The overall mortality rate of Hodgkin's disease in Japan has shown little change over one and a half decades. However, by analyzing the mortality rates of agespecific groups, a distinct difference in the two sets of age groups was observed; decreasing mortality rates in the young and increasing rates in the elderly were demonstrated with a minor difference in the changing pattern between the sexes. Male predominance was the expected finding through all age groups, while the most pronounced death rates in the young was not a feature in Japan, and no bimodal curve was observed by examining age distribution in cases dying from Hodgkin's disease. Male-to-female mortality ratios appeared consistently similar in all age groups through two different study periods of 1950-58 and of 1959-66. The mortality rates in the nine districts of Japan have shown marked variations, and these seem not to be derived from the difference of diagnostic criteria in each district, when supplementary data were studied. Further, the low rate of mortality in large cities like Tokyo and Osaka was unexpected and has not been reported previously. The presented data are limited to the actually observed phenomena without an implication of etiology, but it will be a clue for future study.

View full abstract

The clinical effect of Bleomycin used in the treatment of 145 cases of malignant tumors of the skin and other diseases is summarized. Excellent results, including disappearance of the tumor, were seen in 29 cases, good results in 45 cases, and moderately good results in 31 cases, giving an effective rate of 72.4%. The therapeutic effect was especially pronounced in squamous cell cancer which constituted the majority of the lesions studied. Tumors of the lips and face responded better than those of other areas of the body. Better results were obtained in fresh cases than in old ones that had already received radiation therapy. It is noteworthy that the side effect of Bleomycin on hematopoietic organs is mild. The thymidine kinase activity in the tissue of the malignant tumor lesion was abnormally high and decreased markedly on Bleomycin administration.

View full abstract

Four lines of human cancer cells exposed to the Friend virus were examined by electron microscopy. Virus particles, which were identical with the Friend virus in the experiment using ferritin antibody technique, were observed budding on the cell surface and also in intercellular spaces. Significance of the finding is discussed briefly.

View full abstract

The present experiments demonstrated that Friend virus-infected tumor cells transplanted into primary autochthonous hosts did not grow well and later regressed spontaneously, while transplanted non-infected primary tumor cells grew well and killed the host. Primary tumor cells infected with Friend virus, however, grew well in the Friend virus-tolerant rats and killed them. From these experiments it was concluded that the antigenic modification of tumor antigens by an artificial infection of the virus may be observed not only in the isologous systems as previously reported, but also in the autochthonous host as indicated in the present experiment.

View full abstract

MH-134 ascites hepatoma cells were inoculated subcutaneously or intramuscularly into C3H mice and the tumors were removed surgically 2 or 6 weeks after inoculation. The mice were rechallenged with the same tumor cells of various numbers at various intervals after removal of the tumor. Changes in the resistance of hosts were evaluated by "take" of the tumor cells.
When the primary tumors were removed 2 weeks after inoculation, the resistance increased as compared with that of tumor-bearing mice, reaching a maximum one week after the operation and then it declined rapidly. It was also found that a vaccine prepared from tumor cells was effective in preventing the fall of resistance. On the contrary, when the tumors were removed 6 weeks later, increase in resistance was not observed.

View full abstract

The control liver cells in long-term culture originating in rat livers, the cells transformed by 4-nitroquinoline 1-oxide from the control cells, the solid and the ascites tumors produced in a rat by the intraperitoneal back-transplantation of the transformed cells, and the cells cultivated from the ascites tumor were investigated by electron microscopy.
The results suggested that the control cells probably originated from hepatic parenchymal cells. However, no specific features of liver cells in vivo were observed in the control liver cells in long-term culture and identification of the cultured liver cells was unsuccessful. The electron microscopic studies on the 4-nitroquinoline 1-oxide-transformed cells revealed vacuolization of Golgi bodies, irregular nucleus, and swelling of rough endoplasmic reticulum and mitochondria.
The ultrastructural observation of the control cells and the tumor cells transformed by 4-nitroquinoline 1-oxide indicated that a mixed population of cells with different origin, at least two kinds of cells, i.e., the liver cells and the cells other than liver cells, were contained in the culture originating from the rat liver tissues. It appears from these findings that these two kinds of cells are transformed in culture by 4-nitroquinoline 1-oxide and they are contained in this particular tumor produced in the animal by the back-transplantation of the cells treated with the chemical carcinogen.

