Rapamycin inhibits anal carcinogenesis in two preclinical animal models.

The incidence of anal cancer is increasing especially among HIV-infected persons in the HAART era. Treatment of this cancer is based upon traditional chemoradiotherapeutic approaches, which are associated with high morbidity and of limited effectiveness for patients with high-grade disease. The mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) pathway has been implicated in several human cancers, and is being investigated as a potential therapeutic target.

A mouse model for human anal cancer.

Human anal cancers are associated with high-risk human papillomaviruses (HPV) that cause other anogenital cancers and head and neck cancers. As with other cancers, HPV16 is the most common high-risk HPV in anal cancers. We describe the generation and characterization of a mouse model for human anal cancer.

Dry lab practice leads to improved laparoscopic performance in the operating room.

Background: Research has demonstrated that practice in surgical simulators leads to improved performance in that simulator. Our hypothesis is that skills acquired in simulators are transferable to the operating room.

Materials And Methods: Twenty-three laparoscopically naïve surgical interns performed two standardized tasks in a simulator: pegboard transfer and intracorporeal knot tying.