Rare tumours of the pancreas: monocentric study.

Purpose: The biology of rare pancreatic tumours, which differs from that of ductal pancreatic cancer, requires increased attention. Although the majority of rare pancreatic tumours are benign, it is difficult to decide whether an invasive component exists without complete removal of the lesion, despite considerable progress in diagnosis. We are investigating a large cohort of patients with histologically confirmed epithelial non-ductal non-neuroendocrine neoplasms of the pancreas.

ITIH5 as a multifaceted player in pancreatic cancer suppression, impairing tyrosine kinase signaling, cell adhesion and migration.

Inter-alpha-trypsin inhibitor heavy chain 5 (ITIH5) has been identified as a metastasis suppressor gene in pancreatic cancer. Here, we analyzed ITIH5 promoter methylation and protein expression in The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) dataset and three tissue microarray cohorts (n = 618), respectively. Cellular effects, including cell migration, focal adhesion formation and protein tyrosine kinase activity, induced by forced ITIH5 expression in pancreatic cancer cell lines were studied in stable transfectants.

TIM-3 Qualifies as a Potential Immunotherapeutic Target in Specific Subsets of Patients with High-Risk Soft Tissue Sarcomas (HR-STS).

(1) Background: The expression of T cell immunoglobulin and mucin domain-containing protein 3 (TIM-3), an immune checkpoint receptor on T cells, has been associated with dismal outcomes and advanced tumor stages in various solid tumors. The blockade of TIM-3 is currently under examination in several clinical trials. This study examines TIM-3 expression in high-risk soft tissue sarcomas (HR-STS).

Immuno-histochemical correlation of fibrosis-related markers with the desmoplastic reaction of the mesentery in small intestine neuroendocrine neoplasms.

Introduction: Small intestine neuroendocrine neoplasms (siNENs) will attain more importance due to their increasing incidence. Moreover, siNENs might lead to a desmoplastic reaction (DR) of the mesentery causing severe complications and deteriorating prognosis. The expression of fibrosis-related proteins appears to be the key mechanisms for the development of this desmoplastic reaction.

Impact of metabolic indices of F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography on post transplantation recurrence of hepatocellular carcinoma.

Background: Tumor recurrence is the leading cause of death after liver transplantation in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma. There is an ongoing debate as to whether metabolic indices such as tumor to liver standardized uptake value ratio in F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography of the primary tumor can identify patients outside the Milan criteria with as low recurrence rates as patients inside Milan and thus should be added to the established prognostic factors.

Methods: This retrospective study analyzes 103 consecutive patients who underwent F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography before liver transplantation for hepatocellular carcinoma using data of clinical tumor registry.

VISTA in Soft Tissue Sarcomas: A Perspective for Immunotherapy?

(1) Background: V domain immunoglobulin suppressor of T cell activation (VISTA) plays a critical role in antitumor immunity and may be a valuable target in cancer immunotherapy. To date, it has never been studied in a large and well-characterised cohort of soft tissue sarcomas (STS). (2) Methods: Using immunohistochemistry, we examined VISTA expression in tumour tissues of 213 high-risk STS.

Solitary colorectal liver metastasis: overview of treatment strategies and role of prognostic factors.

The following is an overview of the treatment strategies and the prognostic factors to consider in the therapeutic choice of patients characterized by solitary colorectal liver metastasis. Liver resection is the only potential curative option; nevertheless, only 25% of the patients are considered to be eligible for surgery. To expand the potentially resectable pool of patients, surgeons developed multidisciplinary techniques like portal vein embolization, two-stage hepatectomy or associating liver partition and portal vein ligation for staged hepatectomy.

Inverse correlation between urethral length and continence before and after native tissue pelvic floor reconstruction.

