Takaaki Kawaguchi

Clarithromycin(CAM) Treatment for Chronic Sinusitis and Change in the Bacterial Flora.

Sixteen children with severe chronic sinusitis were treated with the low-dose long-term clarithromycin (CAM) administration. Patients showed marked improvement in the following symptoms; 66.7% for mucosal swelling, 60.0% for volume of rhinorrhea, 60.0% for quality of rhinorrhea and 73.3% for postnasal drip.Bacterial examinations were also performed before and after treatment. The incidence of H. influenzae was lower during the CAM therapy than erythromycin (EM) therapy, but the ratio of CAMresistant bacteria increased after treatment.

.BETA.-Interferon Therapy of Laryngeal Papilloma.

We have treated one adult with multiple and one with isolated laryngeal pa-pillomatosis. The former, a 27-year-old male was not controlled with the combination of laser surgery and local injection and systemic administration of α-IFN, but he was cured by local injections of six million units of β-IFN combined with laser surgery. The latter, a 44-year-old male was cured by local injections of three million units of β-IFN and resection. The results indicate that local laryngeal injection of β-IFN is useful in the treatment of laryngeal papillomatosis.

Significance of Immunotherapy in Head and Neck Cancer

Immunological surveillance has been elucidated and many cytokines, which participate in the immunological response between cancer and host, has been detected with recent progress of biotechnology. Furthermore, recent genetic engineering enables clinical application of these cytokines in cancer treatment. In this article, the role of immunotherapy in multimodal treatment for head and neck cancer is reviewed, and clinical evaluation and prospect of local administration of recombinant interleukin-2 (rIL-2) is discussed.