Molluscum contagiosum eruption during therapy with methotrexate and abatacept: A clinical and dermoscopic case study.

The use of multiple drugs acting as modulators of the immune system are common among patients with severe autoimmune diseases. In these clinical scenarios, great attention should be placed on diagnosing infective cutaneous disorders that can underly iatrogenic immunosuppression. Here within, we report a rare case of molluscum contagiosum eruption on the face and the scalp during an immunomodulating treatment for rheumatoid arthritis, with clinical and dermatoscopic characterization.

Irinotecan hepatic arterial infusion chemotherapy for hepatic metastases from colorectal cancer: a phase II clinical study.

Aims And Background: The advantage of delivering chemotherapy by hepatic arterial infusion is the acquisition of a high concentration of the drug in the target. Irinotecan (CPT-11) is active for the treatment of advanced colorectal cancer. In phase I studies, doses of 20 mg/m2/d for 5 days given every 4 weeks as continuous infusion or 200 mg/m2 as a short 30-min infusion given every 3 weeks is recommended for phase II studies.

Tumour necrosis factor-alpha and transforming growth factor-beta are significantly associated with better prognosis in non-small cell lung carcinoma: putative relation with BCL-2-mediated neovascularization.

Recent in vivo and in vitro studies have demonstrated a wide spectrum of biologic activities of cytokines in the pathogenesis and progression of malignancy. Tumour necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha) and transforming growth factor beta (TGF-beta) have emerged as two of the many host-derived mediators that seem to interfere with both antiproliferative and tumorigenic effects in malignant tumours including lung cancer. However, their association with tumour prognosis or prognostic factors has not yet been completely clarified.

[Microinvasive carcinoma of the uterine cervix. Risk factors and therapeutic options].

Aim of this study was to analyze the staging of disease according to correlation between depth of stromal invasion, lymph vascular space involvement, nodal metastases and recurrence and mortality rates in uterine cervical carcinoma. Data of 16 different surveys from 1980 to 1996 inclusive were collected through a Medline research; papers were selected according to available information about depth of invasion, lymph vascular invasion, nodal metastases, recurrence and mortality rate. Results of these surveys were pooled with the following aims: 1 correlation between depth of invasion and nodal metastases occurrence; 2 evolution of prognostic value of lymph vascular invasion; 3 best management according to biology of disease.

Modulation of neoangiogenesis in bronchial preneoplastic lesions.

We have previously demonstrated that vascular count significantly increases in the preneoplastic lesions of the bronchial tree, starting from very low levels in the normal epithelium to a significantly higher number of microvessels in moderate dysplastic lesions and in situ carcinomas. Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) protein expression has shown to be strictly associated with neovascularization both in human cancer and in various type of preinvasive lesions. A number of studies have demonstrated that mutant p53 is involved in the regulation of angiogenesis, and immunohistochemical detection of the p53 protein is associated with p53 gene mutations.

Thrombospondins I and II messenger RNA expression in lung carcinoma: relationship with p53 alterations, angiogenic growth factors, and vascular density.

Thrombospondin (TSP) is a Mr 450,000 multifunctional matrix glycoprotein that interferes with tumor growth, angiogenesis, and metastasis. It has recently been shown that TSP expression is enhanced by the product of the p53 gene and that a down-regulation of TSP may be observed when alterations of the p53 protein occur. Moreover, a number of studies have demonstrated a regulatory activity of p53 on human vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), although additional investigations will be necessary to understand their relationship.

Expression of vascular endothelial growth factor mRNA in non-small-cell lung carcinomas.

The vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) has been shown to be strictly related to vascular permeability and endothelial cell growth under physiological and pathological conditions. In tumour development and progression, VEGF plays a pivotal role in the development of the tumoral vascular network, and useful information in the progression of human cancer can be obtained by analysing the vascular endothelial growth factor expression of the tumours. In this study, we investigated the vascular endothelial growth factor transcript expression in non-small-cell lung carcinomas to evaluate the significance of this factor in a group of cancers in which the vascular pattern has been shown to significantly affect progression.

Quantitation by competitive PCR assay of vascular endothelial growth factor in non-small cell lung carcinomas.

The vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is known to be one of the most important angiogenic factors under both physiological and pathological conditions. The VEGF overexpression by a wide spectrum of neoplastic diseases has suggested an important role of this cytokine in tumor-neovascularization. A method is described for quantification by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) of VEGF mRNA in non-small cell lung cancer tissues (NSCLC).

Accuracy of cervical/vaginal cytology in the diagnosis of bacterial vaginosis.

Background And Objectives: The cytological pattern of bacterial vaginosis (BV) in the Papanicolaou smear has a controversial history (coccoid vs. Gardnerella type) that has not allowed an efficient use of cervical/vaginal cytology in the diagnosis of this condition. Our study is an attempt to clarify this topic.

Neoangiogenesis and p53 protein in lung cancer: their prognostic role and their relation with vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) expression.

Following up-regulation of an angiogenesis inhibitor by the wild-type p53 protein proven recently, we have analysed on the one hand the prognostic impact of microvessel count (MC) and p53 protein overexpression in non-small-cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC) progression and, on the other hand, the inter-relation between the microvascular pattern and the p53 protein expression. Moreover, we assessed the expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), one of the pivotal mediators of tumour angiogenesis, in order to investigate its relation to p53 protein expression and MC. Tumours from 73 patients resected for NSCLC between March 1991 and April 1992 (median follow-up 47 months, range 32-51 months) were analysed using an immunohistochemical method.