Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0684249 (lung carcinoma)
 23,830 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

A 63-year-old man with Eaton-Lambert syndrome manifested by marked respiratory failure was reported. He began to notice blepharoptosis and diplopia in September, 1987, followed by weakness and easy fatigability in bulbar, neck and limb muscles in association with impotence by February, 1988. On admission in August, 1988, Gowers' sign, decreased tendon reflexes and muscle weakness improved by the injection of edrophonium were found. Anti-acetylcholine receptor antibody was negative. Single muscle action potential evoked in the thenar muscle was abnormally low in amplitude with the stimulation of the median nerve: repetitive nerve stimulation study revealed the waning at the low rates, but the waxing at the high rate (30 Hz), suggesting the diagnosis of Eaton-Lambert syndrome. Early gastric cancer (adenocarcinoma) was diagnosed from needle biopsy specimens in August, 1988, but no other neoplasm including thymoma or lung cancer was found. After subtotal gastric resection in September, 1988, he failed into respiratory failure, requiring artificial ventilation for seven months. Plasmapheresis and drugs such as anticholinesterase, guanidine hydrochloride, and corticosteroid were ineffective for the recovery from weakness in respiratory muscle. Lung cancer was suspected, based on a chest X-ray in March, 1989, and one month later he died of pneumonia. At autopsy, small cell carcinoma of the lung was observed, but there was neither recurrence nor metastasis of the gastric cancer. Emphasis was placed on the respiratory failure in Eaton-Lambert syndrome which has rarely been reported.
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PMID:[Eaton-Lambert syndrome manifested by respiratory failure associated with small cell carcinoma of the lung]. 217 52

Autonomic dysfunction is a recognized feature of the Lambert-Eaton myasthenic syndrome (LES). However, the characteristic pattern of dysautonomia has not been clearly documented and its pathophysiologic basis is not known. We therefore abstracted autonomic symptomatology and results of quantitative tests for salivation, and vasomotor, cardiovagal, and sudomotor reflexes from records of 30 LES patients. Dry mouth (77%) and impotence (45% of men) were the most common symptoms. Composite Autonomic Scoring Scale results were abnormal in 93% of patients, and autonomic failure was severe in 20%. The frequency of specific test abnormalities were the following: sudomotor function, 83%; cardiovagal reflexes, 75%; salivation, 44%; and adrenergic function, 37%. Although voltage-gated N-type calcium (Ca2+) channels are implicated in autonomic transmission, the low frequency of serum antibodies to N-type Ca2+ channels found in the patients of this study (31% positive) argues against a pathogenic role in mediating LES-related dysautonomia. In contrast, 93% of the patients were seropositive for P/Q-type Ca2+ channel antibodies. A subset of these antibodies is thought to impair neuromuscular transmission. Autoantibodies of thyrogastric or glutamic acid decarboxylase specificity (markers of predisposition to type 1 diabetes mellitus) were found in 45% of patients, and type 1 antineuronal nuclear antibody (or anti-Hu, a marker of autoimmune neuropathy associated with small-cell lung carcinoma) was found in 3%. No autoantibody correlated with autonomic dysfunction severity. Sensorimotor neuropathy was documented in five patients, and was not significantly associated with autonomic neuropathy. Autonomic failure was most severe in older subjects with cancer (p = 0.02, age by cancer interaction).
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PMID:Autonomic dysfunction in the Lambert-Eaton myasthenic syndrome: serologic and clinical correlates. 944 63

This study was undertaken to analyse the clinical and immunological features in a large group of Lambert-Eaton Myasthenic Syndrome (LEMS) patients (n = 110). In the Japanese LEMS patients studied, there was a male predominance with a male to female ratio of 3:1. The age at onset of neurological symptoms ranged between 17 and 80 years with a mean of 62 years. Malignancy was detected in 69% of the patients, of whom 61% had small cell lung carcinoma (SCLC). Neurological symptoms preceded a diagnosis of malignancy in 84% of cases. The neurological findings were similar in all patients and consisted of lower limb weakness in 97%, upper limb weakness in 80%, hyporeflexia in 85%, autonomic dysfunction in 37% (dry mouth in 31%, constipation in 11%, impaired sweating, urinary disturbance, impotence, and blurred vision in less than 10%), blepharoptosis in 28% and ophthalmoplegia in 5%. Signs of cerebellar involvement are noted in 9% and all of these patients had SCLC. Of 110 patients with LEMS, 85% had detectable antibodies against P/Q-type voltage-gated calcium channel (P/Q-type VGCC). Seronegative patients (15%) had similar neurological findings, but a lower incidence of SCLC than seropositive patients. The clinical features of our patients were very similar to those observed in British LEMS patients (n = 50), but autonomic features in our study were less prevalent than reported in British patients.
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PMID:[The Lambert-Eaton myasthenic syndrome: a study of 110 Japanese cases]. 1079 Oct 87

Prostate cancer is together with the carcinoma of the lung the most common cancer in the western world. Better screening methods especially the introduction of PSA (prostate specific antigen) in the beginning of the 90's has increased the early detection rate. In the United States only 30% of prostate tumors were in their early stages before the introduction of PSA-screening as compared to 60% nowadays. The early detection also increased the rate of younger men amongst these patients. Patient demands have increased with respect to incontinence and impotence especially amongst those young patients. Radical prostatectomy still is the gold standard for therapy of localized prostate cancer. Better operating techniques have decreased the side effect rate of this operations but many patients still do not undergo this operation because they fear these side effects. Originating from the USA the low dose rate brachytherapy (LDR) using permanent seeds had a renaissance in recent years. In 1999 alone more than 40,000 patients were successfully operated using this technique. 10 year data published in 1998 showed similar results as compared to a multitude of radical prostatectomy studies and superior results to most of the published external beam studies with significantly less side effects. In Germany and western Europe more and more centers start with LDR-brachytherapy. In contrary to the U.S. where brachytherapy is mostly performed as an outpatient procedure, nearly all European centers do only inpatient brachytherapy. Only very few centers perform outpatient procedures; the first results are very encouraging showing few complications and a very high standard of quality of the treatment.
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PMID:[Low dose brachytherapy with seeds--an interdisciplinary therapy alternative to radical prostatectomy]. 1159 8