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In this paper the need for review (ethical) committees is elaborated to include a discussion of their composition and function. In some institutions more than one such committee may be set up, a departmental ethical committee and one which studies the projects of all the departments concerned. By considering proposed research before it is started patients or volunteers are protected from injury, discomfort, and inconvenience, and the scientific validity of a clinical experiment can be scrutinized. A list of possible criteria for the work of ethical committees is given. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The activities of five enzymes were determined by fluorometric micromethods in epidermal tumors (basal and squamous cell epithelioma. verruca seborrhoica and keratoacanthoma) and compared to the activities in the adjoining. apparently normal epidermis. Most activities were higher in the tumoral tissues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper confirms results showing that TA3 tumour cells coated in vivo with immunoglobulins, lose some of the coat upon transfer to in vitro conditions. By labelling IgG isolated from the ascitic fluid of TA3 tumours it was found that the immunoglobulin coating TA3 cells is dynamically exchanged with immunoglobulin in the corresponding ascitic fluid. Some of the released immunoglobulin is in a degraded state as judged from the fact that most of the released material lost the antigenicity of intact immunoglobulin and has a lower capacity to precipitate with ammonium sulphate at 50% saturation. The degraded immunoglobulin has a higher binding efficiency to tumour cells. In vivo experiments demonstrated that the ascitic fluid of mice bearing TA3 and MCIM tumours contains a material which has some of the physicochemical properties of IgG but which does not precipitate with antisera directed aguinst IgG. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to determine the relationship between all forms of pemphigus and malignancy or thymoma, a search of the world literature was carried out. Fifty-nine case reports or isolated citations for pemphigus with malignancies or thymomas were noted, including twenty-one reports published before the histological separation by Lever of pemphigus and bullous pemphigoid in 1953. Of these cases, twenty-six were acceptable for analysis. In approximately 54% of patients surveyed with these associations, the malignancy involved the lymphoid or reticuloendothelial systems. Approximately 48% of the patients with pemphigus and malignancy or thymoma had associated autoimmune diseases. Pemphigus with malignancies or thymomas may be related through some intervening variables such as immuno-suppressive therapy or the antigenic and cross-reacting nature of the primary tumour, or through an immunological consequence of associated autoimmune disease. Although reports of pemphigus and concurrent malignancy or thymoma have appeared sporadically in the literature (Skog, 1964; Beutner et al., 1968; Krain et al., 1973), added impetus to the study of these associations has been provided by the demonstration of the production of pemphigus antibodies by a lymphoid neoplasm (Saikia, 1972). It is generally acknowledged that autoimmune mechanisms play an important though as yet ill-defined role in the pathogenesis of pemphigus (Beutner et al., 1968; Beutner, Chorzelski & Jordon, 1970), of thymomas (Stillman& Baer, 1972; Vetters et al., 1973) and of some malignant tumours (Moragas, Winkelmann & Jordon, 1970; Alexander, 1972; Saikia, 1972). In addition, immunosuppressive therapy employed in the management of patients with pemphigus and other autoimmune diseases has been incriminated as a possible inductive mechanism in the subsequent development of malignancy (Harris, 1971; Lowney, 1972; Krain & Bierman, 1973). Saikia (1973) has suggested that every patient with pemphigus should be investigated as far as is practicable to exclude the possibility of a co-existent malignancy, especially in those cases in which systemic corticosteroid therapy is unsatisfactory in controlling the pemphigus. The purpose of this paper is to review the current literature on the association of pemphigus with malignancy or thymoma and to examine critically the factors involved in these inter-relationships. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An intra-epidermal epithelioma of 30 years duration invaded as squamous cell carcinoma. The tumour exhibited an unusual propensity for the production of parakeratotic debris. The potential of intra-epidermal epithelioma for invasion is reviewed. It no longer seems useful to attribute any diagnostic or prognostic specificity to the designation ‘Borst­Jadassohn epithelioma’ (Mehregan & Pinkus, 1964; Holubar & Wolff, 1969; Holubar, 1969). Rather, Pinkus & Mehregan (1964) have proposed that three different phenomena with intra-epidermal nests be designated by the names Borst, Jadassohn and Paget respectively. The Borst phenomenon is nest formation by intra-epidermal invasion from an adjacent squamous cell carcinoma or Bowen's disease. The Jadassohn phenomenon is the intra-epidermal origin of distinct nests of keratinocytes which long remain confined to the epidermis. The Paget phenomenon is the invasion of the epidermis, with nest formation, by non-keratinocytic tumour cells; instances include mammary and extramammary Paget's disease, malignant melanoma and epidermotropic metastatic adenocarcinoma of the bladder. Although this Paget phenomenon is of great biological interest, and often a concern in differential diagnosis, it does not require further consideration in this paper. This case report documents the development of invasive squamous cell carcinoma in a recurrent ‘intraepidermal epithelioma’ which initially exhibited only the Jadassohn phenomenon. The formation of unusual masses of parakeratotic debris is also emphasized. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes the occurrence of pemphigus vulgaris in a 46-year-old female with a thymic tumour. The myasthenia gravis went into remission within a few months of thymectomy, but the patient continued to need steroids for pemphigus vulgaris for a further 5 years. The histological appearances of the thymic tumour and skin and the serological findings are described. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Eleven eases of angioma serpiginosum are reported. The clinical and histological features and diagnosis are discussed. The relevant literature is reviewed. The interpretation of Hutchinson's original cases in this country closely follows the series reported in this paper but differs from that accepted by American authors. Angioma serpiginosum is a clinical entity distinct from capillary angiomata and from the group of pigmented purpuric eruptions. It is suggested that it is an ectasia of existing blood vessels in the papillary and subpapillary plexus of the dermis possibly resulting from a functional abnormality of these capillaries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Whilst the ability of isoantibodies to agglutinate mouse red cells in saline medium does depend in part upon the properties of the antibody molecules, the concentration of antigen upon the red cell and certain genetically determined properties of the cell surface are of even greater importance. The red cells of mice of any strain will give positive results in the human serum:dextran system whilst reactions in a saline medium are unusual. In this paper the term ‘incomplete antibody’ is used to denote antibodies that can only be detected in conjunction with other antibodies in the human serum:dextran system. The time of appearance of antibodies to homografts of an ascites sarcoma, an ascites leukosis and a solid mammary carcinoma has been studied. Incomplete antibody as defined above has been detected by two methods. In the blocking test incomplete antibody is allowed to react with red cells before contact with complete antibody, a positive result being observed as a fall in titre when the treated red cells are subsequently exposed to complete antibody. In the second type of test, the synergic test, incomplete antibody is mixed with suitably diluted complete antibody and fitrated against suitable red cells, a positive result being a significant rise in titre as compared with complete antibody mixed with normal serum. Antibodies produced by the antigen donors did not give significant blocking or synergic effects. Incomplete antibodies are sometimes detectible on the third day and with regularity on the fourth day. Antibodies ‘complete’ for A strain red cells may appear at any time from the fifth day onwards. There is sometimes a drop in fitre of varying duration on the sixth day. This corresponds with the commencement of marked inflammatory changes on the graft bed. The maximum titre is attained at about two weeks. Antibodies may disappear in under three months or persist as long as a year. The function of antibodies in homograft reactions varies with the target tissue. However, they appear before the onset of anatomical signs of homograff response regardless of the type of target cell. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents information on several medical cases related to dermatology which were presented in the meeting of the Royal Society of Medicine on March 16, 1950. In one paper presented by dermatologist W.N. Goldsmith, the patient was suffering from nodular subcutaneous haemangiomatosis. Numerous subcutaneous elastic spherical tumors appeared, chiefly on the limbs, especially shins and on the sides of the face and neck. In another paper presented by dermatologist Brian Russell, the patient was suffering from lymphangioma circumscriptum and keloids.

