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The concentrations of sex steroid hormones in plasma were determined daily in 14 young adult women, during both a control cycle and a treatment cycle. During the latter a Silastic ring into which 100 or 200mg of medroxyprogesterone acetate (Provera) had been incorporated was worn intravaginally. During the treatment cycles, plasma levels of estradiol, progesterone, and 17-hydroxyprogesterone remained within the range observed during the early follicular phase. Testosterone and androstenedione levels did not show any cyclic variation during the treatment cycle; however, the mean levels were decreased by about 25% compared with the over-all plasma levels of the control cycle, whereas dehydroepiandrosterone levels were decreased by about 15%.

Five methods for puerperal lactation inhibition were assessed in a randomized fashion. The 90 women were divided into five groups. Four of these received a pharmacologic treatment: oral stilbestrol (15 mg dd for 5 days), a diuretic compound (bendroflumethazide 15 mg dd for 5 days) by mouth, oral bromocriptine (5 mg dd for 14 days), or an intramuscular injection containing estradiol (10 mg and testosterone (200 mg) esters administered immediately after delivery. To the women in the remaining group only physical methods were applied (breast support and local infra-red waves) and they served as controls.Prolactin plasma concentrations were determined daily for five consecutive days and showed a correlation with the clinical effectiveness of the various treatment schedules. While bromocriptine reduced and stilbestrol augmented prolactin levels, both types of treatment were equally effective in preventing lactation during the observation period. Treatment with a diuretic compound or with an injection of steroids, though less effective than the first two regimens, was nevertheless significantly more efficacious than physical treatment.

The activities of 6-hydrolytic enzymes and 5-dehydrogenases were investigated histochemically in 94 ovarian tumors. The activities of several enzyme systems (alkaline phosphatase, 5-nucleotidase, and nonspecific esterases) suggest anaplastic ovarian carcinoma to be related to or derived from papillary adenocarcinoma. Endocrine active stroma cells were found in 13 of 45 ovarian tumors. The importane, of this type of cell is discussed. The enzyme pattern characterizing metastatic ovarian neoplasms in general is not unlike that of the primary tumor. The structures that compose dermoid cysts have essentially the same enzyme activities as the homologous normal tissues. Enzymatically speaking, fibroma of the ovary should be called “thecomal rest fibroma.” Histochemical enzyme studies suggest that some of the cells composing arrhenoblastoma resemble Leydig cells.

1. Variation of nuclear DNA content was studied quantitatively in the cervicovaginal epithelium of spayed C3H mice during chemical (benzpyrene) carcinogenesis.2. The mean DNA content of basal nuclei in hyperkeratotic epithelium is higher than in normal diestrous epithelium but not significantly different from that of fully matured (estrous) squamous epithelium. The increase of the DNA value of the basal nuclei which follows carcinogenic treatment is a benzpyrene (estromimetic) effect correlated with increased cell activity.3. The basal nuclei of dysplastic epithelium show hyperdiploid and hypotetraploid mean values. Compared with healthy, fully matured or hyperkeratotic epithelium, a significant increase of the DNA content of the nuclei is observed.4. Basal elements of incipient, large, and transplanted squamous cell carcinoma have tetraploid or hypertetraploid mean DNA values. Their spread, as shown in the histograms, is characteristic of neoplastic tissues.5. Keratinization of either normal or pathologic (and neoplastic) squamous epithelium is accompanied by the decrease of the nuclear DNA content.6. During chemical carcinogenesis the DNA value of the squamous epithelium undergoes a progressive increase which parallels the histomorphologic degree of “severity” of the lesions.7. Feulgen histophotometry is a valuable diagnostic tool.

A case of pheochromocytoma complicating pregnancy is described. In addition to the suggestive clinical symptoms, definite diagnosis was based on the estimation of urinary catecholamines and vanillyl mandelic acid (VMA). Treatment with phentolamine permitted fetal viability to be reached. The tumor was removed immediately following cesarean section. No ill effects of the tumor secretions on the fetus could be observed Plasma levels of norepinephrine were high in the mother but low in the fetus, whereas VMA was elevated in the fetal blood as compared to the maternal blood, suggesting placental and/or fetal transformation of maternal catecholamines. The activities of 13 enzymes and the distribution of glycogen and lipids were investigated in the tumor.

An investigation was undertaken of 13 enzymes and their variations during treatment with progesterone caproate in endometrial carcinoma. Examples of endometrial adenocarcinoma show tremendous variability in the activities of most of the enzyme systems studied. However, there is good correlation between morphologic differentiation and enzyme content of malignant epithelial cells. Progestational compounds induce variations in the enzyme pattern of malignant endometrial cells which correlate with tumor grade and length of treatment and are in accordance with the concept of hormone-induced secretory conversion. Histochemical data suggest the endocrine-dependency of some endometrial adenocarcinomas.

1.The activity of 13 enzymes and the distribution of glycogen and lipids was studied in 50 cases of squamous cell carcinoma of the uterine cervix and in homologous normal tissues. In 17 patients, histochemical variations were investigated in the course of radium irradiation.2.The dehydrogenase pattern characteristic of carcinoma of the cervix uteri does not differ essentially from that found in malignant tumors in general.3.There is a definite correlation between the morphologic differentiation of the neoplastic squamous cell and its enzyme content. Less differentiated tumors generally show higher activity of alkaline phosphatase, 5-nucleotidase, adenosinetriphosphatase, and glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase, whereas the reverse is true for nonspecific esterase. The practical significance of the variations in the activity of glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase is discussed.4.In normal and neoplastic stratified squamous epithelium, dendritic cells consistently show adenosinetriphosphatase activity, a characteristic which could be used for the identification of these tissues.5.Irradiation of squamous cell carcinoma of the uterine cervix is accompanied by a gradual increase of the activity of nonspecific esterases in the neoplastic cells, a phenomenon probably related to the tendency of some neoplastic cells toward differentiation. There are indications that esterase activity could be used for grading squamous cell carcinoma. Moreover, this enzyme might eventually prove to be of some value in evaluating the radiation response of cervical cancer.

Serum HCG and HPL levels were determined in 154 samples derived from 39 twin and one triplet pregnancies. Compared with singleton gestations, these levels were respectively 2.5 and 1.5 times higher throughout gestation. Analysis of these data in terms of predictive accuracy for the existence of a twin indicates that neither assay can serve for screening purposes though simultaneous determination of HCG and HPL may provide a fair index of suspicion.