Interleukin 10 expression is related to aggressiveness and poor prognosis of patients with thyroid cancer.

Most patients with thyroid cancer will evolve very well with current therapies. However, 10-30% of these patients will present recurrent disease and some of them will eventually die. IL-10 is an anti-inflammatory and immunosuppressive cytokine that can contribute to the immune escape of neoplastic cells.

Evaluation of prognostic factors in stage IIA breast tumors and their correlation with mortality risk.

Unlabelled: Breast tumors exhibit extensive molecular and clinical heterogeneity. One of the most utilized breast carcinoma classifications is based on its molecular aspects and subdivides breast cancer into five major groups based on the expression of certain genes. In this study, we evaluated which factors are important in determining a prognosis after 5 years of follow-up for patients with clinical stage IIA breast tumors.

Role of Fos-related antigen 1 in the progression and prognosis of ductal breast carcinoma.

Aims: Fos-related antigen 1 (Fra-1) is a member of the activator protein 1 (AP-1) transcription factor family. Our objective was to evaluate the role of Fra-1 expression in breast carcinoma progression and prognosis.

Methods And Results: Fra-1 expression was investigated by immunohistochemistry in two tissue microarrays containing, respectively, 85 ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) and 771 invasive ductal carcinoma (IDC) samples.

Correlation Between Anthropometric Measures and Biomarker Changes After Neoadjuvant Therapy With Tamoxifen or Anastrozole in Postmenopausal Women With Breast Cancer.

Background: Epidemiological studies have reported positive associations between anthropometric measures and risk for developing breast cancers that express hormone receptors and associated mortality. However, the impact of nutritional status on the molecular response to endocrine therapy has yet to be described.

Methods: Body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC), hip circumference (HP), and waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) were measured in patients with invasive ductal carcinoma (IDC) before and after neoadjuvant treatment with either tamoxifen or anastrozole, and a possible correlation with prognostic factors, as estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PgR), and proliferative index (Ki-67), was analyzed.

Platelet-activating factor receptor (PAF-R)-dependent pathways control tumour growth and tumour response to chemotherapy.

Background: Phagocytosis of apoptotic cells by macrophages induces a suppressor phenotype. Previous data from our group suggested that this occurs via Platelet-activating factor receptor (PAF-R)-mediated pathways. In the present study, we investigated the impact of apoptotic cell inoculation or induction by a chemotherapeutic agent (dacarbazine, DTIC) on tumour growth, microenvironmental parameters and survival, and the effect of treatment with a PAF-R antagonist (WEB2170).

Prion protein ablation increases cellular aggregation and embolization contributing to mechanisms of metastasis.

Cellular Prion Protein (PrP(C)) is a cell surface protein highly expressed in the nervous system, and to a lesser extent in other tissues. PrP(C) binds to the extracellular matrix laminin and vitronectin, to mediate cell adhesion and differentiation. Herein, we investigate how PrP(C) expression modulates the aggressiveness of transformed cells.

The expression of metaloproteinases-2 and -9 is different according to the patterns of growth and invasion in squamous cell carcinoma of the penis.

Squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) of the penis is characterized by different patterns of growth and local invasion. The matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) is a family of proteolytic enzymes that are involved in the degradation of extracellular matrix to allow the migration of tumor cells. The present study examined whether the expression of MMP-2 and -9 is correlated with the patterns of tumor growth and invasion in penile SCC.

Differential expression of apoptosis related proteins and nitric oxide synthases in Epstein Barr associated gastric carcinomas.

Aim: To determine the incidence of Epstein Barr virus associated gastric carcinoma (GC) in Brazil and compare the expressions of apoptosis related proteins and nitric oxide synthases between EBV positive and negative gastric carcinoma.

Methods: In situ hybridization of EBV-encoded small RNA-1 (EBER-1) and PCR was performed to identify the presence of EBV in GCs. Immunohistochemistry was used to identify expressions of bcl-2, bcl-xl, bak, bax, p53, NOS-1, NOS-2, and NOS-3 proteins in 25 EBV positive GCs and in 103 EBV negative GCS.

25(OH)D3 and 1,25(OH)2D3 serum concentration and breast tissue expression of 1alpha-hydroxylase, 24-hydroxylase and Vitamin D receptor in women with and without breast cancer.

1,25(OH)2D3 is an antiproliferative agent that may inhibit proliferation of breast cancer (BC) cells in vitro and BC development in animals. Epidemiological studies have shown a high incidence of BC in people less exposed to solar rays. To unravel the role of Vitamin D3 in BC patients, we have investigated serum levels of 25(OH)D3 and its active form 1,25(OH)2D3 as well as tissue expression of 1alpha-hydroxylase, 24-hydroxylase, and Vitamin D-receptor (VDR), determined by semiquantitative RT-PCR, in 88 Brazilian BC patients and 35 women without cancer (submitted to mammoplasties or resection of benign lesions).

Immunohistochemical assessment of mucosal cytokine profile in acetic acid experimental colitis.

Unlabelled: Experimental colitis induced by acetic acid has been used extensively as a model for intestinal inflammatory disease. Colonic tissue lesions of intestinal inflammatory disease patients seem to be related to the increased local production of pro-inflammatory cytokines (IL-1, IL-6, TNF-alpha, and IFN-gamma).

Purpose: To assess the cytokine expression pattern identified through immunohistochemistry in colonic mucosa after experimental colitis induced by acetic acid and establish the relationship between this pattern and the presence of macroscopic lesions.

[Cytokine participation in the acute rejection of intestinal transplantation in rats].

Background: Intestinal transplantation is a possible treatment for patients with short bowel syndrome, aiming the reintroduction of oral diet. However, the major obstacle in this procedure is the strong rejection. Delay in rejection diagnosis may be irreversible and lethal.

Vitamin D3 modulation of plasminogen activator inhibitor type-1 in human breast carcinomas under organ culture.

Urokinase plasminogen activator (uPA), its cell-bound receptor (uPAR) and its main inhibitor plasminogen activator type 1 (PAI-1) are present primarily in stromal cells in invasive breast carcinoma. The purpose of this study was to investigate the regulation by 1,25 dihydroxyvitamin-D3 (VD3) of these invasion-associated markers expressed in breast cancer tumors under organ culture, which preserves the interacting network of tumor and stromal cells. Breast carcinoma slices (30 cases), obtained using the Krumdieck tissue slicer, cultured for 48 h in the presence or absence of 100 nM vitamin D3, were embedded in formalin-fixed paraffin.