Australian and New Zealand Journal of Medicine

Our medical research library holds 8 studies published in Australian and New Zealand Journal of Medicine (1976–2000). Each entry links to the study's record on PubMed and, where there is one, to the publisher's page and a free full text. 7 have an abstract, the authors' own summary as PubMed records it: open "Abstract" to read it. For 1 study PubMed has no abstract for, we give the abstract printed in the article or, where there is none, a summary we wrote from it, each labeled as such.

About the journal

• Publisher: Adis Press
• Published: 1971–2000, Australia
• Language: English
• ISSN: 0004-8291 (print)
• Continues: Australasian Annals of Medicine
• Continued by: Internal Medicine Journal
• Its record in the NLM Catalog

2000s

• Simian virus (SV) 40 like sequences in cell lines and tumour biopsies from Australian malignant mesotheliomas. B.R. McLaren, T. Haenel, S. Stevenson, et al. 2000;30(4):450-6. PubMed · Publisher

  Abstract

  Background: Simian virus (SV) 40 sequences have been found in some, but not all studies of mesotheliomas. This virus is known to cause tumours in rodents but its role in human oncogenesis remains controversial.

  Aims: The aim of this study therefore was to determine whether SV40 is associated with the development of mesotheliomas in Australia. The absence of the virus or its gene products in tissue derived from mesotheliomas would detract from this possibility.

  Methods: We used polymerase chain reaction from three pairs of primers to amplify different regions of the large T antigen from DNA from cell lines and cDNA from both cell lines and an independent set of tumour biopsies from patients with mesothelioma.

  Results: We examined five human mesothelioma cell lines that were established in our laboratories. In addition, we examined several tumour biopsies from seven different patients. SV40 like sequences were present in all the cell lines and in at least one sample from each of the patients examined.

  Conclusions: The large T antigen of SV40 or an SV40 like virus is expressed in Australian mesotheliomas and therefore could be aetiologically-associated with tumourigenesis. Alternatively, these sequences could be expressed subsequent to the development of the disease.

1990s

• Clinical aspects of malignant mesothelioma in Australia. T.R. Driscoll, G.J. Baker, S. Daniels, et al. 1993;23(1):19-25. PubMed · Publisher

  Abstract

  Australia is currently experiencing an epidemic of malignant mesothelioma. The clinical aspects of malignant mesothelioma were investigated in 295 Australian patients as part of a national study of the disease. Most patients were male (91%), with the mean age at diagnosis being 64 years. The predominant cell type was epithelial (38%) and the majority of primary tumours arose from the pleura (94%). Mean survival was poor (17.6 months from first symptom; 11.8 months from diagnosis). Patients with a pleural primary tumour were more likely to present with dyspnoea, chest pain and cough; to have a pleural effusion diagnosed radiologically; and to have metastatic spread. Patients with a peritoneal primary tumour were more likely to present with weight loss, loss of appetite, abdominal pain and ascites; to have radiologic evidence of asbestos exposure; and to have spread along a needle track created during a diagnostic tap. A minority of patients had past thoracic conditions, or radiologic findings, specifically related to previous asbestos exposure. About one fifth of patients had no known asbestos exposure. Forty-one per cent of subjects received some form of chemotherapy, radiotherapy and/or surgery, but no formal disease staging had been documented for any patient. Proper controlled trials of secondary and tertiary treatments in malignant mesothelioma are now needed.

• Miliary spread of malignant pleural mesothelioma without a clinically identifiable pleural tumour. A.W. Musk, J. Dewar, K.B. Shilkin, et al. 1991;21(4):460-2. Case report PubMed · Publisher

  Abstract

  A 44-year-old man with past minor exposure to blue asbestos presented with supraclavicular lymphadenopathy and miliary shadowing on his chest radiograph. Cytology and electronmicroscopy on material obtained by fine needle aspiration from his cervical lymph node revealed malignant mesothelioma. Malignant mesothelioma cells were also present in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid and on transbronchial lung biopsy. At autopsy the right pleural cavity was studded with small tumour nodules. This case demonstrates that malignant mesothelioma may present as metastatic disease and without evidence on conventional investigations of a primary pleural tumour.

1980s

• Benign and malignant pleural effusions in former Wittenoom crocidolite millers and miners. W.O. Cookson, N.H. De Klerk, A.W. Musk, et al. 1985;15(6):731-7. PubMed

  Abstract

  Serial plain chest radiographs taken between 1943 and 1982 for 280 claimants for compensation for asbestosis and 32 claimants for malignant pleural mesothelioma from the Wittenoom asbestos industry were reviewed by two observers to identify diffuse pleural thickening and pleural effusion. A pleural effusion which appeared and resolved within two years without radiographic or clinical evidence of underlying malignancy, infection or cardiac failure was seen in 15 cases by reader 1 and 24 cases by reader 2. Eighteen cases of effusion, determined from clinical records to be caused by malignant pleural mesothelioma, were seen by reader 1 and 20 by reader 2. The latent periods between commencing work and the first radiograph showing effusion were much shorter for subjects with benign asbestos pleural effusion than for subjects with effusion due to malignant pleural mesothelioma, although there was considerable overlap in the range. The longest latent period for benign asbestos pleural effusion was 22 years and the shortest period for effusion due to malignant pleural mesothelioma was 12 years. The latent period for benign asbestos pleural effusion was inversely related to total cumulative exposure, whereas that for effusion due to malignant pleural mesothelioma was significantly shorter for subjects who had worked in the mill than for those who had worked in the mine. A long latent period and a history of working in the mill were significant discriminators for a malignant as opposed to a benign basis for an effusion. The appearance of a benign asbestos pleural effusion appeared to be a risk factor for the severity of subsequent diffuse pleural thickening.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

• Pulmonary asbestosis--an example of industrial diffuse lung disease. A.W. Musk, D.W. Henderson. 1984;14(5 Suppl 3):776-84. PubMed

  Abstract

  This account reviews the clinical and pathological features of asbestosis, with a brief comment on the incidence of asbestosis in workers exposed occupationally to Western Australian crocidolite at Wittenoom Gorge. In keeping with common usage, the term "asbestosis" is restricted to pulmonary parenchymal fibrosis--with or without associated visceral pleural fibrosis--related to inhalation of asbestos fibres, thereby excluding parietal pleural fibrous plaques. The mechanisms underlying the development of the interstitial fibrosis are incompletely understood, but they appear to involve complex interactions of asbestos with alveolar macrophages, fibroblasts, lymphocytes and the complement system.

• Benign pleural mesothelioma with tumour-induced hypoglycaemia. K.R. Burgess, J. Rutland, G.E. Marlin, et al. 1982;12(1):70-2. Case report PubMed · Publisher

  Abstract

  A patient with a rare tumour, benign pleural mesothelioma, associated with hypoglycaemia is reported. He presented with a neuropsychiatric disturbance and was successfully treated by surgical removal of the tumour. Glucose tolerance tests and serum insulin levels suggested secretion of an insulin-like substance by the tumour. Glucose consumption by the tumour may have contributed to the hypoglycaemia.

  PubMed has no abstract for this study. This is the authors' abstract, copied from the article.

• Conventional treatment and its effect on survival of malignant pleural mesothelioma in Western Australia. A.W. Musk, S.D. Woodward. 1982;12(3):229-32. PubMed · Publisher

  Abstract

  Analysis of the survival of all 81 cases of pathologically confirmed malignant pleural mesothelioma in Western Australia between January 1957 and December 1980 has revealed a median survival from diagnosis of 5.1 months (mean 7.8 months). The average time between presentation and diagnosis was 3.4 months. Survival was better in younger subjects and subjects selected for surgery but was unrelated to sex, symptoms at onset, history of asbestos exposure, tumour morphology, therapy other than surgery or year of presentation. The selection of subjects at earlier clinical stages for surgical intervention is considered to account for their longer survival. The outlook for patients with this disease remains poor and there is still no optimism for future advances in therapy.

1970s

• Pulmonary elastic recoil and diffusing capacity in subjects with intermediate concentrations of alpha-1 antitrypsin. A.W. Musk, P.W. Robertson. 1976;6(4):284-7. PubMed · Publisher

  Abstract

  Serum from 224 males investigated in a prospective study of respiratory disorders in a recently established asbestos industry has been estimated for alpha-1 antitrypsin (AAT) concentration by single radial immunodiffusion. Mean AAT concentration was 213-4 mg/dl). No subject with a markedly reduced level was found. A comprehensive range of lung function tests sensitive to changes anticipated in emphysema at a preclinical stage, included measurements of diffusing capacity and pulmonary elastic recoil. The 26 subjects with AAT concentration less than 150 mg/dl, were regarded as likely to comprise a majority of genotypes MZ and SS, and the 19 subjects with AAT concentration greater than 300 mg/dl were considered to comprise mainly MM. No difference in pulmonary function could be demonstrated between these two groups. Evidence of diminished pulmonary elastic recoil was found in nine smoking subjects whose AAT concentrations were normal and also in one young non-smoking subject with moderately severe asthma, whose AAT concentration was 140 mg/dl. It is concluded that in a male working population, evidence of diminished pulmonary elastic recoil is not a function of AAT concentration.

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