Prognostic significance of matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) in epithelial ovarian cancer.

Objective: We investigated the expression of matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) and its relation to clinicopathologic factors and survival and also to previously analyzed expressions of CD44 and hyaluronan in epithelial ovarian cancer.

Methods: The expression of MMP-9 was analyzed immunohistochemically in 292 primary tumors and their 31 metastases.

Results: A low proportion of strong MMP-9 expression in cancer cells and high stromal MMP-9 expression correlated with advanced stage of the tumor (p=0.

Prognostic significance of matrix metalloproteinase-7 in epithelial ovarian cancer and its relation to beta-catenin expression.

We investigated the expression and prognostic significance of matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) -7, its relation to beta-catenin expression and clinicopathological factors in epithelial ovarian cancer. The expression of MMP-7 was analyzed immunohistochemically in a series of 284 primary epithelial ovarian cancers, their 36 metastases and 8 normal ovaries. In cancers with endometrioid histology, a high percentage area of MMP-7 expression and an intense MMP-7 signal was significantly associated with nuclear positivity of beta-catenin in cancer cells (p = 0.

CD44 expression and its relationship with MMP-9, clinicopathological factors and survival in oral squamous cell carcinoma.

We investigated the expression of CD44 and MMP-9 in primary oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) and evaluated their association with each other and clinicopathological factors as well as their prognostic value during long term follow up. Histological samples from 138 OSCC patients were immunohistochemically stained for the expression of CD44 and MMP-9. The staining results were compared with conventional prognostic factors and their impacts to patients' prognosis were also studied with survival analyses.

High stromal versican expression predicts unfavourable outcome in oral squamous cell carcinoma.

Background: Versican, an extracellular matrix proteoglycan, has been noted to be expressed in several malignant tumours and has been suggested to play an important role in cancer development and tumour growth.

Aims: To investigate whether the versican expression level in the peritumoural stromal tissue of primary oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) predicts relapse-free or disease-specific survival. Also, to study the associations between versican expression and several other clinicopathological variables, as well as tumour cell proliferation.

A highly reproducible xenograft model for human ovarian carcinoma and application of MRI and ultrasound in longitudinal follow-up.

Objective: Typically, human ovarian cancer is widely disseminated at the time of diagnosis and shows extremely poor prognosis. Experimental animal models that mimic human ovarian cancer are often incomplete when compared to the full spectrum of the human disease with regard to its histological hallmarks such as the spread of carcinoma, its ability to seed the peritoneal cavity and formation of ascites. We have established and characterized a new animal model for human ovarian cancer in nude mouse.

Prognostic significance of E-cadherin-catenin complex in epithelial ovarian cancer.

Objective: To clarify the prognostic role of E-cadherin and beta- and gamma-catenins, and their relation to CD44 in epithelial ovarian carcinoma.

Methods: The expression of E-cadherin and beta- and gamma-catenins was analysed immunohistochemically in 305 primary epithelial ovarian cancers and 44 metastases, and related to CD44 expression, clinicopathological factors, and the patients' survival.

Results: Reduced cell surface expression of E-cadherin, beta-catenin, and gamma-catenin was particularly frequent in serous and endometrioid histological types.

Expression of matrix metalloproteinases 7 and 9 in non-small cell lung cancer. Relation to clinicopathological factors, beta-catenin and prognosis.

Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) have been shown to have a significant role in determining cancer cell behaviour. The present study was undertaken to analyze the expression and prognostic value of MMP-7 and MMP-9 in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The relationship of MMP-7 with beta-catenin was also evaluated.

Versican in nonsmall cell lung cancer: relation to hyaluronan, clinicopathologic factors, and prognosis.

The aim of the study was to investigate the expression and prognostic role of versican in 212 patients with resected nonsmall cell lung cancer. Tumor samples were stained immunohistochemically, and the versican staining was evaluated both in tumor stroma and cancer cells. The staining results were compared to the clinical data of the patients, the tumor cell proliferation, and the expression of hyaluronan.

