Micro RNAs (miRs) are small non-coding RNAs aberrantly expressed in human tumors. Here, we aim to identify miRs whose deregulated expression leads to the activation of oncogenic pathways in human ...gastric cancers (GCs). Thirty nine out of 123 tumoral and matched uninvolved peritumoral gastric specimens from three independent European subsets of patients were analyzed for the expression of 851 human miRs using Agilent Platform. The remaining 84 samples were used to validate miRs differentially expressed between tumoral and matched peritumoral specimens by qPCR. miR-204 falls into a group of eight miRs differentially expressed between tumoral and peritumoral samples. Downregulation of miR-204 has prognostic value and correlates with increased staining of Bcl-2 protein in tumoral specimens. Ectopic expression of miR-204 inhibited colony forming ability, migration and tumor engraftment of GC cells. miR-204 targeted Bcl-2 messenger RNA and increased responsiveness of GC cells to 5-fluorouracil and oxaliplatin treatment. Ectopic expression of Bcl-2 protein counteracted miR-204 pro-apoptotic activity in response to 5-fluorouracil. Altogether, these findings suggest that modulation of aberrant expression of miR-204, which in turn releases oncogenic Bcl-2 protein activity might hold promise for preventive and therapeutic strategies of GC.
We identified a discrete number of microRNAs differentially expressed in benign or malignant mesothelial tissues. We focused on mir-145 whose levels were significantly downregulated in malignant ...mesothelial tissues and malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) cell lines as compared to benign tissues (pleura, peritoneum or cysts). We show that promoter hyper-methylation caused very low levels in MPM cell lines and specimens. Treatment of MPM cell lines with mir-145 agonists negatively modulated some protumorigenic properties of MPM cells, such as clonogenicity, cell migration and resistance to pemetrexed treatment. The main effector mechanism of the clonogenic death induced by mir-145 was that of accelerated senescence. We found that mir-145 targeted OCT4 via specific binding to its 3'-UTR. Increased intracellular levels of mir-145 decreased the levels of OCT4 and its target gene ZEB1, thereby counteracting the increase of OCT4 induced by pemetrexed treatment which is known to favor the development of chemoresistant cells. In line with this, reintroduction of OCT4 into mimic-145 treated cells counteracted the effects on clonogenicity and replicative senescence. This further supports the relevance of the mir-145-OCT4 interaction for the survival of MPM cells. The potential use of mir-145 expression levels to classify benign vs malignant mesothelial tissues and the differences between pemetrexed-induced senescence and that induced by the re-expression of mir-145 are discussed.
Prostate cancer recurrence: can PSA guide imaging? Mapelli, P.; Panebianco, V.; Picchio, Maria
European journal of nuclear medicine and molecular imaging,
11/2015, Letnik:
42, Številka:
12
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
Although PSA still remains the first clinical weapon used to identify rprostate cancer recurrence, its fundamental application is to indicate the best imaging modality for a proper and accurate ...restaging of PCa patients and so to guide the choice of the most appropriate personalized treatment.
To identify similarities and differences between visual (VA) and automated assessment (AA) of systemic sclerosis-related interstitial lung disease (SSc-ILD) at chest computed tomography (CT) in terms ...of clinical applicability.
Medline, Embase, and Web of Science were searched to identify all studies investigating VA and AA for SSc-ILD assessment, from inception to 31 July 2022. Exclusion criteria were manuscripts not in English, absence of full-text, reviews, diseases other than ILD in SSc, CT not analysed with both VA and AA, VA and AA not adopted for the same purpose or not compared, overlap syndromes, SSc-ILD data not extractable, and studies with <10 patients.
Ten full-text studies (804 patients) were included. The most adopted VAs were the Warrick or Goh score (four studies each), while densitometry (eight studies) or lung texture analysis (LTA, two studies) were utilised as AAs. The main field of investigation was the correlation with baseline pulmonary function tests (PFT, six studies). Warrick VA showed lower correlations compared to densitometry, while Goh VA demonstrated more heterogeneous results. Compared to LTA, Goh VA obtained lower correlations with lung volumes but similar or stronger coefficients with alveolar diffusibility.
VA and AA may show heterogeneous results comparing their correlations with PFT, probably depending on the specific analysis adopted for each method. More data are needed on VA versus LTA. Comparisons between VA and AA regarding correlation with PFT follow-up and as prognostic elements, or for disease monitoring, are lacking. AAs in progressive fibrosis diagnosis remain to be tested.
•Chest CT Visual (VA) and Automated Assessments (AA) are both feasible in SSc-ILD.•Densitometry may show higher correlations with PFT than pure semiquantitative VA.•More data are needed to compare visual scores with texture analysis and radiomics.•VA and AA have to be compared in prognostic stratification and follow-up.•AA needs to be tested for progressive fibrosis diagnosis and monitoring.
Objectives
The purpose of this pictorial review is to present a wide spectrum of prostate multiparametric MRI (mp-MRI) pitfalls that may occur in clinical practice, with radiological and pathological ...correlation.
Methods
All examinations were performed according to ESUR Guidelines protocols.
Results and Conclusion
mp-MRI imaging of the prostate often leads to interpreting doubts and misdiagnosis due to the many interpretative pitfalls that a tissue, whether healthy or treated, may cause. These “false-positive” findings may occur in each stage of the disease history, from the primary diagnosis and staging, to the post-treatment stage, and whether they are caused by the tissue itself or are iatrogenic, their recognition is critical for proper treatment and management. Knowledge of these known pitfalls and their interpretation in the anatomical-radiological context can help radiologists avoid misdiagnosis and consequently mistreatment.
Main Messages
•
Some physiological changes in the peripheral and central zone may simulate prostate cancer
.
