Y-box-binding protein-1 is a potential novel tumour marker for neuroblastoma.

Background: The Y-box-binding protein-1 (YB-1) is a member of a family of DNA-binding proteins and an oncogenic transcription factor that is highly expressed in cancers of the breast, lung and prostate. To date, no data are available on its role in neuroblastoma. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the YB-1 expression in neuroblastoma.

Surgical treatment in chronic pancreatitis timing and type of procedure.

Pain relief and improvement in the quality of life are of paramount importance for any intervention in chronic pancreatitis. In several trial good results have been published after different drainage procedures and resections. An optimal surgical intervention should manage mainly the intractable pain, resolve the complications of the adjacent organs and achieve the drainage of the main pancreatic duct.

Monitoring of loss of heterozygosity in serum microsatellite DNA among patients with gastrointestinal stromal tumors indicates tumor recurrence.

Background: Patients with gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST) harbor increased levels of circulating tumor DNA in their peripheral blood. In the current study, the aim was to investigate whether the frequency of loss of heterozygosity (LOH) on cell-free DNA in blood may reflect tumor stage and recurrent disease of these patients.

Materials And Methods: Serum DNA and follow-up samples of 92 patients suffering from recurrent GIST were analyzed by a PCR-based fluorescence microsatellite analysis using a panel of 12 polymorphic markers.

19q13 amplification is associated with high grade and stage in pancreatic cancer.

Pancreatic cancer is a devastating disease with an extremely poor prognosis, and thus, there is a great need for better diagnostic and therapeutic tools. The 19q13 chromosomal locus is amplified in several cancer types, including pancreatic cancer, but the possible clinical significance of this aberration remains unclear. We used fluorescence in situ hybridization on tissue microarrays containing 357 primary pancreatic tumors, 151 metastases, and 24 local recurrences as well as 120 cancer cell lines from various tissues to establish the frequency of the 19q13 amplification and to find potential correlations to clinical parameters including patient survival.

[Timing and concepts of surgical treatment of upper gastrointestinal haemorrhage].

Background: Upper gastrointestinal bleeding is a frequently occurring clinical scenario with a potentially serious prognosis. In spite of excellent endoscopic results, the mortality rate after an insufficient endoscopic treatment is exception-ally high (12.5-36 %).

Amplification of 8q21 in breast cancer is independent of MYC and associated with poor patient outcome.

Copy number gains involving the long arm of chromosome 8, including high-level amplifications at 8q21 and 8q24, have been frequently reported in breast cancer. Although the role of the MYC gene as the driver of the 8q24 amplicon is well established, the significance of the 8q21 amplicon is less clear. The breast cancer cell line SK-BR-3 contains three separate 8q21 amplicons, the distal two of which correspond to putative target genes TPD52 and WWP1.

Insulin-like growth factor-1 receptor as a novel prognostic marker and its implication as a cotarget in the treatment of human adenocarcinoma of the esophagus.

Insulin-like growth factor-1 receptor (IGF-1R) and human epidermal growth factor receptor-2 (HER2) receptor expression has been found to be a key regulator of tumorigenesis. The purpose of our study was to establish the prognostic significance of IGF-1R in esophageal cancer and to determine the effect of IGF-1R and HER2 targeting with alpha-IR3 and Herceptin antibodies on the proliferation of esophageal cancer cells in vitro. IGF-1R expression and clinicopathological correlations were analyzed with a tissue microarray containing 234 esophageal cancer specimens (133 adenocarcinomas and 101 squamous cell carcinomas).

Chromosome 8p deletions and 8q gains are associated with tumor progression and poor prognosis in prostate cancer.

Purpose: Deletions of 8p and gains of 8q belong to the most frequent cytogenetic alterations in prostate cancer. The target genes of these alterations and their biological significance are unknown.

Experimental Design: To determine the relationship between chromosome 8 changes, and prostate cancer phenotype and prognosis, a set of 1.

Extended central pancreatic resection as an alternative for extended left or extended right resection for appropriate pancreatic neoplasms.

Background: Whether patients with focal pancreatic lesions of benign or borderline pathology should be treated by extended central pancreatectomy rather than by extended classic resectional procedures, such as extended right and left resections, is controversial.

