtained, 20 patients with stage IV, end-stage cancer were evaluated (one bladder, five breast, two prostate, one neuroblastoma, two non-small cell lung, three colon, 1 mesothelioma, two lymphoma, one ovarian, one gastric, one osteosarcoma). Transfer Factor Plus (TFP+, 3 tablets 3 times per day), IMUPlus (non denatured milk whey protein, 40 gm/day); Intravenous (50 to 100 gm/day) and oral (1-2 gm/day) ascorbic acid; Agaricus Blazeii Murill teas (10 gm/day); Immune Modulator Mix (a combination of vitamin, minerals, antioxidants and immune-enhancing natural products); nitrogenated soy extract (high levels of genistein and dadzein) and Andrographis Paniculata (500 mg twice, daily) were used. Baseline NK function by standard 4 h 51Cr release assay and TNF alpha and receptor levels were measured by ELISA from resting and phytohemagglutinin (PHA) stimulated adherent and non-adherent Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cell (PBMC). Total mercaptans and glutathione in plasma were taken and compared to levels measured 6 months later. Complete blood counts and chemistry panels were routinely monitored. As of a mean of 6 months, 16/20 patients were still alive. The 16 survivors had significantly higher NK function than baseline (p < .01 for each) and TNF-alpha levels in all four cell populations studied (p < .01 for each). Total mercaptans (p < .01) and TNF-alpha receptor levels were significantly reduced (p < .01). It was also observed that hemoglobin, hematocrit and glutathione levels were significantly elevated. The only toxicity noted was occasional diarrhea and nausea. The quality of life improved for all survivors by SF-36 form evaluation. An aggressive combination of immunoactive Nutraceuticals was effective in significantly increasing NK function, other immune parameters and hemoglobin from PBMC or plasma in patients with late stage cancers. Nutraceutical combinations may be effective in late stage cancers. Clinical outcomes evaluations are ongoing.
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PMID:Increased tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha) and natural killer cell (NK) function using an integrative approach in late stage cancers. 1214 49

Serum antibodies are widely utilised as specific and sensitive markers of virus infections but they have been employed relatively infrequently in the investigation of simian virus 40 (SV40) as a human carcinogen. In the past few years, serological data have become available which allow an examination of whether SV40 is currently circulating in human communities and if SV40 infection is associated with human cancer. The development of EIA with virus-like particles (VLPs) of SV40, BKV and JCV has facilitated serological studies. Sera from macaques naturally infected with SV40 cross-react unambiguously with BKV and JCV VLPs. Tests of over 9000 human sera with different immunological assays reveal a common pattern of SV40 reactivity. A small proportion of sera react at low titers and this reactivity is unrelated to age or the geographic location of the donor, but correlates with the presence and titers of BKV and JCV antibodies. Absorption with BKV and JCV VLPs decreases or abolishes the SV40 reactivity of human sera. The SV40 reactivity of sera from patients with mesothelioma, osteosarcoma or lymphomas, cancers which are reported to be associated with SV40, was similar to that in their controls or other comparison groups. The SV40 reactivity of human sera appears to be almost entirely a result of cross-reactivity with BKV and JCV antibodies. Serological data thus do not support the possibility that SV40 is circulating in human communities or that it is associated with human cancer.
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PMID:Simian virus 40 (SV40) and human cancer: a review of the serological data. 1524 51

Lung cancer is usually diagnosed at an advanced stage and metastases are present in 50% of patients. Small bowel metastases from lung cancer are rare, being more frequent in patients with melanoma, uterine, ovarian, kidney or gastrointestinal cancer, or osteosarcoma. From November 1998 to August 2003, 740 cases of lung cancer (641 non-small-cell lung cancer and 99 neuroendocrine tumours) were diagnosed. We also observed 64 patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma and performed 23 pleuropneumonectomies. Over the same period we admitted 4 patients (one recurrent) with small bowel metastases, three from lung cancer and one from malignant mesothelioma. The clinical symptoms were bowel occlusion and intestinal bleeding. Radiological techniques such as small bowel enema and CT enteroclysis were used with positive results. In one patient with intestinal bleeding capsular endoscopy revealed a bleeding metastasis. All patients were operated on. Neither mortality nor morbidity were observed. All patients were discharged after a median stay of 10 days. One patient is still alive and disease-free 39 months after the first intestinal surgery for metastases. Intestinal metastases from lung cancer are rare and the diagnosis is often late. In some cases the clinical manifestations of the metastases are observed before those of the primitive tumour. However, in the presence of small bowel occlusion and intestinal bleeding of uncertain origin, clinical history-taking is very important and diagnostic procedures must be performed to exclude a secondary pathology.
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PMID:[Small bowel metastases from lung cancer]. 1555 34

