EGFR/Ras-induced CCL20 production modulates the tumour microenvironment.

Background: The activation of the EGFR/Ras-signalling pathway in tumour cells induces a distinct chemokine repertoire, which in turn modulates the tumour microenvironment.

Methods: The effects of EGFR/Ras on the expression and translation of CCL20 were analysed in a large set of epithelial cancer cell lines and tumour tissues by RT-qPCR and ELISA in vitro. CCL20 production was verified by immunohistochemistry in different tumour tissues and correlated with clinical data.

Evaluation of HER2 expression in urothelial carcinoma cells as a biomarker for circulating tumor cells.

Background: Detection of circulating tumor cells (CTC) by techniques based on epithelial cell adhesion molecule (EpCAM) is suboptimal in urothelial carcinoma (UC). As HER2 is thought to be broadly expressed in UC, we explored its utility for CTC detection.

Methods: HER2 and EpCAM expression was analyzed in 18 UC cell lines (UCCs) by qRT-PCR, western blot and fluorescence-activated cell scanning (FACS) and compared to the strongly HER2-expressing breast cancer cell line SKBR3 and other controls.

A new workflow for whole-genome sequencing of single human cells.

Unbiased amplification of the whole-genome amplification (WGA) of single cells is crucial to study cancer evolution and genetic heterogeneity, but is challenging due to the high complexity of the human genome. Here, we present a new workflow combining an efficient adapter-linker PCR-based WGA method with second-generation sequencing. This approach allows comparison of single cells at base pair resolution.

Role of survivin as prognostic and clinicopathological marker in gastric cancer: a meta-analysis.

Survivin has been implicated as a potential prognostic marker in a wide range of malignant tumours. However, the prognostic impact of survivin in gastric cancer remains to be controversial and published data are sometimes heterogeneous. Thus, aim of this study was to review the literature by performing an electronical database search via PubMed and EMBASE to identify eligible studies that assessed the impact of survivin as prognostic marker and its association with clinicopathological variables.

Prognostic significance of EpCAM-positive disseminated tumor cells in rectal cancer patients with stage I disease.

Here we evaluated the prevalence and prognostic impact of epithelial cell adhesion molecule (EpCAM)-positive disseminated tumor cells (DTCs) in stage I rectal cancer. Further we tested the association of these single tumor cells or small tumor cell groups with the extent of peritumoral lymphangiogenesis. A total of 845 regional lymph nodes (LN) of 44 patients classified as negative on conventional histopathology were retrospectively reanalyzed with immunohistochemistry (IHC) using the monoclonal antibody Ber-Ep4 directed against EpCAM for the detection of DTCs.

Immunohistochemical detection of hepatic CEA+ cells: hepatic tumor cell dissemination in colorectal cancer patients--limits of surgery?

Aims: Hepatic recurrence following resection of liver metastases occurs in about half of the patients. This is attributed to insufficient margins by some authors, while others accuse the presence of occult tumor cell dissemination.

Methods: Representative samples of the hepatic margin of 32 patients were examined.