Redefiniendo el mérito académico para impulsar los cambios

Los cambios universitarios significativos en nuestra cultura latinoamericana se han logrado mediante revueltas estudiantiles. Hace unos años, en una rebelión estudiantil, un grupo de profesores y estudiantes interesados en la Reforma Universitaria hemos presentado ante la Asamblea universitaria una propuesta de cambios de estatutos de la Universidad Nacional de Asunción. El documento fue archivado por las autoridades. En la última crisis, tipificada por el movimiento UNA no te calles, a la tragedia académica se agregó la corrupción y perdurar los problemas. Por ello, seguimos creyendo perentorio realizar profundos cambios en la filosofía y estructura de la obsoleta universidad pública que incluye a la Facultad de Ciencias Médicas como prototipo. Necesitamos una nueva visión de universidad que facilite la nvestigación contrastando con el actual modelo escolástico - profesionalista que ya no cumple con las exigencias de las sociedades modernas que basan su accionar en la producción de conocimientos

LEPRA LEPROMATOSA PENEAL EN PACIENTE CON ENFERMEDAD DE CHAGAS. REPORTE DE UN CASO

Se presenta el caso de un paciente masculino de 52 años con fimosis secundaria a una masa pseudotumoral prepucial. El paciente presentaba una historia de enfermedad de Hansen con afectación de piel, laringe y bronquios. Previa a la circuncisión, el examen físico revelaba, además de las alteraciones lepromatosas, un mega esófago secundario a estenosis en la porción distal. El análisis laboratorial mediante la técnica de ELISA dio positivo para Trypanosoma cruzi, patógeno responsable de la enfermedad de Chagas. Sólo pudimos encontrar un caso previo reportado de lepra lepromatosa con afectación prepucial. La coexistencia de lepra y miocardiopatía chagásica es inusual pero bien conocida por casos reportados en Brasil e India. Sin embargo, de acuerdo a nuestros conocimientos, éste es el primer caso reportado de una sociación entre lepra lepromatosa y mega esófago chagásico en un paciente con fimosis

Surface adenosquamous carcinoma of the penis: A report of three cases

SCOPUS: ar.jinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishe

The epidermal growth factor receptor is frequently overexpressed in penile squamous cell carcinomas: a tissue microarray and digital image analysis study of 112 cases

Disseminated penile cancer is usually treated with chemotherapy. However, response rates are far from acceptable. Recently, anti-epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) monoclonal antibodies have shown to be clinically useful in penile carcinomas. Nevertheless, only a few cases of penile carcinomas have been evaluated for EGFR expression. In this study, we assessed the immunohistochemical expression of EGFR in 112 patients with penile squamous cell carcinoma. We built 4 tissue microarrays and evaluated EGFR expression using a monoclonal mouse anti-EGFR antibody. For digital image analysis, we used the open-source software ImageJ version 1.47 (NIH, Bethesda, MD) along with the immunomembrane plug-in. Membranous EGFR expression was evaluated, taking into account staining completeness (0-10 points) and staining intensity (0-10 points) for a combined score (0-20 points). We classified the cases as follows: negative EGFR expression, 0 to 3 points; low EGFR expression, 4 to 8 points; and high EGFR expression, 9 to 20 points. The distribution of EGFR immunohistochemical expression was as follows: 13 cases (12%) were EGFR negative, 49 cases (44%) had low EGFR expression, and 50 cases (44%) had high EGFR expression. EGFR expression was not associated with histologic subtype (P = .47), histologic grade (P = .77), or human papillomavirus status (P = .14). In conclusion, immunohistochemical EGFR expression appears to be a common feature of penile carcinomas, independently of histologic subtype, histologic grade, and human papillomavirus presence. Whether or not EGFR expression is associated with EGFR gene mutation or if it can be used to predict response to therapy in patients with disseminated penile cancer should be evaluated in future studies. © 2013

Strong association of insulin-like growth factor 1 receptor expression with histologic grade, subtype, and HPV status in penile squamous cell carcinomas: a tissue microarray study of 112 cases

Insulin-like growth factor-1 receptor (IGF1R) plays a key role in cell growth and transformation. It is overexpressed in several solid tumors. This study evaluates IGF1R immunoexpression in penile squamous cell carcinoma (SCC). Four tissue microarrays were built from formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded blocks of 112 penile SCC from Paraguay. Membranous IGF1R expression was evaluated by immunohistochemistry using two different approaches. An H-score was calculated in each spot (stain intensity by extent), and a median score per tumor was obtained. The second approach consisted of a score similar to the scoring system that was used for evaluating HER2 immunoexpression. For each case, the highest category obtained at any spot was used for statistical analyses. IGF1R expression was compared by histologic subtype, grade, and human papillomavirus (HPV) status. Median H-score was 22.5. The distribution of IGF1R expression by HER2 approach was as follows: 0 in 33.0% cases, 1+ in 46.4%, 2+ in 14.3%, and 3+ in 6.2%. IGF1R H-scores were associated with basaloid and warty/basaloid subtypes (p=0.0026) and higher grade (p=0.00052). Although weaker when using the HER2 approach, the association of IGF1R expression with subtype (p=0.015) and grade (p=0.015) remained significant. Furthermore, there was an association between IGF1R expression by HER2 approach and HPV status (p=0.012). IGF1R was expressed in about two thirds of penile SCC cases, showing a strong positive association with histologic grade, subtype, and HPV status. Considering that grade is a predictor of outcome IGF1R expression may have prognostic relevance and could point to a potential role for IGF1R inhibitors in treating penile SCC