View full abstract

The present series of experiment was undertaken to examine the effect of aluminium compounds on the development of experimental lung tumor induced by 4-nitroquinoline 1-oxide in mice. Female dd strain mice were injected subcutaneously once a week with 0.25mg of 4-nitroquinoline 1-oxide suspended in 0.1 ml of 10% lecithin, for 5 weeks. Group 1: This group recieved no further treatment. Of 28 animals in this group, multiple lung adenoma developed in 100%, while three animals developed adenocarcinoma.
Groups 2 and 3: One week before the administration of 4-nitroquinoline 1-oxide, the animals were made to inhale 0.2% AlCl₃ solution (Gr. 2) or Al₂O₃ (Gr. 3) daily, and then further inhalation was continued twice a week for 7 months after 4-nitroquinoline 1-oxide treatment. In Groups 2 and 3, about 60% and 70% of the animals developed a small lung adenoma without development of adenocarcinoma. In the other experiment in which the animals were treated subcutaneously with AlCl₃ solution instead of inhalation in the same pattern, similar tendency was observed.
These experiments indicate that the presence of aluminium reduced the incidence of lung adenomas and suggest that aluminium inhibits the induction of adenomatous change in the lung of mice by 4-nitroquinoline 1-oxide.

View full abstract

Three groups of female Donryu rats were given 0.01, 0.02, or 0.04% solution of N-nitrosobutylurea continuously as their drinking water. Leukemia, erythroblastic or stem-cell type, developed in animals of all the groups but a higher percentage, 76 and 100%, in the groups that received the 0.02 and 0.04% solutions. The lesions and tumors induced in other organs included (1) hyperkeratosis of the forestomach, (2) papillomas and basal cell carcinomas of the forestomach and esophagus, (3) ear duct carcinomas, (4) mammary adenocarcinoma, (5) reticulum cell sarcoma, and (6) adenomatous polyp of the small intestine.
More extrahematopoietic tumors were found in the animals that received the lowest daily dose of N-nitrosobutylurea. The higher concentrations of N-nitrosobutylurea resulted in a higher frequency of leukemia early and the lower dose more extrahematopoietic tumors later in the experimental period.

View full abstract

The crude preparation of Yoshida sarcoma thymidine kinase was eluted at void volume on Sephadex G-200 column with 0.005M Tris-HCl buffer (pH 8.0), containing 3mM mercaptoethanol. When the ionic strength was increased with the incorporation of 0.05M KCl in the developing solution, the appearance of the enzyme required a greater elution volume.
The retardation was also found after treatment of the enzyme with RNase. The retarded fraction of RNase-treated thymidine kinase was again eluted at void volume after addition of RNA.
Partially purified thymidine kinase was retarded on Sephadex G-200. The retarded fraction of RNase-treated thymidine kinase was separated into two peaks by DEAE-cellulose column chromatography.
These results suggest that the change of the gel filtration pattern induced by difference in ionic strength of the buffer does not indicate an aggregated or disaggregated form of the enzyme but rather the presence or absence of complex formation with such a modifier containing RNA.

View full abstract

Male-to-female death rates of leukemia in Japan were studied for over 2 decades. It appears that the rate of increase in the female is more rapid than that observed in the male through all age groups. However, the female death rates are still lower than the male.

View full abstract

A case of thyroid cancer in a 26-year-old female 6 years after treatmen twith ¹³¹I for diffuse toxic goiter is reported because of its rarity.

View full abstract

LPI-9 has been maintained as a transplantable tumor which originated spontaneously from the left harderian gland of a female mouse (129/Jax). The content of glyceryl ether diesters was 59% in total lipids which were 25.5% in wet weight. One table of side-chain composition and five photographs are shown.

View full abstract

Glutathionase (γ-glutamyl transpeptidase) in Reuber hepatoma H-139 has the activity 40-50 times higher than in normal adult rat liver. High glutathionase activities were found in four other types of transplantable hepatomas and also in neonatal rat liver.

View full abstract

EB virus-carrying Burkitt cell line was studied by immunoferritin technique. The viral capsids and the extracellular enveloped particles were heavily labeled. A striking ferritin tag was evident on the surface membranes of the virus-containing cells. The implications of these findings are discussed.

View full abstract

In a soft agar medium inoculated with thymic cells from dd mouse embryos, cell colonies were formed. The cells of colony isolates grew continuously in vitro, and they carried C-type particles similar to mouse leukemia virus.

View full abstract

Leukemia was induced at a high rate by continuous administration of N-nitrosobutylurea, dissolved in drinking water, both in mice and rats. The incubation period was short, and the type of induced leukemia was uniform in each species. The chemical also induced mammary carcinoma in one strain female rats in which no leukemia had occurred. N-Nitrosobutylurea seems to be a unique tool in elucidating the mechanism of leukemogenesis because of its remarkable uniform inductivity and low toxicity.

View full abstract

Mouse survival time was examined as a function of 5-fluorouracil dose. In doses between 0.4 and 1.5mg/g body weight, survival time was independent of the dose and averaged _??_6.5 days which is different from the time of the so-called intestinal or hematopoietic death observed after X-irradiation.

View full abstract

The induction of glandular stomach and duodenum tumor by administration of N-methyl-N'-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine in drinking water was promoted in rats subjected to acute stress which efficiently produces stomach ulcer.

View full abstract

In the experiments using newborn animals, the carcinogenicity of cigarette tar was proved in the liver, lung, and lymph nodes, in agreement with the results of previous experiments with injection and painting of cigarette tar in adult mice.

View full abstract