Methods: Between 1992 and 2007, 105 patients underwent operation for focal pancreatic lesions of borderline or benign neuroendocrine neoplasms, cystadenoma, intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasia (IPMN), and secondary metastasis. In all, 35 patients were subjected to extended central pancreatectomy, whereas the remaining 70 patients were treated by an extended classic right resection or an extended classic left resection.

Abscess of adrenal gland caused by disseminated subacute Nocardia farcinica pneumonia. A case report and mini-review of the literature.

Background: Infections caused by Nocardia farcinica are uncommon and show a great variety of clinical manifestations in immunocompetent and immunocompromised patients. Because of its unspecific symptoms and tendency to disseminate it may mimic the clinical symptoms and radiologic findings of a tumour disease and the diagnosis of nocardiosis can easily be missed, because there are no characteristic symptoms.

Case Presentation: We present a case of an adrenal gland abscess caused by subacute disseminated N.

NY-CO-58/KIF2C is overexpressed in a variety of solid tumors and induces frequent T cell responses in patients with colorectal cancer.

NY-CO-58/KIF2C has been identified as a tumor antigen by screening antibody responses in patients with colorectal cancer. However, expression had not consequently been examined, and nothing was known about its ability to induce spontaneous T cell responses, which have been suggested to play a role in the development of colorectal cancer. We analyzed 5 colorectal cancer cell lines, and tumor samples and adjacent healthy tissues from 176 patients with epithelial cancers for the expression of NY-CO-58/KIF2C by RT-PCR and Western Blot.

Toward improving uniformity and standardization in the reporting of pancreatic anastomoses: a new classification system by the International Study Group of Pancreatic Surgery (ISGPS).

Background: To date, there is no uniform and standardized manner of defining pancreatic anastomoses after pancreatic resection.

Methods: A systematic search was performed to determine the various factors, either related to the pancreatic remnant after pancreatic resection or to types of pancreatoenteric anastomoses that have been shown to influence failure rates of pancreatic anastomoses.

Results: Based on the data obtained, we formulated a new classification that incorporates factors related to the pancreatic remnant, such as pancreatic duct size, length of mobilization, and gland texture, as well as factors related to the pancreatoenteric anastomosis, such as the use of pancreatojejunostomy/pancreatogastrostomy; duct-to-mucosa anastomosis; invagination (dunking) of the remnant into the jejunum or stomach; and the use of a stent (internal or external) across the anastomosis.

Complementary use of fluorescence and magnetic resonance imaging of metastatic esophageal cancer in a novel orthotopic mouse model.

We describe the development of an aggressive orthotopic metastatic model of esophageal cancer, which is visualized in real time with combined magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and fluorescence imaging. The aim of the study was to describe the development of a novel model of metastatic tumor disease of esophageal carcinoma and use this model to evaluate fluorescence and MRI in early detection of local and metastatic disease. The human esophageal adenocarcinoma cell line PT1590 was stably transfected with green fluorescent protein (GFP).

Attenuation of Lamb waves in the vicinity of a forbidden band in a phononic crystal.

When a Lamb wave propagates on a plate engraved by a periodic grating, it may exhibit attenuation. This attenuation is related to a coupling of this incident mode with other propagating modes. As the propagation takes place in a periodic medium, the dispersion curves of the modes are of interest because they exhibit passbands and stopbands related to the geometry of the waveguide.

Determination of epoxy film parameters in a three-layer metal/adhesive/metal structure.

The aim of this work is to propose a method to determine the elastic parameters and the thickness of a thin epoxy film located inside a 3-layer aluminum/epoxy/aluminum structure, based on ultrasonic measurements. This study is conducted at low frequencies, to allow the vibration of the whole structure. First, the direct problem is addressed.

For which type of chronic pancreatitis is the "Hamburg procedure" indicated?

Background: A pancreatic duct diameter (PDD) ranging from 4 to 5 mm is regarded as "normal". The "large duct" form of chronic pancreatitis (CP) with a PDD > 7 mm is considered a classical indication for drainage procedures. In contrast, in patients with so-called "small duct pancreatitis" (SDP) with a PDD < 3 mm, extended resectional procedures are suggested including, as an "ultima ratio", even total pancreatectomy.

Therapeutic small-volume resuscitation preserves pancreatic microcirculation in acute experimental pancreatitis of graded severity in rats.

