Cellular senescence is a mechanism that induces an irreversible growth arrest in all somatic cells. Senescent cells are metabolically active but lack the capacity to replicate. Evolutionary theories suggest that cellular senescence is related to the organismal decline occurring in aging organisms. Also, such theories describe senescence as an antagonistically pleiotropic process that can have beneficial or detrimental effect on the organism. Cellular senescence is believed to be involved in the cellular changes observed as aging progresses. Accumulation of senescent cells appears to occur widely as the organism ages. Furthermore, senescence is a key element of the tumor suppressor pathways. Therefore, it is part of the natural barrier against the uncontrolled proliferation observed in cellular development of malignancies in multicellular organisms. Activation of the senescence process guarantees a limited number of cellular replications. The genetic network led by p53 is responsible for activation of senescence in response to DNA damage and genomic instability that could lead to cancer. A better comprehension of the genetic networks that control the cell cycle and induce senescence is important to analyze the association of senescence to longevity and diseases related to aging. For these reasons, experimental research both
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This is an
Patients with advanced gastric adenocarcinoma who were untreated or had only received first-line chemotherapy, were treated with either paclitaxel (PFL; 175 mg/m2) or docetaxel (DFL; 75 mg/m2) on day 1, followed by a bolus of LV (20 mg/m2 days 1~3) and a 24-hour infusion of 5-FU (1,000 mg/m2 days 1~3) every 3 weeks. The primary endpoint was overall response rate (ORR) and the secondary endpoint included survival and toxicity.
Sixty-six patients received DFL (first-line [n=38]; and second-line [n=28]) and 60 patients received PFL (first-line [n=37]; and second-line [n=23]). The ORRs were not significantly different between the 2 groups (DFL, 26%; PFL, 38%). With a median follow-up of 9.5 months, the progression free survival was 5.2 months (95% confidence interval [CI], 4.2~6.5 months) for DFL and 3.3 months (95% CI, 1.3~5.5 months) for PFL (p=0.17). The overall survival was also comparable between the patients who received DFL and PFL (10.0 months [95% CI, 7.2~12.5 months] and 13.9 months [95% CI, 10.9~19.2 months], respectively; p=0.37). The most frequent grade 3~4 adverse event was neutropenia (DFL, 71%; PFL, 62%). DFL and PFL had different non-hematologic toxicities; specifically, grade ≥3 mucositis (5%) and diarrhea (3%) were common in DFL, while nausea/vomiting (15%) and peripheral neuropathy (5%) were common in PFL.
Thus, the two taxanes had similar efficacy in the treatment of advanced gastric cancer, but different toxicity profiles. Prospective comparative studies are required to further clarify the role of taxanes in the treatment of advanced gastric cancer.
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To determine whether the biopsy core number and time interval between prostate biopsy and radical prostatectomy affect the operative and oncologic outcome of robot assisted laparoscopic radical prostatectomy (RALP).
From January 2008 to April 2009, a single surgeon performed 72 RALPs after an initial learning period of 30 cases. The relationship between time from biopsy to prostatectomy and biopsy core number with operative time and estimated blood loss (EBL) were initially evaluated with a linear regression model. These patients were classified into groups according to whether the interval from biopsy to RALP was within four weeks or not, and whether there were less than or greater than 10 core specimens removed.
RALP was performed in 34 patients within four weeks of biopsy, and in 38 patients more than 4 weeks after biopsy. According to the number of core specimens removed, less than 10 cores were performed in 10 patients, and more than 10 cores were performed in 62 patients. Using an interval of 4 weeks as the cutoff point, early surgery was associated with longer operating time (232.6 vs 208.8 min) and increased estimated blood loss (305.1 vs 276.9 mL). For cases with more than 10 biopsy cores, there was a slight increase in operative time (229.2 vs 210.3 min). None of these differences were statistically significant by multivariate analysis.
Our data suggests that there is no reason to delay RALP to more than 4 weeks after prostate biopsy. It also revealed that the number of biopsy cores (up to 14) did not influence operative outcome. Thus, RALP is a feasible procedure regardless of the biopsy related prostate state.