Urethral length was evaluated retrospectively in patients with prolapse undergoing anterior native-tissue repair. Effects of age, prolapse stage, defect pattern, urodynamic and clinical stress test findings, and tension-free vaginal tape (TVT) surgery indication were analyzed using Mann-Whitney and Wilcoxon tests and linear and logistic regression. Of 394 patients, 61% had stage II/III and 39% had stage IV prolapse; 90% of defects were central (10% were lateral).

Immune infiltrates in patients with localised high-risk soft tissue sarcoma treated with neoadjuvant chemotherapy without or with regional hyperthermia: A translational research program of the EORTC 62961-ESHO 95 randomised clinical trial.

Background: The EORTC 62961-ESHO 95 randomised trial showed improved long-term survival of patients with high-risk soft-tissue sarcoma by adding regional hyperthermia to neoadjuvant chemotherapy. We hypothesised that immune infiltrate of patients treated with neoadjuvant therapy associate with clinical outcome.

Methods: Tumour infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) and CD8, FOXP3, PD-1, and PD-L1 were evaluated in sequential biopsies of patients after four cycles of therapy.

Expression Patterns of TOP2A and SIRT1 Are Predictive of Survival in Patients with High-Risk Soft Tissue Sarcomas Treated with a Neoadjuvant Anthracycline-Based Chemotherapy.

Molecular predictors of response to chemotherapy and survival have not been put into clinical practice in high-risk soft tissue sarcomas (HR-STS) by now. The expression of TOP2A and SIRT1 has implications for the mechanism of action of doxorubicin, which is the backbone of chemotherapy in HR-STS. Pre-treatment samples of 167 patients with HR-STS were collected.

Surgical treatment of liver metastases from non-colorectal non-neuroendocrine carcinomas.

Introduction: In the literature, results after surgical treatment of non-colorectal non-neuroendocrine liver metastases (NCNNLM) are reported that are often inferior to those from colorectal liver metastases. The selection of patients with favorable tumor biology is currently still a matter of discussion.

Materials/methods: The retrospective data analysis was based on data that were collected for the multicenter study "Role of surgical treatment for non-colorectal liver metastases" in county Thuringia.

[Surgical treatment of hepato-pancreatic metastases from renal cell carcinoma].

Background: The role of surgical treatment of hepato-pancreatic metastases from renal cell carcinoma is still under discussion.

Material And Methods: We report about 52 patients of whom 33 underwent surgery for liver metastases and 19 for pancreatic metastases from 1995 to 2018.

Results: The 5‑year survival rate of all patients with partial liver resection was statistically significantly lower (38%, median survival time 34 months) than with pancreas resection (69%, median survival time 69 months, p = 0.

Cancer Testis Antigens and Immunotherapy: Expression of PRAME Is Associated with Prognosis in Soft Tissue Sarcoma.

(1) Background: PRAME, NY-ESO-1, and SSX2 are cancer testis antigens (CTAs), which are expressed in testicular germ cells with re-expression in numerous cancer types. Their ability to elicit humoral and cellular immune responses have rendered them promising targets for cancer immunotherapy, but they have never been studied in a large and well-characterised cohort of soft tissue sarcomas (STS). (2) Methods: On a protein level, we examined PRAME, NY-ESO-1, and SSX2 expression in tumour tissues of 249 high-risk STS using immunohistochemistry.

Distinct Expression Patterns of VEGFR 1-3 in Gastroenteropancreatic Neuroendocrine Neoplasms: Supporting Clinical Relevance, but not a Prognostic Factor.

Introduction: Gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine neoplasms (GEP-NENs) are an increasing tumor entity. Since many patients are diagnosed at an advanced stage, treatment is still challenging and dependent on many tumor and patient specific factors. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to elucidate the expression rates and the prognostic value of vascular endothelial growth factor receptor (VEGFR) 1-3 in GEP-NENs.

Impact of successful local ablative bridging therapy prior to liver transplantation on long-term survival in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma in cirrhosis.

