A sequential cell kinetic study of meningioma cells in primary explant culture using bromodeoxyuridine

The present study was undertaken to evaluate the sequential BrdU-LI at weekly intervals upto four weeks in 18 primary explant cultures of meningiomas. This revealed three distinct patterns of growth which could be arbitrarily defined as 'degenerating' (group I), 'proliferating' (group II) and 'adaptive' (group III) types. Interestingly two cases of malignant and two of recurrent meningiomas fell into the 'degenerating' group I pattern. The possible explanations for the observed relatively higherin vitro LI values compared to lowerin vivo values as reported in the literature and the theoretical implications of the three distinct patterns of sequential LI values are discussed

A correlative study of in vivo and in vitro labeling index using bromodeoxyuridine in human brain tumors

The labeling index (LI) of 216 cases of human brain tumors was determined by the immunohistochemical technique with monoclonal antibody to bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU). The proliferative potential of 110 cases was estimated using the intra-operative intravenous infusion of BrdU at a dose of 200 mg/sq m. In another 106 cases, thein vitro technique of incubating freshly resected tumor tissue fragments with 100 Mm bromodeoxyuridine was used. The BrdU LI in these tumors was then correlated with the histological types and the data as determined by both thein vivo andin vitro BrdU incorporation were compared. The results indicate that althoughin vivo andin vitro techniques could possibly provide equivalent data in some histologic types, a clear statistically valid proof however is not apparent from this study

CD68 tumor-associated macrophage marker is not prognostic of clinical outcome in classical Hodgkin lymphoma

A novel biomarker, CD68, which marks tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) in the microenvironment, has recently been reported to affect the prognosis of Hodgkin lymphoma (HL). We aimed to evaluate its role in our patient cohort (n = 100) by utilizing a routine immunohistochemistry method on whole tissue sections and a semiquantitative method for CD68 scoring. Clinical data were taken from medical records. Correlation with baseline characteristics, attainment of complete remission (CR), progression-free survival (PFS) and disease-specific survival (DSS) was done by categorical analysis using different cut-offs of CD68 score and also by taking absolute CD68 score as a continuous variable. There was no significant association between levels of CD68 expression and baseline characteristics or CR after primary therapy. CD68 score (neither categorical nor absolute continuous values) also did not predict for any difference in PFS or DSS. We conclude that CD68 TAM marker does not have prognostic value in HL

Cushing's Disease: results of treatment and factors affecting outcome

Objective: To analyze the therapeutic results of intervention and the factors affecting the outcome of patients with Cushing’s Disease (CD) cared for at the All Indian Institute of Medical Science (AIIMS), New Delhi. Design: Patients with Cushing’s Disease treated at a teritiary care centre from January 2000 to December 2009 were prospectively studied. Results: Ninety-seven patients received treatment for CD during this period. Mean duration of follow-up was 3.4 ± 2.2 (mean±SD) years. Eighty-one patients (83.5%) underwent Transsphenoidal Surgery (TSS) as the primary treatment modality. Fifty-four patients (66.7%) went into remission after initial TSS; ten (18.5%) of them relapsed after a mean follow-up period of 2.9±2.1 (mean±SD) years. Histopathologic examination of resected tissue showed corticotroph adenoma in 48 of the 54 (88.9%) who went into remission and 17 of the 27 (63.0%) who did not go into remission after the initial TSS. Sixteen patients with severe hypercortisolism underwent Bilateral Adrenalectomy (BA) as a life-saving measure which was followed by pituitary surgery 6 to 12 months later. Five patients including one with a large macroadenoma required three or more procedures to achieve eucortisolism. Conclusion: Fifty-four out of 81 (66.7%) of our patients with CD had remission following initial TSS, ten of whom relapsed later on. Sixteen patients unerwent BA as a life-saving procedure. Factors affecting outcome were, age, gender, low dose dexamethasone suppression test cortisol value and histologic confirmation of corticotroph adenom