Management of cutaneous melanomas of the female breast

Primary melanomas of the skin of the breast are uncommon lesions. Fifty-four patients were surgically treated for this lesion during a 13-year period, accounting for 3.8 percent of a total of 1431 patients with cutaneous melanoma. Nineteen patients were female and 35 were male. Most recently, in patients with high-risk lesions, such as those exhibiting an aggressive vertical growth phase or a Clark level IV or V, attempts at curative resection have utilized wide and deep excision to the level of the pectoralis fascia with axillary lymph node dissection in selected cases. Reconstruction of the significant breast deficit in five female patients utilized the latissimus dorsi myocutaneous flap. This technique results in an improved aesthetic appearance when compared to primary closure or skin grafting. Donor-site morbidity is minimal. Long-term cancer surveillance is not impeded, and all five patients expressed satisfaction with the reconstruction. Four of the five female patients are currently alive with no evidence of disease at a mean follow-up of 55 months after definitive therapy.     

Genophore homologies among compatible nocardiae

Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) reassociation analyses were employed to determine the molecular relationships between recombinable nocardiae. Analysis of the compatibility system of Nocardia erythropolis Mat-Ce and Mat-cE mating strains demonstrated the existence of extensive homology under both exacting and nonexacting conditions. Labeled N. erythropolis Mat-cE DNA reassociated equally as well with the Mat-Ce test DNA as with its own filter-bound DNA. However, the Mat-cE DNA bound only ca. 60% of the Mat-Ce DNA, when the latter was the reference. The existence of unique nucleotide sequences is postulated on the basis of these results as well as of aberrant segregation patterns which have been observed in certain class types of recombinants. Reassociation data reveal that recombinants representing the inheritance of different portions of each of the parental genomes have inherited the unique portion from the Mat-Ce parent. N. restrictus AY-B-226 exhibited little relatedness (11 to 32%), and N. globerula ATCC 9356 only slightly more (21 to 42%), to either of these mating strains at either exacting or nonexacting temperatures of incubation.