The hERG1 Potassium Channel Behaves As Prognostic Factor In Gastric Dysplasia Endoscopic Samples.

Purpose: Gastric cancer (GC) is still a relevant health issue worldwide. The identification of prognostic factors for progression of gastric dysplasia (GD), the main pre-cancerous lesion of the intestinal-type GC, is hence mandatory.

Patients And Methods: A cohort of 83 GD endoscopic samples belonging to Italian subjects was collected.

Gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST): a proposal of a "CT-based predictive model of Miettinen index" in predicting the risk of malignancy.

Purpose: To identify the predictors of malignancy on CT for the evaluation of gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST) by correlating CT findings with the mitotic index in order to propose a "CT-based predictive model of Miettinen index."

Methods: One radiologist and one resident in radiology with 14- and 4-year experience in oncological field reviewed the CT findings of 42 patients by consensus, with respect to lesion site, size, contour, tumor growth pattern, enhancing pattern, degree of enhancement of tumor, percentage of tumor necrosis, mesenteric fat infiltration, ulceration, calcification, regional lymphadenopathy, direct invasion to adjacent organs, and distant metastasis. All parameters were correlated with the mitotic index evaluated at histopathological analysis following surgery.

Childhood infectious diseases and risk of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma according to the WHO classification: A reanalysis of the Italian multicenter case-control study.

Since 1960, incidence of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) has been increasing in most industrialized countries, but causes of this trend remain unclear. A role of the decreased exposure to infectious agents during childhood has been proposed. Our study evaluates the association between common childhood infectious diseases and the risk of NHL and its major subtypes by a reanalysis of the Italian multicenter case-control study.

MICAL2 is expressed in cancer associated neo-angiogenic capillary endothelia and it is required for endothelial cell viability, motility and VEGF response.

The capacity of inducing angiogenesis is a recognized hallmark of cancer cells. The cancer microenvironment, characterized by hypoxia and inflammatory signals, promotes proliferation, migration and activation of quiescent endothelial cells (EC) from surrounding vascular network. Current anti-angiogenic drugs present side effects, temporary efficacy, and issues of primary resistance, thereby calling for the identification of new therapeutic targets.

Familial aggregation of gastric cancer with microsatellite instability.

Background: Microsatellite instability (MSI) is currently a new molecular subtype of gastric cancer (GC). About 90% of GC cases appear sporadically. MSI seems to be responsible for both sporadic and familial GC.

PIK3CA mutation in gastric cancer and the role of microsatellite instability status in mutations of exons 9 and 20 of the PIK3CA gene.

Background: A better understanding of molecular gastric cancer (GC) entities may help in tailored treatments of that neoplasm. The PIK3CA mutation is one of the most important in many cancers.

Objectives: We performed a comparison of clinical and pathological data of the PIK3CA mutation in GC patients.

Childhood infectious diseases and risk of multiple myeloma: an analysis of the Italian multicentre case-control study.

Common childhood infectious diseases have been associated with a reduced risk of following haematopoietic malignancies, but investigations on multiple myeloma (MM) are scarce. Information about 213 MM cases and 1128 healthy controls were obtained from a multicentre population-based Italian case-control study. The association between chickenpox, measles, mumps, pertussis and rubella and the MM risk was estimated by unconditional logistic regression, adjusting for age, gender and residence area.

An aggressive early gastric cancer: Kodama's PenA type.

Background: To investigate the role of Kodama PenA subtype in influencing survival in patients with early gastric cancer (EGC).

Methods: All patients surgically treated for EGC at 7 Italian centers (Forlì, Varese, Siena, Verona, Milan, Rome and Perugia) belonging to the Italian Research Group for Gastric Cancer (GIRCG) from January 1982 and December 2009 were included.

Results: PenA patients were 230 (21.

Early Gastric Cancer: Clinical Behavior and Treatment Options. Results of an Italian Multicenter Study on Behalf of the Italian Gastric Cancer Research Group (GIRCG).

