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In order to provide a rapid, comprehensive survey of specific research areas of high current interest, but of highly diversified literature, an abstract service was organized in August, 1958. Cancer Immunology Abstracts was the first of five publications; best known is Cancer Chemotherapy Abstracts; newest is Psychopharmacology Abstracts. Abstracts are prepared by a staff with biomedical graduate degrees who become familiar with and proficient in the areas of survey; papers are re-read and checked by a second abstracter, then checked again by the editor. The emphasis is on selective and accurate abstraction from the viewpoint of the particular publication, with drug and data standardization. Scanning procedures included survey of 4700 biological and medical journals, with page-by-page analysis of a large number; abstracts, meetings and book reviews are included. Abstract journals and patent sources are covered for material not generally available; arrangements are made for direct receipt of these, since all abstracting is done from original sources. Advantages to the reader are greater coverage, specific topic extraction, and speed. Among the analyses to be presented will be comparisons with other documentation sources as to: (1) number of references selected for specific therapeutic agents; (2) time interval between appearance of a meeting abstract and the full report; (3) number of subject entries per abstract; (4) percentage of references chosen from selective reference lists; and (5) time interval between publication of an article and appearance of its abstract. Thorough coverage in depth of specific fields versus wide topic spread will be discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the solitary and multiple self-healing squamous carcinoma of the skin, and the kerato-acanthoma. Topics discussed include the molluscum sebaceum, hypertrophic and inflammatory changes in a sebaceous cyst, and epidermal hyperplasia. In addition, reference is made to the possibility to make correct diagnoses through biopsy specimen.

The article examines skin cancer in Australian patients, including the incidence of skin neoplasm in a populational cross-section, etiological factors governing this incidence, and various treatment options and their results. Differences in treatment methodology between squamous and basal cell carcinomata are outlined, including radiation therapy, excision, and electrosurgery.

Deals with the technics of sigmoidoscopy which have increased the yield of positive diagnostic information and which have facilitated the treatment of certain lesions of the distal colon. Position of patients undergoing sigmoidoscopy; Use of sigmoidoscope to facilitate cautery snare excision of rectal and sigmoidal polyps; Effectiveness of sigmoidoscopy in diagnosing colorectal diseases.

The article reports on two medical studies which suggest that it might be justifiable to draw comparison between such a hypothetical pigment and radiotherapy when used without destructive intent; each suggests most uncomfortably that treatment apparently orthodox and generally accepted at the time could sometimes be related to underlying calamities after a few years. There also seems little doubt that, though the incidence and latent period are modified by increasing age, the possibility of cancer following irradiation of adolescents remains a real one and that there is no certain minimal safe dose.

The article focuses on a paper suggesting that the range of safe dosage in the treatment of skin cancer diminishes as the size of the field increases. The minimum curative dose for a very small field is above that which the normal skin will tolerate when very large fields are used. In the elderly, a dose near the maximum normal skin tolerance may result in delayed healing, radiodermatitis, or necrosis. On the back of the hand, where the collateral blood supply is relatively poor even the minimum curative dose may be too much and plastic surgery is preferable.

The article examines the methods and preliminary results of treatments for recurrent melanoblastoma in use from 1959 to 1963. The author examines 40 cases of melanoblastoma treatment, of which 19 were treated by excision, 3 were treated by amputation, and eighteen were treated by X-radiation. 18 patients were also treated with the vaccinia virus.

The article discusses the aspects of depths of skin carcinomas and dose homogeneity in the application of X-ray therapy. It references different studies which examine the cancerocidal dose-time relationships in treating skin carcinomas with radiation therapy. It states that softer quality of radiation or a half-value layer (HVL) of 0.13 millimeter (mm.) may apply to 50% of all basal cell carcinoma and selected squamous cell lesions with 2 mm. lesion depth and 50% choice of homogeneity.

This article presents an analysis of the results of cancer therapy, based on the histories of treated and untreated cancers taking into account the biology of immunity and drug action. The administration of cancer chemotherapeutic drugs (CCD) or irradiation produces remission in certain cases of cancer. It is generally believed that these remissions are due to the direct action of the treatment on the tumor cells. Reasons for the acceptance of this opinion are its simplicity and its analogy with antibiotics. CCD have diverse actions and there are many ways in which these drugs could act on, or in association with, the immune system to affect the tumor.

