Perfil Clínico-Epidemiológico e Sobrevida dos Casos de Retinoblastoma em um Hospital Referência em Oncologia do Estado de Goiás

Introdução: O retinoblastoma é a malignidade primária intraocular mais comum na infância, é raro e corresponde de 2% a 4% dos tumores malignos pediátricos. Objetivo: Descrever o perfil clínico-epidemiológico e a sobrevida dos casos de retinoblastoma em um hospital de referência em oncologia do Estado de Goiás, entre 2008 a 2014. Método: Estudo observacional analítico do tipo transversal, construído com base na análise de prontuários de pacientes diagnosticados com retinoblastoma entre 2008 e 2014. Realizaram-se análises por estatística descritiva e teste de associação qui-quadrado. Adotou-se o nível de significância de 5%. A sobrevida foi avaliada por meio do método de Kaplan-Meier. Resultados: Foram atendidos 55 pacientes com retinoblastoma, permitindo identificar o predomínio do sexo feminino (54,5%); na faixa etária de 1 a 4 anos (27,3%); com etnia parda (50,9%). As características clínicas mais prevalentes foram: acometimento intraocular (74,5%); unilateral (65,5%); sem histórico familiar (56,4%); e com sinal clínico de leucocoria (80%). A maioria não apresentou metástases ao diagnóstico (87,3%), sendo o principal tratamento a enucleação unilateral (72,7%). Verificou-se associação quanto à evolução clínica do paciente em relação à localização extraocular (p = 0,001), presença de metástase (p = 0,001) e estádio IV de Chantada et al. (p = 0,001). Pacientes classificados como E foram submetidos a maior número de enucleações (olho direito – p = 0,05 e olho esquerdo – p = 0,001). A sobrevida global em cinco anos foi 72,7%. Conclusão: Tais achados são relevantes para o planejamento de ações de prevenção, pois o diagnóstico precoce é um dos principais aliados na determinação da cura e na preservação da visão

Perfil clínico e epidemiológico do retinoblastoma no hospital referência em oncologia do estado de Goiás

O retinoblastoma é um dos tumores mais prevalentes na primeira infância e de diagnóstico precoce. Esse tipo de tumor é caracterizado pela supressão do gene RB (retinoblastoma), um supressor tumoral. Essas mutações ocorrem, na maioria das vezes, de maneira diferente nos dois alelos, sendo que a mutação no primeiro alelo pode ocorrer numa linhagem germinativa, de forma hereditária, ou em uma célula progenitora da retina, de forma esporádica. A segunda mutação ocorre na célula somática que origina o tumor. O retinoblastoma é o câncer intraocular mais comum na infância. Afeta um em cada 20 mil nascidos vivos, com maior incidência nas crianç0as com menos de 5 anos. Esse tumor pode ter duas formas principais: hereditária ou esporádica. A sobrevida relaciona-se com alguns fatores, entre eles, a idade e hereditariedade, a extensão do tumor, a lateralidade e o tempo entre o surgimento dos sintomas e o diagnóstico precoce. Este trabalho tem por objetivo avalias os fatores prognósticos e de sobrevida de pacientes diagnosticados com retinoblastoma e um hospital de referencia em oncologia de Goiânia, Goiás. Trata-se de um estudo retrospectivo, transversal descritivo observacional. Pretende-se associar o prognostico e a sobrevida desses pacientes. Para tanto, será observado os prontuários de pacientes diagnosticados com retinoblastoma entre os anos de 2007 a 2014

Recombinant proteins as promising antigens applied to the immunodiagnosis of Chagas disease: a scoping review

Chagas disease (CD), caused by the protozoan Trypanosoma cruzi, is an important public health problem, occurring mainly in Latin America. The disease has a major social and economical effect, negatively impacting the life of the infected individuals, and bringing great costs to public health. An early and accurate diagnosis is essential for administration of early treatment. In addition, prognostic tests may aid disease management, decreasing hospitalization costs. However, the serological diagnostic scenario for CD still faces several challenges, making the development of new diagnostic kits a pressing matter. Facing this scenario, several researchers have expanded efforts in developing and testing new antigens, such as recombinant proteins and recombinant multiepitope proteins, with promising results. These recombinant antigens offer several advantages, such as improved sensitivity and specificity, in addition to facilitated scaling. Also, it has been possible to observe a rising number of studies using ELISA and point-of-care platforms, employing these antigens in the past few years. Among them, recombinant proteins were the most applied antigens, demonstrating great capacity to discriminate between positive and negative samples. Although fewer in number, recombinant multiepitope proteins also demonstrated an improved diagnostic performance. Indeed, a great number of studies employing these antigens showed sensitivity and specificity values above 90%, greatly impacting diagnostic accuracy. Nevertheless, despite the good results found, it is still possible to observe some bottlenecks in the development of new antigens, such as the scarcity of tests with sera from the acute phase and the variability of results in different geographic areas. In this sense, aiming to contribute to control and health programs, the continuous search for a more accurate serological diagnosis is essential, both for the acute and chronic phases of the disease

