90 research outputs found
Recurrence risk of occult micrometastases and isolated tumor cells in early stage endometrial cancer: A case control study
Objectives: To determine whether previously undetected occult micrometastasis (MM) or isolated tumor cells (ITC) is associated with increased recurrence odds in stage I-II endometrioid adenocarcinoma.
Methods: Women with recurrent stage I/II EC who had complete pelvic and para-aortic were identified as the outcome of interest. A case-control study was designed with the exposure defined as occult MM/ITC not seen on original nodal pathology. Controls were found by frequency-matching in a 1:2 case control ratio. Original nodal slides were re-reviewed, stained and tested with immunohistochemical to detect occult MM/ITC and the odds of associated recurrence was calculated.
Results: Of 153 included, 50 with and 103 without recurrence, there was no difference in age (p = 0.46), race (p = 0.24), stage (p = 0.75), FIGO grade (p = 0.64), lymphovascular space invasion (LVSI); p = 1.00, or GOG 99 high-intermediate risk (HIR) criteria (p = 0.35). A total of 18 ITC (11.8%) and 3 MM (2.0%) not previously identified were found in 19 patients. Finding occult MM/ITC was not associated with more lymph nodes (LN) removed (p = 0.67) or tumor grade (p = 0.48) but was significantly associated with stage (p \u3c 0.01). LVSI (p = 0.09) and meeting high-intermediate risk criteria (p = 0.09), were closely associated but not statistically significant. Isolated ITC were not associated with increased odds for recurrence (OR 0.71, CL: 0.20 - 2.22, p = 0.57), recurrence free survival (RFS) (p = 0.85) or overall survival (OS) (p = 0.92).
Conclusions: In early-stage EC, identification of occult MM or ITC is uncommon and associated with stage. The presence of ITC was not associated with increased odds of recurrence. Adjusting stage or treatment may avoided based on ITC alone. Isolated MM were rare in our population, and further investigation is warranted
Eclipses During the 2010 Eruption of the Recurrent Nova U Scorpii
The eruption of the recurrent nova U Scorpii on 28 January 2010 is now the
all-time best observed nova event. We report 36,776 magnitudes throughout its
67 day eruption, for an average of one measure every 2.6 minutes. This unique
and unprecedented coverage is the first time that a nova has any substantial
amount of fast photometry. With this, two new phenomena have been discovered:
the fast flares in the early light curve seen from days 9-15 (which have no
proposed explanation) and the optical dips seen out of eclipse from days 41-61
(likely caused by raised rims of the accretion disk occulting the bright inner
regions of the disk as seen over specific orbital phases). The expanding shell
and wind cleared enough from days 12-15 so that the inner binary system became
visible, resulting in the sudden onset of eclipses and the turn-on of the
supersoft X-ray source. On day 15, a strong asymmetry in the out-of-eclipse
light points to the existence of the accretion stream. The normal optical
flickering restarts on day 24.5. For days 15-26, eclipse mapping shows that the
optical source is spherically symmetric with a radius of 4.1 R_sun. For days
26-41, the optical light is coming from a rim-bright disk of radius 3.4 R_sun.
For days 41-67, the optical source is a center-bright disk of radius 2.2 R_sun.
Throughout the eruption, the colors remain essentially constant. We present 12
eclipse times during eruption plus five just after the eruption.Comment: ApJ in press. 60 pages, 17 figure
Directional Secretory Response of Double Stranded RNA-Induced Thymic Stromal Lymphopoetin (TSLP) and CCL11/Eotaxin-1 in Human Asthmatic Airways
Background
Thymic stromal lymphoproetin (TSLP) is a cytokine secreted by the airway epithelium in response to respiratory viruses and it is known to promote allergic Th2 responses in asthma. This study investigated whether virally-induced secretion of TSLP is directional in nature (apical vs. basolateral) and/or if there are TSLP-mediated effects occurring at both sides of the bronchial epithelial barrier in the asthmatic state. Methods
Primary human bronchial epithelial cells (HBEC) from control (n = 3) and asthmatic (n = 3) donors were differentiated into polarized respiratory tract epithelium under air-liquid interface (ALI) conditions and treated apically with dsRNA (viral surrogate) or TSLP. Sub-epithelial effects of TSLP were examined in human airway smooth muscle cells (HASMC) from normal (n = 3) and asthmatic (n = 3) donors. Clinical experiments examined nasal airway secretions obtained from asthmatic children during naturally occurring rhinovirus-induced exacerbations (n = 20) vs. non-asthmatic uninfected controls (n = 20). Protein levels of TSLP, CCL11/eotaxin-1, CCL17/TARC, CCL22/MDC, TNF-α and CXCL8 were determined with a multiplex magnetic bead assay. Results
Our data demonstrate that: 1) Asthmatic HBEC exhibit an exaggerated apical, but not basal, secretion of TSLP after dsRNA exposure; 2) TSLP exposure induces unidirectional (apical) secretion of CCL11/eotaxin-1 in asthmatic HBEC and enhanced CCL11/eotaxin-1 secretion in asthmatic HASMC; 3) Rhinovirus-induced asthma exacerbations in children are associated with in vivo airway secretion of TSLP and CCL11/eotaxin-1. Conclusions
There are virally-induced TSLP-driven secretory immune responses at both sides of the bronchial epithelial barrier characterized by enhanced CCL11/eotaxin-1 secretion in asthmatic airways. These results suggest a new model of TSLP-mediated eosinophilic responses in the asthmatic airway during viral-induced exacerbations
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