Inhibition of β-Catenin Activity Abolishes LKB1 Loss-Driven Pancreatic Cystadenoma in Mice.

Pancreatic cancer (PC) is the seventh leading cause of cancer death worldwide, and remains one of our most recalcitrant and dismal diseases. In contrast to many other malignancies, there has not been a significant improvement in patient survival over the past decade. Despite advances in our understanding of the genetic alterations associated with this disease, an incomplete understanding of the underlying biology and lack of suitable animal models have hampered efforts to develop more effective therapies.

Loss of the transcriptional repressor TGIF1 results in enhanced Kras-driven development of pancreatic cancer.

Background: The TG-interacting factor 1 (TGIF1) gene, which encodes a nuclear transcriptional corepressor of the TGFβ1/Smad signaling pathway, has been implicated in the pathogenesis of various types of human cancer; however, its role in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) has yet to be elucidated.

Methods: The expression of TGIF1 in human and murine PDAC specimens were detected by IHC analysis. The functions of TGIF1 in in vivo PDAC growth, dissemination, and metastasis were assessed using conditional inactivation of TGIF1 in well-established autochthonous mouse models of PDAC.

Predictors and long-term outcome of seizures after bacterial brain abscess.

Background: Seizures are one of the most important neurological complications of bacterial brain abscesses. A better understanding of the risk factors of seizures following bacterial brain abscesses is needed to predict those who will require treatment.

Methods: A total of 205 patients were enrolled in this 22-year retrospective study.

Clinical characteristics of spinal involvement in hepatocellular carcinoma.

Purpose: To analyze the clinical characteristics of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) with spinal metastasis.

Methods: During a period of 14 years, 42 HCC patients with cranial and/or spinal metastasis were identified. Among them, 12 had spinal involvement and thus were included for study.

Evaluation of the pathophysiology of classical trigeminal neuralgia by blink reflex study and current perception threshold testing.

We recruited 49 patients with classical trigeminal neuralgia (TN) according to the latest guidelines of the International Classification of Headache Disorders, and divided them into an acute (30 days onset; 36 patients) group. We used blink reflex study and current perception threshold (CPT) testing to evaluate the painful facial areas and contralateral non-painful areas of patients with classical TN. CPT 5 Hz examinations, which correlate with unmyelinated fiber function, showed significantly decreased CPTs in the acute stage (11.

Cerebrotendinous xanthomatosis patients with and without parkinsonism: clinical characteristics and neuroimaging findings.

Parkinsonism in cerebrotendinous xanthomatosis (CTX) is rare. There are no published studies with imaging findings of dopamine transporter using (99m)Tc-[2-[[2-[[[3-(4-chlorophenyl)-8-methyl-8-azabicyclo [3,2,1] oct-2-yl] methyl] (2-mercaptoethyl) amino] ethyl] amino]-ethanethiolato(3-)-N2,N2,S2,S2]oxo-[1R-(exo-exo)] ((99m)Tc-TRODAT-1) SPECT in CTX patients. This report is on the clinical details of five genetically-proven CTX patients (two with and three without parkinsonism).

Clinical characteristics of post-neurosurgical Klebsiella pneumoniae meningitis in adults and a clinical comparison to the spontaneous form in a Taiwanese population.

A total of 46 patients (nine post-neurosurgical, 37 spontaneous) with adult bacterial meningitis (ABM) caused by Klebsiellapneumoniae infection were included in this study. The nine patients in the post-neurosurgical K. pneumoniae ABM group (seven male, two female) had a mean age of 48.

Prediction, clinical characteristics and prognosis of intracerebral hemorrhage in hepatocellular carcinoma patients with intracerebral metastasis.

The clinical characteristics of intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients with intracerebral metastasis (IcM) have not been reported on extensively. We compared the clinical characteristics between patients with ICH (w-ICH, 18 patients) and without ICH (wo-ICH, 24 patients) in HCC patients with IcM. Using multivariate logistic regression, only habitual alcohol consumption is a significant predictor of ICH in HCC patients with IcM (adjusted odds ratio [OR]=4.

Clinical characteristics of fusobacterial brain abscess.

We retrospectively reviewed 122 patients with culture-proven bacterial brain abscesses (BBA) at our hospital over a period of 20 years and identified seven fusobacterial brain abscess patients. Here we describe the therapeutic experience in fusobacterial BBA cases and compare the clinical features of patients with single pathogen infection between fusobacterial and non-fusobacterial brain abscesses. Fusobacterium spp.