The fragility of the evidence for SV40 association with human cancer is seen in studies of NHL. A publication in 1999 stated that SV40 is rarely present in NHL. In 2002, two laboratories reported SV40 sequences in 42% to 43% of cases of NHL . One of these laboratories also detected SV40 sequences in small proportions of pediatric tumors (e.g., Wilm's tumor, hepatoblastoma, rhabdomyosarcoma, medulloblastoma, osteosarcoma, and retinoblastoma) and adult carcinomas (e.g., lung, colon, breast, and prostate) These positive results were not confirmed in subsequent studies published in 2003. Capello et al and Mackenzie et al failed to detect SV40 sequences in NHL tissues. Sanjose et al examined sera from patients with NHL and from controls for antibodies reactive to SV40 VLPs, and they detected no significant differences between the two groups. The association of SV40 with NHL is in doubt. An etiologic link between a virus and a cancer becomes plausible when evidence from different lines of enquiry (e.g., epidemiology, pathogenesis, and molecular mechanisms) is mutually reinforcing and together provides a coherent picture that can connect the biology the virus to the characteristics of the disease. The associations of human papillomaviruses with cervical cancer and hepatitis B and C viruses with hepatocellular carcinoma are examples in which the etiologic link is clear. With SV40 and mesothelioma, the data on viral sequences in tumors is inconsistent and disputed, and serologic evidence does not support any association. The epidemiologic data do not show that documented exposures tt SV40 increase the risk of mesothelioma. It seems improbable that a single virus (which cannot be conclusively demonstrated to be present in the community) contributes to the development of such a wide variety of tumors, spanning all age groups and histologic types. The weaknesses in the evidence linking SV40 with mesothelioma are summarized in Box 11 It seems unlikely that infection with SV40 contributes to the development of human mesothelioma or any other human cancer.
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PMID:Causality of mesothelioma: SV40 question. 1555 56

Simian virus (SV)40 was an accidental contaminant of poliovirus vaccines used widely in the USA and other countries in 1955-1962. Exposure to SV40 via contaminated vaccines has led to concern as SV40 causes cancer in laboratory animals. In addition, some laboratories, although not all, have detected SV40 DNA in human tumors including mesothelioma, certain brain tumors, osteosarcoma and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. This article reviews the data regarding contamination of poliovirus vaccines with SV40 and summarizes the results from epidemiologic studies of vaccine recipients. Long-term follow-up studies have not revealed recipients of SV40-contaminated poliovirus vaccines to be at an increased risk for cancer. Thus, these studies are somewhat reassuring and indicate that either SV40 does not readily infect humans or, following infection, does not cause cancer. Recognizing that the history of SV40 contamination of vaccines highlights an inherent risk of contamination of vaccines with adventitious agents, the Institute of Medicine recently called for the development of a comprehensive US plan to prevent vaccine contamination and respond to potential contamination events when they arise.
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PMID:Cancer risk associated with receipt of vaccines contaminated with simian virus 40: epidemiologic research. 1588 93

We examined 14 spindle cell tumours of the pleura that were sent to a Mesothelioma Panel for re-evaluation after a primary suspicion of mesothelioma. The clinical, histological, immunohistochemical and CGH findings were investigated. Final diagnoses were eight sarcomatoid mesotheliomas (SM) and six non-mesotheliomas: two pulmonary sarcomatoid carcinomas, an epithelioid hemangioendothelioma, a malignant solitary fibrous tumour, a malignant pleural smooth muscle tumour and an extraskeletal osteosarcoma. Seven of the eight SM and two of the other six tumours presented with unilateral pleural effusion, dyspnoea, and chest pain, which are characteristic clinical findings in malignant mesothelioma. No single antibody used in the immunohistochemistry separated SM from other tumour types. The most frequently observed chromosomal losses in SM were 4q, 4p11-p13/p15, 6q and 13. Losses of 4p11-p13/p15 and 4q occurred in combination in four out of five SM with detectable chromosomal changes, but neither was found in any of the other tumours. Gain or high-level amplification of 5p was also common in SM. According to our results and literature, losses at 4p, 4q and 9p and gain at 5p are the chromosomal changes that best differentiate SM from pleural sarcomas and lung carcinomas. CGH analysis may help distinguish a cytokeratin-positive SM from a sarcomatoid carcinoma. Similarly, in the case of a cytokeratin-negative tumour, CGH analysis may disclose chromosomal changes characteristic of sarcomas or mesotheliomas.
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PMID:Spindle cell tumours of the pleura: a clinical, histological and comparative genomic hybridization analysis of 14 cases. 1617 May 37

