The Progress on Genetic Analysis of Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma

Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is a rare malignancy in most parts of the world, but is one of the most common cancers in Southeast Asia. Both genetic and environmental factors contribute to the tumorigenesis of NPC, most notably the consumption of certain salted food items and Epstein-Barr virus infection. This review will focus on the current progress of the genetic analysis of NPC (genetic susceptibilities and somatic alterations). We will review the current advances in genomic technologies and their shaping of the future direction of NPC research

Prostate cancer assessment using MR elastography of fresh prostatectomy specimens at 9.4 T

Purpose: Despite its success in the assessment of prostate cancer (PCa), in vivo multiparametric MRI has limitations such as interobserver variability and low specificity. Several MRI methods, among them MR elastography, are currently being discussed as candidates for supplementing conventional multiparametric MRI. This study aims to investigate the detection of PCa in fresh ex vivo human prostatectomy specimens using MR elastography. Methods: Fourteen fresh prostate specimens from men with clinically significant PCa without formalin fixation or prior radiation therapy were examined by MR elastography at 500 Hz immediately after radical prostatectomy in a 9.4T preclinical scanner. Specimens were divided into 12 segments for both calculation of storage modulus (G ' in kilopascals) and pathology (Gleason score) as reference standard. Sensitivity, specificity, and area under the receiver operating characteristic curve were calculated to assess PCa detection. Results: The mean G ' and SD were as follows: all segments, 8.74 ± 5.26 kPa; healthy segments, 5.44 ± 4.40 kPa; and cancerous segments, 10.84 ± 4.65 kPa. The difference between healthy and cancerous segments was significant with P ≤ .001. Diagnostic performance assessed with the Youden index was as follows: sensitivity, 69%; specificity, 79%; area under the curve, 0.81; and cutoff, 10.67 kPa. Conclusion: Our results suggest that prostate MR elastography has the potential to improve diagnostic performance of multiparametric MRI, especially regarding its 2 major limitations: interobserver variability and low specificity. Particularly the high value for specificity in PCa detection is a stimulating result and encourages further investigation of this method

Examination of the Fractalkine and Fractalkine Receptor Expression in Fallopian Adenocarcinoma Reveals Differences When Compared to Ovarian Carcinoma

Fallopian adenocarcinoma is a rare malignancy arising in the epithelium of the fallopian tube. Fallopian tube epithelium has been proposed as a tissue origin for high-grade serous ovarian carcinoma, the deadliest gynecologic malignancy. Given the commonalities in dissemination and treatment of these malignancies, we contemplated the possibility of similar patterns of gene expression underlying their progression. To reveal potential similarities or differences in the gene expression of fallopian adenocarcinoma and high-grade serous ovarian carcinoma, we tested expression of the fractalkine receptor (CX3CR1) and its ligand, fractalkine (CX3CL1), in the specimens of normal and pathologic fallopian tube using immunohistochemistry. Our data show that CX3CR1 is expressed in the normal, cancer adjacent normal, inflammatory, and malignant fallopian epithelium. CX3CL1 was expressed only by the normal and cancer adjacent normal fallopian tube epithelium; its expression was largely lost in the inflammatory and malignant fallopian epithelium. In opposite, both CX3CR1 and CX3CL1 are expressed in high-grade serous ovarian carcinoma. These findings are consistent with an idea that fallopian adenocarcinoma and high-grade serous ovarian carcinoma, although currently thought to arise from the same organ, may not share similar molecular characteristics

Analysis of iron, zinc, selenium and cadmium in paraffin-embedded prostate tissue specimens using inductively coupled plasma mass-spectrometry

Formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) tissue specimens represent a valuable and abundant resource of pathologic material for various biomedical studies. In the present study, we report the application of high-resolution inductively coupled mass-spectrometry (ICP-MS) for quantification of Fe, Zn, Se and Cd in FFPE prostate tissue. These elements have a possible role in the development of prostate diseases: while Zn and Se are needed for a healthy prostate, Cd shows multiple toxic and carcinogenic effects. Excessive accumulation of Fe induces the production of highly reactive hydroxyl radical species, which may play a role in cancer etiopathogenesis. To assess whether the levels of these metals in the FFPE prostate tissue represent their original content, we compared their levels with those in the fresh tissue (on dry weight basis) in samples obtained from 15 patients. We found that in FFPE tissue, the recoveries of Se, Fe, Cd and Zn were progressively decreased, 97±11% (r=0.88), 82±22% (r=0.86), 59±23% (r=0.69) and 24±11% (r=0.38), respectively. Thus, the use of correction factors, determined as k=0.16 for Se, k=0.20 for Fe, k=0.27 for Cd and k=0.67 for Zn, is required to estimate the retrospective levels of these elements in the parental non-processed fresh (wet) prostate tissue. The technique used in this study enables the analysis of archival FFPE prostate tissue for the concentrations of Fe, Zn, Se and Cd to study association between the levels of these metals and prostate disease

The progress on genetic analysis of nasopharyngeal carcinoma.

Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is a rare malignancy in most parts of the world, but is one of the most common cancers in Southeast Asia. Both genetic and environmental factors contribute to the tumorigenesis of NPC, most notably the consumption of certain salted food items and Epstein-Barr virus infection. This review will focus on the current progress of the genetic analysis of NPC (genetic susceptibilities and somatic alterations). We will review the current advances in genomic technologies and their shaping of the future direction of NPC research

Extra-Lysosomal Localization of Arylsulfatase B in Human Colonic Epithelium

The enzyme arylsulfatase B (N-acetylgalactosamine-4-sulfatase; ARSB; ASB) removes 4-sulfate groups from the sulfated glycosaminoglycans (sGAG) chondroitin-4-sulfate (C4S) and dermatan sulfate (DS). Inborn deficiency of ARSB leads to the lysosomal storage disease mucopolysaccharidosis VI, characterized by accumulation of sGAG in vital organs, disruption of normal physiological processes, severe morbidity, and premature death. Recent published work demonstrated extra-lysosomal localization with nuclear and cell membrane ARSB observed in bronchial and colonic epithelial cells, cerebrovascular cells, and hepatic cells. In this report, the authors present ARSB immunostaining in a colonic microarray and show differences in distribution, intensity, and pattern of ARSB staining among normal colon, adenomas, and adenocarcinomas. Distinctive, intense luminal membrane staining was present in the normal epithelial cells but reduced in the malignancies and less in the grade 3 than in the grade 1 adenocarcinomas. In the normal cores, a distinctive pattern of intense cytoplasmic positivity at the luminal surface was followed by reduced staining deeper in the crypts. ARSB enzymatic activity was significantly greater in normal than in malignant tissue. These study findings affirm extra-lysosomal localization of ARSB and suggest that altered ARSB immunostaining and reduced activity may be useful indicators of malignant transformation in human colonic tissue