Fumiyoshi Yanagisawa

Cancer in collagen disease. A statistical analysis by reviewing the Annual of Pathological Autopsy Cases (Nippon Boken Shuho) in Japan.

Cases of systemic lupus erythematosus, systemic sclerosis, periarteritis nodosa, and dermato‐ and polymyositis autopsied in Japan during a recent, 7‐year period (1972–1978) were studied to assess the incidence of cancer as a complication. In comparison with the other three groups, cases of dermato‐ and polymyositis (DP) showed quite a high incidence of malignancy: 53 of 99 for males (53.5%) and 36 of 139 for females (25.9%). In patients older than 50 years of age cancer was recognized in the autopsies of 65.7% of males and 38.2% of females with DP. The stomach was both the primary site and had the highest incidence of cancers in DP (62.3% males, 27.8% females). It was concluded that DP has a strong association with the development of cancer, particularly gastric carcinoma, in Japan.

Effects of Long Term, Low Dose Ingestion of Fluoride on the Thyroid Gland in Rats

Abstract Four-week-old Wistar male rats were given distilled watered ad libitum containing 0, 3, 6, 12, and 25 ppm F- as NaF. At the end of 20 months, morphological changes and endocrinological data on the thyroid gland in these animals were studied. Hyperplastic nodules consisting of thyroid parafollicular cells (C cells) were observed in the experimental animals receiving F-. Both calcitonin and characteristic secretory granules were detected in the cytoplasms of these hyperplastic cells. The striking increase of serum calcitonin level seen in rats with hyperplasia of parafollicular cells substantiated the morphological changes. The thyroid follicles of the experimental animals were larger than those of the controls, although the differences were not highly significant.