This article focuses on professional ideology and its relation with social situation based on an empirical research. The concept of professional ideology has a basis in the everyday experience that members of the same occupational group tend to think and behave in characteristic ways. Occupational differentiation seems to be one of the important dimensions along which the common sense beliefs studied by ethnomethodologists vary systematically. The author sets out the complex set of ideas and beliefs about cancer treatment and cancer research which were held by doctors and scientists in a hospital and laboratory specialising in the treatment and study of the disease. The main aim of this article is to show how these beliefs were related to the work situation of the two groups and also to their relationship with each other and with various groups of role others, some outside the organisation itself. There are points of conflict between the three broad ideologies held by the doctors and scientists in this study and points of difference over matters of fact. There is no intention of arbitrating between these different positions. The data reported in this article were collected as part of a study investigating how those working in cancer research and treatment would respond to a television documentary through which their work would be communicated to the general public. The research was divided into a pre- and post-programme phase.

The article discusses about possible reasons for variations in the resistance of individual subjects to the carcinogenic effects of ultraviolet light in humans. The carcinogenic action of Ultra Violet Light (UVL) is cumulative and essentially irreversible. This article attempts to consider the factors, such as, variation in quality and quantity of stratum corneum and Melanin,Genetic epidermal sensitivity to UVL, Erythema of non-ULV origin and supplementary carcinogens, which may be involved in determining the degree of susceptibility of individual subjects.

An ecosystems model of the phenomenon of drug use-abuse is presented, based on the premise of a complex of interrelated variables relative to a drug's use, and that the differential evaluation of these variables within a total system determines use or abuse. A research proposal attempts to operationalize the parameters in this theoretical model and to evaluate the interaction between several personality and environmental variables leading to marijuana use or abuse. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the interrelationships between molecular biology and cancer chemotherapy. It talks about the need for more effective drugs and the challenge to find means for effective prevention, detection and treatment of cancer. The presence of drug receptors in cancer cells and the ability of drugs acting upon quantitative metabolic differences to kill cancer cells are discussed. The article also discusses the use of drugs as probes for metabolic dissection and the applications of anticancer drugs to other fields of biology.

It has long been contended that the upper class receives more personalized care than the lower class and this constitutes superior care. It is also known that for cancer, specialized care obtained as quickly as possible, is essential for recovery. The findings of this study indicate that upper-class patients are treated longer by their physicians than lower-class patients, regardless of the type of practitioner used or the period the patient delayed. However, since "optimal" medical care for cancer is associated with obtaining specialized care-not personalized care-upper-class persons may not, contrary to common belief, be receiving the most effective medical care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Discusses various issues concerning tumor-specific antigens in human colonic carcinoma. History of the development of knowledge of tumor antigens of digestive tract cancer; Feasibility and implications of the carcinoembryonic antigens in cancer diagnosis and treatment.

Presents abstracts of researches on gastroenterology published in several medical journals from 1958 to 1960. "Result of Surgical Treatment of Cancer of the Stomach," by N. N. Trapeznikov; "Adult Hypertrophic Pyloric Stenosis," by Harry C. Mack; "Gastric Carcinoid Tumor," by Richard Schoenfeld, Jules Cahan and Robert Dyer.

Focuses on the attention given to the diagnosis and treatment of polypoid disease of the rectum and colon. Differentiation of the true polyp from the pseudopolyp of inflammatory disease; Relation of the benign polyp to carcinoma; Emphasis on the importance of the polyp in preventing cancers.

This article presents information on a study which focuses on the treatment of skin cancer. Before discussing surgery for skin cancers, this study stresses the fact that the modern result of expert radiotherapy for carcinomas of the skin which have been recognized early are impressive; the "cure " rate is high and the cosmetic results are good. It is with this established fact that all selection of cases for surgery must be correlated. Once operation is decided upon the surgeon must always be radical in the excision since the ideal at which the plastic surgeon aims is to be competent to repair any defect which the exigencies of the operation create.

The article offers information on a new method used to probe the interior of the nucleus of living human lymphocytes, reported by John H. Frenster from Stanford University School of Medicine. It is said that the method employs a chemical that interacts with the DNA in cells, in which interaction can be visualize by an electron microscopy. Frenster said that the method has revealed the control points for lymphocyte activity, localized to the central area of the cell nucleus. He said that it would be possible to increase lymphocyte activity against cancer cells, or to decrease lymphocyte activity against transplants in patients. It is cited that Frenster's work was supported by the National Cancer Institute and the Leukemia Society of America.