Liver transplantation in patients with incidental hepatocellular carcinoma/cholangiocarcinoma and intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma: a single-center experience.

Background: Reports of liver transplantation (LT) in patients with mixed hepatocellular carcinoma/cholangiocarcinoma (HCC/CC) and intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC) are modest and have been mostly retrospective after pathological categorization in the setting of presumed HCC. Some studies suggest that patients undergoing LT with small and unifocal ICC or mixed HCC/CC can achieve about 40%-60% 5-year post-transplant survival. The study aimed to report our experience in patients undergoing LT with explant pathology revealing HCC/CC and ICC.

Absence of a Periampullary Mass on Cross-sectional Imaging Delays Diagnosis and Time to Pancreatoduodenectomy But Does Not Impair Outcome.

Background: The aim of this study was to assess whether the lack of a radiological mass in patients with periampullary malignancies led to protracted diagnosis, delayed resection, and an inferior outcome.

Methods: The departmental database was interrogated to identify all patients undergoing pancreatoduodenectomy during the period 2000-2014. The absence of a mass on cross-sectional and endoscopic ultrasound was noted.

Safety and efficacy of splenic artery embolization for portal hyperperfusion in liver transplant recipients: a 5-year experience.

Severe portal hyperperfusion (PHP) after liver transplantation has been shown to cause intrahepatic arterial vasoconstriction secondary to increased adenosine washout (hepatic artery buffer response). Clinically, posttransplant PHP can cause severe cases of refractory ascites and hydrothorax. In the past, we reported our preliminary experience with the use of splenic artery embolization (SAE) as a way to reduce PHP.

Ganglioside signatures of primary and nodal metastatic melanoma cell lines from the same patient.

The primary cutaneous melanoma initially migrates to the regional lymph nodes (LNs). Human melanoma overexpresses gangliosides, the sialylglycosphingolipids. The ganglioside signatures may differ between primary and LN melanomas owing to the differences in the tumor microenvironments.

Immunogenic gangliosides in human ovarian carcinoma.

Ganglioside signatures of four poorly and three moderately differentiated ovarian epithelial cancer (OEC) cell lines reveal the presence of GM3, GM2, GD2, O-AcGD2, GD1a and GM1b. The expression of GM3, presence of GD1a and GM1b in the ascitic fluid and plasma, together with a positive correlation in the total-gangliosides levels between ascitic fluid and plasma of OEC patients support the earlier contention that the tumor-gangliosides may be released (or shed) into the tumor-microenvironment. The immunogenicity of OEC-gangliosides is determined by comparing anti-ganglioside-IgM titers in ascitic fluid (n = 14) and plasma (n = 23) of OEC-patients and age-matched healthy (n = 14).

Epicatechins Purified from Green Tea (Camellia sinensis) Differentially Suppress Growth of Gender-Dependent Human Cancer Cell Lines.

The anticancer potential of catechins derived from green tea is not well understood, in part because catechin-related growth suppression and/or apoptosis appears to vary with the type and stage of malignancy as well as with the type of catechin. This in vitro study examined the biological effects of epicatechin (EC), epigallocatechin (EGC), EC 3-gallate (ECG) and EGC 3-gallate (EGCG) in cell lines from human gender-specific cancers. Cell lines developed from organ-confined (HH870) and metastatic (DU145) prostate cancer, and from moderately (HH450) and poorly differentiated (HH639) epithelial ovarian cancer were grown with or without EC, EGC, ECG or EGCG.

Human antiganglioside autoantibodies: validation of ELISA.

Gangliosides have a hydrophilic sugar chain that contains antigenic determinants and a hydrophobic ceramide. In humans, gangliosides elicit a T-cell independent IgM response; antiganglioside IgM autoantibodies may be pentameric or polymeric. A correlation between specific neuropathies and antiganglioside autoantibodies has been confirmed.

Endogenous immune response to gangliosides in patients with confined prostate cancer.

Our study investigated whether endogenous IgM antibodies to gangliosides occur in patients with early stages of prostate cancer (CaP) patients, after defining ganglioside profiles of CaP cell lines. Immune and resorcinol staining detected the presence of gangliosides GM3, GM2, GD3, GD2 and GD1a but not GM1a, GD1b or GT1b in the extracts of normal prostatic epithelial cells (PrEC) and neoplastic androgen-insensitive (PC-3, DU145) and -sensitive (LNCaP-FGC and LNCaP-FGC-10) CaP cells. Using a sensitive ELISA, developed and validated in our laboratory, the titers of IgM against 8 gangliosides from sera of patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) (n = 11), organ-confined (T1/T2, n = 36) and unconfined (T3/T4, n = 27) CaP and age-matched healthy men (n = 11) were determined double-blinded.

Anticancer therapeutic potential of soy isoflavone, genistein.

Genistein (4'5, 7-trihydroxyisoflavone) occurs as a glycoside (genistin) in the plant family Leguminosae, which includes the soybean (Glycine max). A significant correlation between the serum/plasma level of genistein and the incidence of gender-based cancers in Asian, European and American populations suggests that genistein may reduce the risk of tumor formation. Other evidence includes the mechanism of action of genistein in normal and cancer cells.

Gangliosides of organ-confined versus metastatic androgen-receptor-negative prostate cancer.

Prior development of a unique androgen-receptor (AR)-negative cell line (HH870) from organ-confined (T2b) human prostate cancer (CaP) enabled comparison of the gangliosides associated with normal and neoplastic prostate epithelial cells, organ-confined versus metastatic (DU 145, PC-3), and AR-negative versus AR-positive CaP cell lines. Resorcinol-HCl and specific monoclonal antibodies were used to characterize gangliosides on 2D-chromatograms, and to visualize them on the cell surface with confocal-fluorescence microscopy. AR-negative cells expressed GM1b, GM2, GD2, GD1a, and GM3.