Eye Removal — Current Indications and Technical Tips

The removal of the eyeball with or without other orbital tissues is always a complicated decision to take and nearly always involves the beginning of a new and intense doctor-patient relationship. The loss of the globe results in the loss of binocular vision and depth perception, thus the patient is limited when applying for certain jobs or handling delicate or dangerous materials. They may also be prohibited to drive in some countries o may have to do so with special care where permitted. The psychological impact on the patients´ life may be even greater as it may be perceived as a severe facial disfiguration. Some patients may prefer to stay at home and their social life may be deeply affected. Since facial and eye appearance is essential for normal human relations and interaction, prosthetic eyes or orbits should imitate the eye, in most cases, or the whole orbit-eyelids-eye complex, which is less frequent

Biotecnologías limpias en Agricultura

Biotecnologías limpias en Agricultura

Potential Role of Sugar Transporters in Cancer and Their Relationship with Anticancer Therapy

Sugars, primarily glucose and fructose, are the main energy source of cells. Because of their hydrophilic nature, cells use a number of transporter proteins to introduce sugars through their plasma membrane. Cancer cells are well known to display an enhanced sugar uptake and consumption. In fact, sugar transporters are deregulated in cancer cells so they incorporate higher amounts of sugar than normal cells. In this paper, we compile the most significant data available about biochemical and biological properties of sugar transporters in normal tissues and we review the available information about sugar carrier expression in different types of cancer. Moreover, we describe the possible pharmacological interactions between drugs currently used in anticancer therapy and the expression or function of facilitative sugar transporters. Finally, we also go into the insights about the future design of drugs targeted against sugar utilization in cancer cells

Interacciones microorganismos-suelo-planta en la preservación del Medio Ambiente y la Salud

Soil microorganisms stablish beneficious symbiosis with plants and can be considered as biofertilizers and also useful in biological control applications. The beneficious symbiosis: «bacteria-plant» and «fungy-plant», have great interest for its great impact in Agriculture, Forestry and Environment and constitute an alternative to the application of chemical fertilizers, avoiding its negative effects at health and environmental level. The nitrogen-fixing bacteria and mycorrizal fungi are among the plant symbionts more extended and ecologycally more important. The potential of soil microorganisms is unlimited. It is necessary to study more deeply the interaction between endogenous organisms with plant roots, to get a better knowledge of them. With these technologies we are trying both: the selfsupplying and self-defending of the plants under adverse environmental conditions and to let to our planet in good health for the future generations.Se pone de relieve la importancia de los microorganismos del suelo, que establecen simbiosis con las plantas como biofertilizantes y su aplicación en el control biológico de patógenos. Las interacciones beneficiosas: bacteria-planta y hongo-planta tienen gran interés por su impacto en la Agricultura, Silvicultura y Medioambiente y constituyen una alternativa a la aplicación de fertilizantes químicos que actúan como contaminantes de suelos y aguas con gran perjuicio para la salud. Las bacterias fijadoras de nitrógeno y los hongos micorrizógenos se encuentran entre los simbiontes de plantas más extendidos y ecológicamente más importantes. El potencial de los microorganismos del suelo parece ilimitado. Corresponde a la ciencia realizar el estudio profundo de las interacciones de organismos autóctonos del suelo con las plantas, con el fin de que éstas puedan autoabastescerse y autodefenderse en condiciones ambientales adversas, y además se cumpla con el deber de mantener nuestro planeta en óptimas condiciones de salud ambiental para las generaciones futuras

Prostate carcinoma and stem cells

[Abstract] Stem cells, as classically defined, are cells with a capacity to self-renew and to generate daughter cells that can differentiate down several cell lineages to form all of the cell types that are found in the mature tissue. Stem cells and tumour cells have many similar features, including infinite lifespan, self-renewal, multidrug resistance, telomerase expression and, in the instance of the prostate, androgen independence. Evidence supports a role for stem cells in the etiology of many types of cancer. The evolution of androgen-independent prostate carcinoma may reflect the emergence of stemlike prostate tumour cells. Because cancer may be a disease of stem cell lineages and Shh-Gli signalling controls the behaviour of precursors and of cells with stem cell properties in the mammalian tissues, prostate cancer might derive from inappropriate expansion of prostatic epithelial stem cell lineages caused by abnormal Shh-Gli function. This review attempts to integrate these recent results