Background: It has been shown that local ablative procedures enable downsizing, reduce drop-out from the waiting list and improve prognosis after liver transplantation. It is still unclear whether a response to the local ablative therapy is due to a favorable tumor biology or if a real benefit in tumor stabilization exists, particularly in complete pathological response.

Method: Data of 163 HCC patients who underwent liver transplantation were extracted from our prospectively maintained registry.

A comparative view on the expression patterns of PD-L1 and PD-1 in soft tissue sarcomas.

Soft tissue sarcomas (STSs) are heterogeneous cancers associated with poor prognosis due to high rates of local recurrence and metastasis. The programmed death receptor ligand 1 (PD-L1) is expressed in several cancers. PD-L1 interacts with its receptor, PD-1, on the surface of tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs), thereby attenuating anti-cancer immune response.

Immune checkpoint markers in gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine neoplasia.

Cancer immunotherapy has evolved major breakthroughs in the last years. The cell-surface receptor programmed death-1 (PD-1) and its ligand, programmed death ligand-1 (PD-L1), have been detected in various cancer types. However, the analysis on gastroenteropancreatic neoplasia (GEP-NENs) is limited.

Functional genomics identifies AMPD2 as a new prognostic marker for undifferentiated pleomorphic sarcoma.

Soft-tissue sarcomas are rare, heterogeneous, and often aggressive mesenchymal cancers. Many of them are associated with poor outcome, partially because biomarkers that can identify high-risk patients are lacking. Studies on sarcomas are often limited by small sample-sizes rendering the identification of biomarkers difficult when focusing on individual cohorts.

Analysis of prognostic factors after resection of solitary liver metastasis in colorectal cancer: a 22-year bicentre study.

Purpose: The investigation of the predictors of outcome after hepatic resection for solitary colorectal liver metastasis.

Methods: We recruited 350 patients with solitary colorectal liver metastasis at the University Hospitals of Jena and Magdeburg, who underwent curative liver resection between 1993 and 2014. All patients had follow-up until death or till summer 2016.

Somatostatin and CXCR4 chemokine receptor expression in hepatocellular and cholangiocellular carcinomas: tumor capillaries as promising targets.

Background: Hepatocellular (HCC) and cholangiocellular carcinomas (CCC) display an exceptionally poor prognosis. Especially for advanced disease no efficient standard therapy is currently available. Recently, somatostatin analogs have been evaluated for the treatment of HCC, however, with contradictory results.

[Influence of bile duct anatomy on biliary complications in hepatic right lobe living donors].

Perioperative morbidity in the living donation of partial livers is mainly due to infections and biliary complications. Bile duct anatomy variants, in particular of the right system, are suspected to be causative. We investigated the influence of bile duct variants on the incidence of biliary donor complications in donations of the right liver lobe.

Validity of eleven prognostic scores with respect to intra- and extrahepatic recurrence of hepatocellular carcinoma after liver transplantation.

Introduction: Tumor recurrence is the most frequent cause of death after liver transplantation for hepatocellular carcinoma. We selected ten other prognostic classifications to evaluate their potential to predict the risk of recurrence after LT for HCC as compared to the Milan classification. All of the other scores have not been compared with one another in a single cohort.

Surgery for colorectal cancer in elderly patients: how can we improve outcome?

Purpose: Patients over 70 years of age are characterised by diminished long-term survival rates following resection of colorectal cancer (CRC) compared to younger patients. The aim of this study was to clarify whether reduced survival is a result of malignancy, comorbidities or the treatment received.

Methods: All patients with CRC, who were admitted to our institution over a period of 10 years, were selected from a prospectively maintained database.

Elevated interferon-induced protein with tetratricopeptide repeats 3 (IFIT3) is a poor prognostic marker in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma.

Purpose: Interferon-induced protein with tetratricopeptide repeats 3 (IFIT3) gene from IFITs family is one gene among hundreds of IFN-stimulated genes. The potential role of IFIT3 in cancer is scarcely understood. In addition, the clinical relevance of IFIT3 is not yet known in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC).