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It has been shown that human diploid cells from various donor ages can be arrested in an essentially nonmitotic state by reducing the serum concentration of the incubation medium from 10 to 0.5 percent. Cells incubated at this serum level maintained the population distribution that was present when the cells reached confluency. The population, which has 90 percent of the cells in the G1 phase of the division cycle, was not static and exhibited a low level of mitotic activity with prolonged interdivision times.

Ageing in immune reactivity is described at the level of lymphoid cells, at that of lymphoid organs and organ function, and at that of regulation of cell and organ function. Apart from shifts in numbers of lymphoid cell subpopulations, the decrease in communication capacity between lymphoid cell populations and in binding of invaders (like bacteria) is an important aspect of ageing. These aspects may contribute to the decreased immune reactivity to invaders and the enhanced incidence of immune reactions to self-components (autoimmune reactivity).

Dermal fibroblasts from patients with the autosomal dominant cancer-prone disease Basal Cell Nevus Syndrome (BCNS) exhibit a serum dependence, anchorage dependence and in vitro lifespan (about 20 population doublings or less) similar to those of fibroblasts from normal age-, race- and sex-matched controls.

Human diploid fibroblasts, strain MRC-5, were sequentially irradiated with 60Co gamma rays at intervals during their in vitro lifespan. The results indicate that 3 or 6 doses of 1 Gy can increase lifespan, and the same was true for cells treated with 3 doses of 3 Gy. Higher doses (5 x 3 Gy) did reduce growth potential, suggesting either that mid-late passage cells become more sensitive to radiation, or that doses beyond a given threshold reduce population lifespan by multiple cellular hits. The life extension induced by gamma rays might be due to an induced hypermethylation of DNA.

Lymphocytes have a finite and predictable proliferative life span in culture similar to that observed in fibroblasts. In general, the senescence of human fibroblasts is inevitable and irreversible, but their proliferative life span can be extended by certain DNA tumor virus oncogenes, such as the large T antigen of the SV40 virus. Here, we show that human T lymphocytes (HTL) can be stably transfected with SV40 large T and that expression of T antigen extended the life span of T cell cultures.

Non-Hodgkin lymphoma is seen in approximately 5% of patients with AIDS. In recent years, the incidence has increased due to an extension of the average lifespan of HIV-infected individuals. In this article we describe the histological and clinical features of 45 patients with HIV-related non-Hodgkin lymphoma seen at the Academic Medical Centre between 1984 and 1991. There were 43 men and 2 women with a median age of 40 years. Most patients had high-grade B-cell lymphoma; 85% had extranodal sites. Prognosis was poor: overall median survival was only 3.8 months.

It has been recognized that the remarkable decline in infant mortality and the extension in human lifespan involving both developing and developed countries alike, has been influenced by social and economic developments and public health orientated measures (such as clean water and sewerage) rather more than by developments in medical research. However, the identification of important disease risk factors for a number of common conditions such as smoking, solar exposure, dietary fat and alcohol has led to further reductions in disease prevalence and mortality, at least in some countries.

BACKGROUND: Among patients with well differentiated papillary thyroid carcinoma who generally have an excellent prognosis and a near-normal lifespan, there exist subsets of patients who have significant risk for morbidity and mortality from this disease. It is important to define the patterns of disease progression and the clinical outcome of such patients to develop effective surveillance and treatment strategies.

Caloric restriction (CR), undernutrition without malnutrition, remains the only experimental paradigm that has been shown consistently to extend lifespan and slow aging in short-lived species. Decades of research, mostly in laboratory rodents, have shown that CR consistently extends lifespan, reduces or delays the onset of many age-related diseases and slows aging in many physiological systems. In recent years gerontologists interested in CR have focused on two unanswered questions. 1) What is the relevance of this nutritional paradigm to human aging?

Paclitaxel is an active agent for adenocarcinomas and squamous cell carcinomas of the esophagus and is a radiation sensitizer. We sought to investigate the toxicity and complete response rate of paclitaxel, cisplatin, and concurrent radiation for esophageal cancer. Forty-one patients with esophageal cancer were studied, 29 with adenocarcinomas and 12 with squamous cell cancers. Twelve patients had tumor extension into the proximal stomach and/or abdominal adenopathy.