Epidermoid Cysts of Face: Clinicopathological Presentation and a report of four cases.

ABSTRACT: Epidermoid cysts represent the most common cutaneous cysts. While these may occur anywhere on the body, they occur most frequently on the face, scalp, neck and trunk. A report of four cases and their clinicopathological features are described in this article

Maxillary Osteomyelitis Caused by Apophysomyces Variabilis - Emerging Trends

In the maxillofacial skeleton, chronic osteomyelitis is more often observed in the mandible than maxilla. Maxillary osteomyelitis is rare because of its rich blood supply. It is usually seen in individuals with impaired immune response, uncontrolled diabetes and hospitalized patients. It can be caused by bacterial, fungal or viral infections. We report a rare case of maxillary osteomyelitis caused by an emerging mucormycete, Apophysomyces variabilis

Depletion of Transmembrane Mucin 4 (Muc4) Alters Intestinal Homeostasis in a Genetically Engineered Mouse Model of Colorectal Cancer

Mucins are components of the mucus layer overlying the intestinal epithelial cells, which maintains physiological homeostasis. Altered mucin expression is associated with disease progression. Expression of MUC4 decreases in colorectal cancer (CRC); however, its functional role and implications in the intestinal pathology in CRC are not studied well. Therefore, we generated a genetically engineered Muc4 knockout (Muc4-/-) CRC mouse model by crossing with Muc4-/- and Apcflox/flox mice in the presence of colon-specific inducible Cre. We observed that deficiency of Muc4 results in an increased number of macroscopic tumors in the colon and rectal region and leads to poor survival. Further, the absence of Muc4 was associated with goblet cell dysfunction where the expression of intestinal homeostasis molecules (Muc2 and Fam3D) was downregulated. Next, we also observed that loss of Muc4 showed reduced thickness of mucus layer, leading to infiltration of bacteria, reduction in anti-microbial peptides, and upregulation of pro-inflammatory cytokines. Further, Apc gene mutation results in activation of the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway that corroborated with an increased nuclear accumulation of β-catenin and activation of its target genes: cyclin D1 and c-Myc in Muc4-/- mice was observed. We conclude that the presence of Muc4 is essential for intestinal homeostasis, reduces tumor burden, and improves overall survival

Precision Medicine for CRC Patients in the Veteran Population: State-of-the-Art, Challenges and Research Directions.

Colorectal cancer (CRC) accounts for ~9% of all cancers in the Veteran population, a fact which has focused a great deal of the attention of the VA\u27s research and development efforts. A field-based meeting of CRC experts was convened to discuss both challenges and opportunities in precision medicine for CRC. This group, designated as the VA Colorectal Cancer Cell-genomics Consortium (VA4C), discussed advances in CRC biology, biomarkers, and imaging for early detection and prevention. There was also a discussion of precision treatment involving fluorescence-guided surgery, targeted chemotherapies and immunotherapies, and personalized cancer treatment approaches. The overarching goal was to identify modalities that might ultimately lead to personalized cancer diagnosis and treatment. This review summarizes the findings of this VA field-based meeting, in which much of the current knowledge on CRC prescreening and treatment was discussed. It was concluded that there is a need and an opportunity to identify new targets for both the prevention of CRC and the development of effective therapies for advanced disease. Also, developing methods integrating genomic testing with tumoroid-based clinical drug response might lead to more accurate diagnosis and prognostication and more effective personalized treatment of CRC

Multiple novel prostate cancer susceptibility signals identified by fine-mapping of known risk loci among Europeans

Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have identified numerous common prostate cancer (PrCa) susceptibility loci. We have fine-mapped 64 GWAS regions known at the conclusion of the iCOGS study using large-scale genotyping and imputation in 25 723 PrCa cases and 26 274 controls of European ancestry. We detected evidence for multiple independent signals at 16 regions, 12 of which contained additional newly identified significant associations. A single signal comprising a spectrum of correlated variation was observed at 39 regions; 35 of which are now described by a novel more significantly associated lead SNP, while the originally reported variant remained as the lead SNP only in 4 regions. We also confirmed two association signals in Europeans that had been previously reported only in East-Asian GWAS. Based on statistical evidence and linkage disequilibrium (LD) structure, we have curated and narrowed down the list of the most likely candidate causal variants for each region. Functional annotation using data from ENCODE filtered for PrCa cell lines and eQTL analysis demonstrated significant enrichment for overlap with bio-features within this set. By incorporating the novel risk variants identified here alongside the refined data for existing association signals, we estimate that these loci now explain ∼38.9% of the familial relative risk of PrCa, an 8.9% improvement over the previously reported GWAS tag SNPs. This suggests that a significant fraction of the heritability of PrCa may have been hidden during the discovery phase of GWAS, in particular due to the presence of multiple independent signals within the same regio

