Neuroendocrine carcinoma of the breast--diagnostic and clinical implications.

Background: Neuroendocrine breast carcinomas (NEC) are rare. Carcinomas with mixed composition often behave differently from 'pure' histological types, and the prognosis is determined by the proportion of the more aggressive tumour. The molecular classification helps in making therapeutic decisions.

Poor outcome in primary non-small cell lung cancers is predicted by transketolase TKTL1 expression.

Aim: Malignant tumours ferment glucose to lactate even in the presence of sufficient oxygen (the Warburg effect). Transketolases seem to be involved in this metabolic switch. TKTL1 has previously been shown to encode a transketolase-like enzyme which is overexpressed in colon, urothelial and breast cancer.

Lactate-dehydrogenase 5 is overexpressed in non-small cell lung cancer and correlates with the expression of the transketolase-like protein 1.

Aims: As one of the five lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) isoenzymes, LDH5 has the highest efficiency to catalyze pyruvate transformation to lactate. LDH5 overexpression in cancer cells induces an upregulated glycolytic metabolism and reduced dependence on the presence of oxygen. Here we analyzed LDH5 protein expression in a well characterized large cohort of primary lung cancers in correlation to clinico-pathological data and its possible impact on patient survival.

Evaluating erythropoietin-associated tumor progression using archival tissues from a phase III clinical trial.

Despite the prevalence of anemia in cancer, recombinant erythropoietin (Epo) has declined in use because of recent Phase III trials showing more rapid cancer progression and reduced survival in subjects randomized to Epo. Since Epo receptor (EpoR), Jak2, and Hsp70 are well-characterized mediators of Epo signaling in erythroid cells, we hypothesized that Epo might be especially harmful in patients whose tumors express high levels of these effectors. Because of the insensitivity of immunohistochemistry for detecting low level EpoR protein, we developed assays to measure levels of EpoR, Jak2 and Hsp70 mRNA in formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) tumors.

Chromosomal changes characterize head and neck cancer with poor prognosis.

It is well established that genetic alterations may be associated to prognosis in tumor patients. This study investigates chromosomal changes that predict the clinical outcome of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) and correlate to characteristic clinicopathological parameters. We applied comparative genomic hybridization (CGH) to tissue samples from 117 HNSCC patients scheduled for radiotherapy.

Reticulated platelet counts correlate with treatment response in patients with idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura and help identify the complex causes of thrombocytopenia in patients after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation.

Background: In thrombocytopenic conditions of unknown origin, quantification of reticulated platelets (RP) in the peripheral blood by flow cytometry has been shown to differentiate increased platelet (Plt) turnover from insufficient Plt production.

Methods: We used a whole blood flow cytometry method combining thiazole orange and anti-CD41a-staining to assess RP in 71 healthy subjects, six with thrombocytopenic myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS), nine with liver cirrhosis, 14 patients with idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP), and 12 patients who had undergone hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT).

Results: Patients with MDS had normal, patients with liver cirrhosis had slightly elevated RP counts compared to healthy subjects.

Do erythropoietin receptors on cancer cells explain unexpected clinical findings?

Purpose: Recent reports suggest that cancer control may worsen if erythropoietin is administered. We investigated whether erythropoietin receptor expression on cancer cells may correlate with this unexpected finding.

Patients And Methods: Cancer tissue from patients with advanced carcinoma of the head and neck (T3, T4, or nodal involvement) and scheduled for radiotherapy was assayed retrospectively for erythropoietin receptor expression by immunohistochemistry.

Serous cystadenocarcinoma of the pancreas: management of a rare entity.

Whereas mucinous cystadenomas of the pancreas are considered premalignant, serous cystadenomas are believed to remain benign. We present a case of an 80-year-old woman with a primary tumor of the pancreas that was histologically classified as serous cystadenocarcinoma. Because preoperatively available criteria that determine malignancy in serous lesions are lacking, observation is the preferred option in serous cystadenomas.

[Hemopericardium caused by endocarditis ulcerosa: an unusual cause of sudden death in adolescence].

The authors report on the case of a 18-year-old student who died suddenly and unexpectedly of a pericardial tamponade after perforated ulcer-polypous endocarditis of the aortic valve. The detection of aerococcus urinae--which usually causes urinary tract infection--on the inflamed aortic valve demonstrates an unusual pathogenetic chain linking complexes of findings in the urogenital system and the heart.