Brazilian Flora 2020: Leveraging the power of a collaborative scientific network

International audienceThe shortage of reliable primary taxonomic data limits the description of biological taxa and the understanding of biodiversity patterns and processes, complicating biogeographical, ecological, and evolutionary studies. This deficit creates a significant taxonomic impediment to biodiversity research and conservation planning. The taxonomic impediment and the biodiversity crisis are widely recognized, highlighting the urgent need for reliable taxonomic data. Over the past decade, numerous countries worldwide have devoted considerable effort to Target 1 of the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation (GSPC), which called for the preparation of a working list of all known plant species by 2010 and an online world Flora by 2020. Brazil is a megadiverse country, home to more of the world's known plant species than any other country. Despite that, Flora Brasiliensis, concluded in 1906, was the last comprehensive treatment of the Brazilian flora. The lack of accurate estimates of the number of species of algae, fungi, and plants occurring in Brazil contributes to the prevailing taxonomic impediment and delays progress towards the GSPC targets. Over the past 12 years, a legion of taxonomists motivated to meet Target 1 of the GSPC, worked together to gather and integrate knowledge on the algal, plant, and fungal diversity of Brazil. Overall, a team of about 980 taxonomists joined efforts in a highly collaborative project that used cybertaxonomy to prepare an updated Flora of Brazil, showing the power of scientific collaboration to reach ambitious goals. This paper presents an overview of the Brazilian Flora 2020 and provides taxonomic and spatial updates on the algae, fungi, and plants found in one of the world's most biodiverse countries. We further identify collection gaps and summarize future goals that extend beyond 2020. Our results show that Brazil is home to 46,975 native species of algae, fungi, and plants, of which 19,669 are endemic to the country. The data compiled to date suggests that the Atlantic Rainforest might be the most diverse Brazilian domain for all plant groups except gymnosperms, which are most diverse in the Amazon. However, scientific knowledge of Brazilian diversity is still unequally distributed, with the Atlantic Rainforest and the Cerrado being the most intensively sampled and studied biomes in the country. In times of “scientific reductionism”, with botanical and mycological sciences suffering pervasive depreciation in recent decades, the first online Flora of Brazil 2020 significantly enhanced the quality and quantity of taxonomic data available for algae, fungi, and plants from Brazil. This project also made all the information freely available online, providing a firm foundation for future research and for the management, conservation, and sustainable use of the Brazilian funga and flora

NEOTROPICAL XENARTHRANS: a data set of occurrence of xenarthran species in the Neotropics

Xenarthrans—anteaters, sloths, and armadillos—have essential functions for ecosystem maintenance, such as insect control and nutrient cycling, playing key roles as ecosystem engineers. Because of habitat loss and fragmentation, hunting pressure, and conflicts with domestic dogs, these species have been threatened locally, regionally, or even across their full distribution ranges. The Neotropics harbor 21 species of armadillos, 10 anteaters, and 6 sloths. Our data set includes the families Chlamyphoridae (13), Dasypodidae (7), Myrmecophagidae (3), Bradypodidae (4), and Megalonychidae (2). We have no occurrence data on Dasypus pilosus (Dasypodidae). Regarding Cyclopedidae, until recently, only one species was recognized, but new genetic studies have revealed that the group is represented by seven species. In this data paper, we compiled a total of 42,528 records of 31 species, represented by occurrence and quantitative data, totaling 24,847 unique georeferenced records. The geographic range is from the southern United States, Mexico, and Caribbean countries at the northern portion of the Neotropics, to the austral distribution in Argentina, Paraguay, Chile, and Uruguay. Regarding anteaters, Myrmecophaga tridactyla has the most records (n = 5,941), and Cyclopes sp. have the fewest (n = 240). The armadillo species with the most data is Dasypus novemcinctus (n = 11,588), and the fewest data are recorded for Calyptophractus retusus (n = 33). With regard to sloth species, Bradypus variegatus has the most records (n = 962), and Bradypus pygmaeus has the fewest (n = 12). Our main objective with Neotropical Xenarthrans is to make occurrence and quantitative data available to facilitate more ecological research, particularly if we integrate the xenarthran data with other data sets of Neotropical Series that will become available very soon (i.e., Neotropical Carnivores, Neotropical Invasive Mammals, and Neotropical Hunters and Dogs). Therefore, studies on trophic cascades, hunting pressure, habitat loss, fragmentation effects, species invasion, and climate change effects will be possible with the Neotropical Xenarthrans data set. Please cite this data paper when using its data in publications. We also request that researchers and teachers inform us of how they are using these data