Mutation Profiles of Ovarian Seromucinous Borderline Tumors in Japanese Patients.

Ovarian seromucinous tumors (SMBTs) are relatively rare, and their carcinogenesis is largely unknown. In this study, the molecular features of SMBTs in Japan are assessed. DNA was extracted from microdissected paraffin-embedded sections from 23 SMBT cases.

Uterine lipoleiomyoma in an elderly patient: a case report.

Background: Uterine lipoleiomyoma is a rare, fat-containing, benign tumor. The clinical features and optimal treatment of this tumor remain unclear.

Case: An 80-year-old woman with an extensive cardiac history was referred for assessment of a huge pelvic mass.

Successful continuation of pregnancy after repair of a midgestational uterine rupture with the use of a fibrin-coated collagen fleece (TachoComb) in a primigravid woman with no known risk factors.

We report the first case of successful continuation of pregnancy after repair of a midgestational uterine rupture with the use of a fibrin-coated collagen fleece (TachoComb, Nycomed, Linz, Austria). For midgestational uterine rupture, adequate uterine repair and close surveillance of preterm labor could improve perinatal outcome by permitting continuation of the pregnancy.

Endometrial carcinosarcoma presenting as a tibial metastasis.

Metastasis to a lower-extremity bone is an extremely rare event in patients with endometrial carcinoma. A 64-year-old woman presented with progressive right leg pain but no gynecologic complaints. A diagnostic workup revealed primary endometrial carcinosarcoma with an isolated tibial metastasis.

Spontaneous regression in recurrent epithelial ovarian cancer.

Background: Although spontaneous regression has been reported in several cancers, it is generally believed that this rare phenomenon does not occur in epithelial ovarian cancer.

Case: We presented a stage IV epithelial ovarian cancer patient with long-term disease-free survival after palliative local irradiation alone against recurrence. The recurrent supraclavicular lymph node was almost completely necrotic, and the swelling of the para-aortic lymph node spontaneously regressed.

Adenocarcinoma in situ coexisting with carcinoma in situ of the cervix during pregnancy.

Case Report: We report a pregnant patient with adenocarcinoma in situ (AIS) coexisting with carcinoma in situ (CIS) of the cervix diagnosed by conization at 16 weeks' gestation. Apoptotic activity was higher in the CIS lesion than in the AIS lesion in the cone biopsy specimen. Postpartum evaluation confirmed the disappearance of CIS lesion with positive cone margins, however, multifocal AIS with negative cone margins was found.

Expression of the angopoietin-1, angopoietin-2, Tie2, and vascular endothelial growth factor gene in epithelial ovarian cancer.

Objectives: Angiopoietin/Tie2 system with vascular endothelial growth factor (VEFG) is known to be important for the initiation of angiogenesis in tumors. The aim was to evaluate whether angiopoietin/Tie2 system with VEFG affects prognosis in patients of epithelial ovarian cancer.

Methods: Angiopoietin-1 (Ang-1), Angiopoietin-2 (Ang-2), Tie2, and VEGF gene expression were analyzed by real-time quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) in 85 epithelial ovarian cancer surgical specimens.

The proliferative activity of ovarian tumors of low malignant potential differs from that of ovarian carcinoma.

Ovarian tumors of low malignant potential (LMPs) are intermediate between adenomas and ovarian carcinomas (OCs); however, whether an LMP is a precursor of OC or is a unique type of tumor that will not progress to OC is still controversial. To gain better insight into the relationship between LMP and OC, we compared proliferative and apoptotic activity and tumor size in 50 cases of LMP and 27 cases of OC. We employed immunohistochemical staining with Ki-67 and apoptotic labeling was based on the terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated deoxyuridine triphosphate nick-end labeling.

Evaluation of the antiangiogenic effect of Taxol in a human epithelial ovarian carcinoma cell line.

Purpose: Angiopoietin-1 (Ang-1) and angiopoietin-2 (Ang-2) are major ligands for the endothelium-specific tyrosine kinase receptor Tie-2 and are important regulators of endothelial cell survival. In the presence of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), vessel destabilization by Ang-2 has been hypothesized to induce an angiogenic response, but in the absence of VEGF, Ang-2 leads to vessel regression. In the present study, a human ovarian cancer cell line was used to investigate the possibility that Taxol might affect the expression of Ang-1, Ang-2, and VEGF.

Dihydropyrimidine dehydrogenase in normal and malignant endometrium: relationship with cell proliferation and thymidine phosphorylase.

Dihydropyrimidine dehydrogenase (DPD) is a pyrimidine salvage enzyme responsible for degradation of thymine, which is produced from thymidine by thymidine phosphorylase (TP). Our purpose was to determine the relationship between DPD, cell proliferation and TP expression in human endometrium. We examined DPD gene expression using reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction, DPD protein levels using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, and DPD protein localization using immunohistochemistry in 58 normal endometria and 28 endometrial cancers.

