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Purpose: A prospective clinical trial was performed to assess the response and toxicity associated with the use of high dose radiation therapy, 5-fluorouracil, and cisplatin in patients with anal cancer., Methods and Materials: Patients with anal cancer without distant metastasis were eligible for this study. Radiation therapy consisted of 59.4 Gy in 33 fractions; a 2 week break in treatment was taken after 36 Gy had been given. A treatment of 5-fluorouracil, 1,000 mg/m2 per day intravenously, was given for the first 4 days of radiation therapy, and cisplatin, 75 mg/m2 intravenously, was given on day 1 of radiation therapy. A second course of 5-fluorouracil and cisplatin was given after 36 Gy of radiation, when the radiation therapy was resumed., Results: Nineteen patients entered this study and received treatment. Thirteen (68%) had a complete response, 5 (26%) had a partial response, and 1 (5%) had stable disease. The patient with stable disease and one of the patients with a partial response had complete disappearance of tumor more than 8 weeks after completion of radiation therapy. Fifteen patients had toxicity of Grade 3 or higher: the worst toxicity was Grade 3 in eight patients, Grade 4 in six patients, and Grade 5 in one patient. The most common form of toxicity of Grade 3 or higher was hematologic. The one lethal toxicity was due to pseudomembranous colitis, which was a complication of antibiotic therapy for a urinary tract infection., Conclusion: Radiation therapy, cisplatin, and 5-fluorouracil resulted in an overall response rate of 95%. Significant toxicity occurred, an indication that this regimen is near the maximal tolerated dose. A Phase III clinical trial is planned in which radiation therapy, cisplatin, and 5-fluorouracil will be used as an experimental arm.

Diagnosing Bernard-Soulier syndrome (BSS), a congenital hemorrhagic disorder of blood platelets, is complicated by the difficulty of separating the giant platelets from other blood cells to allow studies of platelet function and structure. We report on the use of three whole blood assays for diagnosing BSS. Whole blood platelet aggregation responses studied with an electrical impedance aggregometer were equivalent to those more laboriously obtained by using platelet-rich plasma prepared by unit gravity sedimentation and studied with an optical light transmittance aggregometer. Platelet aggregation responses were normal with adenosine diphosphate or collagen stimulation but absent with ristocetin or bovine plasma stimulation. Whole blood radioimmunoassay of platelet glycoprotein (GP) expression was performed by using iodinated murine monoclonal antibodies HP1-1D (anti-GP IIb/IIIa) and 6D1 (anti-GP Ib). After incubation with citrated whole blood, centrifugation was used to separate cell-bound antibody that was quantitated with a gamma counter. The patient's whole blood had a normal level of cell-bound GP IIb/IIIa but a substantially reduced level of cell-bound GP Ib (5% of normal mean). Whole blood smear immunocytochemical staining with monoclonal antibodies and qualitative analysis by light microscopy revealed a considerable reduction of GP Ib expression by the patient's giant platelets, whereas GP IIb/IIIa expression was normal. These data helped establish the diagnosis of BSS. We conclude that these three relatively simple assays of platelets in whole blood should be of particular value in the clinical laboratory differential diagnosis of patients with congenital thrombocytopenias and giant platelet syndromes.

An elderly woman is described with infectious mononucleosis in whom cervical node biopsy was interpreted as showing immunoblastic lymphoma. Concomitant reactive lymphocytosis, Epstein-Barr virus serologic results consistent with an acute infection, and demonstration of polyclonal B cell infiltration of other tissues argued against intervention. Defective in vitro T cell responses were demonstrated during the acute phase of Epstein-Barr virus infection. Infectious mononucleosis has rarely been reported as mimicking a non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. At 18 months, our patient's course has been typical for infectious mononucleosis with no evidence of disseminated malignancy.