Origin of renal cell carcinomas

[Abstract] Cancer is a heritable disorder of somatic cells: environment and heredity are both important in the carcinogenic process. The primal force is the “two hits” of Knudson’s hypothesis, which has proved true for many tumours, including renal cell carcinoma. Knudson et al. [1, 2] recognised that familial forms of cancer might hold the key to the identification of important regulatory elements known as tumour-suppressor genes. Their observations (i.e., that retinoblastoma tend to be multifocal in familial cases and unifocal in sporadic presentation) led them to propose a two-hit theory of carcinogenesis. Furthermore, Knudson postulated that patients with the familial form of the cancer would be born with one mutant allele and that all cells in that organ or tissue would be at risk, accounting for early onset and the multifocal nature of the disease. In contrast, sporadic tumours would develop only if a mutation occurred in both alleles within the same cell, and, as each event would be expected to occur with low frequency, most tumours would develop late in life and in a unifocal manner [3, 4]. The kidney is affected in a variety of inherited cancer syndromes. For most of them, both the oncogene/tumour-suppressor gene involved and the respective germline mutations have been identified. Each of the inherited syndromes predisposes to distinct types of renal carcinoma. Families with hereditary predisposition to cancer continue to provide a unique opportunity for the identification and characterisation of genes involved in carcinogenesis. A surprising number of genetic syndromes predispose to the development of renal cell carcinoma, and genes associated with five of these syndromes have been already identified: VHL, MET, FH, BHD and HRPT2. Few cancers have as many different types of genetic predisposition as renal cancer, although to date only a small proportion of renal cell cancers can be explained by genetic predisposition

Cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2): a molecular target in prostate cancer

[Abstract] Epidemiological studies provided the first evidence that COX may be involved in the pathogenesis of cancer. In the process of carcinogenesis and in the route of intracellular signalling during carcinogenesis, COX-2 expression may be a universal phenomenon. In general, COX-2 is up-regulated throughout the tumorigenic process, from early hyperplasia to metastatic disease. COX-2 has been reported to be constitutively overexpressed in a variety of malignancies and is frequently constitutively elevated in prostate carcinoma. COX-2 was consistently overexpressed in premalignant lesions such as prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia, and carcinoma. Cases are described with evolution of proliferative inflammatory atrophy of the prostate and prostate carcinoma. The increase of evidence implicating COX-2 in cancer has stimulated clinical trials to investigate the efficacy of selective COX-2 inhibitors in individuals at risk for human cancer. Regarding prostate carcinoma there is much direct or indirect evidence to support the use of COX-2 inhibitors in this disease. Trials using these drugs in familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP) and other patients with a high risk of colorectal carcinoma are ongoing

New insights into molecular mechanisms of sunitinib-associated side effects

Review[Abstract] The introduction of targeted therapy represents a major advance in the treatment of tumor progression. Targeted agents are a novel therapeutic approach developed to disrupt different cellular signaling pathways. The tyrosine kinase inhibitor sunitinib specifically blocks multiple tyrosine kinase receptors that are involved in the progression of many tumors. Sunitinib is the current standard of care in first-line treatment of advanced renal cell carcinoma, and it is approved in imatinib-intolerant and imatinib-refractory gastrointestinal stromal tumors. However, it is increasingly evident that sunitinib may display collateral effects on other proteins beyond its main target receptors, eliciting undesirable and unexpected adverse events. A better understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying these undesirable sunitinib-associated side effects will help physicians to maximize efficacy of sunitinib and minimize adverse events. Here, we focus on new insights into molecular mechanisms that may mediate sunitinib-associated adverse events