Faculty Bibliography

Then in July, only five weeks after the transplant, the cancer was found to have spread to both of his lungs. By Aug. 7, less than a month after the first spread appeared, the cancer had metastasized to his abdomen. Mantle's death came a little more than two months after he received a new liver. 'I don't know that we have ever seen one that moved this fast,' Dr. Thomas E. Starzl, the liver transplant pioneer at the University of Pittsburgh, said in an interview yesterday. 'The only thing I can think of that would make this cancer go as fast as it did is invasion into the bloodstream because it would be unlikely to spread as fast through the lymph system or by direct extension. Surprising though it may be, it looks like the only rational explanation.' No one knows when Mantle's cancer began. And no one can be sure that it would not have spread as fast without the transplant surgery. But cancer experts said they presumed that the drugs used to suppress Mantle's immune system to prevent rejection of the organ contributed to the tumor's rapid spread by knocking out his defenses against the cancer

Tests showed weeks ago that the liver cancer from which Mickey Mantle died Sunday was an aggressive type. But the extraordinary speed with which the cancer riddled his body despite chemotherapy was surprising, particularly to doctors at Baylor Transplant Institute in Dallas where the Yankees great received a liver transplant June 8. Doctors and the family had been encouraged by the technical success of the surgery. Mantle began chemotherapy for the cancer, a tumor that had started in the liver and is known as a hepatoma. But examination of the liver that was removed showed the cancer had already spread to his bile ducts. Such spread does not necessarily predict the virulence with which the cancer attacked Mantle

Pathology tests showed weeks ago that the liver cancer from which Mickey Mantle died Sunday was an aggressive type. But the extraordinary speed with which the cancer riddled his body despite chemotherapy was surprising, particularly to his doctors at Baylor Transplant Institute in Dallas where the former New York Yankee basbeall star received a liver transplant June 8. Initially, the doctors and the Mantle family were encouraged by the technical success of the surgery. Mantle began taking chemotherapy for the cancer, a tumor that started in the liver and is known as a hepatoma. But pathology tests of the diseased liver that was removed in the transplant showed the cancer had already spread to his bile ducts. Such spread does not necessarily predict the virulence with which the cancer attacked Mantle

The heart surgery that former New York City Mayor David N. Dinkins is scheduled to undergo on Aug 10, 1995 has become one of the most common operations performed in the US since it was developed about 30 years earlier. Dinkins is suffering from coronary artery disease, a condition that occurs when the arteries become narrowed or blocked, and will have bypasses on three coronary arteries. The risk of death is generally under 3% for such operations

Proliferation and differentiation in many cells are linked to specific changes in transmembrane ion fluxes. Previously, we have identified a nonspecific cation channel in keratinocytes, which is permeable to and activated by Ca++. To test whether this cation channel might serve as a pathway for Ca++ entry, we examined the effect of blocking this channel on membrane currents, markers of differentiation, and intracellular Ca++. In patch clamp studies, 10(-8) to 10(-6) M amiloride decreased the single-channel open probability. The same concentrations of amiloride inhibited the calcium-induced formation of cornified envelopes and activity of transglutaminase in a dose-dependent fashion. Amiloride inhibited the long-term rise of intracellular Ca++ induced by raised extracellular Ca++, without blocking the initial increase of intracellular Ca++. Amiloride at concentrations of 10(-7) to 10(-3) M did not change the resting intracellular pH of keratinocytes, although concentrations of 10(-6) M or greater inhibited the recovery from NH4(+)-induced acidification. To test whether the effect of amiloride was toxic, we measured DNA synthesis in the presence or absence of amiloride. DNA synthesis was unchanged, suggesting that amiloride's actions were not due to toxic effects. Although the exact mechanisms of amiloride's action remains to be determined, these experiments suggest that this compound may inhibit keratinocyte differentiation by blocking the nonspecific cation channel

For months, a 48-year-old regular at a neighborhood bar in Minneapolis had a cough that worsened. He breathed more than twice as fast as usual, felt feverish, became progressively weaker, lost 65 pounds. As the man became sicker, he spent more time at the bar, slept under a bridge, in shelters and occasionally in a rooming house near the bar. But he did not go to a doctor and no one sent him to a public clinic six blocks from the bar. Finally, he went to a nearby hospital, where doctors diagnosed tuberculosis. And when epidemiologists ended an investigation, they found that the man had infected at least 45 bartenders and other regular customers of the bar. At least one died despite therapy. In turn, infected bar companions spread the infection to two others, including a 7-month-old child

As the man became sicker, he spent more time at the bar, slept under a bridge, in shelters and occasionally in a rooming house near the bar. He did not go to a doctor, and no one sent him to a public clinic six blocks from the bar. Finally, he went to a nearby hospital, where doctors diagnosed tuberculosis. When epidemiologists ended an investigation, they found that the man had infected at least 45 bartenders and other regular customers of the bar. At least one died despite therapy. In turn, infected bar companions spread the infection to two others, including a 7-month-old child