Liquid biopsy of HPV DNA in cervical cancer.

Background: A blood test to serve as a tumor marker for cervical cancer would be useful to clinicians to guide treatment and provide an early signal for recurrence. The development of droplet digital PCR has enabled the detection of HPV DNA in patient serum, providing a potential marker for cervical cancer.

Objectives: To report on a blood-based test for HPV-specific E7 and L1 genes, which may serve as a tumor marker to guide treatment and detect early recurrence in cervical cancer.

Liquid biopsy of PIK3CA mutations in cervical cancer in Hong Kong Chinese women.

Introduction: Cervical cancer is the fourth most common female cancer worldwide. The prognosis for women with advanced-stage or recurrent cervical cancer remains poor and response to treatment is variable. Standardized management protocols leave little room for individualization.

Dysregulated microRNAs in the pathogenesis and progression of cervical neoplasm.

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) play an important role in a variety of physiological as well as pathophysiological processes, including carcinogenesis. The aim of this study is to identify a distinct miRNA expression signature for cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) and to unveil individual miRNAs that may be involved in the development of cervical carcinoma. Expression profiling using quantitative real-time RT-PCR of 202 miRNAs was performed on micro-dissected high-grade CIN (CIN 2/3) tissues and compared to normal cervical epithelium.

Debulking metastatic pelvic nodes before radiotherapy in cervical cancer patients: a long-term follow-up result.

Background: Enlarged pelvic nodes are commonly found during preoperative imaging studies in cervical cancer patients and may represent tumor metastasis. It remains controversial whether debulking of these enlarged nodes prior to definitive radiotherapy offers any survival benefit to the patient.

Methods: Enlarged suspicious pelvic nodes identified by imaging studies in stage 1B to stage IIA (early-stage) cervical cancer patients prior to scheduled radical hysterectomy and in stage 1B2 or above (advanced-stage) cervical cancer patients destined for radiotherapy were debulked.

The technique of laparoscopic pelvic ultrasonography for metastatic lymph node.

Many reports have provided evidence to support the effective use of diagnostic laparoscopy and laparoscopic ultrasonography (LUS) to determine if patients with upper abdominal malignant diseases are operable so that unnecessary laparotomy can be avoided. LUS is less frequently applied to patients with pelvic malignancies and this is probably related to the technical difficulties. We have developed the LUS technique in examining the pelvic nodes for metastasis systematically and have applied it to 241 cervical cancer patients.

Clinical use of laparoscopic ultrasonography in detecting nodal metastasis in advanced-stage cervical carcinoma.

Objective: To assess the clinical use of a laparoscopic ultrasound scan (LUS) to identify pelvic and para-aortic node metastasis in patients with advanced-stage cervical cancer.

Methods: After examination under general anesthesia and cystoscopy, LUS was used to examine the pelvic nodes of patients with advanced-stage cervical cancer. Abnormal nodes were excised before definitive treatment to confirm the nodal status.

Dysregulated microRNAs and their predicted targets associated with endometrioid endometrial adenocarcinoma in Hong Kong women.

The objective of this study, a parallel study to global gene expression profiling, was to identify dysregulated microRNAs (miRNAs) associated with endometrioid endometrial adenocarcinoma (EEC), examine their correlation with clinico-pathological characteristics and identify predicted target genes of the dysregulated miRNAs. Using real-time quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR), profiling of miRNA expression was performed in 30 EECs and 22 normal counterparts in which genome-wide gene expression had been previously profiled and reported. Clustering analysis identified 30 miRNAs which were significantly dysregulated in EEC.

Low-grade endometrial stromal sarcoma with florid intravenous component.

A case of low-grade endometrial stromal sarcoma (LGESS) with striking involvement of pelvic veins is reported. The pattern of vascular involvement resembled that seen in intravenous leiomyomatosis. The report illustrated that the possibility of venous involvement should always be considered in the management of LGESS.

Profile of viral load, integration, and E2 gene disruption of HPV58 in normal cervix and cervical neoplasia.

The clinical utility of viral-load and integration status of human papillomavirus (HPV) infection remains uncertain. We examined 75 women infected with HPV58, a worldwide rare type found to be prevalent in cervical cancers in eastern Asia. Viral load was significantly higher for cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) 1/2, but those for a normal control group and for CIN 3 or cancer overlapped substantially.

Association between HLA-DRB1 polymorphism, high-risk HPV infection and cervical neoplasia in southern Chinese.

Multiple determinants are involved in the progression of human papillomavirus (HPV)-infected cervical lesion to invasive cancer. Human leukocyte antigen (HLA) polymorphism seems to play a role. This study examined the association between HLA-DRB1 polymorphism, high-risk HPV infection, and the development of cervical neoplasia in southern Chinese.

The role of laparoscopic surgery in the management of tubal prolapse: a 7 case series and literature review.

Fallopian tube prolapse is an unusual complication after hysterectomy. Different surgical options have been proposed, including abdominal, vaginal, and combined laparoscopic approaches, with partial or complete salpingectomy. This article presents experience in the management of 7 cases of fallopian tube prolapse with different surgical approaches according to the characteristics of the case.

HLA-DQB1 polymorphisms and risk for cervical cancer: a case-control study in a southern Chinese population.

Objectives And Methods: HLA II DQB1 polymorphisms have been shown to associate with cervical cancer risk, but results varied among different populations. In this study, the HLA DQB1 alleles among 221 southern Chinese women with cervical intraepithelial neoplasia grade III (CIN III)/invasive cervical carcinoma (ICC) were compared to 191 controls.

