History-taking and the Usefulness Index in the diagnosis of functional dyspepsia.

Background: The primary diagnosis of functional dyspepsia (FD) is made on the basis of typical symptoms and by excluding organic gastrointestinal diseases that cause dyspeptic symptoms. However, there is difficulty reaching a diagnosisin FD.

Objectives: To assess the efficiency of the Usefulness Index (UI) test and history-taking in diagnosing FD.

Usefulness index in nonspecific abdominal pain--an aid in the diagnosis?

Objective: In 1990, Lavelle and Kanagaratnam introduced Usefulness Index (UI) test for assessment of usefulness of clinical observations. Although, nonspecific abdominal pain (NSAP) is the most common diagnosis among secondary care patients with acute abdominal pain, the efficiency of UI test is rarely considered in NSAP.

Methods: In an extension of the World Organisation of Gastro-Enterology Research Committee (OMGE) acute abdominal pain study, 1333 patients presenting with acute abdominal pain were included in the study.

Usefulness of history-taking in non-specific abdominal pain: a prospective study of 1333 patients with acute abdominal pain in Finland.

Background: Nonspecific abdominal pain is the commonest cause of a patient presenting to a doctor with abdominal pain of less than one week's duration. The differential diagnosis of NSAP is not always easy due to many similarities in the clinical presentation at onset and many cases may be misdiagnosed in the initial situation. To the Authors' knowledge, the diagnostic accuracy of history-taking is rarely considered in NSAP, and therefore the aim of the present study was to investigate the contribution of history-taking to correctly diagnosing NSAP in the clinical situation.

[Update on current care guidelines: urinary tract infections].

This guideline is focused on the diagnostics and treatment of acute, recurrent and relapsing urinary tract infections in adults and children. Sexually transmitted diseases are not addressed, but must be considered in differential diagnostics. The resistance prevalence of the causative microbes and the ecological adverse effects of antimicrobial agents were considered important factors in selecting optimal therapeutic choices for the guideline.

Expression of Ki-67, cyclin D1 and apoptosis markers correlated with survival in prostate cancer patients treated by radical prostatectomy.

Objective: The study was designed to analyse the prognostic value of proliferation markers Ki-67 and cyclin D1 and apoptosis in prostate cancer (PC) patients treated by radical prostatectomy.

Patients And Methods: Two hundred and eleven patients treated by radical prostatectomy for localised prostate cancer were clinically followed up for a mean of 7.3 years.

Reduced alpha- and beta-catenin expression predicts shortened survival in local prostate cancer.

Unlabelled: The aim of this study was to determine the prognostic value of alpha- and beta-catenin expressions in local prostate cancer (PC).

Materials And Methods: One hundred and eighty-one PC patients treated with radical prostatectomy were followed-up for a mean of 7.3 years.

Tumour-infiltrating lymphocytes: A prognostic factor of PSA-free survival in patients with local prostate carcinoma treated by radical prostatectomy.

Aim: The aim of the study was to evaluate the prognostic significance of tumour-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) in local prostate cancer (PC).

Materials And Methods: TILs were counted and routine histological variables were assessed from radical prostatectomy specimens in 188 cases of PC. Immunohistochemical (IHC) characterisation of the lymphocytes was done by using CD4 and CD8 antibodies for detection of T lymphocytes and CD20 antibody for B lymphocytes in tissue microarray construction.

The expression and prognostic value of alpha-, beta- and gamma-catenins in renal cell carcinoma.

Background: Catenins have prognostic value in several human tumours. The aim of the study was to analyse the prognostic value of catenin expression in a prospectively followed series of renal cell carcinoma.

Patients And Methods: One hundred and twenty-four renal cell carcinomas were prospectively followed-up for a mean of 3.

Strong Stromal Hyaluronan Expression Is Associated with PSA Recurrence in Local Prostate Cancer.

Objective: HA (hyaluronan) is involved in cell migration, differentiation and cell proliferation, which all are essential to tumour growth. In addition, the cell surface receptor of HA, CD44, is important in cancer cell adhesion, cell migration and tumour neovascularisation. We studied the expression of HA and CD44 and their relationship with other prognostic factors and prostate-specific antigen (PSA) recurrence in local prostate cancer (PC).

Inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) expression and its prognostic value in prostate cancer.

Objectives: The expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) was evaluated in prostate cancer and the results were compared with other prognostic factors and patients outcome.

Materials And Methods: Clinical and histopathological data and follow-up information of 198 prostate cancer (PC) patients treated between the years 1973 and 1992 at Kuopio University Hospital, Finland were collected from patient files. Archival tumor specimens were used for immunohistochemical analysis of iNOS.

Neoadjuvant chemotherapy in cervical carcinoma: regulators of cell cycle, apoptosis, and proliferation as determinants of response to therapy and disease outcome.

To evaluate whether cellular markers predict the responsiveness to neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) in cervical cancer, 21 patients with stages I and II cervical carcinomas treated by NAC before surgery were followed up for a mean of 52.3 months. Pre-NAC biopsy and operative specimens were subjected to counting of apoptotic (AI/V) and mitotic (MI/V) indices, detection of human papillomavirus (HPV) DNA, and immunohistochemical analysis of cell cycle and proliferation markers (p21, p53, pRb, proliferating cell nuclear antigen [PCNA], Ki-67) and multidrug resistance gene (MDR1), as related to NAC response (RAC), recurrence-free (RFS), and overall (OS) survival.

High stromal hyaluronan level is associated with poor differentiation and metastasis in prostate cancer.

Several epithelial tumours accumulate hyaluronan (HA) which promotes cancer cell invasion and metastasis. We analysed the expression of HA and its receptor CD44 and their prognostic value in 166 prostate cancer patients followed up for a mean of 13 years; standard deviation (S.D.

Expression and prognostic value of CD44 standard and variant v3 and v6 isoforms in prostate cancer.

Background: The adhesion molecule CD44 standard (CD44s), and its variant isoforms v3 and v6 are associated with cell-to-cell adhesion. The down-regulation of CD44 standard and its variant isoform CD44v6 is linked with early cancer cell dissemination, but the relationship between CD44v3 and malignant features of prostate cancer (PC) has not been established previously.

Methods: The expression of CD44s and its CD44v3 and CD44v6 isoforms was analysed by immunohistochemistry in 209 archival PC biopsy specimens to establish their prognostic value.

Expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase in colorectal cancer and its association with prognosis.

Background: The expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) has been reported to be altered in a number of tumours, but its role in tumour biology is still unclear.

Methods: iNOS was studied in a series of 157 colorectal carcinoma patients and its relation to tumour grade, stage, cell cycle regulators, cell proliferation as well as survival was assessed.

Results: iNOS intensity was moderate or intense in 37% of the tumours.

CD44 isoform 6 (CD44v6) is a prognostic indicator of the response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy in cervical carcinoma.

Objective: Theclinical efficacy of neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) in distinct groups of cervical cancer patients has been well documented, but parameters at the cellular level regulating the different responsiveness to this treatment have not been adequately explored.

Method: A series of 21 patients with stage Ib and IIa bulky cervical carcinomas were treated by preoperative NAC with three courses of cisplatin, epirubicin, etoposide, and bleomycin prior to radical hysterectomy, and subsequently followed up for a mean of 52.3 months.

Expression of CD44 and its variant isoform v3 has no prognostic value in gastric cancer.

Aims: To study the controversial role of transmembrane glycoprotein CD44 as a moderator of tumour spread and as a prognostic factor in gastric cancer.

Methods And Results: The expression of all CD44 forms and that with exon v3 was assessed in 198 stage I-IV gastric adenocarcinomas using immunohistochemistry. CD44 expression was found in 72% and CD44v3 in 55% of the cases.

Evaluation of p21WAF1/CIP1 and cyclin D1 expression in the progression of superficial bladder cancer. Finbladder Group.

