High relative density of lymphatic vessels predicts poor survival in tongue squamous cell carcinoma

Tongue cancer has a poor prognosis due to its early metastasis via lymphatic vessels. The present study aimed at evaluating lymphatic vessel density, relative density of lymphatic vessel, and diameter of lymphatic vessels and its predictive role in tongue cancer. Paraffin-embedded tongue and lymph node specimens (n = 113) were stained immunohistochemically with a polyclonal antibody von Willebrand factor, recognizing blood and lymphatic endothelium and with a monoclonal antibody podoplanin, recognizing lymphatic endothelium. The relative density of lymphatic vessels was counted by dividing the mean number of lymphatic vessels per microscopic field (podoplanin) by the mean number of all vessels (vWf) per microscopic field. The high relative density of lymphatic vessels (aeyen80 %) was associated with poor prognosis in tongue cancer. The relative density of lymphatic vessels predicted poor prognosis in the group of primary tumor size T1-T2 and in the group of non-metastatic cancer. The lymphatic vessel density and diameter of lymphatic vessels were not associated with tongue cancer survival. The relative density of lymphatic vessels might have clinically relevant prognostic impact. Further studies with increased number of patients are needed.Peer reviewe

Indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase expression in patients with allergic rhinitis : a case-control study

Background Indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase (IDO) is a tryptophan catalyzing enzyme. It has been suggested that it has a role in lower airway allergic inflammations, but its role in allergic rhinitis has not been investigated. Objective Our aim was to evaluate the expression of IDO in the nasal mucosa of allergic rhinitis patients allergic to birch pollen during peak exposure to birch pollen allergen and compare it to non-atopic patients. Methods IDO expression was immunohistochemically evaluated from nasal specimens obtained in- and off-season from otherwise healthy non-smoking volunteers both allergic to birch pollen (having mild or moderate allergic rhinoconjunctivitis) and non-allergic controls. Results: The IDO expression levels were low in healthy controls and remained low also in patients allergic to birch pollen. There were no differences in the expression of IDO in- and off-season in either healthy or allergic subjects. Conclusions There is a controversy in the role of IDO in upper and lower airways during allergic airway disease. It seems that IDO is associated to allergic inflammations of the lower airways, but does not have a local role in the nasal cavity at least in mild or moderate forms of allergic rhinitis. Keywords: Indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase; allergic rhinitis; birch pollen; dendritic cell; tryptophan; kynurenine; interferon gamma; leukocyte; eosinophilBioMed Central open acces

ANALISIS PENERAPAN TOTAL PRODUCTIVE MAINTENANCE (TPM) DI PT CHANDRA ASRI PETROCHEMICAL TBK

PT Chandra Asri Petrochemical Tbk merupakan perusahaan terbesar dan terintegrasi di Indonesia yang menghasilkan produk biji plastik. Dalam dunia industri petrokimia, kondisi dan kinerja alat dan mesin menjadi salah satu penentu pencapaian target produksi yang ditetapkan. Kondisi mesin dan peralatan harus dijaga agar selalu dalam kondisi prima dan siap digunakan seoptimum mungkin dengan cara pemeliharaan dan perbaikan (maintenance). Dari hasil laporan data tahunan yang dimiliki perusahaan diketahui adanya permasalahan yang sering terjadi di mesin Product Discharge System pada train 2 sehingga sering terjadi breakdown. Salah satu metode yang dapat mengetahui pengaruh breakdown terhadap jumlah produksi yaitu dengan menggunakan metode Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE), di mana breakdown menjadi salah satu indikator yang digunakan dalam perhitungan OEE yaitu Availability. Dengan perhitungan yang ada, maka akan didapatkan hasil nilai Overall Equipment Effectiveness dan dilanjutkan dengan proses analisis six big losses untuk menentukan kerugian mana saja yang paling berpengaruh. Hasil dari penelitian yaitu didapatnya hasil rata-rata Overall Equipment Effectiveness yaitu sebesar 85,4% dengan losses terbesar ditemukan pada Equipment Failure Losses dengan persentase paling besar yaitu 47,65% dari keenam losses lainnya. Dari hasil Equipment Failure Losses ini dapat diketahui bahwa yang mempengaruhi besarnya nilai dari hasil tersebut dikarenakan angka kerusakan pada valve Product Discharge System yang cukup tinggi serta waktu untuk setup dan adjustment yang lama. Berdasarkan hasil tersebut serta konsultasi dengan pihak perusahaan, maka didapatkan beberapa solusi yang dapat diimplementasikan perusahaan untuk perbaikan ke depannya yang lebih baik

