Comparison of Sodium Selenite and Selenium-Enriched Spirulina Supplementation Effects After Selenium Deficiency on Growth, Tissue Selenium Concentrations, Antioxidant Activities, and Selenoprotein Expression in Rats.

Selenium contributes to physiological functions through its incorporation into selenoproteins. It is involved in oxidative stress defense. A selenium deficiency results in the onset or aggravation of pathologies.

Can selenium-enriched spirulina supplementation ameliorate sepsis outcomes in selenium-deficient animals?

In intensive care units, sepsis is the first cause of death. In this pathology, inflammation and oxidative status play a crucial role in patient outcomes. Interestingly, 92% of septic patients exhibit low selenium plasma concentrations (a component of antioxidant enzymes).

TGF-β Pathway Inhibition Protects the Diaphragm From Sepsis-Induced Wasting and Weakness in Rat.

Sepsis is a frequent complication in patients in intensive care units (ICU). Diaphragm weakness, one of the most common symptoms observed, can lead to weaning problems during mechanical ventilation. Over the last couple of years, members of the transforming growth factor (TGF) β family, such as myostatin, activin A, and TGF-β1, have been reported to strongly trigger the activation of protein breakdown involved in muscle wasting.

Atypical schwannoma of the median nerve. A case report.

Schwannomas of the hand are very rare tumors and represent less than 3% of all soft tissue tumors in the hand. These tumors share clinical, epidemiological and imaging characteristics with the other soft tissue and peripheral nerve tumors; thus, it can be difficult to make a preoperative diagnosis. Here we report the case of a 48-year-old woman who presented with a schwannoma arising from the palmar branch of the median nerve.

Prognostic role of the histological subtype of melanoma on the hands and feet in Caucasians.

Acral melanoma (AM) is associated with a poor prognosis in part because of delayed diagnosis, but probably also because of other intrinsic characteristics of location. The aim of this study was to review the specific characteristics and outcome of AM in Caucasians. This was a cross-sectional retrospective clinical-pathological study of 274 patients identified with AM in the database of a referral unit in Europe from 1986 to 2010.

[Incidence of distal ulna fractures associated with distal radius fractures: Treatment options].

Fractures of the neck and/or head of the ulna or distal ulna fracture (DUF) other than ulnar styloid fractures can occur in combination with distal radius fractures (DRF). This combination can have a significant influence on the treatment and prognosis since it causes the entire distal forearm to be unstable. In a series of 1279 consecutive unilateral DRFs, we found an associated ulnar neck fracture in 5.

Preoperative assessment of cutaneous melanoma thickness using 10-MHz sonography.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the prognostic value of 10-MHz sonography in measuring melanoma thickness before biopsy or excision.

Subjects And Methods: Fifty-four patients with lesions suggestive of melanoma participated in the study. Lesions were measured on sonography using a 10-MHz linear transducer before routine biopsy and histopathologic analysis.

Prognostic value of tyrosinase reverse transcriptase PCR analysis in melanoma sentinel lymph nodes: long-term follow-up analysis.

Objective: To determine the prognostic value of detecting tyrosinase transcripts in melanoma sentinel lymph nodes (SLNs).

Methods: Reverse transcription (RT) PCR for tyrosinase mRNA was performed on negative SLNs of 76 patients with melanoma.

Results: Tyrosinase mRNA was found in 39 patients (51.

Prognostic implications of protein S-100beta serum levels in the clinical outcome of high-risk melanoma patients.

Objective: It was the aim of this study to analyze the clinical value of the determination of serum S-100beta protein in high-risk melanoma patients.

Patients And Methods: Patients were tested for serum S-100beta protein by luminoimmunometric assay after melanoma surgical excision, before starting interferon-alpha2b and every 3 months thereafter, until treatment was completed.

Results: Ninety-seven patients were included in the study.

Toxicity of combined treatment of adjuvant irradiation and interferon alpha2b in high-risk melanoma patients.

Surgically resected stage III melanoma patients commonly receive adjuvant therapy with interferon (IFN) alpha2b. For those patients with high-risk features of draining node recurrence, radiation therapy can also be considered as a treatment option. The purpose of this retrospective study was to assess the efficacy and radiation-related toxicity of this combined therapy.

Melanoma inhibiting activity protein (MIA), beta-2 microglobulin and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) in metastatic melanoma.

Background: Serum levels of melanoma markers may have a role in monitoring disease evolution in metastatic melanoma.

Patients And Methods: Serial measurements of melanoma inhibiting activity protein (MIA), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), S-100 and beta2-microglubulin were obtained from 42 metastatic melanoma patients during their biochemotherapy treatment.

Results: High pre-treatment serum levels of S-100, LDH, MIA and P2-microglobulin were detected in 50%, 57%, 50% and 24% of the patients, respectively.

Clinical outcome after surgical resection of lung metastases from melanoma.

Background: Surgical therapy plays an important role in the management of selected patients with metastatic melanoma.

Purpose: A retrospective review of 13 patients who underwent surgical resection of lung metastases from melanoma from 1996 to 2003 was performed. The aim of the study was to analyze the clinical outcome and survival time.

Whole brain irradiation and temozolomide based chemotherapy in melanoma brain metastases.

