High-throughput miRNA profiling of human melanoma blood samples

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>MicroRNA (miRNA) signatures are not only found in cancer tissue but also in blood of cancer patients. Specifically, miRNA detection in blood offers the prospect of a non-invasive analysis tool.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Using a microarray based approach we screened almost 900 human miRNAs to detect miRNAs that are deregulated in their expression in blood cells of melanoma patients. We analyzed 55 blood samples, including 20 samples of healthy individuals, 24 samples of melanoma patients as test set, and 11 samples of melanoma patients as independent validation set.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>A hypothesis test based approch detected 51 differentially regulated miRNAs, including 21 miRNAs that were downregulated in blood cells of melanoma patients and 30 miRNAs that were upregulated in blood cells of melanoma patients as compared to blood cells of healthy controls. The tets set and the independent validation set of the melanoma samples showed a high correlation of fold changes (0.81). Applying hierarchical clustering and principal component analysis we found that blood samples of melanoma patients and healthy individuals can be well differentiated from each other based on miRNA expression analysis. Using a subset of 16 significant deregulated miRNAs, we were able to reach a classification accuracy of 97.4%, a specificity of 95% and a sensitivity of 98.9% by supervised analysis. MiRNA microarray data were validated by qRT-PCR.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Our study provides strong evidence for miRNA expression signatures of blood cells as useful biomarkers for melanoma.</p

Comparison of endovascular strategy versus hybrid procedure in treatment of chronic venous obstructions involving the confluence of common femoral vein

OBJECTIVE: Treatment of extensive chronic venous obstruction (CVO) with post-thrombotic trabeculation involving the common femoral vein with extension into the femoral vein or deep femoral vein remains a challenge and the best treatment technique for such cases is not clear. In the present study, we compared the results of endovascular alone vs endovascular with additional endophlebectomy (hybrid) procedures for such patients. METHODS: The medical records of 102 consecutive patients (108 limbs) treated between 2015 and 2020 for iliofemoral CVO extending to the femoral confluence were retrospectively reviewed. The patients were divided into two groups: the hybrid procedure (HP) and endovascular treatment (EN) groups. The HP group consisted of those treated with stent implantation and endophlebectomy of the common femoral vein with creation of an arteriovenous fistula. The EN group included those who had undergone stent implantation alone. The patency rates, complications, and clinical outcomes were analyzed. RESULTS: Of the 102 patients, 47 (49 limbs) were in the EN group and 55 (59 limbs) were in the HP group. The demographics of the two groups were similar with no statistically significant differences in cumulative primary, assisted primary, or secondary patency rates at 36 months (33.7% vs 36.3%, P = .839; 59.8% vs 64%, P = .941; 69% vs 72.7%, P = .851; respectively). The patients in the EN group, however, had better clinical improvement with a lower postoperative complication rate (P = .012), shorter procedure duration (P < .001), and shorter hospital stay (P = .025). CONCLUSIONS: The EN and HP both provided similar patency rates for patients with CVO extending into the femoral confluence. The endovascular strategy has the benefit of fewer postoperative complications and a shorter procedure duration and hospital stay compared with the HP

Reciprocal responses of fibroblasts and melanocytes to α-MSH depending on MC1R polymorphisms

The melanocortin 1-receptor (MC1R) exhibits several variants in form of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) that are known to differentially regulate melanocyte function. However, whether and how MC1R polymorphisms also affect fibroblast function has not been investigated so far