Translation, cross-cultural adaptation, and validation of the sino-nasal outcome test (snot)-22 for Finnish patients

Purpose The Sino-Nasal Outcome Test-22 (SNOT-22) is the most commonly used disease-specific quality of life questionnaire in rhinology. The purpose of this prospective study was to translate and validate SNOT-22 into Finnish. Methods The validation process followed the guidelines proposed for cross-cultural adaptation of health-related measures of quality of life. The study consisted of three groups: rhinologic out-patients (N = 96), FESS patients (N = 49) and healthy controls (N = 79). Out-patient and FESS groups completed the questionnaire twice (answers A and B), out-patients after two weeks and FESS patients after 3 months. Validity, reliability and responsiveness were evaluated. Results The mean SNOT-22 sum score of the out-patient questionnaires were 35.3 points (answer A) and 32.4 points (answer B). ICC in out-patient group was 0.879. For the FESS patients, the mean pre- and postoperative (answer A and B) SNOT-22 sum scores were 46.8 and 21.9 points, respectively (p <0.0001). The mean SNOT-22 of healthy controls was 8.9 points. The out-patients (answer A) and healthy controls had statistically significant difference in SNOT-22 scores (p <0.0001). Conclusions The results of our study show that the validated Finnish version of the SNOT-22 questionnaire demonstrates good validity, reliability and responsiveness.Peer reviewe

Heart failure in Finland: clinical characteristics, mortality, and healthcare resource use

AimsThe aims of this study were to describe patient characteristics of the adult chronic heart failure (HF) population and to estimate the prevalence, incidence, healthcare resource utilization (HCRU), and mortality associated with HF in Southwest Finland.Methods and resultsThis was a retrospective biobank and clinical registry study. Adult patients with an HF diagnosis (International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (ICD) code I50) during 2004–2013 in secondary care were included in the study and compared with age‐matched and gender‐matched control patients without an I50 diagnosis. HF patients were stratified in groups by left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) as follows: LVEF ConclusionsThe high mortality rate and HCRU among the studied HF patients highlight the severity of the disease and the economic and social burden on both patients and society. This calls for improved methods of care for this large patient population.</p

The expression and prognostic relevance of CDH3 in tongue squamous cell carcinoma

Publisher Copyright: © 2021 Scandinavian Societies for Medical Microbiology and Pathology.P-cadherin (CDH3) is a cell-to-cell adhesion molecule that regulates several cellular homeostatic processes in normal tissues. Lack of CDH3 expression is associated with aggressive behavior in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC). Previous studies have shown that CDH3 is downregulated in high-grade OSCC and its reduced expression is predictive for poorer survival. The aim of this study was to evaluate the expression and prognostic relevance of CDH3 in tongue squamous cell carcinoma (TSCC). A retrospective series of 211 TSCC and 50 lymph node samples were stained immunohistochemically with polyclonal antibody (anti-CDH3). CDH3 expression was assessed semi-quantitatively with light microscopy. Fisher’s exact test was used to compare patient and tumor characteristics, and the correlations were tested by Spearman correlation. Survival curves were drawn by the Kaplan–Meier method and analyzed by the log-rank test. Univariate and multivariate Cox regression was used to estimate the association between CDH3 expression and survival. CDH3 expression did not affect TSCC patient’s disease-specific survival or overall survival. Strong CDH3 expression in the primary tumor predicted poor disease-specific and overall survival in patients with recurrent disease. CDH3 expression in lymph nodes without metastasis was negative in all cases. CDH3 expression was positive in all lymph node metastases with extranodal extension. In contrast to previous report about the prognostic value of CDH3 in OSCC, we were not able to validate the result in TSCC.Peer reviewe

The expression and prognostic relevance of CDH3 in tongue squamous cell carcinoma

Publisher Copyright: © 2021 Scandinavian Societies for Medical Microbiology and Pathology.P-cadherin (CDH3) is a cell-to-cell adhesion molecule that regulates several cellular homeostatic processes in normal tissues. Lack of CDH3 expression is associated with aggressive behavior in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC). Previous studies have shown that CDH3 is downregulated in high-grade OSCC and its reduced expression is predictive for poorer survival. The aim of this study was to evaluate the expression and prognostic relevance of CDH3 in tongue squamous cell carcinoma (TSCC). A retrospective series of 211 TSCC and 50 lymph node samples were stained immunohistochemically with polyclonal antibody (anti-CDH3). CDH3 expression was assessed semi-quantitatively with light microscopy. Fisher’s exact test was used to compare patient and tumor characteristics, and the correlations were tested by Spearman correlation. Survival curves were drawn by the Kaplan–Meier method and analyzed by the log-rank test. Univariate and multivariate Cox regression was used to estimate the association between CDH3 expression and survival. CDH3 expression did not affect TSCC patient’s disease-specific survival or overall survival. Strong CDH3 expression in the primary tumor predicted poor disease-specific and overall survival in patients with recurrent disease. CDH3 expression in lymph nodes without metastasis was negative in all cases. CDH3 expression was positive in all lymph node metastases with extranodal extension. In contrast to previous report about the prognostic value of CDH3 in OSCC, we were not able to validate the result in TSCC.Peer reviewe