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Serine-threonine kinase11 (
By direct sequencing, we first discovered three novel polymorphisms (-1,795 T>C, -981 C>T and -160 G>T) and four known polymorphisms (-1,580 C>T, -1,494 A>C, -881 A>G and -458 G>C) of the
We discovered three novel polymorphisms and we identified four known polymorphisms of the
This is the first study that's focused on the association of
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Although the vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) superfamily has been identified to critically influence tumor-related angiogenesis, the prognostic significance of a VEGF expression in gastric cancer is still controversial. Accordingly, the present study analyzed the VEGF-A and VEGF-C expressions and their impact on the prognosis of patients with gastric cancer.
Three hundred seventy-five consecutive patients who underwent surgical resection for gastric adenocarcinoma with a curative intent were enrolled in the present study. Immunohistochemical staining for VEGF-A and VEGF-C was performed using the formalin fixed, paraffin embedded tumor tissues.
Positive VEGF-A and VEGF-C expressions were observed in 337 (90.1%) and 278 (74.9%) cases, respectively. The survival analysis showed that the expression of VEGF-A and VEGF-C had no effect on the OS and DFS. On the multivariate analysis that included age, gender and the TNM stage, no significant association between the grade of the VEGF-A or VEGF-C expression and survival was observed.
The current study suggests that the tissue expression of VEGF-A or VEGF-C alone is not an independent prognostic marker for patients with surgically resected gastric adenocarcinoma.
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The
We analyzed exon 5 (A7 and A7) and exon 22 (A9 and A7) which have repeat sequences in 30 GC with high MSI (MSI-H), 15 GC with low MSI (MSI-L), 35 CRC with MSI-H, and 15 CRC with MSI-L, by single-strand conformation polymorphism (SSCP) and DNA sequencing assays.
Overall, we detected 23 frameshift mutations in the repeat sequences of
Our data indicate that frameshift mutations of
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Choriocarcinoma in the testis is very rare, and it represents less than 1% (0.3%) of all the testicular germ cell tumors. It is a particularly aggressive variant of non-seminoma tumor, which is characterized by a high serum β-HCG level and multiple lung metastases. The optimal management for this disease remains undefined. We report here on a case of choriocarcinoma with multiple lung metastases, and the patient has achieved continuous remission for 2 years after combination chemotherapy of BEP (bleomycin, etoposide and cisplatin) and sequential high-dose chemotherapy with autologous peripheral stem cell rescue.
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Desmoplastic small round cell tumor is a very rare malignancy. We report the case of a 26-year-old woman who suffered from dyspepsia and abdominal pain for 2 months. We performed an endoscopic biopsy of the duodenal mass and diagnosed her disease as desmoplastic small round cell tumor using immunohistochemical staining, fluorescence in situ hybridization, and reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction. Because the mass invaded the pancreas and superior mesenteric vein as well as duodenum and the disease was disseminated to liver and peritoneum, she received palliative chemotherapy using vincristine, doxorubicin, cyclophosphamide, ifosfamide, and etoposide. The maximal response to chemotherapy was stable disease. The patient expired 9 months after diagnosis.
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Pseudoaneurysm due to cancer is uncommon generally and is extremely rare in lung cancer. We report two cases of false aneurysms due to lung cancer that spontaneously regressed upon chemotherapy without intervention. Both patients had squamous cell carcinoma of the lung and the diagnosis of a pseudoaneurysm was made using computed tomography. There was no evidence of severe bronchial hemorrhage and the psuedoaneurysms were small and well-encased. Chemotherapy was performed and the pseudoaneurysms resolved.
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Chondroblastoma is a rare benign cartilaginous neoplasm that accounts for approximately 1% of all bone tumors and characteristically arises in the epiphysis of a long bone, particularly the humerus, tibia, and femur. Chondroblastoma can affect people of all ages. It is, however, most common in children and young adults between the ages of 10 and 20 years. Although most chondroblastomas are cured by limited surgical procedures, occasional lesions behave more aggressively and may even metastasis. In this case a young man with pulmonary metastatic chondroblastoma on spine is presented. Unlike previously published examples of metastatic chondroblastoma, these metastasis developed before any operative manipulation of the primary tumor. And primary tumor site was also unusual. The histologic characteristics of the primary, metastatic tumors were those of a conventional chondroblastoma.
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