Comparison of Oncological and Surgical Outcomes Between Formal Pancreatic Resections and Parenchyma-Sparing Resections for Small PanNETs (<2 cm): Pancreas2000 Research and Educational Program (Course 9) Study Protocol.

Pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (PanNETs) are rare tumors but incidence is increasing. An increasing number of these tumors are diagnosed incidentally when they are small (<2 cm) and when patients are asymptomatic. The European Neuroendocrine Tumor Society (ENETS) recommends conservative watch and wait policy for these patients.

Role of Pre-operative Inflammatory Markers as Predictors of Lymph Node Positivity and Disease Recurrence in Well-Differentiated Pancreatic Neuroendocrine Tumours: Pancreas2000 Research and Educational Program (Course 9).

Pancreatic neuroendocrine tumours (PNET) is a rare disease and in the absence of metastases, surgical resection is recommended. Key factors affecting survival in PNETs are the stage and grade of the disease, but there is increasing evidence suggesting lymph node involvement is associated with shorter disease-free and overall survival. Ability to predict the likelihood of lymph node involvement at the time of diagnosis would affect surgical decision making in these patients.

The regulation of T-cell recruitment to the human liver during acute liver failure.

Background & Aims: Acute liver failure (ALF) is a rare clinical syndrome with high mortality resulting from hepatocellular necrosis and loss of function. In seronegative hepatitis (SNH), a T-cell-rich infiltrate leads to immune-mediated hepatocyte destruction, whereas in paracetamol poisoning, toxic metabolites induce hepatocyte necrosis, followed by a macrophage-rich, lymphocytic infiltrate that is an important factor in driving repair and regeneration. The nature of the hepatic inflammatory infiltrate, key to ALF pathogenesis and outcome, is determined by the recruitment of effector cells from blood, but the molecular basis of recruitment is poorly understood.

CD8 lineage-specific regulation of interleukin-7 receptor expression by the transcriptional repressor Gfi1.

Interleukin-7 receptor α (IL-7Rα) is essential for T cell survival and differentiation. Glucocorticoids are potent enhancers of IL-7Rα expression with diverse roles in T cell biology. Here we identify the transcriptional repressor, growth factor independent-1 (Gfi1), as a novel intermediary in glucocorticoid-induced IL-7Rα up-regulation.

Functional consequences of human lymphocyte cryopreservation: implications for subsequent interactions of cells with endothelium.

In order to understand human inflammatory diseases and to develop and assess new therapeutic strategies targeting leukocyte recruitment to tissue, it is necessary to study human lymphocyte interactions with endothelium. It is often not practical to carry out assays on fresh human samples and therefore cells may be cryopreserved and batched for later study. Furthermore, many forms of adoptive cell therapy use cryopreserved cells that are required to migrate to tissue after infusion in vivo.

Vascular adhesion protein-1 as a potential therapeutic target in liver disease.

Vascular adhesion protein-1 (VAP-1) is a homodimeric, transmembrane sialoglycoprotein, and amine-oxidase enzyme constitutively expressed by hepatic endothelial cells, and as a soluble protein in serum (sVAP-1). VAP-1 mediates leukocyte adhesion and migration in an enzyme activity-dependent manner. We wished to determine whether VAP-1 blockade reduces leukocyte recruitment in inflammatory liver disease, and the mechanism by which this occurs.