Background: Microcirculatory disorders play a major part in the pathogenesis of acute pancreatitis. Improvement of microcirculation is hypothesized to open a therapeutic window. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of small-volume resuscitation in acute pancreatitis.

Lack of prognostic significance of serum DNA methylation of DAPK, MGMT, and GSTPI in patients with non-small cell lung cancer.

Background And Objectives: To further improve the screening, diagnosis and therapy of patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) additional diagnostic tools are desperately warranted. Aim of this study was to investigate the potential of the DNA methylation of DAPK, MGMT, and GSTPI in serum of patients with NSCLC as a prognostic molecular marker in this disease.

Methods: Seventy-six patients with NSCLC were included in this study.

HER-2/neu analysis in breast cancer bone metastases.

Background: HER-2 is the target for antibody-based treatment of breast cancer (trastuzumab), which is highly successful in both advanced disease and the adjuvant setting. HER-2 can be analysed by fluorescence in situ hybridisation (FISH) for gene amplification or immunohistochemistry (IHC) for protein overexpression.

Aim: As both methods are known to be influenced by previous tissue processing, to analyse the applicability of both FISH and IHC to decalcified bone metastases of breast cancer.

Repeated surgery improves survival in recurrent gastrointestinal stromal tumors: a retrospective analysis of 144 patients.

Purpose: Recurrence of a gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST) may require multimodal therapy and the role of repeated surgery in this concept is unclear.

Patients And Methods: A consecutive series of GIST patients treated by surgery, imatinib therapy or both was retrospectively reviewed, and long-term survival was studied by Kaplan-Meier analysis.

Results: Institutional primary surgeries before 1999 necessitated reclassification of the histopathological sections and 58/78 patients were classified as having true GIST.

Subset of esophageal adenocarcinoma expresses adhesion molecule l1 in contrast to squamous cell carcinoma.

Background: Esophageal adenocarcinoma is currently the most rapidly increasing cancer in Western populations. L1 (CD171), a neural cell adhesion molecule, has an essential function in tumor progression and has been shown to be expressed in the proliferating cells of the intestinal crypts in mice. The aim of the current study was to determine L1 expression in esophageal cancer and to evaluate whether L1 could serve as a potential marker and therapeutic target for this tumor type.

Single nucleotide polymorphism in esophageal cancer related gene 1: an analysis in resected oral squamous cell carcinoma patients.

Esophageal cancer related gene 1 (ECRG1) is a novel candidate tumor suppressor gene in human esophageal squamous cells. Overexpression of ECRG1 protein inhibits tumor cell proliferation. Genetic polymorphisms in coding sequences of the gene may cause functional alterations of the gene product and be associated with higher cancer risk and disease phenotypes.

Thymectomy is more effective than conservative treatment for myasthenia gravis regarding outcome and clinical improvement.

Background: Myasthenia gravis (MG) is an autoimmune disease with a tremendous impact on the quality of life. Controversies over which patients should be operated on because they may benefit most from thymectomy are still ongoing. The aim of this study was to report our long-term results of patients with MG with comparison of thymectomy and conservative treatment.

The role of vascular adhesion molecules PECAM-1 (CD 31), VCAM-1 (CD 106), E-selectin (CD62E) and P-selectin (CD62P) in severe porcine pancreatitis.

Inflammatory cytokines have been shown to mediate organ damage by their action on vascular endothelia and leukocytes, in part by upregulating the expression of adhesion molecules, which in turn convey transmigration of leukocytes into tissue. The upregulation and activation of vascular cell adhesion molecules on the endothelial cells avail firm leukocyte adhesion to the vascular endothelium and enhance their transmigration and consecutive tissue injury. The aim of this study was to evaluate the expression of vascular adhesion molecules CD 31 (PECAM-1), CD 106 (VCAM-1), CD 62E (E-Selectin) and CD 62P (P-Selectin) in the pancreas and distant organs of pigs suffering from acute necrotizing pancreatitis (AP).

HER-2 amplification is highly homogenous in gastric cancer.

Her-2 is the molecular target for antibody-based treatment of breast cancer (trastuzumab). The potential benefit of anti-Her-2 therapy is currently investigated in several other HER-2-amplified cancers including gastric cancer. Although HER-2 amplification occurs in more than 10% of gastric cancers, potential heterogeneity of HER-2 amplification and overexpression could represent a major drawback for anti-Her-2 therapy.