Delta-like ligand 4 (DLL4) in the plasma and neoplastic tissues from breast cancer patients: correlation with metastasis.

Delta-like ligand 4 (DLL4) is a ligand of the notch pathway. In tumor angiogenesis, DLL4 switches to vascular maturation by providing a negative feedback on VEGFR2 activity. We investigated the expression of DLL4 in the plasma and cancer tissues from breast cancer patients.

Serum VEGF levels and tissue activation of VEGFR2/KDR receptors in patients with breast and gynecologic cancer.

Objectives: Vascular endothelial cell growth factor (VEGF) plays an important role in the biology of gynecological cancer, usually linked with aggressive tumour behaviour and a poor postoperative outcome. Yet, its role in benign breast/gynecological conditions is less clear.

Methods: Serum VEGF was analysed in a series of 49 patients with gynecological cancer and 61 patients with benign disease and compared to those of 12 normal female subjects.

Smoking and AMH levels in women with normal reproductive history.

Purpose: To investigate the effect of age and smoking on the AMH levels in normal cycling healthy women with normal reproductive history.

Materials And Methods: In 137 women, blood samples were taken on day 3 of a spontaneous cycle. Serum FSH, LH, E2, progesterone and AMH were measured in all blood samples.

Differential expression of tenascin-C in the developing human lung: an immunohistochemical study.

Much of the specification for the basic embryonic body plan is the result of a hierarchy of developmental decisions at different developmental times. The extracellular matrix (ECM) appears to be a very dynamic structure during embryogenesis. One of the mesenchymal ECM proteins, tenascin, is reported to be transiently expressed during embryonic tissue development, and is absent or much reduced in most fully developed organs.

Intraoperative estimation of sentinel lymph nodes in breast cancer by imprint cytology.

Background: Frozen section biopsy has been widely used for intraoperative diagnosis and evaluation of sentinel lymph nodes, so a decision can be made regarding whether to perform axillary clearance during primary surgery. This study aims to discuss the reliability of a simpler and faster method - touch imprint cytology - in the interpretation of metastasis from breast cancer.

Methods: A retrospective review of 41 sentinel lymph node biopsies from patients with breast cancer were examined by intraoperative imprint cytology using rapid Diff-Quick staining.

A stromal myoid cell line provokes thymic T-cell immigration at the second and third gestational trimesters.

Unlabelled: Once lymphoid precursors enter the thymus form the blood stream, they come into contact with thymic stromal cells that guide their maturation into functionally competent T cells. Thymic myoid cells are one such cell type. They have been described as a regular constituent of the thymus of embryonic and young vertebrates and express muscle proteins including myosin, desmin, acetylcholine receptor (AChR), C-protein, MyoD, troponin T, rapsyn, and utrophin.

CD30 (Ber-H2) expression by thymocytes and thymic epithelial cells during the late first and second trimester of gestation: an immunohistochemical and in situ hybridization (ISH) study.

Background: The exact biological function of CD30 in the thymus during development has been only partially elucidated, although data indicate it may be involved in negative selection. This study was prompted by the observation of a positive reaction of thymic epithelial cells (TECs), Hassall's corpuscles, and thymocytes with the monoclonal antibody CD30 during the late first and second trimester.

Material/methods: Twenty paraffin-embedded fetal thymus specimens at the late first and second trimester were investigated by conventional histology and immunohistology for CD30 expression.

Induction of hepatic haematopoiesis with fibronectin expression by EMT stromal cells during the second trimester of development.

In an initial period of vertebrate phylogeny (bone marrow-less vertebrates), lymphohaematopoiesis takes place in numerous organs containing a suitable microenvironment. Among other organs (i.e.

Intraoperative touch imprint cytological analysis of sentinel lymph nodes for the presence of metastases in breast cancer.

Background: Imprint cytology may provide a fast and accurate method for intraoperative screening of sentinel lymph nodes, so a decision can be made regarding whether to perform axillary clearance during primary surgery. If the findings are negative, in many cases axillary dissection can be omitted.

Patients And Methods: 128 sentinel nodes from a cohort of 87 patients that had been identified using technetium-99m nanocolloid as a radioactive tracer and Patent blue dye were dissected for rapid Diff-Quick stained touch preparations.

Clinicopathologic and prognostic significance of cyclooxygenase-2 expression in endometrial carcinoma.

Background: Endometrial carcinoma is the most common malignancy of the female genital tract in the Western world. COX-2 is highly expressed in endometrial carcinoma, but there is controversy regarding its clinical role and its possible prognostic role. COX-2 expression was determined by immuno-histochemistry and was correlated to standard clinico-pathologic variables in a series of primary untreated endometrial carcinoma patients.

Gains and losses of HLA class II (DR) and CD4 in atypical hyperplasia, carcinoma in situ and infiltrating ductal carcinoma of the breast.

Aim: Breast cancer is a frequent cause of death among women with gynaecologic malignancies despite the introduction of combination chemotherapy. There is therefore a need for new therapeutic strategies for patients with breast cancer, such as cellular immunotherapy. In this immunohistochemical study we analyzed the epithelial expression of major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class II (HLA-DR) on atypical and malignant primary mammary epithelial cells, as well as the magnitude of the stromal T lymphocytes (T4 subset) at the tumor site.

Amifostine before chemotherapy: improved tolerance profile of the subcutaneous over the intravenous route.

Introduction: The i.v. administration of the cytoprotective agent amifostine is associated with reversible clinical hypotension, protracted emesis, and malaise in a various percentage of patients.