Evaluation Challenges in the validation of B7-H3 as oral tongue cancer prognosticator

B7-H3 was the only molecule identified with prognostic potential from a recent systematic review of the prognostic value of immune checkpoints in oral cancer. We aimed to validate this finding in a multicenter international cohort. We retrospectively retrieved 323 oral tongue squamous cell carcinoma (OTSCC) samples from three different countries (Brazil, Finland, and Norway) for immunostaining and scoring for B7-H3. We evaluated tumor immunogenicity by analyzing the amount of tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes and divided the tumors into immune hot and cold. To increase the reliability of the results, both digital and manual visual scoring were used. Survival curves were constructed based on the Kaplan-Meier method, and the Cox proportional hazard model was utilized for univariate and multivariate survival analysis. B7-H3 expression was not significantly associated with overall or disease-specific survival in the whole OTSCC cohort. When divided into immune hot and cold tumors, high B7-H3 expression was significantly associated with poor disease-specific and overall survival in the immune hot group, depending on the scoring method and the country of the cohort. This was achieved only in the univariate analysis. In conclusion, B7-H3 was a negative prognosticator for OTSCC patient survival in the subgroup of immune hot tumors, and was not validated as a prognosticator in the full cohort. Our findings suggest that the immune activity of the tumor should be considered when testing immune checkpoints as biomarkers

Evaluation Challenges in the Validation of B7-H3 as Oral Tongue Cancer Prognosticator

B7-H3 was the only molecule identified with prognostic potential from a recent systematic review of the prognostic value of immune checkpoints in oral cancer. We aimed to validate this finding in a multicenter international cohort. We retrospectively retrieved 323 oral tongue squamous cell carcinoma (OTSCC) samples from three different countries (Brazil, Finland, and Norway) for immunostaining and scoring for B7-H3. We evaluated tumor immunogenicity by analyzing the amount of tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes and divided the tumors into immune hot and cold. To increase the reliability of the results, both digital and manual visual scoring were used. Survival curves were constructed based on the Kaplan-Meier method, and the Cox proportional hazard model was utilized for univariate and multivariate survival analysis. B7-H3 expression was not significantly associated with overall or disease-specific survival in the whole OTSCC cohort. When divided into immune hot and cold tumors, high B7-H3 expression was significantly associated with poor disease-specific and overall survival in the immune hot group, depending on the scoring method and the country of the cohort. This was achieved only in the univariate analysis. In conclusion, B7-H3 was a negative prognosticator for OTSCC patient survival in the subgroup of immune hot tumors, and was not validated as a prognosticator in the full cohort. Our findings suggest that the immune activity of the tumor should be considered when testing immune checkpoints as biomarkers.Peer reviewe

The effect of fascin 1 inhibition on head and neck squamous cell carcinoma cells

Fascin 1 plays important pro-metastatic roles in head and neck carcinoma (HNSCC) migration, invasion, and metastasis. However, limited advancement in targeting metastasis remains a major obstacle in improving HNSCC patients' survival. Therefore, we assessed the therapeutic potential of fascin 1 targeted inhibition and its potential prognostic value in HNSCC patients. Using in vitro and in vivo approaches, we investigated the effect of compound G2, a novel fascin 1 inhibitor, on HNSCC cells migration, invasion, and metastasis. High-throughput screening (HTS) was used to assess cytotoxic activity of compound G2 alone or combined with irradiation. We also evaluated the prognostic potential of fascin 1 in HNSCC patients. Interestingly, compound G2 reduced carcinoma cells migration and invasion in vitro and inhibited metastasis in vivo. Moreover, HTS revealed a modest cytotoxic activity of the compound G2 on HNSCC cell lines. Irradiation did not synergistically enhance the compound G2-mediated cytotoxic activity. Survival analyses showed that high fascin 1 immunoexpression, at the tumor invasive front, was associated with cancer-specific mortality in the advanced stages of HNSCC. Collectively, our findings suggest that fascin 1 represents a promising anti-metastatic therapeutic target and a useful prognostic marker in patients with HNSCC. Novel anti-metastatic agents could provide a valuable addition to cancer therapy.Peer reviewe