The chemopreventive polyphenol Curcumin prevents hematogenous breast cancer metastases in immunodeficient mice

Dissemination of metastatic cells probably occurs long before diagnosis of the primary tumor. Metastasis during early phases of carcinogenesis in high risk patients is therefore a potential prevention target. The plant polyphenol Curcumin has been proposed for dietary prevention of cancer. We therefore examined its effects on the human breast cancer cell line MDA-MB-231 in vitro and in a mouse metastasis model. Curcumin strongly induces apoptosis in MDA- MB- 231 cells in correlation with reduced activation of the survival pathway NF kappa B, as a consequence of diminished I kappa B and p65 phosphorylation. Curcumin also reduces the expression of major matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) due to reduced NF kappa B activity and transcriptional downregulation of AP-1. NF kappa B/p65 silencing is sufficient to downregulate c-jun and MMP expression. Reduced NF kappa B/AP-1 activity and MMP expression lead to diminished invasion through a reconstituted basement membrane and to a significantly lower number of lung metastases in immunodeficient mice after intercardiac injection of 231 cells (p=0.0035). 68% of Curcumin treated but only 17% of untreated animals showed no or very few lung metastases, most likely as a consequence of down-regulation of NF kappa B/AP-1 dependent MMP expression and direct apoptotic effects on circulating tumor cells but not on established metastases. Dietary chemoprevention of metastases appears therefore feasible. Copyright (c) 2007 S. Karger AG, Basel

COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2 infection) in lymphoma patients: A review

: Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection now has a global resonance and represents a major threat for several patient populations. Observations from initial case series suggested that cancer patients in general might have an unfavorable outcome following coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), due to their underlying conditions and cytotoxic treatments. More recently, data regarding the incidence and clinical evolution of COVID-19 in lymphomas have been reported with the aim to identify those more frequently associated with severe complications and death. Patients with lymphoma appear particularly vulnerable to SARS-CoV-2 infection, only partly because of the detrimental effects of the anti-neoplastic regimens (chemotherapy, pathway inhibitors, monoclonal antibodies) on the immune system. Here, we systematically reviewed the current literature on COVID-19 in adult patients with lymphoma, with particular emphasis on disease course and prognostic factors. We also highlighted the potential differences in COVID-19 clinical picture according to lymphoma subtype, delivered treatment for the hematological disease and its relationship on how these patients have been managed thus far

Digital Dermoscopy analysis for automated diagnosis of pigmented skin lesions

Noninvasive diagnostic methods such as dermoscopy or epiluminescence light microscopy have been developed in an attempt to improve diagnostic accuracy of pigmented skin lesions. The evaluation of the many morphologic characteristics of pigmented skin lesions observable by epiluminescence light microscopy, however, is often extremely complex and subjective. With the aim of obviating these problems of qualitative interpretation, methods based on mathematical analysis of pigmented skin lesions have recently been designed. These methods are based on computerized analysis of digital images obtained by epiluminescence light microscopy. In this study we used a digital dermoscopy analyzer with 147 clinically atypical pigmented skin lesions (90 nevi and 57 melanomas) to determine its discriminating power with respect to histologic diagnosis. The system evaluated 48 objective parameters used to train an artificial neural network. Using the artificial neural network with 10 variables selected by a stepwise procedure, we obtained a maximum accuracy in distinguishing melanoma from benign lesions of about 93%. Comparing this result with those of the many studies using classical epiluminescence light microscopy, it emerges that the method proposed is equal or even superior in diagnostic accuracy and has the advantage of not depending on the expertise of the clinician who examines the lesion

A multicenter study of viable PCR using propidium monoazide to detect Legionella in water samples

Legionella quantification in environmental samples is overestimated by qPCR. Combination with a viable dye, such as Propidium monoazide (PMA), could make qPCR (named then vPCR) very reliable. In this multicentre study 717 artificial water samples, spiked with fixed concentrations of Legionella and interfering bacterial flora, were analysed by qPCR, vPCR and culture and data were compared by statistical analysis. A heat-treatment at 55 °C for 10 minutes was also performed to obtain viable and not-viable bacteria. When data of vPCR were compared with those of culture and qPCR, statistical analysis showed significant differences (P < 0.001). However, although the heat-treatment caused an abatement of CFU/mL ≤1 to 1 log10 unit, the comparison between untreated and heat-treated samples analysed by vPCR highlighted non-significant differences (P > 0.05). Overall this study provided a good experimental reproducibility of vPCR but also highlighted limits of PMA in the discriminating capability of dead and live bacteria, making vPCR not completely reliable