•
Technical errors
,
such as mispositioned endorectal coils
,
can affect the mp-MRI interpretation
.
•
Physiological changes post
-
treatment can simulate recurrence
Prostate-specific antigen (PSA) is currently the most widely used biomarker of prostate cancer (PCa). PSA suggests the presence of primary tumour and disease relapse after treatment, but it is not ...able to provide a clear distinction between locoregional and distant disease. Molecular and functional imaging, that are able to provide a detailed and comprehensive overview of PCa extension, are more reliable tools for primary tumour detection and disease extension assessment both in staging and restaging. In the present review we evaluate the role of PET/CT and MRI in the diagnosis, staging and restaging of PCa, and the use of these imaging modalities in prognosis, treatment planning and response assessment. Innovative imaging strategies including new radiotracers and hybrid scanners such as PET/MRI are also discussed.
Including a multi-year collection of samples (2004–2011) the present research fills 20 years of an information gap regarding the PCB burden in south-west Atlantic franciscana dolphins (Pontoporia ...blainvillei) while aiming to test the null hypothesis that PCBs congeners are increasingly bioaccumulating in south-west Atlantic specimens in relation to northern hemisphere records. In addition, the present survey analyses indicators of potential biological impairment associated to PCBs tissue burden. The results could associate each sampling area group of dolphins to one or two Aroclor® patterns and point to dominant regional diffuse sources entering PCBs mixtures to the marine environment with a possible regional/long-range atmospheric contribution. In addition, total PCB levels were from four to seven times lower than the closer precedents for the area (18–26 years ago) indicating a progress in the environmental release and biota exposure of PCBs and posing an objective indicator of success of the present international elimination programme. Further, when compared with regional and global bioaccumulation patterns, PCBs congeners in Argentinean specimens appeared to occur in a decreasing tendency. Finally, calculated TEQs TCDD levels raised a concern in regards to environmental safety, showing guideline values to be widely exceeded and the occasional occurrence of positive correlations between PCBs bioaccumulation vs. sexual immaturity.
The ovaries of 31 franciscana dolphins (19 immature and 12 mature) by-caught in coastal waters of Argentina were examined to describe the reproductive biology. No ovarian polarity was found, both ...ovaries were functional and showed similar amounts of corpora. A positive trend was observed between the number of corpora and age (3–8 years old), indicating that ovulation scars are detectable for at least 4 years, and a ovulation rate of 0.39 was found for the sampled population. Age, length and weight at sexual maturity were estimated at 3.92 ± 0.09 years, 133.47 ± 11.11 cm and 32.68 ± 2.72 kg, respectively. The annual pregnancy rate was 0.36 ± 0.02 (95% CI = 0.10–0.65). The proportion of lactating and resting females found were 0.25 and 0.33 respectively. These outcomes constitute the first reproductive and life history information on franciscana dolphins from the southernmost population and are important in relation with adequate conservation management plans for this small cetacean.
The aim of this study was to evaluate the accuracy of unenhanced whole-body MRI, including whole-body Diffusion Weighted Imaging (DWI), used as a diagnostic modality to detect pathologic lymph nodes ...and skeletal metastases in patients with prostate cancer (PCa) undergoing restaging after primary treatment.
152 male patients with biochemical recurrence after radical prostatectomy (RP) or external beam radiation therapy (EBRT) underwent MRI at a 1.5 Tesla magnet with whole spinal sagittal T2-weighted, sagittal T1-weighted, sagittal STIR images, axial T1 and T2-weighted and STIR images of the pelvis and whole-body. 18Fcholine-PET/CT exam was used as the reference standard.
MRI protocol including whole-body combined T1-weighted+T2-weighted+STIR+DWI showed a sensitivity (Se) of 99%, a specificity (Spe) of 98%, a positive predictive value (PPV) of 98%, a negative predictive value (NPV) of 96%, an accuracy of 98% and an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) of 0.971 for identification of bone metastatic lesion. The same protocol, displayed a Se of 98%, a Spe of 99%, a PPV of 97%, a NPV of 98%, an accuracy of 98 % and an AUC of 0.960 in the detection of pathologic lymph nodes.
Unenhanced whole-body MRI, including whole-body-DWI, is an accurate and cost-effective diagnostic tool which is able to detect lymph node involvement and bone metastases in patients with biochemically recurrent PCa after RP or EBRT. Thanks to its lack of ionizing radiation, excellent soft tissue contrast, high spatial resolution, no need of contrast agent, high Se and Spe, it could play a role in the restaging procedure of such patients.
The evaluation and management of prostate cancer (PCa) are based mainly on parameters such as the serum prostate-specific antigen level, clinical stage, and pathologic findings at biopsy or after ...surgery. The aim of this paper was to review the current roles of conventional imaging and multiparametric magnetic resonance imaging (mpMRI) techniques in the diagnosis of PCa. A non systematic literature search using the Medline and Cochrane Library databases was performed up to January 2012. Bibliographies of retrieved articles and review articles were also examined. Only those articles reporting complete data with clinical relevance for the present review (i.e., diagnosis, staging) were selected. The advent of a high performance (1.5T) and higher fields strength (3T), and thus, higher spatial resolution, increased the potentiality and the diffusion of MR examinations. Intense research has focused on the use of complementary techniques to improve the detection, characterization, and staging of PCa by MRI. This review article is divided into two major parts: the first one considers the technical aspects of mpMRI; the second part is intended to provide the impact of this technique on patients with PCa. Published data indicate an emerging role for MRI (particularly mpMRI combining T2 weighted imaging, diffusion weighted imaging, contrast enhanced MR, and spectroscopy) as the most sensitive and specific tool available for imaging PCa. MpMRI can provide metabolic information, characterize tissue and tumor vascularity, as well as tissue cellularity and correlate with tumor aggressiveness.
PDF
