Comparison of acoustic radiation force impulse imaging with the convex probe 6C1 and linear probe 9L4.

Background: Acoustic radiation force impulse imaging (ARFI) is a noninvasive method to detect liver fibrosis. The aims of the study were to evaluate the difference between 2 different probes, 6 C1 and 9 L4, and to study inter- and intraobserver reproducibility for the probes.

Methods: We enrolled 100 patients in this cross-sectional comparative study.

Hypermethylation of tumor suppressor genes (p16INK4A, p14ARF and APC) in adenocarcinomas of the upper gastrointestinal tract.

Aberrant promoter methylation is an important mechanism for gene silencing. In the present study, 50 Barrett's esophagus-associated esophageal adenocarcinomas (ADC), 50 cardiac ADC and 50 gastric ADC were investigated by means of methylation-specific real-time PCR for hypermethylation in the tumor suppressor genes APC, p16(INk4A) and p14(ARF). Additionally, expression of p16(INK4A) protein in the carcinomas was assessed using immunohistochemistry.

Correlation of hMLH1 and HPP1 hypermethylation in gastric, but not in esophageal and cardiac adenocarcinoma.

Using methylation-specific real-time PCR, we determined the prevalence of aberrant methylation in the mismatch repair gene hMLH1 and in the recently described HPP1 gene among 50 esophageal, 50 cardiac and 50 gastric ADCs. Additionally, expression of hMLH1 protein was detected immunohistochemically and correlated with DNA MSI. Hypermethylation of hMLH1 was found in 14% of esophageal, 28% of cardiac and 32% of gastric ADCs, whereas HPP1 hypermethylation was found more frequently in the 3 tumor types (64% vs.