Novel microRNA-based assay demonstrates 92% agreement with diagnosis based on clinicopathologic and management data in a cohort of patients with carcinoma of unknown primary.

Background: Cancer of unknown or uncertain primary is a major diagnostic and clinical challenge, since identifying the tissue-of-origin of metastases is crucial for selecting optimal treatment. MicroRNAs are a family of non-coding, regulatory RNA molecules that are tissue-specific, with a great potential to be excellent biomarkers.

Methods: In this study we tested the performance of a microRNA-based assay in formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded samples from 84 CUP patients.

Profiling immunohistochemical expression of NOTCH1-3, JAGGED1, cMET, and phospho-MAPK in 100 carcinomas of unknown primary.

Cancer of unknown primary (CUP) is a heterogeneous entity, managed on the basis of "one size fits all" therapeutic concepts; insights into the molecular biology of CUP are urgently needed. We retrospectively examined the immunohistochemical (IHC) expression of Notch1, 2, 3, Jagged1, cMET, and pMAPK biomolecules in 100 CUP tumors using tissue microarrays, aiming to study their correlation to clinicopathologic characteristics and prognostic utility for patient outcome. Notch3 and pMAPK were most frequently expressed (97 and 91 %, respectively).

Immunohistochemical study of the epithelial-mesenchymal transition phenotype in cancer of unknown primary: incidence, correlations and prognostic utility.

Background: The epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT) has been associated with metastatic dissemination and poor outcome in several solid tumour types. Our aim was to study its incidence and its prognostic significance in cancer of unknown primary (CUP).

Patients And Methods: One hundred tumour samples of CUP were loaded in tissue microarrays and were studied for immunohistochemical (IHC) expression of E-cadherin, N-cadherin, vimentin, the EMT transcription factor (SNAIL) and the stem cell marker octamer-binding transcription marker 4(OCT4).

Trabectedin-related rhabdomyolysis: an uncommon but fatal toxicity.

Rhabdomyolysis is defined as the dissolution of striped muscle characterized by the leakage of intracellular muscle components into the circulation, which can ultimately lead to renal failure with a possible fatal outcome. Trabectedin is a potential cause of rhabdomyolysis. Herein, we describe a case of rhabdomyolysis in a female patient with recurrent metastatic leiomyosarcoma of the uterus and who had full recovery, and we review the already published cases in order to identify a common pattern of emergence.

Neuroendocrine carcinoma of unknown primary: a systematic review of the literature and a comparative study with other neuroendocrine tumors.

Introduction: Neuroendocrine carcinomas of unknown primary (NCUP) represent a specific subset with relatively favorable prognosis. Data on biology, management and outcome of NCUP patients have not been systematically reviewed neither compared to those of neuroendocrine tumors of known primary.

Patients And Methods: We systematically reviewed all publications studying neuroendocrine CUP patients and presented a single center retrospective patient series.

Cancer of unknown primary patients with midline nodal distribution: midway between poor and favourable prognosis?

Background: Midline nodal cancer of unknown primary (CUP) has varying definitions and an unclear natural history compared to that of extragonadal germ cell cancer (EGCC) and neuroendocrine tumors.

Methods: We systematically reviewed all published series of patients with midline nodal CUP using three distinct definitions and presented our own retrospective cohort.

Results: Sixty four fit patients (median age 64) with poorly differentiated carcinoma or adenocarcinoma in midline nodal areas were treated from 1998 to 2008 at our center.