Background: Early gastric cancer (EGC) generally has a good prognosis. However, the current definition of EGC includes various subgroups of patients with different pathological characteristics and different prognoses, some of whom have aggressive disease with a biological behavior similar to that of advanced carcinoma.

Materials And Methods: We retrospectively evaluated 1,074 patients with EGC who had undergone surgery between 1982 and 2009.

The Role of Microsatellite Instability in Positive Margin Gastric Cancer Patients.

Purpose: A positive resection margin (RM+) is acknowledged as a poor prognostic factor after gastrectomy. Microsatellite instability (MSI-H) gastric cancer has been identified as a subgroup of gastric cancer that may be associated with an improved prognosis. The aim of the study was an analysis of MSI status on patients with margin involvement after gastrectomy and examination of the association between MSI, margin status, and survival outcomes.

Recurrence in node-negative advanced gastric cancer: Novel findings from an in-depth pathological analysis of prognostic factors from a multicentric series.

Aim: To analyze the clinicopathological characteristics of patients with both node-negative gastric carcinoma and diagnosis of recurrence during follow-up.

Methods: We enrolled 41 patients treated with curative gastrectomy for pT2-4aN0 gastric carcinoma between 1992 and 2010, who developed recurrence (Group 1). We retrospectively selected this group from the prospectively collected database of 4 centers belonging to the Italian Research Group for Gastric Cancer, and compared them with 437 pT2-4aN0 patients without recurrence (Group 2).

High-mobility group box protein 1 expression in inflammatory diseases of the middle ear.

High-mobility group box 1 (HMGB1) is a nuclear non-histone protein, playing a critical role as a mediator between innate and acquired immunity; when released extracellularly, it coordinates the cellular stress response (under necrosis, bacterial lipopolysaccharide stimulation) and acts as an inflammatory marker and cytokine. The aim of the study was to demonstrate whether HMGB1 is over-expressed in chronic middle-ear pathologies and whether the entity of expression and the localization are correlated with the degree of the inflammatory reaction, thus suggesting that HMGB1 may play a crucial role in chronic inflammatory disorders of the middle ear, as already demonstrated in other airway diseases. We analyzed 30 samples of middle-ear mucosa in patients affected by chronic suppurative otitis media with ear drum perforation with/without cholesteatoma and otosclerosis as control.

Prognostic Value of Perineural Invasion in Resected Gastric Cancer Patients According to Lauren Histotype.

The purpose of this study is to investigate perineural invasion (PNI) as a prognostic factor in gastric cancer patients. 455 patients submitted to extended (D2 or more) lymphadenectomy (median number of 39 retrieved lymph nodes, range: 15-140) between 1995 and 2012 were retrospectively studied. Patients were categorized in two groups according to the PNI status, and PNI positivity was assessed in presence of cancer cells in the perinerium or the neural fascicles using hematoxylin and eosin staining.

Single Center Experience on Anatomy-and Histopathology-Based Gastric Cancer Molecular Classification.

We analyzed the clinical utility of molecular classification based on anatomical and histological background. The study was conducted on 457 patients treated for gastric cancer with additional information about microsatellite instability status. We divided the patients in three groups of molecular classification based on anatomical and histological background: proximal non-diffused, diffused, and distal non-diffused groups.

hERG1 behaves as biomarker of progression to adenocarcinoma in Barrett's esophagus and can be exploited for a novel endoscopic surveillance.

Barrett's esophagus (BE) is the only well-known precursor lesion of esophageal adenocarcinoma (EA). The exact estimates of the annual progression rate from BE to EA vary from 0.07% to 3.

Gastric GISTs: Analysis of c-Kit, PDGFRA and BRAF mutations in relation to prognosis and clinical pathological characteristics of patients - A GIRCG study.

Background: Gastric gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs) represent a subgroup of GISTs with a better prognosis than those located in other areas. In this retrospective study we performed a molecular characterization of a large series of patients with gastric GISTs in relation to clinical-pathological characteristics and prognosis.

Methods: DNA was extracted from paraffin-embedded sections from 221 gastric GIST patients submitted to surgery.

