Prostate cancer proteomics: Current trends and future perspectives for biomarker discovery.

The clinical and fundamental research in prostate cancer - the most common urological cancer in men - is currently entering the proteomic and genomic era. The focus has switched from one single marker (PSA) to panels of biomarkers (including proteins involved in ribosomal function and heat shock proteins). Novel genetic markers (such as Transmembrane protease serine 2 (TMPRSS2)-ERG fusion gene mRNA) or prostate cancer gene 3 (PCA3) had already entered the clinical practice, raising the question whether subsequent protein changes impact the evolution of the disease and the response to treatment.

Interstitial Outburst of Angiogenic Factors During Skeletal Muscle Regeneration After Acute Mechanical Trauma.

Angiogenesis is a key event during tissue regeneration, but the intimate mechanisms controlling this process are still largely unclear. Therefore, the cellular and molecular interplay along normal tissue regeneration should be carefully unveiled. To this matter, we investigated by xMAP assay the dynamics of some angiogenic factors known to be involved in tissue repair, such as follistatin (FST), Placental Growth Factor-2 (PLGF-2), epidermal growth factor (EGF), betacellulin (BTC), and amphiregulin (AREG) using an animal model that mimics acute muscle contusion injuries.

Potential serum biomarkers for glioblastoma diagnostic assessed by proteomic approaches.

Background: The rapid progress of proteomics over the past years has allowed the discovery of a large number of potential biomarker candidates to improve early tumor diagnosis and therapeutic response, thus being further integrated into clinical environment. High grade gliomas represent one of the most aggressive and treatment-resistant types of human brain cancer, with approximately 9-12 months median survival rate for patients with grade IV glioma (glioblastoma). Using state-of-the-art proteomics technologies, we have investigated the proteome profile for glioblastoma patients in order to identify a novel protein biomarker panel that could discriminate glioblastoma patients from controls and increase diagnostic accuracy.

Effects of a novel cytokine haemoadsorbtion system on inflammatory response in septic shock after cephalic pancreatectomy - a case report.

Severe sepsis and septic shock are associated with an inflammatory cascade that is primarily responsible for multiple organ dysfunction. To date, there are no specific treatments designed to modulate and rebalance inflammatory cytokines levels. We present a case of a 50 years old man with postoperative septic shock after undergoing cephalic pancreatectomy for a pancreatic cystic tumor.

Cancer stem cells: involvement in pancreatic cancer pathogenesis and perspectives on cancer therapeutics.

Pancreatic cancer is one of the most aggressive and lethal malignancies. Despite remarkable progress in understanding pancreatic carcinogenesis at the molecular level, as well as progress in new therapeutic approaches, pancreatic cancer remains a disease with a dismal prognosis. Among the mechanisms responsible for drug resistance, the most relevant are changes in individual genes or signaling pathways and the presence of highly resistant cancer stem cells (CSCs).

Signal transduction molecule patterns indicating potential glioblastoma therapy approaches.

Purpose: The expression of an array of signaling molecules, along with the assessment of real-time cell proliferation, has been performed in U87 glioma cell line and in patients' glioblastoma established cell cultures in order to provide a better understanding of cellular and molecular events involved in glioblastoma pathogenesis. Experimental therapy was performed using a phosphatidylinositol-3'-kinase (PI3K) inhibitor.

Patients And Methods: xMAP technology was employed to assess expression levels of several signal transduction molecules and real-time xCELLigence platform for cell behavior.

Anti-cancer Therapies in High Grade Gliomas.

High grade gliomas represent one of the most aggressive and treatment-resistant types of human cancer, with only 1-2 years median survival rate for patients with grade IV glioma. The treatment of glioblastoma is a considerable therapeutic challenge; combination therapy targeting multiple pathways is becoming a fast growing area of research. This review offers an up-to-date perspective of the literature about current molecular therapy targets in high grade glioma, that include angiogenic signals, tyrosine kinase receptors, nodal signaling proteins and cancer stem cells related approaches.

Cytokine patterns in brain tumour progression.

Inflammation represents the immune system response to external or internal aggressors such as injury or infection in certain tissues. The body's response to cancer has many parallels with inflammation and repair; the inflammatory cells and cytokines present in tumours are more likely to contribute to tumour growth, progression, and immunosuppression, rather than in building an effective antitumour defence. Using new proteomic technology, we have investigated serum profile of pro- (IL-1β , IL-6, IL-8, IL-12, GM-CSF, and TNF-α ) and anti-inflammatory cytokines (IL-4, IL-10), along with angiogenic factors (VEGF, bFGF) in order to assess tumoural aggressiveness.

Advances in pancreatic cancer detection.

Pancreatic cancer represents a major challenge for research studies and clinical management. No specific tumor marker for the diagnosis of pancreatic cancer exists. Therefore, extensive genomic, transcriptomic, and proteomic studies are being developed to identify candidate markers for use in high-throughput systems capable of large cohort screening.

Key signaling molecules in pituitary tumors.

In pituitary tumorigenesis there is cross-talk between fine deregulation of intracellular pathways and complex microenvironmental factors, processes that can be modulated at various levels. The signaling pathways of growth, angiogenic factors and hormones are intricate; therefore, alterations induced upon node-molecules can lead to aberrant proliferation. The demonstrated overactivity of AKT and MAPK pathways qualifies them as valuable targets for inhibition mediated by somatostatin analogues.

Biomarkers in the diagnosis and early detection of pancreatic cancer.

Background: Pancreatic cancer, owing to its raising incidence and aggressiveness, is a major challenge, both for research and for clinical management. As pancreatic cancer has a complex pathophysiology, in addition to improving the methods of early diagnosis, sensitive and specific biomarkers are a prerequisite.

Objective: As there is no specific tumor marker for pancreatic cancer diagnosis, extensive genomics/transcriptomics and proteomics studies have been developed with the aim of finding candidate markers and contributing to high-throughput systems for large cohort screening.

Caveolin-1 overexpression correlates with tumour progression markers in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma.

The assessment of caveolin-1 (Cav-1) as a marker of tumor aggressiveness in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). In this study, we examined the expression of Cav-1 in 34 human PDAC tissue samples and the associated peritumoral tissues by immunohistochemistry and western blot. Additionally, we correlated Cav-1 expression with other tissue (Ki-67, p53) and serum (CA 19-9) tumor markers.

Assessment of soluble angiogenic markers in pancreatic cancer.

Unlabelled: Angiogenic markers such as VEGF/basic FGF (bFGF) can enlarge the diagnostic biomarkers panel for pancreatic cancer.

Materials & Methods: Serum samples from 32 stage I-IV pancreatic cancer patients and 20 controls were analyzed for soluble VEGF/bFGF by ELISA and xMAP array.

Results: VEGF/bFGF serum levels were significantly increased in patients compared with controls (p < 0.

Caveolin-1: a marker for pancreatic cancer diagnosis.

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma is the fourth most common cause of cancer death, but the prognosis and management of patients have remained unchanged despite the progress in understanding the molecular basis of this disease. There is no specific/sensitive tumor marker for pancreatic cancer, thus the battle of searching for new and validated tumor markers has become a hot topic. Among various new markers, caveolin-1 - with its dual function in cancer - stands apart due to its relation to the development and progression stage of cancer.