Natural killer cell impairment in ovarian clear cell carcinoma.

In the present study, we report the analysis of NK cells derived from patients suffering from a rare ovarian cancer histotype of clear cell carcinoma (OCCC) resistant to conventional chemotherapies. We analyzed the phenotype of NK cells derived from peripheral blood (PB) and peritoneal fluid (PF) and evaluated cytotoxic interactions between NK cells and autologous tumor cells (ATC) derived from patients. We provided evidence of impaired degranulation capacity of NK cells derived from patients' PF in the presence of ATC.

Surgical laparoscopic treatment of bowel endometriosis with transvaginal resection of the rectum using ultrasonically activated shears: a retrospective cohort study with description of technique.

Background: To asses the results of laparoscopic surgical treatment of bowel endometriosis with transvaginal resection of the rectum employing ultrasonic energy retrospective study.

Method: 100 patients with symptoms of narrowing or partial obstruction of colon were submitted to laparoscopic resection of rectosigmoid tract through a vaginal route. Length of surgery, blood loss, histopathological extent of rectal invasion, surgical complications, and length of hospital stay were the main analyzed outcomes.

The Rare Extragonadal Omental Teratoma: A Case Report.

Teratomas of extragonadal origin are extremely rare, and the most common extragonadal site to find teratomas is the omentum. Teratomas are typically found in women of reproductive age, but they are also seen in young girls and postmenopausal women. Generally, teratomas arise from germ cells that may induce different cells to originate from the 3 primitive embryonic layers.

Identification of a subset of human natural killer cells expressing high levels of programmed death 1: A phenotypic and functional characterization.

Background: Programmed death 1 (PD-1) is an immunologic checkpoint that limits immune responses by delivering potent inhibitory signals to T cells on interaction with specific ligands expressed on tumor/virus-infected cells, thus contributing to immune escape mechanisms. Therapeutic PD-1 blockade has been shown to mediate tumor eradication with impressive clinical results. Little is known about the expression/function of PD-1 on human natural killer (NK) cells.

B7-H6-mediated downregulation of NKp30 in NK cells contributes to ovarian carcinoma immune escape.

In this study the phenotype and function of tumor-associated NK cells from peritoneal fluids of a selected cohort of patients with seropapillary ovarian carcinoma were analyzed. In > 50% of these patients, the expression of the activating receptor NKp30 in tumor-associated NK cells was substantially reduced as compared to autologous peripheral blood (PB) NK cells. The impaired expression of this receptor was associated with the presence of one of its cellular ligands (B7-H6), which was detectable as a surface/cytosolic molecule in tumor cells and as a soluble molecule in the peritoneal fluid.

Primitive neuroectodermal tumor in an ovarian cystic teratoma: natural killer and neuroblastoma cell analysis.

In the present study, we report an extremely rare case of a 31-year-old woman with neuroblastoma arising in an ovarian cystic teratoma. We analyzed the expression of activating receptors on natural killer (NK) cells derived from the patient's peripheral blood and peritoneal fluid. In addition, we investigated the presence of specific ligands recognized by different NK cell receptors on tumor cells.

A new laparoscopic-transvaginal technique for rectosigmoid resection in patients with endometriosis.

Objective: To present our experience with a new technique for laparoscopic rectosigmoid resection in patients with endometriosis.

Design: Prospective collaborative cohort study.

Setting: Gynecologic departments of two university hospitals.

Surgicopathologic outcome of laparoscopic versus open radical hysterectomy.

Objective: To compare the surgicopathologic outcome of total laparoscopic radical hysterectomy (LRH) with that of abdominal radical hysterectomy (ARH) for the treatment of early-stage cervical cancer.

Methods: Radical hysterectomy specimens of sequential patients undergoing LRH (N=50) were compared with those of historical controls selected from consecutive women who have had conventional ARH (N=48), and who met the same criteria for eligibility as the cases. To evaluate the extent of parametrial resection, parametrial tissues were systematically measured at their widest dimensions before tissue processing.

Immunocytochemical localization of plasminogen activators in carcinomas in the cervix and vulva.

The presence of plasminogen activators (PA) in a variety of solid tumours appears to correlate, in a number of instances, with enhanced invasive and/or metastatic ability. Urokinase and tissue-type plasminogen activators (u-PA and t-PA) in normal and neoplastic tissues of cervix and of vulva were immunohistochemically identified by means of polycyclonal antibodies. In addition, frozen sections were analysed for u-PA and t-PA activity by in-situ zymography technique.

Histological human papillomavirus induced lesions: typization by molecular hybridization techniques.

The viral typization in Human Papillomavirus (HPV) infections of the lower female genital tract is relevant both from the epidemiological and the clinical point of view. We have tested DNA from specimens obtained by guided biopsies on neoplastic and benign lesions, using single probes of the different virus types (6, 11, 16 and 18) by Dot-blot and Southern blot analysis. According to previous studies HPV 16 and 18 have been detected in neoplastic lesions, while 6 and 11 were more frequently found associated to condylomata.

[Immunohistochemical localization of laminin, collagen IV and fibronectin in dysplasias and neoplasms of the cervix uteri].

The distribution of intrinsic components (Laminin and Type IV Collagen) and extrinsic component (Fibronectin) of the Basement Membrane (BM) has been studied in normal uterine cervix (16 cases), in cervical dysplasia (14 cases) and in invasive carcinoma (45 cases). We found that BM staining for Laminin and Type IV collagen is linear and continuous underlying normal and dysplastic epithelium (CIN 1-CIN 2), it shows minor breaks in continuity and alterations of linearity in situ carcinomas (CIN 3), and it disappears in microinvasive areas. In well differentiated invasive carcinomas only focal disruptions of BM around neoplastic nests is noted; in contrast, in moderately and poorly differentiated neoplasias, is found a progressive reduction and loss of staining for Laminin and Type IV Collagen.