Expression of matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-2 and MMP-9 in breast cancer with a special reference to activator protein-2, HER2, and prognosis.

Purpose: In the present study, we investigated the expression and prognostic value of matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-2 and MMP-9 in breast cancer as well as their relation to transcription factor activator protein (AP)-2 and HER2 oncogene. The role of invasion and metastasis-promoting MMPs and their potential regulators, AP-2 and HER2, is currently still unclear in breast cancer.

Experimental Design: MMP-2 and MMP-9 expressions were analyzed immunohistochemically in a large prospective series of 421 breast cancer patients diagnosed and treated between 1990 and 1995 at Kuopio University Hospital (Kuopio, Finland).

Expression of HER2 and its association with AP-2 in breast cancer.

The aim of the study was to investigate the relationship between the expression of human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) and activator protein 2 (AP-2), as well as the prognostic significance of HER2 in breast cancer. HER2 and AP-2 expressions were immunohistochemically (IHC) analysed in a large prospective, consecutive series of 425 breast cancer patients diagnosed and treated between 1990 and 1995 at the Kuopio University Hospital, Kuopio, Finland. In a subset of patients (n = 71), the gene amplification status was examined by using a chromogenic in situ hybridisation (CISH) analysis.

Reduced expression of hyaluronan is a strong indicator of poor survival in oral squamous cell carcinoma.

Several malignant tumours accumulate hyaluronan (HA), a matrix component suggested to promote cancer cell growth and migration. The expression and prognostic value of HA was analysed in a cohort of 151 oral squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) patients with adequate archival tumour material and follow-up data. The tumour samples were stained using a biotinylated HA-specific probe.

p21WAF1 expression in invasive breast cancer and its association with p53, AP-2, cell proliferation, and prognosis.

Aims: To evaluate the expression and prognostic relevance of p21(WAF1) in breast cancer and to investigate its association with p53, activator protein 2 (AP-2), and cell proliferation (as assessed by Ki-67 expression).

Methods: p21(WAF1) expression was analysed immunohistochemically in a large prospective, consecutive series of 420 patients with breast cancer diagnosed and treated between 1990 and 1995 at Kuopio University Hospital, Kuopio, Finland. Inter-relations between p21(WAF1) expression and p53, AP-2, and Ki-67 were evaluated.

Castleman's disease of the leptomeninges--immunohistochemical findings in 2 cases.

Objective: Castleman's disease is an uncommon benign lymphoproliferative disorder that arises in lymph nodes. Few cases of Castleman's disease affecting the central nervous system have been described.

Case History: We report 2 new cases of Castleman's disease confined solely to the leptomeninges.

Elevated hyaluronan concentration without hyaluronidase activation in malignant epithelial ovarian tumors.

The concentration and histological distribution of hyaluronan, a tumor promoting extracellular matrix polysaccharide, and the activity of hyaluronidase, a potential source of angiogenic hyaluronan oligosaccharides, were analyzed in malignant epithelial (n = 24), borderline (n = 8), benign epithelial (n = 20), functional cyst (n = 21), and normal (n = 5) tissue samples of human ovary. Hyaluronan concentration increased specifically in cancers (P = 0.001), particularly in grade 3 tumors (>49-fold) and in metastases (>89-fold).

Reduced nuclear expression of transcription factor AP-2 associates with aggressive breast cancer.

Purpose: We proposed to investigate the expression and prognostic significance of activator protein 2 (AP-2) in breast cancer.

Experimental Design: AP-2 was immunohistochemically analyzed in a prospective, consecutive series of 420 breast cancer patients diagnosed and treated between 1990 and 1995 at Kuopio University Hospital, Kuopio, Finland. AP-2 expression was further compared with clinicopathological parameters and patients' survival.

Expression of transcription factor AP-2 in colorectal adenomas and adenocarcinomas; comparison of immunohistochemistry and in situ hybridisation.

Aims: To investigate whether the three different AP-2 isoforms are expressed differently in colorectal adenomas and carcinomas.

