The evolutionary path of the epithelial sodium channel δ-subunit in Cetartiodactyla points to a role in sodium sensing.

The epithelial sodium channel (ENaC) plays a key role in osmoregulation in tetrapod vertebrates and is a candidate receptor for salt taste sensation. There are four ENaC subunits (α, β, γ, δ) which form αβγ- or δβγ ENaCs. While αβγ-ENaC is a 'maintenance protein' controlling sodium and potassium homeostasis, δβγ-ENaC might represent a 'stress protein' monitoring high sodium concentrations.

[ANMCO Position paper: From acute to chronic disease: the needs of complex cardiac patients].

Managing a patient suffering from a chronic disease requires a multidisciplinary team that can take care of them beyond the simple coordination of various specialties. In this context, a central role in the treatment of chronic heart disease is the continuity of care that should promote organic integration among different hospital departments, hospital and community. This position paper of the Italian Association of Hospital Cardiologists (ANMCO) aims at defining the general principles to inspire care for complex cardiac patients at different phases of the disease.

Anti-p53 and anti-heat shock proteins antibodies in patients with malignant or pre-malignant lesions of the oral cavity.

Background: Evaluation of circulating anti-p53 antibodies is an easy-to-perform, widely employed, procedure to assess the p53 status in cancer patients.

Materials And Methods: Levels of circulating anti-p53 antibodies in patients affected either by oral SCC or by pre- malignant oral lesions were assayed using a commercial ELISA kit. Autoantibody titers to Hsp60 and Hsp72 were determined by conventional ELISA.

Multiple primary tumours in patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma.

A series of patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) observed at the "Regina Elena" Cancer Institute was retrospectively reviewed in order to analyse the risk factors for multiple and second primary tumours (SPTs), their impact on survival and effective measures to control this phenomenon. In a survey of 200 individuals with a median follow-up of 3.2 years (25th percentile: 1.

Retinol dietary intake and oral leukoplakia development.

To investigate the clinical outcome of unbalanced diet in patients with oral precancerosis and to assess a possible relationship between dietary factors and the development of oral leukoplakia, a case-control study was carried out within a cohort of 53 subjects treated at our Centre in October-November 1997. Enrolled subjects and suitable controls underwent a careful interview on their own alimentary habits with a particular interest in retinol and carotenoids major sources. An individual qualitative and quantitative assessment of retinol-equivalents dietary intake, yielding average values for each group, allowed to compare the cohorts and to relate data also to tobacco use and to the severity of histopathological findings.

[Correlation between dietary vitamin A consumption and onset of precancerous lesions in the oral cavity].

The efficacy of vitamin A in the prevention of oral cavity cancer has been studied during the last years due to the interest for a possible application of new drugs in the treatment of second primary tumours and multiple neoplasms. Fifty patients with oral precancerous lesions treated at the "Centre for prevention of oral cavity cancer" of the "Regina Elena" Institute in Rome, have been subjected to a rigorous questionnaire about their use of vitamin A in the diet. Moreover a standard sample of fifty healthy people without oral cavity lesions.

[A system for the clinico-functional staging of the quality of life of patients with malignant neoplasms of the oro-facial area].

The anatomical region identified with the "head and neck region" has got the highest functional concentration of the human body and the highest incidence of malignant tumours per unit of surface. A pathology, that forced to serious and destroying surgical interventions in this area, will carry necessarily out a series of mutilations and functional restrictions on the whole organism. Leawing out the central nervous system, the head is site of important functions like breathing and feeding, in addition to essential functions for the relationship life like vocal expression and sight.

[The CO2 laser treatment of melanotic lesions of the oral mucosa. A clinical case report].

The authors, in a careful review of the literature, talk about the melanotic lesions of the mucous membranes of the oral cavity, explaining the etiopathogenesis, the various classifications, the diagnosis and the therapy. They also expound the features of laser and its application in management of a clinical case of melanotic lesion of the oral cavity.

[The chemoprevention of oral carcinoma with vitamin A and/or N-acetylcysteine].

EUROSCAN (EUROpean Study on Chemoprevention with vitamin A and N-acetylcysteine) is a study which has the aim to demonstrate the efficacy of vitamin A and N-acetylcysteine in the prevention of second primary tumours in patients treated for lung, larynx and oral cancer. In this study are involved more than 50 medical centres in all Europe, co-ordinated by European Organization for research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC). In December 1993 almost 2300 patients have been randomized; at the present day, in our department, we follow 29 patients curatively treated for oral cancer (pTNM: pT1N0M0, pT2N0M0, pT2N1M0) and, for this reason, at high risk to develop local recurrences or second primary tumours.

[The epidemiological features in carcinoma of the oral cavity].

In the present paper, the authors, after a review of some classifications of oral cavity carcinoma (TNM) staging, histological grading and clinical stadiation, deal with some epidemiological remarks according to Italian Tumours Registers from 1983 up to 1987. Incidence, mortality, distribution by age and anatomic site are shown with reference to standard and cut rates. At last, they underline the importance of an early diagnosis in order to give these patients, after therapy a better quality of life.

[Prosthetic rehabilitation in patients with malignant tumors of the soft palate. A clinical case report].

Soft palate neoplasms are relatively rare and their care requires not only an adequate surgical removal but also a post-treatment rehabilitation. In this article the authors after having considered the importance of the soft palate function on the individual's ability to shallow and speak, describe one case of squamous cell carcinoma of the soft palate and treated with surgery followed by prosthetic rehabilitation. Especially it is pointed out the utility of a palatal obturator in the care of deleterious esthetic and psychological aspect of the residual anatomical defect, considering the possibility of the re-establishment the integrity of the tissues and structures in the oral cavity by hand-made prosthesis more and more exact and functional.

[Diagnostic delay in neoplasms of the oral cavity].

The authors present the results of a study of delayed diagnosis in oral cancer. They report 93 cases of malignant oral tumors collected since 1987 at "Regina Elena" Cancer Institute Rome. The study revealed a very high incidence of advanced stage patients, in spite of the easy clinical examination of these malignancies, because there is a very high delay between subjective symptoms and appropriate therapy.

[Experience in staging malignant tumors of the orofacial area].

The paper reports the authors experience at the Regina Elena Institute for the Study and Treatment of Tumours in Rome during the period 1987-1989 concerning the setting up of a register for primary malignant tumours of the head and neck. This experience has allowed various parameters to be assessed from the initial diagnosis through the subsequent diagnostic and therapeutic procedures [correction of iter]. The stage of disease was assessed in 134 patients using a TNM system proposed by UICC for tumours located in the oral cavity, oro- and hypo-pharynx and maxillary sinuses.

[The prognostic correlation between a delay in the diagnosis and the survival of patients with malignant tumors of the oral cavity].

The results obtained in the analysis of a series of patients suffering from malignant tumours of the oral cavity, all of whom died as a result of the primary pathology, are reported. The initial diagnostic delay is particularly examined, correlating this with survival times so as to monitor in statistically correct fashion and evaluate the influence of diagnosis-therapy latency on prognosis.

[Anesthesia problems of patients with malignant oral neoplasms undergoing inductive chemotherapy protocol and surgery].

The Authors expand the results about thirty-nine Patients with advanced malignant tumours of the oral cavity treated with inductive chemotherapy and radical surgery. They considered the choice of a correct scheme of anaesthesia in the surgical treatment for Patients with particular health conditions and previously subjected to inductive chemotherapy. The necessity to practice a pre- and post-operative therapy for subduing the very frequent and serious concomitant diseases is underlined.