Clinical relevance of breast cancer-related genes as potential biomarkers for oral squamous cell carcinoma.

Background: Squamous cell carcinoma of the oral cavity (OSCC) is a common cancer form with relatively low 5-year survival rates, due partially to late detection and lack of complementary molecular markers as targets for treatment. Molecular profiling of head and neck cancer has revealed biological similarities with basal-like breast and lung carcinoma. Recently, we showed that 16 genes were consistently altered in invasive breast tumors displaying varying degrees of aggressiveness.

Additive effect of the AZGP1, PIP, S100A8 and UBE2C molecular biomarkers improves outcome prediction in breast carcinoma.

The deregulation of key cellular pathways is fundamental for the survival and expansion of neoplastic cells, which in turn can have a detrimental effect on patient outcome. To develop effective individualized cancer therapies, we need to have a better understanding of which cellular pathways are perturbed in a genetically defined subgroup of patients. Here, we validate the prognostic value of a 13-marker signature in independent gene expression microarray datasets (n = 1,141) and immunohistochemistry with full-faced FFPE samples (n = 71).

Replacement of a tracheal stenosis with a tissue-engineered human trachea using autologous stem cells: a case report.

Cell-based therapies involving tissue engineering represent interesting and potentially important strategies for the treatment of patients with various disorders. In this study, using a detergent-enzymatic method, we prepared an intact three-dimensional scaffold of an extracellular matrix derived from a human cadaver donor trachea, which we repopulated with autologous stem cells and implanted into a 76-year-old patient with tracheal stenosis including the lower part of the larynx. Although the graft provided the patient with an open airway, a week after the surgery, the mucous membrane of the graft was covered by a 1-2 mm thick fungal infection, which was treated with local and systemic antifungal therapy.

High levels of γ-glutamyl hydrolase (GGH) are associated with poor prognosis and unfavorable clinical outcomes in invasive breast cancer.

Background: Previously, we performed analysis of gene expression in 46 axillary lymph node negative tumors and identified molecular gene signatures that resulted in different clinical outcomes. The aim of this study was to determine the correlation of γ-glutamyl hydrolase (GGH), fatty acid amide hydrolase (FAAH), Pirin (PIR) and TAF5-like RNA polymerase II, p300/CBP-associated factor (PCAF)-associated factor, 65 kDa (TAF5L), selected from identified gene signatures, with clinical outcomes as well as classical clinicopathological characteristics in primary invasive breast cancer patients.

Methods: The protein levels of GGH, FAAH, PIR and TAF5L were assessed by immunohistochemistry (IHC) on a panel of 80 primary invasive breast tumors.

Elevated cyclin B2 expression in invasive breast carcinoma is associated with unfavorable clinical outcome.

Background: Breast cancer is a potentially fatal malignancy in females despite the improvement in therapeutic techniques. The identification of novel molecular signatures is needed for earlier detection, monitoring effects of treatment, and predicting prognosis. We have previously used microarray analysis to identify differentially expressed genes in aggressive breast tumors.

Endogenously oxidized mitochondrial DNA induces in vivo and in vitro inflammatory responses.

We report that mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) is inflammatogenic in vitro and in vivo as a result of the presence of unmethylated CpG sequences and its oxidative status. Purified human and murine mtDNAs induced arthritis when injected intra-articularly (i.a.

Extracellular mitochondrial DNA and oxidatively damaged DNA in synovial fluid of patients with rheumatoid arthritis.

We investigated whether plasma and synovial fluid (SF) samples from patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) contained extracellular mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) or the oxidatively damaged DNA adduct 8-hydroxy-2'-deoxyguanosine (8-oxodG). Moreover, we correlated the laboratory findings of the patients with RA with their levels of mtDNA and 8-oxodG. SF and plasma samples from 54 patients with RA, SF from 30 non-arthritic control subjects, and plasma from 22 healthy volunteers were collected.