An unknown proportion of formalin-inactivated poliovirus vaccine lots administered to millions of US residents between 1955 and 1963 was contaminated with small amounts of infectious simian virus 40 (SV40), a polyomavirus of the rhesus macaque. It has been reported that mesothelioma, brain tumors, osteosarcoma and non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) contain SV40 DNA sequences and that SV40 infection introduced into humans by the vaccine probably contributed to the development of these cancers. The Immunization Safety Review Committee of the Institute of Medicine (IOM) reviewed this topic in 2002. The present review of recent studies showed that the earlier results describing the recovery of SV40 DNA sequences from a large proportion of the above tumors were not reproducible and that most studies were negative. Contamination with laboratory plasmids was identified as a possible source of false positive results in some previous studies. The low-level immunoreactivity of human sera to SV40 was very likely the result of cross-reactivity with antibodies to the SV40-related human polyomaviruses BKV and JCV, rather than of authentic SV40 infection. SV40 sero-reactivity in patients with the suspect tumors was no greater than that in controls. In epidemiologic studies, the increased incidence of some of the suspect tumors in the 1970s to 1980s was not related to the risk of exposure to SV40-contaminated vaccines. In summary, the most recent evidence does not support the notion that SV40 contributed to the development of human cancers.
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PMID:SV40 and human cancer: a review of recent data. 1713 33

A primary cardiac malignant tumor is very rare; its prevalence is only 0.002-0.28%. Among most malignant tumors, angiosarcoma, leiomyosarcoma, and mesothelioma occupy the majority. A cardiac osteosarcoma is extremely rare: to our knowledge, only 36 cases have been reported worldwide. We present a 22-year-old case featuring severe congestive heart failure. Hemodynamically the tumor led to significant obstruction of the mitral valve. The patient underwent an emergency resection operation, but multiple metastases occurred. Though the characteristics still remain unclear because of the low prevalence, it is very important that these tumors be distinguished from benign tumors because of early resection operation.
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PMID:Primary cardiac osteosarcoma in a young man with severe congestive heart failure. 1752 37

Only a small number of malignant mesotheliomas with heterologous elements have been described. There are currently no criteria for diagnosis and little data regarding prognosis. We suggest that the term heterologous mesothelioma should be reserved for tumours that show malignant heterologous elements, notably osteosarcomatous, chondrosarcomatous, or rhabdomyoblastic elements but have immunohistochemical and clinical characteristics of mesothelioma. We identified 27 such cases and characterized the clinical and pathological characteristics of these tumours. In our series, 89% originated in the pleura, and 11% from the peritoneal cavity. The median age at diagnosis was 68 years, ranging from 27 to 85 years. Of these cases, 93% occurred in males and 7% in women. Of the 27 mesothelioma cases 16 (59%) were sarcomatoid, 10 (37%) were biphasic, and one was reported as epithelioid; 40% (11 cases) showed osteosarcomatous elements only, 19% showed areas of rhabdomyosarcoma only, 19% contained areas of chondrosarcoma only, and 22% exhibited osteochondromatous elements. Immunohistochemical labelling for cytokeratins was present in the majority of cases. Exposure to asbestos was identified in all the 17 cases for which an exposure history was available (63%). Median survival was 6 months after diagnosis, similar to the survival seen in sarcomatoid mesotheliomas. The differential diagnosis includes primary and secondary pleural sarcomas, including osteosarcomas and chondrosarcomas. Immunohistochemical labelling for cytokeratins is helpful in the distinction, but lack of labelling for cytokeratins in a spindle cell/sarcomatoid tumour does not exclude the diagnosis of mesothelioma, irrespective of the presence of heterologous elements. We suggest that if the anatomical distribution conforms to that of mesothelioma, a diagnosis of heterologous mesothelioma should be made in preference to a diagnosis of primary pleural osteosarcoma or chondrosarcoma, regardless of cytokeratin positivity, as for conventional non-heterologous sarcomatoid mesothelioma.
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PMID:Malignant mesothelioma with heterologous elements: clinicopathological correlation of 27 cases and literature review. 1858 19

Cisplatin is a platinum chemotherapeutic used in a variety of malignancies. The antineoplastic activity occurs from DNA cross-links and adducts, in addition to the generation of superoxide radicals. Nephrotoxicity is the most well-known and potentially most clinically significant toxicity. Unfortunately, the mechanism for cisplatin nephrotoxicity has not been completely elucidated; however, many theories have been developed. Other toxicities include gastrointestinal, myelosuppression, ototoxicity and neurotoxicity. Saline diuresis is currently the most accepted way to prevent cisplatin nephrotoxicity. Research has focused on pharmaceuticals and enzyme/molecular alterations as alternatives to long-term diuresis. No agents have currently been identified that can protect from all toxicities. Cisplatin has shown activity against osteosarcoma, transitional cell carcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma (SCC), melanoma, mesothelioma, carcinomatosis and germinal cell tumours in the dog. In the cat, cisplatin cannot be utilized because of fulminant pulmonary oedema that occurs at standard doses. Intralesional cisplatin has been utilized in horses for the treatment of SCC and sarcoids.
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PMID:Cisplatin: a review of toxicities and therapeutic applications. 1917 59


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