Characterization of gene expression profiling of mouse tissues obtained during the postmortem interval.

Attempts to establish a tissue bank from autopsy samples have led to uncovering of the secrets of many diseases. Here, we examined the length of time that the RNA from postmortem tissues is available for microarray analysis and reported the gene expression profile for up- and down-regulated genes during the postmortem interval. We extracted RNA from fresh-frozen (FF) and formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) brains and livers of three different groups of mice: 1) mice immediately after death, 2) mice that were stored at room temperature for 3h after death, and 3) mice that were stored at 4°C for 18h after death, as this storage resembles the human autopsy process in Japan.

Patient surveillance after treatment for soft-tissue sarcoma.

About 1% of all cancers are soft tissue sarcomas (STS); about 60% of these occur in the extremities. Post-treatment surveillance programs are designed to identify recurrence, new primary cancers, and complications of therapy early enough to increase survival duration and quality of life. The intensity of surveillance varies among surgeons.

Multiple calcifying fibrous pseudotumors disseminated in the pleura.

Calcifying fibrous pseudotumor is an extremely rare benign lesion that develops in the pleura. We describe a case of multiple lesions in the pleura. The patient is a 52-year-old woman who had a subpleural mass on chest roentgenogram.

Metastasis of the gastrointestinal tract: FDG-PET imaging.

We assess the usefulness of F-18-fluoro-deoxyglucose (FDG) positron emission tomography (PET) in the evaluation of gastrointestinal metastases. Four cases (five lesions) in which metastases from three lung cancers and one malignant fibrous histiocytoma (MFH) of the femur were found in the gastrointestinal tract were reviewed (men/women 3 : 1, age 63-78 years, mean 72 years). The five lesions were duodenal, jejunal metastasis, and two stomach metastases from lung carcinoma, and rectal metastasis from MFH of the femur.

Long-term management of patients after potentially curative treatment of extremity soft tissue sarcoma: practice patterns of members of the Society of Surgical Oncology.

The optimal strategy for follow-up of extremity soft tissue sarcoma patients after primary treatment with curative intent is not known. The 1592 members of the Society of Surgical Oncology (SSO) were sent a survey to determine their practices. Office visits and chest X-rays were the most frequently performed items for all years.

Extremity soft tissue sarcoma patient follow-up: tumor grade and size affect surveillance strategies after potentially curative surgery.

A large recent survey disclosed considerable variation in the intensity of follow-up after potentially curative surgery for extremity soft tissue sarcoma among highly credentialed clinicians. The source of the variation is not known. The survey was reanalyzed to investigate whether tumor grade and size account for the variation.

How surgeon age affects surveillance strategies for extremity soft tissue sarcoma patients after potentially curative treatment.

Background: The optimal strategy for follow-up of extremity soft tissue sarcoma patients after potentially curative treatment remains unknown. We investigated whether the date of completion of formal surgical training affects choice of surveillance strategy.

Materials And Methods: The 1,592 members of the Society of Surgical Oncology were asked how often they use 12 separate surveillance modalities during years 1-5 and 10 postsurgery.

Expression of glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor correlates with perineural invasion of bile duct carcinoma.

Background: Perineural invasion is one of the important prognostic factors for patients with bile duct carcinoma, and extensive surgery has not always improved their prognosis. It is necessary, therefore, to investigate not only clinicopathologic characteristics but also molecular mechanisms in patients with perineural invasion. The authors studied the relation between perineural invasion in patients with bile duct carcinoma and the expression of glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF), GDNF family receptor alpha1 (GFRalpha1), and RET receptor tyrosine kinase, which are expressed in both central and peripheral nerve tissues.