Bilateral occipital arteries of internal carotid origin: report of a case and review of the literature

The present report describes a patient with bilateral occipital arteries of internal carotid origin, which is an extremely rare variation, and left vertebral artery ostial stenosis diagnosed by selective catheterization and digital subtraction angiography

Persistent left superior vena cava: Review of the literature, clinical implications, and relevance of alterations in thoracic central venous anatomy as pertaining to the general principles of central venous access device placement and venography in cancer patients

Persistent left superior vena cava (PLSVC) represents the most common congenital venous anomaly of the thoracic systemic venous return, occurring in 0.3% to 0.5% of individuals in the general population, and in up to 12% of individuals with other documented congential heart abnormalities. In this regard, there is very little in the literature that specifically addresses the potential importance of the incidental finding of PLSVC to surgeons, interventional radiologists, and other physicians actively involved in central venous access device placement in cancer patients. In the current review, we have attempted to comprehensively evaluate the available literature regarding PLSVC. Additionally, we have discussed the clinical implications and relevance of such congenital aberrancies, as well as of treatment-induced or disease-induced alterations in the anatomy of the thoracic central venous system, as they pertain to the general principles of successful placement of central venous access devices in cancer patients. Specifically regarding PLSVC, it is critical to recognize its presence during attempted central venous access device placement and to fully characterize the pattern of cardiac venous return (i.e., to the right atrium or to the left atrium) in any patient suspected of PLSVC prior to initiation of use of their central venous access device

Iscador Qu inhibits doxorubicin-induced senescence of MCF7 cells

Chemotherapy in patients with inoperable or advanced breast cancer inevitably results in low-dose exposure of tumor-cell subset and senescence. Metabolically active senescent cells secrete multiple tumor promoting factors making their elimination a therapeutic priority. Viscum album is one of the most widely used alternative anti-cancer medicines facilitating chemotherapy tolerance of breast cancer patients. The aim of this study was to model and investigate how Viscum album extracts execute additive anti-tumor activity with low-dose Dox using ER + MCF7 breast cancer cells. We report that cotreatment of MCF7 with Viscum album and Dox abrogates G2/M cycle arrest replacing senescence with intrinsic apoptotic program. Mechanistically, this switch was associated with down-regulation of p21, p53/p73 as well as Erk1/2 and p38 activation. Our findings, therefore, identify a novel mechanistic axis of additive antitumor activity of Viscum album and low dose-Dox. In conclusion, ER + breast cancer patients may benefit from addition of Viscum album to low-dose Dox chemotherapy due to suppression of cancer cell senescence and induction of apoptosis