Calcifying Epithelial Odontogenic Tumor in Anterior Maxilla Associated with a Supernumerary Tooth: A Case Report

Odontogenic tumors are derived from epithelial, ectomesenchymal and/or mesenchymal elements that are or have been a part of the tooth-forming apparatus. Of all the odontogenic tumors, calcifying epithelial odontogenic tumor accounts for 1% of the cases. Approximately 200 cases have been reported to date. There is no sex predilection, with a 2:1 predilection for the mandible, mostly in the premolar/molar region. It is often locally invasive. Most often, it is associated with an impacted tooth, is asymptomatic and requires biopsy for diagnosis. Presented here is a rare case of an intraosseous calcifying epithelial odontogenic tumor surrounding a supernumerary tooth. Furthermore, the occurrence of this tumor in the anterior maxilla (an uncommon site) in a pediatric patient makes it rarer. Although the present case was asymptomatic, root resorption and displacement of adjacent teeth necessitated its surgical removal. The lesion was surgically enucleated and histopathological examination confirmed calcifying epithelial odontogenic tumor, showing abundant calcifications in the form of Liesegang rings

Anesthetic management of a patient with hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy with dual-chamber pacemaker undergoing transurethral resection of the prostate

We describe the anesthetic management of a patient with hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy with dual-chamber pacemaker undergoing transurethral resection of the prostate. Anesthetic challenges included prevention and management of perioperative arrhythmias, maintenance of adequate preload, afterload and heart rate to relieve left ventricular outflow tract obstruction and considerations related to the presence of dual-chamber pacemaker and TURP. We recommend preoperative reprogramming of the DDD pacemaker, avoidance of magnet application during the procedure, application of electrosurgical unit current returning pad to the anterior aspect of the thigh, especially if monopolar cautery is used, use of central venous pressure line for estimation of preload and careful titration of anesthetic drugs to maintain stable hemodynamics

The MUC gene family, Their role in the diagnosis and prognosis of gastric cancer

Early diagnosis of gastric cancer and its differential diagnosis from other non-malignant gastric diseases like gastritis is still a major clinical problem. Most patients are asymptomatic in the early stages of gastric cancer, and there is no reliable marker available for the early and specific diagnosis of gastric cancer. Many attempts have been made to define the biological profile of gastric cancer to improve the chances of its early diagnosis, prognosis and treatment. Several studies have shown the aberrant expression profile of mucins in different malignancies, suggesting that mucins have a great potential to be used as a diagnostic and prognostic marker in gastric cancer. In this review, we have briefly described the different types of gastric adenocarcinomas and the progression of gastric cancer. Furthermore, the role of mucins and their related carbohydrate epitope is discussed in the normal stomach and in the diagnosis and prognosis of gastric adenocarcinomas

Prevalence and pattern of stress relaxation practices in Ahmedabad city: A cross-sectional study

Background : Research has shown the growing importance of stress relaxation practices (SRPs) in many noncommunicable diseases. But there is little information on the prevalence of SRPs in Indian population. Objectives: To study the prevalence of different types of SRPs and their sociodemographic profile. Materials and Methods: A community-based cross-sectional study was carried out in Ahmedabad city, Gujarat, India. One ward from each zone of the city was selected by stratified sampling. All individuals above 20 years were included in the study. Detailed information regarding different SRPs practiced by the participants was collected in a standard pretested proforma by house-to-house survey. Univariate regression analysis was applied to compare the groups. Results : Of 1157 persons surveyed, 904 were included in the final analysis. Of these, 310 (34.3%) were doing SRPs and 594 (65.7%) were not doing any type of SRPs. Respondents doing SRPs were compared with non-SRP group. Significant (P<0.05) differences were noticed between the two groups; in females, it was (SRP 58.4% vs non-SRP 49.8%) in the age group 40 to 59 years (44.2 vs 33.8%), those from sedentary occupation (93.9% vs 85.4%), the persons belonging to upper socioeconomic status (70.6% vs 61.8%), and living in central and western zones (66.5% vs 24.6%) and had less number of diabetes (SRP 10.8% vs non-SRP 19.7%) and hypertension (20.7% vs 34.2%). People doing SRPs were able to maintain balance between work and other activities than non-SRPs group (198/310, 63.9% vs 42/594, 7.1%). Among SRPs, majority (243, 78.4%) were involved in religious activities followed by yoga, 36(11.6%), and meditation, 15 (4.8%). Conclusion: Persons practicing SRPs in Ahmedabad are more likely to be above 40 years of age, females, college educated, in sedentary occupation, from upper and middle class, married and living in new-west and central zones, and were less likely to have diabetes and hypertension as compared with those who do not practice SRPs