Cut-resistant protective gloves in pathology—effective and cost-effective

Cutting injuries and needle-stitch injuries constitute a potentially fatal danger to both pathologists and autopsy personnel. We evaluated such injuries in a large German institute of pathology from 2002 to 2007 and analysed the effect of the introduction of cut-resistant gloves on the incidence of these injuries. In the observation period, 64 injuries (48 cutting injuries and 16 needle-stitch injuries) were noted in the injury report books. Most injuries were located at the non-dominant hand, preferentially at the index finger and the thumb. Around one fifths of the injuries were at the side of handedness. The average number of injuries per month was 1.22 for the 50months prior to the introduction of cut-resistant gloves, more than seven times higher than after their introduction (0.158; 19months; p < 0.001). Considering the medical and administrational costs of such injuries, cut-resistant protective gloves are an effective and cost-effective completion of personal occupational safety measures in surgical pathology and autopsy. We strongly recommend the use of such gloves, especially for autopsy personne

Cut-resistant protective gloves in pathology—effective and cost-effective

Cutting injuries and needle-stitch injuries constitute a potentially fatal danger to both pathologists and autopsy personnel. We evaluated such injuries in a large German institute of pathology from 2002 to 2007 and analysed the effect of the introduction of cut-resistant gloves on the incidence of these injuries. In the observation period, 64 injuries (48 cutting injuries and 16 needle-stitch injuries) were noted in the injury report books. Most injuries were located at the non-dominant hand, preferentially at the index finger and the thumb. Around one fifths of the injuries were at the side of handedness. The average number of injuries per month was 1.22 for the 50months prior to the introduction of cut-resistant gloves, more than seven times higher than after their introduction (0.158; 19months; p < 0.001). Considering the medical and administrational costs of such injuries, cut-resistant protective gloves are an effective and cost-effective completion of personal occupational safety measures in surgical pathology and autopsy. We strongly recommend the use of such gloves, especially for autopsy personne

High class I HDAC activity and expression are associated with RelA/p65 activation in pancreatic cancer in vitro and in vivo

BACKGROUND: The strong association between aberrant HDAC activity and the occurrence of cancer has led to the development of a variety of HDAC inhibitors (HDIs), which emerge as promising new targeted anticancer therapeutics. METHODS: Due to the pivotal role of RelA/p65 in the tumorigenesis of pancreatic neoplasia we examined the expression of class I HDACs 1, 2 and 3 in a large cohort of human pancreatic carcinomas and correlated our findings with RelA/p65 expression status. Furthermore, we investigated the impact of the HDIs SAHA and VPA on RelA/p65 activity in pancreatic cancer cell culture models. RESULTS: Class I HDACs were strongly expressed in a subset of pancreatic adenocarcinomas and high expression was significantly correlated with increased nuclear translocation of RelA/p65 (p = 0.024). The link of HDAC activity and RelA/p65 in this tumor entity was confirmed in vitro, where RelA/p65 nuclear translocation as well as RelA/p65 DNA binding activity could be markedly diminished by HDI treatment. CONCLUSION: The RelA/p65 inhibitory effects of SAHA and VPA in vitro and the close relationship of class I HDACs and RelA/p65 in vivo suggest that treatment with HDIs could serve as a promising approach to suppress NF-kappaB activity which in turn may lead to enhanced apoptosis and chemosensitization of pancreatic cancers

Solid neuroendocrine carcinomas of the breast: metastases or primary tumors?

Neuroendocrine breast carcinomas are rare but may represent either metastatic or primary lesions. So far, clinical and preoperative histopathological examinations do not distinguish properly between a primary or metastatic breast tumor. Due to any possible consequences following an appropriate treatment, markers which may be helpful for such a distinguishment are needed. We addressed this study in order to evaluate the immunohistochemical expression of GCDFP-15 and mammaglobin in a subset of pure neuroendocrine breast carcinomas (n = 9) and compared the expression profile with a cohort of non-mammary neuroendocrine tumors (n = 99). We observed in our study that solid neuroendocrine breast carcinomas are characterized by the expression of estrogen and progesterone receptors as well as GCDFP-15 and/or mammaglobin. GCDFP-15 was expressed in 6 out of 9 cases, mammaglobin was positive in 4 out of 9 tumors. In contrast, neuroendocrine tumors of the non-mammary cohort expressed neither GCDFP-15 nor mammaglobin. We conclude that mammaglobin and GCDFP-15 as markers of epithelial breast origin may work as a new and reliable diagnostic tool to distinguish primary endocrine tumors of the breast from a metastatic neuroendocrine disease. This is of utmost importance, especially for surgical management