Introduction: Whole brain irradiation (WBRT) remains a recommended treatment for patients with brain metastases from malignant melanoma in terms of symptom palliation, especially when extracranial systemic disease is present. Temozolomide (TMZ) has shown efficacy in the treatment of metastatic melanoma. The objective was to evaluate the potential benefit in survival of two different schedules of total dose and fractionation (20 Gy/5 fractions vs 30 Gy/10 fractions) and further TMZ based chemotherapy.

Antiproliferative effect of STI571 on cultured human cutaneous melanoma-derived cell lines.

Standard antineoplastic treatment for metastatic melanoma is ineffective in the large majority of patients. Therefore, alternative approaches need to be investigated. STI571 is a new antineoplastic compound, which selectively inhibits the tyrosine kinase activity of ABL, c-Kit and platelet-derived growth factor receptor (PDGFR).

Biochemotherapy with temozolomide, cisplatin, vinblastine, subcutaneous interleukin-2 and interferon-alpha in patients with metastatic melanoma.

The aim of this study was to determine the efficacy and tolerability of a biochemotherapy regimen, including low-dose subcutaneous interleukin-2 and temozolomide, in patients with metastatic melanoma. Treatment consisted of temozolomide (150 mg/m per day on days 1-5), cisplatin (20 mg/m per day intravenously on days 1-4), vinblastine (1.5 mg/m per day on days 1-4), interleukin-2 (4.

Biochemotherapy with low doses of subcutaneous interleukin-2 in patients with melanoma: results of a phase II trial.

Introduction: Metastatic melanoma has an ominous prognosis. Bio-chemotherapy regimens can increase the response rate but with a high degree of toxicity due, mainly, to the use of high-dose intravenous interleukin-2.

Objectives: To test the feasibility and activity profile of a bio-chemotherapy regimen of low-dose subcutaneous interleukin-2.

Malignant melanoma with metastasis into the capitate.

Metastases to the hand and wrist are rare, with fewer than 200 cases reported in the literature. Phalanges are more commonly involved than metacarpal and wrist. The lung, breast and kidneys are the more common sites of primary lesions than metastasize in the hand.

S-100beta and MIA in advanced melanoma in relation to prognostic factors.

We compared the sensitivity and specificity of S-100 and MIA in advanced melanoma, in 96 patients with no evidence of disease (NED) and 86 patients with metastatic melanoma. Abnormal S100 (>0.2 microg/l) and MIA (>14 ng/ml) results were found in 1.

Serum protein s-100 predicts clinical outcome in patients with melanoma treated with adjuvant interferon--comparison with tyrosinase rt-PCR.

Objective: To study the clinical value of the determination of serum S-100 protein as a single tumor marker or in combination with tyrosinase RT-PCR in patients with melanoma receiving adjuvant interferon.

Patients And Methods: Patients were tested for serum S-100 protein luminoimmunometric assay and for blood tyrosinase mRNA (RT-PCR), before starting interferon and every 2-3 months thereafter.

Results: One hundred and six patients (stage IIA, 27; IIB, 19; III, 49; and IV, 11) were included in the study.

Role of the CDKN2A locus in patients with multiple primary melanomas.

Purpose: We have studied a consecutive case series of patients with multiple primary melanoma (MPM) for the involvement of the melanoma susceptibility loci CDKN2A and CDK4.

Patients And Methods: One hundred four MPM patients (81 patients with two primary melanomas, 14 with three, five with four, one with five, two with six, and one with seven) were included.

Results: Seven different CDKN2A germline mutations were identified in 17 patients (16.

Intramedullary spinal cord metastases of melanoma.

Intramedullary spinal cord metastases (ISCMs) are extremely rare. An exact diagnosis may be difficult even when the primary tumour is known. Patients usually present with back pain and signs and symptoms of spinal cord compression, such as hemiparesis or hemisensory impairments.

Small cell melanoma and ulceration as predictors of positive sentinel lymph node in malignant melanoma patients.

Malignant melanoma (MM) early lymph node (LN) metastasis usually appears first in the sentinel LN (SLN). Breslow thickness is the main factor considered in the selection of patients to be submitted to SLN biopsy. The present study aimed to describe other independent prognostic factors useful in SLN candidate selection.

[Temozolomide in patients with melanoma brain metastases treated with whole brain irradiation].

Background And Objective: Whole brain irradiation (WBRT) remains a recommended treatment for patients with brain metastases from malignant melanoma. Temozolomide (TMZ) displays efficacy for the treatment of metastatic melanoma. Our objective was to evaluate the potential benefit of TMZ administered along with WBRT.

Pilot study of treatment of biochemotherapy-refractory stage IV melanoma patients with autologous dendritic cells pulsed with a heterologous melanoma cell line lysate.

Eleven AJCC stage IV melanoma patients with progressive disease after treatment with biochemotherapy were treated with autologous dendritic cells pulsed with heterologous tumor cell lysates. The vaccine used mature DCs (CD1a+++, CD40++, CD80++, CD83+, and CD86+++) generated from peripheral blood monocytes in the presence of GM-CSF and IL-4. After 7 days, DCs were matured with a defined cocktail of cytokines (IL-1+IL-6+TNF-alpha+PGE2) and simultaneously pulsed with lysates of heterologous melanoma cell lines, for 2 days.