156 Abstracts /Lung Cancer 14 (1996) 149-I 79

Five parameters were generated from each pulmonary adenocarcinoma and statistically examined with clinical and pathological findings of each patient. As aresult, NDA and NNR were revealed to be significant by related to all clinical and pathological findings examined in this study. NA and NP were significantly correlated with the histological grade of differentiation and the observation of lymph node metastasis. However, no significant correlation with prognosis was detected in NA, NP and NFF. The significance of electron microscopic morphometry was shown, because NDA and NNR were revealed to be prognostic indicators for pulmonary adenocarcinoma patients.

Expression of u,fl, in&grin receptor and its ligands in human lung tumors Bartolazzi A, Cerboni C, Flamini G, Bigot6 A, Lauriola L, Natali PG. Immunology Laboratory Regina Elena Cancer Institute, Via de& Messi d’Oro 156. 00158 Rome. Int J Cancer 1995;64:248-52.

Increasing experimental evidence demonstrates that malignant transformation isassociated withchangesintherepertoireofexpression ofthe integrin family ofmolecules, which mediate cell-matrix and cell- cell interactions. We have analyzed immunohistochemically and immunochemically the expression of VLA-3 integrin and its known ligands, namely, laminin (LM), fibronectin (FN), collagen type IV (Co11 IV), nicein (NIC), and entacin/nidogen @NT), in lung tumors of various histological types. a$, was detectable in normal bronchial epithelium and along basement membranes ofalveolar walls. In non-small cell lung carcinomas (NSCLC) the integrin was expressed in 82% of the cases, independently of histological type and degree of differentiation of the tumors. On the other hand, only 13% of the small cell lung carcinomas (SCLC) displayed a weak and heterogeneous distribution of the a,O, complex. Our findings were confumed immunochemically using long- termtumorceillines. Whiletheexpressionofbotha,D, andligandsLM, FN,CollIV,andEntcorrelatedinNSCLCwiththepresenceofbasement membranes, FN was the only ligand detectable in the stroma of SCLCs. A selective loss of nicein in basement membranes was demonstrated in NSCLC indicating an impairment of expression of this glycoprotein following malignant transformation

Simultaneous use of the PCR-SSCP method and immuno- histochemistry for increasing the detection efiicacy of ~53 abnormalities in human lung cancer Fujino M, Dosaka-Akita H. Kato M, Kinoshita I, Akie K, Kawakami Y. First Departmenr of Medicine, Hokkaido Univ. School of Medicine. North 15, Wesr 7, Kita-ku, Sapporo 060. Am JCIinPatholl995; 104:3 19. 24.

Malignantneoplasmspossessmultiplegeneticabnormalities. Among those,p53 geneabnonnalitiesarethemostfrequentinhumanneoplasms. To screen for ~53 abnormalities, both immunohistochemistry (IHC) and the polymerase chain reaction-single strandconformationpolymorphism (PCR-SSCP) methods are commonly used, but neither can detect all kinds of pS3 abnormalities, In this study, by examining 35 lung cancer specimens simultaneously by the two methods, 12 abnormal cases (34%) were detected by IHC and 9 abnormal cases (26%) were detected by PCR-SSCP. Six abnormal (I 7%) and 20 normal (57%) cases showed concordant results between the methods. although 9 cases (26%) showeddiscordance,including6IHCpositivecases( 17%)and3 SSCP- positive cases (9%). Because it is known that some ~53 abnormalities are detectedonly by IHC or only by PCR-SSCP, discordant cases should be assessed as possessing abnormalities. Fifteen cases (43%) were finally assessed as abnormal. These results suggest that the two methods together can increase the sensitivity ofscreening for ~53 abnormalities.

The close relationship between growth factors and thenucleolar organizer regions in adenocarcinoma of the lung TateishiM,KanekoS,FukuyamaY,HamatakeM,KohdonoS,Mitsudomi T et al. Department of Surgev II, Faculty of Medicine, Kyushu University 3-l-l Maidashi. Higashi-ku. Fukuoka 812. Eur J Surg Oncol 1995;21:398-402.

We examined immunohistochemically 111 cases of primary adeno- carcinoma of the lung, for transforming growth factor a (TGFG) or epidermal growth factor (EGF). and argyrophilic nucleolar organizer regions (AgNORs). The presence of more than 75% positive cells for both growth factors was designated as a high-GF, while all others were considered to be a low-GF. If AgNORs counts were more than 5.00, it was considered to be a high-AgNORs group, while less than 5.00 was designated as a low-AgNORs group. In our 111 examined specimens, there were 5 1(46%) casesofhigh-GF,and64(58%) withhigh AgNORs. The5-yearsurvivaIratesofthepatientswithahigh-GFandlow-GF were 34% and 57% (P < 0.05) respectively, while those with high-AgNORs and low-AgNORs were 21% and 81% (P < O.OOl), respectively. In the cases of high-AgNORs, the S-year survival rates of the patients with high-GF and low-GF were 0% and 36% (P < 0.05). respectively. However, in the cases of low-AgNORs, the S-year survival rates ofthe patients with high-GF and low-GF were 83% and 79%, respectively. These data suggest that growth factors might be related to tile biological malignancy of tumours with a high cell proliferation.

Clinical assessment

Patterns of DNA methylation of the parathyroid hormone- related protein gene in human lung carcinoma Ganderton RI-I, Day INM, Briggs RSJ. University Geriarric Medicine. Southampton General Hospitai, Tremona Road, Southampton SOI 6YD. Eur J Cancer Part A Gen Top 1995;31: 1697-700.

Humoral hypercalcaemia of malignancy often results from pro- duction ofparathyroid hormone-related protein (PTHrP) by the tumour. We have investigated whether malignancy is associated with epigenetic changes in the PTHrP gene in lung. In normal and tumom tissue, there was a general background of nonmethylation in the PTHrP gene. In the 5’ region, there appeared to be increased methylation of sites upstream ofthe promoter, P2. The extent ofmethylation increased from germ line to normal tissue to tumour tissue to tumour cell line, indicating that new methylation events in this region mark neoplastic change in lung cells.

Protective effect of fiaogulan on cellular immunity of the patients with primary lung cancer treated by radiotheqpy plus chemotherapy Qian H, Fu S, Jiang G, Wang L, Fu X, Ye M et al. Cancer Hospital, Shanghai Medical Universify. Shanghai. Acta Acad Med Shanghai 1995;22:363-6.

The aim of the clinical trial in the patients with lung cancer treated by combined radiotherapy and chemotherapy was to prospectively observe the effect ofjiaogulan on the cellular immunity and prognosis. Theresults: cellularimmunityofthe controlgroupwaafr suppressed; when the patients take jiaogulan tablets (I 80-240 m&lay) during the therapy period (60 days) the immune situation could keep no change. Comparing the jiaogulan group with the control group after a year, although there were no significant differences in statistics on the distant metastatic rate, the medial time ofdistant metastasis and the local tumor control rate and survival rate of 6 and 12 months respectively, but the trend that the prognosis of the former was superior to the latter could be found. The results show that jiaogulan can protect patient’s CelluIar immunity when the patients receiving radiotheraphyplus chemotherapy.