Results: The frequency of DQB1*03 was significantly lower among ICC overall as compared to controls (65.

Viral load, E2 gene disruption status, and lineage of human papillomavirus type 16 infection in cervical neoplasia.

The clinical utility of human papillomavirus (HPV) load and integration status remains unclear. We applied refined methods to delineate the viral load, integration status, and lineage of 104 women with HPV-16 monotype infection, including 19 with normal cervices, 9 with histologically proven cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) 1, 24 with CIN 2, 27 with CIN 3, and 25 with squamous cell carcinoma (SCC). Higher crude viral load, as determined by real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) targeting the E7 gene, was observed for SCC but became insignificant after normalization for cell content.

Detection of microsatellite instability in endometrial cancer: advantages of a panel of five mononucleotide repeats over the National Cancer Institute panel of markers.

The aim of this study was to find the optimal set of microsatellite markers for diagnosis of the microsatellite instability (MSI) phenotype in endometrial cancers. We compared the sensitivity, specificity and ease of use of a reference panel of five markers originally recommended by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) for colorectal cancer and a panel of five quasi-monomorphic mononucleotide repeat markers (pentaplex PCR system). We used these panels for establishing the MSI status of a series of 80 sporadic endometrial adenocarcinomas by comparing the allelic profiles of the markers between tumor and matching germline DNA.

Is common iliac lymph node dissection necessary in early stage cervical carcinoma?

Objectives: Nodal metastasis is one of the most important prognostic factors in early stage cervical carcinoma and has an immense impact on the subsequent management. Thus, searching for nodal metastasis by pelvic lymphadenectomy is an integral part in the surgical management of cervical carcinoma. Complete nodal clearance of lymphatic tissue up to 2 cm above the bifurcation of common iliac vessels is therefore performed as a routine in our unit.

Genome-wide gene expression profiling of cervical cancer in Hong Kong women by oligonucleotide microarray.

An analysis of gene expression profiles obtained from cervical cancers was performed to find those genes most aberrantly expressed. Total RNA was prepared from 29 samples of cervical squamous cell carcinoma and 18 control samples, and hybridized to Affymetrix oligonucleotide microarrays with probe sets complementary to over 20,000 transcripts. Unsupervised hierarchical clustering of the expression data readily distinguished normal cervix from cancer.

Risk association between human leukocyte antigen-A allele and high-risk human papillomavirus infection for cervical neoplasia in Chinese women.

To examine the association between human leukocyte antigen-A (HLA-A) allele polymorphism, human papillomavirus (HPV) infection, and risk for cervical neoplasia in Chinese women, 263 patients (155 with cervical intraepithelial neoplasia [CIN] II/III and 108 with invasive cervical cancer [ICC]) were compared with 572 controls. Overall, regardless of HPV status, a decreased risk for ICC was observed for patients with A*0207/0215N or A*2402, and an increased risk was observed for patients with A*1104. The protective association of A*0207/0215N was reproduced in HPV-16-positive patients with ICC, but not in subgroups infected with other HPV types.

HLA-B alleles, high-risk HPV infection and risk for cervical neoplasia in southern Chinese women.

A population-based study was conducted on 256 southern Chinese with cervical intraepithelial neoplasia grade III (CIN III) or invasive cervical cancer (ICC) and on 258 controls to examine the associations between HLA-B alleles, infection with high-risk human papillomaviruses (HPVs) and the development of cervical neoplasia. HLA-B15 was found to be protective for CIN III/ICC overall (p(corrected) = 0.003), and for HPV52-positive CIN III/ICC (p(corrected) = 0.

Biases in human papillomavirus genotype prevalence assessment associated with commonly used consensus primers.

Consensus primers targeting human papillomaviruses (HPVs) have biases in sensitivity toward certain HPV types. We applied 3 primer sets (GP5+/6+, MY09/11, PGMY09/11) in parallel on 120 Chinese cervical cancer specimens. GP5+/6+ exhibited a poor sensitivity for HPV52, for which the prevalence among squamous cell cervical cancer was underestimated from 14.

Quantitative analysis of human papillomavirus type 16 in cervical neoplasm: a study in Chinese population.

Background: Human papillomavirus (HPV) infection was recognized as a major causal factor for the development and progression of squamous intraepithelial lesions (SIL). It is possible to use HPV test for the detection of cervical lesions as an adjunct to cervical cytology.

Objectives: To evaluate the relation between HPV 16 viral load and the severity of cervical lesions in a Chinese population.

Detection and quantitation of human papillomavirus DNA in primary tumour and lymph nodes of patients with early stage cervical carcinoma.

Fifteen Chinese women with early stage cervical squamous cell carcinoma (14 stage IB, one stage IIA) were retrospectively analysed for the correlation between human papillomavirus (HPV) load in primary tumour and the presence of HPV DNA in histologically tumour-free pelvic lymph nodes. HPV16 DNA was detected from majority (12/15) of primary tumours, with a viral load ranging from 12 to 1800 copies per cell. Of the 156 histologically tumour-free pelvic lymph nodes, 41 (26.

Transcriptional repression of WEE1 by Kruppel-like factor 2 is involved in DNA damage-induced apoptosis.

Human Kruppel-like factor 2 (KLF2) is a Cys(2)/His(2) zinc-finger-containing transcriptional factor, which is involved in multiple cellular pathways. Utilizing gene expression profiling to identify aberrantly expressed genes in ovarian cancer, we found that KLF2 was significantly and specifically downregulated in ovarian tumors. After reintroducing KLF2 into ovarian cancer cell lines, we observed decreased cell growth and increased sensitivity to DNA damage-induced apoptosis.