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Treatment of infiltrant vesical cancer has traditionally been the grounds for intense controversy. Transurethral resection (TUR) followed by high voltage radiotherapy (RT) in selected cases of locally advanced vesical urothelial tumours can be a valid alternative for the treatment of this condition. This paper discloses the experience of our center in the treatment of this type of tumours over the last few years (1979-1993) on 85 selected patient, with a considerable percentage of living patients and with no evidence of disease after the follow-up period; taking into account the influence on these results of the cytologic grade, tumoral size, gross appearance of the tumour, and tumoral stage. Additionally, these results are compared with those from other authors using similar therapeutic method as well as with the results from different therapeutical approaches, illustrating one more the intense controversy that exists relative to the management of these patients.

An otherwise normal 48-year-old man had malignant large cell calcifying Sertoli cell tumor of the testis. There were lymph node involvement and albugineal invasion at orchiectomy, and pulmonary metastases developed despite radiotherapy and chemotherapy. Our case and, to our knowledge, the only other reported case of malignant large cell calcifying Sertoli cell tumor had clinical and histopathological features related to aggressiveness, such as unusual patient age, large tumor size, cellular pleomorphism, high mitotic rate, necrosis and aneuploid deoxyribonucleic acid. Such characteristics are not found in benign large cell calcifying Sertoli cell tumors. Associated findings included granular change of the epididymal lining, probably due to compression by the large tumor.

Blood lymphocytes from cancer patients with solid tumours without any previous immunosuppressive treatment and from normal individuals, were cultured in vitro with a wide range of phytohaemagglutinin (PHA). Sixty two per cent of all the cancer patients studied show a minimal of no response to PHA in comparison with the normal population. The rest (38%), show a quantitative identical response than normals. However, the maximal response in these patients occur in the high PHA doses, while the normal individuals show their maximal activity with low PHA doses. The low or no PHA response showed by the 62% of patients, may indicate they have impaired cellular immunity. The high response showed by the other 38%, may indicate that the patients of this group have high cellular immunity capacity. This immunity, however, higher PHA doses are required to reach the maximal response compared with the seems to be different from that of normal individuals, since higher PHA doses are required in cancer patients to reach maximal response. These results also suggest that a large range of PHA doses may be important to detect the degree of cellular immunity in cancer patients compared with the normal population. One or two random PHA doses, may not show a distinction.

The correlation between breast cancer and serum prolactin levels in women is not so clear as it is in experimental animals. The study described in this work shows that there are no significant differences in prolactin levels in normal women and breast cancer patients, but that there is a direct relation between prolactin level and tumor mass in every patient.

The prediction of the response to endocrine therapy in breast cancer is important. Although the estrogen receptor assay is a fundamental procedure to know hormone dependency in breast cancer, the changes produced in the serum prolactin level after administering L-dopa is a simple and reproducible method that can be used as alternative predictive test in some cases. This work shows that a 65 per 100 decrease or more in the L-dopa induced prolactin level prognosticates the existence of a hormone responsive tumor.

The association of malignant melanoma with different neoplasias is uncommon but not exceptional. We present two cases of malignant melanoma associated with lymphoma, and analyze the variety of etiopathogenic factors which have been implicated in both neoplasias, with special emphasis on those that may explain this association.