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Summary Background: Immunotherapy with monoclonal antibody 17-1A (mAb 17-1A) has been shown effective as an adjuvant treatment in UICC stage III colo

BACKGROUND: Immunotherapy with monoclonal antibody 17-1A (mAb 17-1A) has been shown effective as an adjuvant treatment in UICC stage III colon carcinoma. Usually, severe side effects are infrequent with mAb 17-1A treatment. CASE REPORT: A 64-year-old man had a 18-month history of recurring arthralgia, sinusitis, and conjunctivits. After curative resection of UICC stage II colon cancer adjuvant treatment with mAb 17-1A was initiated. After the first administration (500 mg) the patient experienced an aggravation of the above-mentioned symptoms which led to the diagnosis of Wegener's granulomatosis with multiorgan involvement. Under immunosuppressive therapy with cyclophosphamide and prednisone, clinical stabilization could be achieved. CONCLUSION: The exacerbation of Wegener's granulomatosis occurred immediately after the first administration of mAb 17-1A. This suggests that mAb 17-1A should be applied cautiously in autoimmune disease. Copyright 2000 S. Karger GmbH, Freiburg

A patient who had been admitted to hospital for surgical treatment of inguinal hernias was found to have a blood group phenotype of A1B in the presence of a non-auto-anti-B. No previous records of the patient's blood group were available. The serological workup including absorption and saliva inhibiton studies yielded a high probability for an acquired B-antigen which is known to be often associated with carcinoma of the colon. Subsequent coloscopy revealed the presence of a carcinoma of the sigmoid, unaccessable to palpation. To our knowledge this is the first report in the literature that the serological diagnosis of an acquired B-antigen led to the detection of a hitherto undetected carcinoma.

Seit der Beschreibung der Enteritis regionalis als eines eigenstandigen Krankheitsbildes durch Crohn Anfang der dreisiger Jahre sind die verschiedensten Theorien zu Atiologie und Pathogenese dieser Erkrankung diskutiert worden. Neben den Hypothesen einer infektiosen und einer psychosomatischen Genese sind in den letzten Jahren u. a. immunologische Phanomene in den Vordergrund des Interesses geruckt. Hierbei sind organspezifische Immunreaktionen gegenuber Enterobakterien sowie Bestandteilen der menschlichen Darmschleimhaut (U bersicht bei Dykes, 1972) zu unterscheiden von einer unspezifischen Einschrankung der zellularen Immunitat, die in der Literatur nach wie vor divergierend beurteilt wird (Verrier Jones et al., 1969; Parent et al., 1971; Asquith et al., 1973; Sachar et al., 1973; Bird and Britton, 1974; Bolton et al., 1974).