The St. Gallen surrogate classification for breast cancer subtypes successfully predicts tumor presenting features, nodal involvement, recurrence patterns and disease free survival.

Aims: To evaluate how the St. Gallen intrinsic subtype classification for breast cancer surrogates predicts disease features, recurrence patterns and disease free survival.

Materials And Methods: Subtypes were classified by immunohistochemical staining according to St.

Diagnosis of chronic disseminated candidosis from liver biopsies by a novel PCR in patients with haematological malignancies.

Hepatic Candida infection (HCI; known as chronic disseminated candidosis or CDC) is a distinct form of disseminated Candida infection with predominant involvement of the liver. Diagnosis of HCI is usually made on clinical suspicion together with multiple lesions in liver on ultrasound (US), CT and/or MRI scan. Fungal elements may not always be visible in liver tissue and mycological culture is frequently negative, making the evidence for proven fungal disease difficult.

YB-1 provokes breast cancer through the induction of chromosomal instability that emerges from mitotic failure and centrosome amplification.

YB-1 protein levels are elevated in most human breast cancers, and high YB-1 levels have been correlated with drug resistance and poor clinical outcome. YB-1 is a stress-responsive, cell cycle-regulated transcription factor with additional functions in RNA metabolism and translation. In this study, we show in a novel transgenic mouse model that human hemagglutinin-tagged YB-1 provokes remarkably diverse breast carcinomas through the induction of genetic instability that emerges from mitotic failure and centrosome amplification.

YB-1 as a cell cycle-regulated transcription factor facilitating cyclin A and cyclin B1 gene expression.

Expression of the Y-box protein YB-1 is increased in proliferating normal and cancer cells, but its role in cell proliferation and cell cycle progression is unclear. We have identified a cell cycle-dependent relocalization of YB-1 from the cytoplasm to the nucleus at the G1/S phase transition and demonstrate that both the charged zipper and the cold shock domain are involved in regulating this process. Using cell lines that constitutively overexpress YB-1, we show that nuclear accumulation of YB-1 is associated with increased cyclin A and cyclin B1 mRNA and protein expression.

[Immunohistochemical diagnosis in cancer metastasis of unknown primary tumor].

Immunohistochemical studies on metastatic carcinomas of unknown primary site are cost-effective and often allow a specific identification of the tumour origin, especially if the metastases are adenocarcinomas by light microscopy. Commercially available site-specific markers include prostate-specific antigen, thyroglobulin, thyroid transcription factor-1, uroplakin III, GCDFP-15, oestrogen and progesterone receptors, alpha-fetoprotein, the A103 monoclonal antibody against MART-1, cytokeratins 7 and 20, cytokeratins of basal cell type, p63, carcinoembryonic antigen, CA125, EMA, vimentin, HepPar-1, WT-1 and S100 protein. However, immunostaining with most of these markers does not show an absolute specificity for a certain primary site.

Value of p63 and cytokeratin 5/6 as immunohistochemical markers for the differential diagnosis of poorly differentiated and undifferentiated carcinomas.

To facilitate the differential diagnosis of poorly differentiated metastatic carcinomas of unknown primary site, we evaluated p63 and cytokeratin (CK) 5/6 as immunohistochemical markers for squamous cell carcinomas. The study cases were as follows: squamous cell carcinoma of the lungs, head/neck, esophagus, cervix uteri, or anal canal, 73; non-squamous cell carcinomas of various primary sites, 141; and urothelial carcinoma, 20. We also tested 14 malignant mesotheliomas.

Intramyocardial electrogram recordings (IMEG) for diagnosis of cellular and humoral mediated cardiac allograft rejection.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to prove the reliability of intramyocardial electrogram (IMEG) recordings for diagnosis and treatment monitoring of (1) cellular and (2) humoral mediated allograft rejection after heart transplantation.

Material And Methods: Fifteen beagle dogs underwent heterotopic neck-heart transplantation. Eight of them were previously sensitized through several skin transplantations.

Treatment of humoral rejection after heart transplantation.

Background: Until a few years ago, the incidence of humoral rejection after heart transplantation was underestimated. These episodes were frequently very aggressive and often fatal, because the maintenance and emergency immunosuppression available at the time only inadequately covered the humoral branch of the immune response. In spite of individual case reports, the effects of blood purification procedures or cyclophosphamide in this situation can only be insufficiently estimated.

Transcriptional and translational downregulation of H-REV107, a class II tumour suppressor gene located on human chromosome 11q11-12.

The H-rev107 tumour suppressor was isolated as a gene specifically expressed in rat fibroblasts resistant toward malignant transformation by the activated HRAS gene (Sers et al., 1997; Hajnal et al., 1994).

