Idiopathic granulomatous mastitis masquerading as carcinoma of the breast: a case report and review of the literature

BACKGROUND: Idiopathic granulomatous mastitis is an uncommon, benign entity with a diagnosis of exclusion. The typical clinical presentation of idiopathic granulomatous mastitis often mimics infection or malignancy. As a result, histopathological confirmation of idiopathic granulomatous mastitis combined with exclusion of infection, malignancy and other causes of granulomatous disease is absolutely necessary. CASE PRESENTATION: We present a case of a young woman with idiopathic granulomatous mastitis, initially mistaken for mastitis as well as breast carcinoma, and successfully treated with a course of corticosteroids. CONCLUSION: There is no clear clinical consensus regarding the ideal therapeutic management of idiopathic granulomatous mastitis. Treatment options include expectant management with spontaneous remission, corticosteroid therapy, immunosuppressive agents and extensive surgery for refractory cases

18F-FDG PET Predicts Hematologic Toxicity in Patients with Locally Advanced Anal Cancer Treated With Chemoradiation

Purpose: Hematologic toxicity (HT) during chemoradiation therapy (CRT) for anal cancer can lead to treatment breaks that compromise efficacy. We hypothesized that CRT-induced HT correlates with changes in active bone marrow (ABM) characterized by pre-/post-CRT positron emission tomography (PET)/computed tomography. Methods and materials: Data from 36 patients with anal cancer who were treated with 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose PET/computed tomography scans 2 weeks before and 6 to 16 weeks after CRT were analyzed. Complete blood counts with differential within 2 weeks from, weekly during, and 2 week after treatment were obtained. HT was defined as baseline complete blood count change to nadir and posttreatment recovery. Total bone marrow was segmented into 2 subregions: lumbosacral (LS) pelvis (L5 vertebrae, sacrum, and coccyx) and lower pelvis (LP) (ilium, femoral head/neck, and greater and lesser trochanter). PET ABM was characterized as the volume having standard uptake value (SUV) greater than the mean uptake of unirradiated extrapelvic bone marrow. PET variables of pre-/post-CRT and HT predictors were analyzed by linear regression. Results: Average pelvic ABM was significantly reduced from 52% to 41% in pre- to post-CRT PET scans for all patients (P = .0012). Regional analysis indicated significant post-CRT reduction of LS-ABM (P 50 Gy) in terms of acute hematologic ΔWBC (P = .021) and ΔANC(P = .028). HT increased with increasing volume of ABM receiving 40 Gy. The results also suggest that ABM V40 Gy ≤ 20% to 25% may significantly reduce the risk of HT. Conclusions: HT was significantly associated with ΔABM in patients with anal cancer who were treated with CRT. LS-ABM was a robust surrogate for evaluating CRT-induced HT. Our results suggest implementation of ABM dosimetric constraints, V40 Gy ≤ 20-25%, may significantly reduce HT and lead to decreased treatment delays associated with clinical outcomes

WormBase - Annotating many nematode genomes

WormBase (www.wormbase.org) has been serving the scientific community for over 11 years as the central repository for genomic and genetic information for the soil nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. The resource has evolved from its beginnings as a database housing the genomic sequence and genetic and physical maps of a single species, and now represents the breadth and diversity of nematode research, currently serving genome sequence and annotation for around 20 nematodes. In this article, we focus on WormBase’s role of genome sequence annotation, describing how we annotate and integrate data from a growing collection of nematode species and strains. We also review our approaches to sequence curation, and discuss the impact on annotation quality of large functional genomics projects such as modENCODE

WormBase: a comprehensive resource for nematode research

WormBase (http://www.wormbase.org) is a central data repository for nematode biology. Initially created as a service to the Caenorhabditis elegans research field, WormBase has evolved into a powerful research tool in its own right. In the past 2 years, we expanded WormBase to include the complete genomic sequence, gene predictions and orthology assignments from a range of related nematodes. This comparative data enrich the C. elegans data with improved gene predictions and a better understanding of gene function. In turn, they bring the wealth of experimental knowledge of C. elegans to other systems of medical and agricultural importance. Here, we describe new species and data types now available at WormBase. In addition, we detail enhancements to our curatorial pipeline and website infrastructure to accommodate new genomes and an extensive user base

WormBase - Annotating many nematode genomes

WormBase (www.wormbase.org) has been serving the scientific community for over 11 years as the central repository for genomic and genetic information for the soil nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. The resource has evolved from its beginnings as a database housing the genomic sequence and genetic and physical maps of a single species, and now represents the breadth and diversity of nematode research, currently serving genome sequence and annotation for around 20 nematodes. In this article, we focus on WormBase’s role of genome sequence annotation, describing how we annotate and integrate data from a growing collection of nematode species and strains. We also review our approaches to sequence curation, and discuss the impact on annotation quality of large functional genomics projects such as modENCODE

WormBase: better software, richer content

WormBase (), the public database for genomics and biology of Caenorhabditis elegans, has been restructured for stronger performance and expanded for richer biological content. Performance was improved by accelerating the loading of central data pages such as the omnibus Gene page, by rationalizing internal data structures and software for greater portability, and by making the Genome Browser highly customizable in how it views and exports genomic subsequences. Arbitrarily complex, user-specified queries are now possible through Textpresso (for all available literature) and through WormMart (for most genomic data). Biological content was enriched by reconciling all available cDNA and expressed sequence tag data with gene predictions, clarifying single nucleotide polymorphism and RNAi sites, and summarizing known functions for most genes studied in this organism