Morphologies, Alizarin Red S and von Kossa staining of cultured ADMSCs and BMMSCs from two representative MM patients.

<p>Both ADMSCs (d, j) and BMMSCs (a, g) had typical morphology for MSCs, like spindle shapes, fibroblast-like morphology and aligned in whirl formations. Positive ARS staining for calcium deposits appeared red granules for ADMSCs (e, k) and paired BMMSCs (b, h). Bone nodules were identified by the von Kossa staining and were shown in brown-black granules for ADMSCs (f, l) and paired BMMSCs (c, i).</p

Surface marker analysis of ADMSCs and paired BMMSCs.

<p>All the ADMSCs and BMMSCs were immune-positive for the MSCs cell surface markers: CD44, CD73, CD90 and CD105 (a) but immune-negative for the hematopoietic cell surface markers: CD14, CD19, CD34, CD45, CD138 and HLA-DR (b). The results are presented as FACS histograms (isotype control stain  =  black dot line histogram; surface marker stain  =  orange solid line histogram).</p

The calcium deposition levels of cultured ADMSCs and BMMSCs from healthy donors, non-MM control and MM patients.

<p>The calcium deposition levels of cultured ADMSCs and BMMSCs from healthy donors, non-MM control and MM patients.</p

Clinicopathological features and prognosis of patients with de novo versus nevus-associated melanoma in Taiwan

<div><p>Studies surveying melanomas associated with melanocytic nevi in Asia are rare. In this study, we examined whether nevus-associated melanomas differ from de novo melanomas in terms of their associations with clinical factors, histologic characteristics, and patient survival in Taiwan. Using data on cancer cases obtained from the Department of Pathology archives and the Cancer Registry of National Taiwan University Hospital, we conducted a retrospective analysis of 103 consecutive melanoma patients who were diagnosed between 2010 and 2015 and received follow-up through November 2016. Approximately 17.5% of the melanomas in question were associated with a nevus. In patients under 65 years of age, non-acral lentiginous melanomas were significantly associated with a higher percentage of nevus-associated melanomas. The superficial spreading subtype, younger patient age, thinner tumor, intermittent solar exposure, and early stage were significant predictors of a melanoma being histologically associated with a nevus. The appearance of a nevus associated with a melanoma predicted better recurrence-free survival compared with de novo melanomas. Although acral lentiginous melanomas (70.9%) constituted the most common histologic subtype, only 9.6% of the acral lentiginous melanomas were associated with a nevus. Furthermore, there was no statistically significant difference between the nevus-associated and de novo acral lentiginous melanomas with regard to clinicopathological factors and survival. In conclusion, nevus-associated melanomas were uncommon among acral lentiginous melanomas. Relatedly, because over half of all melanomas in Asians are acral lentiginous melanomas, Asians are less likely than Caucasians to have nevus-associated melanomas.</p></div

The salient clinical characteristics at diagnosis and treatment response of the 15

<p>^*. According to the IMWG criteria, and the evaluation was taken at the 3^rd month from the HDT/AuSCT;</p><p>^**. Defined from commencement of induction treatment to HDT/AuSCT.</p><p>Abbreviations: A, doxorubicin; BM, bone marrow; C, cyclophosphamide; CA, cytogenetic abnormalities; CR, complete response; D, dexamethasone; DSS, Durie-Salmon Stage; F, female; HDT/AuSCT, high dose chemotherapy followed by autologous stem cell transplantation; ISS, International Staging System; M, male; M-protein, myeloma immunoprotein; m, month; PC, plasma cell; PR, partial response; Pt, patient; T, thalidomide; V, bortezomib; VGPR, very good partial response; yr, years; ZA, zoledronic acid.</p

The expansion capacity of MM-ADMSCs and paired BMMSCs.

<p>The expansion capacity of MM-ADMSCs and paired BMMSCs.</p

Senescence associated beta-galactosidase staining of cultured ADMSCs and BMMSCs from two representative MM patients.

<p>Positive senescence associated beta-galactosidase stainings shown by the blue granules within cytoplasms (arrowhead) were seen in most BMMSCs (a, c), but which were not seen in any of the paired ADMSCs (b, d).</p

Insulin-Like Growth Factor II mRNA-Binding Protein 3 Expression Correlates with Poor Prognosis in Acral Lentiginous Melanoma

<div><p>Insulin-like growth factor-II mRNA-binding protein 3 (IMP-3) is an RNA-binding protein expressed in multiple cancers, including melanomas. However, the expression of IMP-3 has not been investigated in acral lentiginous melanoma (ALM). This study sought to elucidate its prognostic value in ALMs. IMP-3 expression was studied in 93 patients diagnosed with ALM via immunohistochemistry. Univariate and multivariate analyses for survival were performed, according to clinical and histologic parameters, using the Cox proportional hazard model. Survival curves were graphed using the Kaplan-Meier method. IMP-3 was over-expressed in 70 out of 93 tumors (75.3%). IMP-3 expression correlated with thick and high-stage tumor and predicted poorer overall, melanoma-specific, recurrence-free and distant metastasis-free survivals (<i>P</i> = 0.002, 0.006, 0.008 and 0.012, respectively). Further analysis showed that patients with tumor thickness ≤ 4.0 mm and positive IMP-3 expression had a significantly worse melanoma-specific survival than those without IMP-3 expression (<i>P</i> = 0.048). IMP-3 (hazard ratio 3.67, 95% confidence intervals 1.35–9.97, <i>P</i> = 0.011) was confirmed to be an independent prognostic factor for melanoma-specific survival in multivariate survival analysis. Positive IMP-3 expression was an important prognostic factor for ALMs.</p></div

Kaplan-Meier curves of survival for 73 patients with primary acral lentiginous melanomas.

<p>No overall (A), distant metastasis-free survival (B), and recurrence-free survival (C) differences were found between patients with de novo and nevus-associated acral lentiginous melanomas (<i>p</i> = 0.168, 0.159, and 0.091, respectively, log rank test).</p

Univariate and multivariate analysis of risk factors associated with overall survival.

<p>Univariate and multivariate analysis of risk factors associated with overall survival.</p