Maspin expression in gastrointestinal stromal tumors

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>To investigate the role of maspin expression in the progression of gastrointestinal stromal tumors, and its value as a prognostic indicator.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>In the study 54 patients with GIST diagnosis were included in Uludag University of Faculty of Medicine, Department of Pathology between 1997-2007. The expression of maspin in 54 cases of gastrointestinal stromal tumor was detected by immunohistochemistry and compared with the clinicopathologic tumor parameters.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The positive expression rates for maspin in the GISTs were 66,6% (36 of 54 cases). Maspin overexpression was detected in 9 of 29 high risk tumors (31%) and was significantly higher in very low/low (78.6%) and intermediate-risk tumors (63.6%) than high-risk tumors.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Maspin expression might be an important factor in tumor progression and patient prognosis in GIST. In the future, larger series may be studied to examine the prognostic significance of maspin in GISTs and, of course, maspin expression may be studied in different mesenchymal tumors.</p

Lack of Prognostic Significance of SOCS-1 Expression in Colorectal Adenocarcinomas

Introduction: Recent studies have indicated that down-regulation of the suppressor of cytokine signaling-1 (SOCS-1) gene results in tumor formation and that SOCS-1 acts as a tumor suppressor gene. SOCS-1 has been also suggested to function as a tumor suppressor with colorectal cancer. Objectives: In the present study, we aimed to determine the association of SOCS-1 expression in colorectal cancer tissues with clinicopathologic characteristics immunohistochemically and also to identify its prognostic significance. Materials and Methods: SOCS-1 expression was studied immunohistochemically in 67 patients diagnosed with resected colorectal carcinomas and 30 control subjects. Results: SOCS-1 expression was found in 46.3% of tumor tissues and 46.7% of the control group. Statistical analyses did not establish any significant association between SOCS-1 expression and clinicopathologic characteristics. Also, no significant association with SOCS-1 expression was found using progression-free survival and overall survival analyses (p=0.326 and p=0.360, respectively). Conclusions: Our results show that SOCS-1 has no prognostic significance in colorectal cancer

Ursodeoxycholic Acid and Atorvastatin in the Treatment of Nonalcoholic Steatohepatitis

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) is a serious disorder with the potential to gradually progress to cirrhosis. It is generally associated with obesity, diabetes and hyperlipidemia. Currently, there is no established therapy for NASH. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effectiveness of atorvastatin and ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA) in the treatment of NASH

A Retrospective Multicenter Evaluation of Cutaneous Melanomas in Turkey

Background: We defined melanoma distribution in a large series of Turkish patients and evaluated the prognostic parameters of melanomas. Materials and Methods: A total of 1574 patients' data was retrospectively collected at 18 centers in Turkey. Demographic characteristics were questioned and noted. Prognostic parametres were evaluated based on sentinel lymph node involvement. Results: Mean age was 56.7 (4-99) years. While 844 (53.6%) cases were male, 730 (46.4%) cases were female. One thousand four hundred forty-seven (92%) cases were invasive melanoma and 127 (8%) cases were in-situ melanoma. The most common histopathological form was the superficial spreading melanoma (SSM) which was found in 549 patients (37.9%). It was followed by nodular melanoma in 379 (26.2%), acral lentiginous melanoma (ALM) in 191 (13.2%) and lentigo maligna melanoma in 132 (9.1%), respectively. On univariate analysis, lymphovascular invasion (p= 6/mm(2) mitosis (p=0.005), satellite formation (p=0.001) and gender (p=0.03) were found to be associated with sentinel lymph node positivity. Regression was associated with sentinel lymph node negativity (p=0.017). According to multivariate analysis, lymphovascular invasion and tumor thickness were significant independent predictive factors of SLN positivity. Patient age, tumor localization, precursor lesions, lymphocytic infiltration and neurotropism were not related with sentinel lymph node involvement. Conclusions: In this retrospective analysis, it was found that the prevalence of SSM is at a lower rate while the prevalence of ALM is at a higher rate when compared to western countries. According to Breslow index; most of the melanoma lesions' thickness were greater than 2 mm, corresponding Clark IV. Vascular invasion and tumor thickness are the most important factors for sentinel lymph node involvement.WoSScopu