The Italian Research Group for Gastric Cancer (GIRCG) guidelines for gastric cancer staging and treatment: 2015.

This article reports the guidelines for gastric cancer staging and treatment developed by the GIRCG, and contains comprehensive indications for clinical management, including radiological, endoscopic, surgical, pathological, and oncological paths.

High-risk and low-risk gastric cancer areas in Italy and its association with microsatellite instability.

Purpose: The different pathological characteristics and prognoses between gastric cancer patients coming from high-risk (group A) and low-risk (group B) areas of Italy were analyzed. We investigated a suspected difference in microsatellite instability (MSI) between these two groups.

Methods: MSI analyses of 452 gastric cancer patients were performed using five quasimonomorphic mononucleotide repeats NR-21, NR-24, NR-27, BAT-25, and BAT-26.

Reperfusion in non-occlusive mesenteric ischaemia (NOMI): effectiveness of CT in an emergency setting.

Objective: To investigate the CT features of reperfusion (presence/absence) in non-occlusive mesenteric ischaemia (NOMI) and their prognostic value in an emergency setting.

Methods: A revision was undertaken of imaging from 20 patients (16 males/4 females) with a dismissal summary of NOMI. All patients had previously undergone a minimum of one multidetector CT examination, and consequently underwent surgery (n = 8), autopsy (n = 2), angiography (n = 1) or endoscopy (n = 9).

MICAL2 is a novel human cancer gene controlling mesenchymal to epithelial transition involved in cancer growth and invasion.

The MICAL (Molecules Interacting with CasL) proteins catalyze actin oxidation-reduction reactions destabilizing F-actin in cytoskeletal dynamics. Here we show for the first time that MICAL2 mRNA is significantly over-expressed in aggressive, poorly differentiated/undifferentiated, primary human epithelial cancers (gastric and renal). Immunohistochemistry showed MICAL2-positive cells on the cancer invasive front and in metastasizing cancer cells inside emboli, but not at sites of metastasis, suggesting MICAL2 expression was 'on' in a subpopulation of primary cancer cells seemingly detaching from the tissue of origin, enter emboli and travel to distant sites, and was turned 'off' upon homing at metastatic sites.

Strong Prognostic Value of Microsatellite Instability in Intestinal Type Non-cardia Gastric Cancer.

Background: The clinical role of microsatellite instability (MSI) in gastric cancer (GC) is controversial. A large series of patients submitted to respective surgery for primary GC with a long follow-up time was evaluated.

Methods: 472 patients with prospectively collected frozen samples of normal mucosa and tumor tissue stored in a biological tissue bank were included.

A look into the evolution of Epstein-Barr virus-induced lymphoproliferative disorders: a case study.

Objectives: Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)-induced lymphoproliferative disorders (LPDs) are lymphoid proliferations arising as a result of the loss of an effective EBV-specific cytotoxic T-cell response. LPDs may occur for primary or acquired impairment of the immune system, as well as in some persons without documented immunodeficiency.

Methods: In this article, we describe the case of a human immunodeficiency virus-positive patient affected by an EBV-LPD of the stomach who developed a nodal diffuse large B-cell lymphoma with complex morphologic and molecular features.

Histological variety of gastric carcinoma and Helicobacter pylori cagA and vacA polymorphism.

Background: Helicobacter pylori infection may increase the risk of both histotypes of gastric carcinoma (GC): intestinal (IGC) and diffuse (DGC). Polymorphism of the main H. pylori virulence factors, cagA and vacA, could have a different impact on the histological variety of GC.

Assessment of a Test for the Screening and Diagnosis of Celiac Disease.

Background: Celiac disease (CD) is an immune-mediated intolerance to dietary gluten, affecting genetically predisposed individuals. ELISA-based serological tests help to decide if further duodenal biopsy is necessary, for this the diagnostic kits have to be accurate, specific, and sensible. In this study, we investigate the performance of an ELISA that uses the purified cross-linked complex of tissue transglutaminase and gliadin, referred as the "neoepitope" (AESKULISA® tTG New Generation), as antigen.