Immunoreactivity of p21WAF1/CIP1 and cyclin D1 proteins was assessed in a cohort of 207 patients with superficial (pTa-pT1) bladder cancer followed up for a mean of 4.9 years. The results of the immunostainings were compared with T category, WHO grade, tumor cell proliferation rate (MIB-1 score), the expressions of p53 and bcl-2 as well as survival.

Prognostic value of CD44 standard, variant isoforms 3 and 6 and -catenin expression in local prostate cancer treated by radical prostatectomy.

Objective: The clinical and histological data of prostate cancer patients were compared with the expression of CD44 standard (CD44s), variant isoforms CD44v3, CD44v6 and alpha-catenin. The prognostic value of these adhesion molecules was also analysed.

Patients And Methods: We analysed the clinical and histological data of 87 prostate cancer patients treated by radical prostatectomy in two Finnish hospitals.

The prognostic value of inducible nitric oxide synthase in local prostate cancer.

Objective: To compare the clinical and histological data from patients with prostate cancer with the results of the immunohistochemical analysis of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), and thus determine the prognostic value of iNOS.

Patients And Methods: The study included 82 patients (mean age 64.6 years, SD 6.

Expression of activator protein 2 in prostate cancer is related to tumor differentiation and cell proliferation.

Objectives: Activator protein 2 (AP-2) is a DNA-binding transcription factor that can activate the expression of p21 (waf1/cip1), which in turn causes growth arrest of cells through inhibition of cyclin-dependent kinases required in G1-S progression. The aims of the present study were to analyze the expression of AP-2 in prostate cancer and to relate the results of AP-2 immunohistochemistry to other known prognostic factors and patient survival.

Methods: AP-2alpha was demonstrated by an immunohistochemical method in 215 prostate cancer cases, and the results of immunohistochemistry were related to other known prognostic factors and patient survival.

Apoptosis in breast cancer: relationship with other pathological parameters.

Apoptosis is a frequent phenomenon in breast cancer and it can be detected by light microscopy in conventional histopathological sections or by special staining techniques. The number of apoptotic cells as a percentage of cells present, or the number of apoptotic cells per square millimetre of neoplastic tissue, is usually described as the apoptotic index (AI). In breast cancer, the AI is not related to tumour size, axillary lymph node metastasis or distant metastasis at diagnosis.

Prognostic value of MIB-1 score, p53, EGFr, mitotic index and papillary status in primary superficial (Stage pTa/T1) bladder cancer: a prospective comparative study. The Finnbladder Group.

Objective: A prospective randomized study was undertaken to determine whether cell proliferation indices (M/V index, MIB1), papillary status, the expression of p53 and epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFr) have prognostic value in superficial (pTa-pT1) bladder cancer (SBC).

Methods: 207 patients with primary SBC were followed up over a period of 4.9 (range 3.

p22/WAF1 expression in human colorectal carcinoma: association with p53, transcription factor AP-2 and prognosis.

p21/WAF1 expression was studied in a series of 162 colorectal carcinoma patients and its relation to p53- and activator protein (AP)-2 expressions and to stage as well as survival was assessed. p21 expression was moderate or intense in 33% of the tumours, and 53% of the tumours had moderate or strong p53 staining intensity. Eighty-nine percent of the tumours showed a weak cytoplasmic AP-2 signal.

Expression of cyclins A and D and p21(waf1/cip1) proteins in renal cell cancer and their relation to clinicopathological variables and patient survival.

We have studied 118 renal cell carcinomas to analyse the expressions of cyclins A and D1 and p21(waf1/cip1), and their relationship to clinical and histopathological parameters as well as to clinical outcome. Cyclins A and D1 and cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor p21 (waf1/cip1) were not expressed in normal renal tissue. Staining signals of cyclin D1 and p21(waf1/cip1) were always nuclear but cyclin A was also expressed in the cytoplasm of the tumour cells.

Alpha-catenin expression has prognostic value in local and locally advanced prostate cancer.

Normally functioning cell-cell adhesion plays an important role in the maintenance of tissue architecture and cell cohesion. E-cadherin is an important adhesion molecule of epithelial cells. In many types of cancer the expression of E-cadherin is reduced leading to increased risk of disease progression.