Humoral rejection after heart transplantation: reliability of intramyocardial electrogram recordings (IMEG) and myocardial biopsy.

In recent years, as the importance of humoral-mediated rejection has increasingly become recognized, the fact that endomyocardial biopsies (BX) evaluated according to the criteria of the International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation often produce false-negative results has become a matter of concern. To evaluate the reliability of measuring intramyocardial ECG amplitude (IMEG) and immunofluorescence evaluation (FITC-labeled anti-IgG/ IgM staining) of endomyocardial biopsies (IFM), heterotopic neck-heart transplantation (HTX) was performed on eight beagles previously sensitized through skin transplantations. After HTX, IMEG, echo, and donor-specific antibodies in serum (IgG, IgM) were determined daily and myocardial biopsies (IFM, BX) were performed once every 2 days.

[Intramyocardial electrocardiogram (IMEG) in diagnosis of humoral rejection after heart transplantation].

Measuring intramyocardial ECG amplitude is a clinical non-invasive procedure used for diagnosing rejection after heart transplantation. In recent years, as the importance of humoral mediated rejection has increasingly been recognized, the fact that endomyocardial biopsies often produce false negative results due to the absence of lymphocytic infiltrates has become a matter of concern. In order to test the reliability of IMEG diagnosis of this form of rejection, heterotopic neck-heart transplantation was performed on eight beagles which were previously sensitized through several skin transplantations.

Electric myocardial impedance registration in humoral rejection after heart transplantation.

Background: Because of the absent lymphocyte infiltrate, humoral-mediated rejection after heart transplantation is not diagnosed by the usual staining technique (hematoxylin-eosin method) of the endomyocardial biopsy specimen. However, humoral rejection is characterized by a distinct myocardial edema caused by capillary leakage. Because tissue edema increases the electric myocardial impedance of the corresponding tissue compartment the electric myocardial impedance method should be able to detect these episodes more reliably than biopsy.

Late-acute renal allograft rejection and symptomless cytomegalovirus infection.

The role of cytomegalovirus infection in allograft injury is controversial. A subgroup of renal graft recipients who had histologically proven late-acute rejection did not respond to conventional anti-rejection therapy (80% graft loss within 1 year). These patients showed an expansion of memory-type CD8 peripheral-blood T cells that expressed interferon-gamma mRNA and an association with clinically symptomless cytomegalovirus infection (82% PCR positive, 42% antigenaemia).

Cytomegalovirus infection in transplant recipients. The role of tumor necrosis factor.

Human cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection is an important cause of morbidity and mortality in transplant recipients. CMV infection commonly results from the reactivation of a latent infection. Using a set of monoclonal anti-CMV antibodies, we found CMV antigen expression in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMNC), particularly in monocytes, in 312 of 816 samples from 190 allograft recipients.

Late acute rejection in long-term renal allograft recipients. Diagnostic and predictive value of circulating activated T cells.

Episodes of acute rejection can occur in functional renal grafts even at a very late stage after transplantation. They are not necessarily due to patient noncompliance. The incidence of late acute rejection is commonly underestimated because the diagnosis generally requires histopathology in order to rule out other origins of declining graft function, even more so, as the typical signs of acute rejection as seen in the early posttransplantation period (sudden and rapid increase of creatinine serum level, inflammatory signs) are missing.

Cytomegalovirus reactivation and tumour necrosis factor.

Tumour necrosis factor-alpha (TNF) stimulates cytomegalovirus (CMV) activity in a transfected human monocytic cell line. We assessed whether this finding is relevant in vivo by evaluating the frequency of active CMV infection in patients with diseases that enhance plasma TNF. In septic disease, peripheral blood mononuclear cells of almost all patients studied were positive for CMV.

CD3+ CD57+ lymphocytes are not likely to be involved in antigen-specific rejection processes in long-term allograft recipients.

Cytofluorometric investigation of peripheral blood lymphocytes in 380 long-term (greater than 1 year posttransplantation) allograft recipients showed a significant increase in the proportion of CD3+57+ lymphocytes (greater than 20%) in 20% of patients with renal allografts, 66% of patients with cardiac allografts and 44% of patients with liver allografts. Most of these CD3+57+ cells expressed the CD8 antigen and a variable proportion the HLA-DR antigen. A retrospective analysis showed a poorer prognosis for the clinical outcome in those patients with elevated numbers of CD3+57+ cells in peripheral blood.

Multireactive human monoclonal antibodies.

Human monoclonal antibodies were tested using different immunochemical procedures for their reactivity with various antigens. The great majority of human monoclonal IgM antibodies (15 out of 24) turned out to bind to a whole series of recognized antigens (DNA, keratin, tetanus toxin, ricin etc.).