Methods: The study comprised 43 randomly selected patients diagnosed and treated at Kuopio University Hospital in 1996 for colorectal adenocarcinoma (n = 30) and colorectal adenoma (n = 13). The expression of AP-2alpha, AP-2beta, and AP-2gamma was analysed by immunohistochemistry (IHC) and the mRNA status of AP-2alpha was determined by in situ hybridisation (ISH) and confirmed by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR).

Expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase in colorectal cancer and its association with prognosis.

Background: The expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) has been reported to be altered in a number of tumours, but its role in tumour biology is still unclear.

Methods: iNOS was studied in a series of 157 colorectal carcinoma patients and its relation to tumour grade, stage, cell cycle regulators, cell proliferation as well as survival was assessed.

Results: iNOS intensity was moderate or intense in 37% of the tumours.

A case of sudden death caused by fibromuscular dysplasia.

After sudden unexpected death in a previously healthy 42 year old woman, necropsy examination showed myocardial infarction caused by occlusion of a vital coronary artery by fibromuscular dysplasia. This is a rare arterial disease with a clinical onset usually in the third or fourth decades of life. The aetiology is not fully understood but since it affects vital (cerebral and coronary) blood vessels it often has fatal consequences.

p22/WAF1 expression in human colorectal carcinoma: association with p53, transcription factor AP-2 and prognosis.

p21/WAF1 expression was studied in a series of 162 colorectal carcinoma patients and its relation to p53- and activator protein (AP)-2 expressions and to stage as well as survival was assessed. p21 expression was moderate or intense in 33% of the tumours, and 53% of the tumours had moderate or strong p53 staining intensity. Eighty-nine percent of the tumours showed a weak cytoplasmic AP-2 signal.

Reduced expression of alpha catenin is associated with poor prognosis in colorectal carcinoma.

Aims: To investigate alpha catenin expression in surgically resected human colorectal cancers to evaluate its prognostic value during long term follow up.

Methods: Immunohistochemistry was used to compare the expression of alpha catenin with conventional prognostic factors in 187 colorectal cancer patients treated in Kuopio University Hospital and followed up for a mean of 14 years. The hypothesis that the intensity of expression of alpha catenin and its distribution in cancer cells is correlated with survival was tested with the long-rank test, hazard ratios, and their confidence intervals.

Expression of CD44 and variant proteins in human colorectal cancer and its relevance for prognosis.

Background: CD44 is a cell adhesion molecule often expressed in the form of various splice variants. The role of standard CD44 isoform (CD44s) and its variants in colorectal carcinogenesis is partly conflicting. Therefore, we compared the expression of CD44s (hermes-3) and its splice variants (v3 and v6) with traditional prognostic factors in 194 colorectal cancer patients treated at Kuopio University Hospital and followed up for a mean of 14 years.

Tumor cell-associated hyaluronan as an unfavorable prognostic factor in colorectal cancer.

Hyaluronan (HA) is a linear high molecular weight extracellular polysaccharide. It is thought to be involved in mitosis and the enhancement of wound healing, tumor invasion, and metastasis. Because its clinical relevance in cancer has not been explored, we scored HA in colorectal adenocarcinoma and studied its relationship with patient survival.

Prognostic value of tumour-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) in colorectal cancer.

Clinical follow-up data of 276 colorectal adenocarcinoma patients treated in Kuopio University Hospital between 1976 and 1986 and followed up for a mean of 14 years were analysed. The clinical findings were correlated with tumour-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) and with histological and quantitative factors including nuclear parameters and volume-corrected mitotic index. In univariate survival analysis, TNM classification, Dukes' stage, histological grade, and TILs were significant predictors of survival.

Comparison of classic and quantitative prognostic factors in colorectal cancer.

Despite the many pathologic and clinical variables shown to influence survival rates in patients with colorectal cancer, the prediction of outcome after curative resection is still not completely reliable. Dukes-classification has been historically the strongest prognostic indicator and the most frequently employed method. In this study our aim was to search for significant independent histological and morphometric factors that could possibly be used in predicting the outcome of different stages of colorectal cancer.