In three districts of India where an oral precancer registry comprising 30,000 individuals was established in 1967, regular follow-up surveys have been conducted. This paper discusses the results of a 7-year follow-up study. In Bhavnagar district only one case of oral cancer was reported in this study. In the districts of Ernakulam and Srikakulam, age-adjusted annual incidence rates for oral cancer were found to be 33 and 22 per 100,000 respectively. The significance of tobacco habits and oral submucous fibrosis as etiologic factors is discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article focuses on the paper "An Unusual Case of Tuberose Sclerosis," by S.K. Gupta that was published in a 1956 issue of the periodical "Lancet." The patient with adenoma sebaceum developed epilepsy in the sixth decade. Despite the title, this incomplete form of the disease is the usual one encountered in the dermatological clinic and survival to the age of 51 is not uncommon where gross neurological involvement is not present.

The article focuses on the research paper "Pseudoepitheuomatous Hyperplasias," by D. Grinspan and J. Abulafia. In this paper, the authors report 20 cases of their own and compare them clinically and histologically with prickle cell epitheliomas.

The article focuses on the research paper "Keratoacanthoma," by N. Puente Duany. This paper reviews the literature and describes the lesions of 19 patients, 7 of whom had two or more lesions. Since the tumours had many resemblances to squamous cell epithelioma they were all treated by surgery, diathermy, radium, or x-rays. The paper also informs that what appears to be a keratoacanthoma clinically is not always so histologically, as 5 lesions were adenoacanthomas, 1 a sweat gland basal cell epithelioma and another a sweat gland epithelioma with squamous cell differentiation.