Pleural fluid microbiota as a biomarker for malignancy and prognosis.

Malignant pleural effusions (MPE) complicate malignancies and portend worse outcomes. MPE is comprised of various components, including immune cells, cancer cells, and cell-free DNA/RNA. There have been investigations into using these components to diagnose and prognosticate MPE.

Tryptase mast cell density, protease-activated receptor-2 microvascular density, and classical microvascular density evaluation in gastric cancer patients undergoing surgery: possible translational relevance.

Background: Mast cells (MCs) can stimulate angiogenesis, releasing several proangiogenic cytokines stored in their cytoplasm. In particular, MCs can release tryptase, a potent and proangiogenic factor protease-activated receptor-2 (PAR-2) activation and mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) phosphorylation. Nevertheless, no data are available concerning the relationship among tryptase MC density (TMCD), endothelial cells (ECs) positive to PAR-2 microvascular density (PAR-2-MVD) and classical MVD (C-MVD) in gastric cancer (GC) angiogenesis.