Induction of thymidine phosphorylase expression and enhancement of Furtulon sensitivity by Taxol in a human ovarian carcinoma cell line.

Objective: Thymidine phosphorylase (TP) is one of the enzymes involved in the salvage pathways of nucleotide synthesis. The enzyme converts thymidine to thymine and 2'-deoxyribose-1-phosphate and can also metabolize the prodrug 5'-deoxy-5-fluorouridine (Furtulon) to 5-fluorouracil and 5'-deoxy-D-ribose-1-phosphate. The aim of this study was to determine whether Paclitaxel (Taxol) induces TP expression and whether increased TP expression is further sensitized to Furtulon, using a human ovarian carcinoma cell line.

Induction of thymidine phosphorylase expression by Taxol does not enhance Furtulon sensitivity in a cisplatin-resistant human ovarian carcinoma cell line.

Objective: Thymidine phosphorylase (TP) can metabolize the prodrug 5'-deoxy-5-fluorouridine (Furtulon) to 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) and 5'-deoxy-D-ribose-1-phosphate. Furthermore, TP may enhance the toxicity of the active drug 5-FU by the transfer of 2'-deoxyribose 1-phosphate, so producing 5-fluoro-2'-deoxyuridine. This product can form 5-fluoro-2'-deoxyuridine 5'-monophosphate (FdUMP) through the action of thymidine kinase, and FdUMP in turn can inhibit thymidylate synthase (TS), leading to reduced thymidylate formation and subsequent inhibition of DNA synthesis.

Clinical significance of interleukin-1 receptor antagonist in patients with cervical carcinoma.

Objective: Our purpose was to determine the clinical significance of interleukin-1 receptor antagonist (IL-1ra), which is an endogenous inhibitor cytokine of IL-1, in patients with cervical carcinoma.

Methods: Tissue IL-1ra expression and serum IL-1ra level were examined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), Western blotting, and immunohistochemistry in normal controls and patients with cervical carcinoma.

Results: Tissue IL-1ra protein level by ELISA was significantly higher in squamous cell carcinoma (n = 9) than in the normal cervix (n = 7) and adenocarcinoma (n = 3).

Allelotypes as potential prognostic markers in ovarian carcinoma treated with cisplatin-based chemotherapy.

We analyzed a series of ovarian carcinomas from patients treated with cisplatin-based chemotherapy for loss of heterozygosity (LOH) to determine the relationship between microsatellite alteration and prognosis. Patients with tumors that had lost alleles at loci 3p14-21, 12qter, or 17p13.3 showed significantly reduced survival compared to patients with tumors that retained both alleles at those loci.

Prognostic value of overexpression of p53 in human ovarian carcinoma patients receiving cisplatin.

A major obstacle to the treatment of ovarian carcinoma is intrinsic/acquired resistance to cisplatin-based chemotherapy. The clinical significance of p53 overexpression in patients with ovarian carcinoma is still controversial. The aim of this study was to investigate the independent prognostic significance of p53 overexpression in patients with ovarian carcinoma who are treated with cisplatin.

Expression of angiopoietin-1, angiopoietin-2, and Tie2 genes in normal ovary with corpus luteum and in ovarian cancer.

Objective: The recent discovery of angiopoietin-1 (Ang1) and angiopoietin-2 (Ang2) has provided novel and important insights into the molecular mechanisms of blood vessel formation. Ang1 and Ang2 bind with similar affinity to the endothelial cell tyrosine kinase receptor Tie2. Our purpose was to assess the potential role of the Ang/Tie2 system in physiological and pathological angiogenesis in the ovary.

Thymidine kinase in epithelial ovarian cancer: relationship with the other pyrimidine pathway enzymes.

TK is a pyrimidine metabolic pathway enzyme involved in salvage DNA synthesis. What roles TK may play in epithelial ovarian cancer and the relationships between TK and the other pyrimidine pathway enzymes remain unclear. We examined TK1 gene expression by RT-PCR and related it to gene expression of TS, TP and DPD in 69 samples from epithelial ovarian cancer, 8 low-malignant-potential tumors, 16 benign ovarian tumors and 34 normal ovaries.

Cyclooxygenase-2 expression in endometrial cancer: correlation with microvessel count and expression of vascular endothelial growth factor and thymidine phosphorylase.

Cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2), known to be elevated in several human cancers, regulates angiogenesis by inducing production of angiogenic factors. These mechanisms require clarification in endometrial cancer. COX-2 expression was examined by immunohistochemistry and reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) in endometrial cancer, endometrial hyperplasia, and normal endometrium in various phases.