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All abdominoperineal resections for carcinoma of the rectum carried out 1963-1972 in two small community hospitals are reviewed. Seventy-six patients were found: males slightly outnumbered females; the average age was 61. There were 67 adenocarcinomas, 7 squamous cell carcinomas and one each of villous adenoma and carcinoid. Distribution of Dukes' classification was: A-20, B-26, C-21, D-9. In an average case the operative time was 3 hours, 25 minutes, 4 units of blood were used, and postoperative hospital stay was 30 days. Postoperative complications were recorded in over 50% of the patients with reoperation needed in 26% of all patients and delayed complications occurred in 41%. The operative mortality was 1.3%. Five year followup was possible in 40 of 43 patients; survival according to Dukes' classification was A-80%, B-53%, C-9% and D-25% with overall survival 45%.

In this study we utilized information obtained from more than 2000 operable breast cancer patients who had been entered since 1957 into the National Breast Project by 45 institutions. The purpose was to further evaluate the concept that the size of breast neoplasms influences patient prognosis. Only 5% of patients had tumors smaller than 1.0 cm, 48% were larger than 2.9 cm, and 28% exceeded 4.0 cm. The findings, when compared with those previously reported by others, suggest that little progress has been made since about 1950 relative to the removal of smaller breast tumors. Since these data are probably more nearly representative of the size of breast tumors at surgery in this country during the past decade than most other data that are available, they provide a baseline for the evaluation of the worth of a variety of recently employed and proposed diagnostic procedures. Results obtained categorically agree with current thinking that the larger the tumor the more likely that axillary nodes will be positive, that 4 or more rather than 1-3 nodes will be involved, and tumor recurrence and mortality rates will be greater. Such an unqualified statement, however, is an oversimplification of the findings, provides no indication of the magnitude of recurrence and mortality differences to be anticipated from tumors of various sizes, and should be accepted only with reservation. It is speculated, as a result of the data presented and certain assumptions, that if all tumors 2.0 cm or larger (70% of the total) had been removed when they were 1.0-1.9 cm in size, at the end of 5 years the recurrence rate for all patients entered might have only decreased by 10-18%, and the overall survival might have increased 11-20%. From certain considerations and the results obtained, it is concluded that size may not necessarily relate to “earliness” or “lateness” of a tumor, nor is it as consequential to the fate of the patient as are other factors relative to the tumor and /or host that may be present from its inception and which determine the development of metastases. Such a conclusion does not deprecate effort toward earlier diagnosis and tumor removal. It does emphasize, however, that the reasons for such an endeavor may be different from those generally considered at present.

The effect of 6-MP therapy on the duration of remissions induced by adrenal corticosteroids has been studied as a model for testing of new agents. Ninetytwo patients under age 20 entered the study and were accepted for analysis. Sixty-two (67 per cent) had complete or partial remissions induced by corticosteroids. Patients in remission were randomly assigned to maintenance therapy with either 6-MP or placebo. The median duration of 6-MP-maintained complete remissions was 33 weeks and for placebo, 9 weeks. A sequential experimental design was used to analyze remission times while the study was in progress. This resulted in the study being stopped after analysis of the remission times of 21 pairs of patients (42 patients). Overall survival was not significantly different for the two treatment programs, since patients maintained on placebo were treated with 6-MP when relapse occurred. The activity of the known active antileukemic compound 6-MP was readily detected by this experimental design without compromise of optimal survival. Such a design should prove useful for the evaluation of new agents and also permit study of the remission maintenance activity of a compound separately from its remission inducing activity.

Objective: To compare the outcomes of living donor liver transplantation (LDLT) versus deceased donor liver transplantation (DDLT) for patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in different selection criteria. Methods: Data of patients with HCC who underwent liver transplantation between 2005 and 2013 at our center were reviewed. Clinical data of LDLT recipients and DDLT recipients were compared. The postoperative recurrence-free survival (RFS) rate and overall survival (OS) rate after LDLT versus DDLT were compared in the Milan recipients, the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) recipients, the up-to-seven recipients, the Hangzhou recipients and the Chengdu recipients. Results: Data of 255 patients were retrospectively reviewed in this study. Seventeen DDLT recipient and 9 LDLT recipients died during the perioperative period. Among the remaining 229 recipients (NLDLT=66, NDDLT=163), 96 patients met the Milan criteria, 123 recipients met the UCSF criteria, 135 patients met the up-to-seven criteria, 216 patients met the Hangzhou criteria, and 229 recipients met the Chengdu criteria. The overall RFS and OS rates of the Milan recipients, the UCSF recipients, the up-to-seven recipients, the Hangzhou recipients and the Chengdu recipients after LDLT and DDLT were all similar. Conclusion: Using well-studied selection criteria, LDLT offers similar outcomes to DDLT for patient with HCC, even using expanded selection criteria.

Objective: We aimed to analyze the expression of ERCC1, RRM1 and TUBB3 in 305 patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and investigate whether these genes can be used as biomarkers for predicting tumor response and clinical outcome. Methods: Total 305 patients with unresectable and locally advanced NSCLC were collected between January 2007 and December 2008. cDNA of ERCC1, RRM1 and TUBB3 was isolated by a fluorescence-based real-time detection method. Results: All the patients were followed up until December 2012. One hundred seventy five patients showed good response and 130 patients showed poor response to chemotherapy. 126 patients died and 166 patients showed progressive disease during the follow-up period. The median levels of ERCC1, RRM1 and TUBB3 mRNA were 0.53±0.13, 0.31±0.15 and 0.18±0.16, respectively. We found that patients with low ERCC1 expression showed a significantly higher rate of good tumor response, and the adjusted OR (95% CI) was 2.16(1.32-3.45). By Cox regression analysis. We also found that low ERCC1 expression level were correlated with longer overall survival of NSCLC patients, with the adjusted HR (95% CI) was 2.15 (1.26–3.35). Conclusion: This study showed that ERCC1 mRNA expression can not affect the response to chemotherapy and clinical outcome of advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients.

From Jan., 1972 to Dec., 1973, 303 newborns required assisted ventilation. Weights ranged from 660-5030 Gm (mean 1731) with 148 infants