The molecular biology of cancer: the basics

Cancer is the second most common cause of death in the ‘developed’ world; only cardiovascular disease mortality exceeds that of malignancy. The last two decades have seen enormous advances in our understanding of the cellular and molecular basis of malignancy, its initiation, promotion and progression. There is no single molecular cause of cancer, and for each different cancer type, many genes are involved.     

数字骨科学:一门骨科学新分支的萌生

美国可视人计划（1989）的出现推动了数字人和医学图像研究的进程。数字人研究是现代计算机信息技术与医学等学科相互结合的前沿性交叉项目，对科技发展有着深远意义。数字化技术可以利用动态三维图像对传统二维医学图像进行补充，用连续断层图像进行三维重建，可以精确地显示生物组织复杂的三维结构，并可进行任意旋转、剖切等观察和操作，可以对重建的三维结构进行测量获得长度、面积、     

Molecular biology: an overview.

An overview of molecular biology is presented for the practicing surgeon. Definitions of the constructs and activity of DNA, RNA, and protein synthesis are defined. These principles are illustrated in their use in recombinant DNA technologies. A glossary is provided for the terms utilized.     

Oligodendroglioma: pathology and molecular biology

BACKGROUND: Recently, important new information has become available concerning the histologic recognition and molecular biology of oligodendrogliomas. This information, in turn, impacts the way neurosurgeons diagnose and treat patients with these tumors. The purpose of this paper is to review the pathology and basic science of oligodendroglioma, highlighting these developments. METHODS: Information for this review was obtained by a Medline search using the term "oligodendroglioma," and limiting the results to articles dealing with pathology. Chapters from standard textbooks were also used, and bibliographies were checked for additional key articles contributing to the understanding of the pathobiology of this disease. RESULTS: On histologic examination, oligodendrogliomas must be differentiated from tumors including the fibrillary astrocytoma, clear cell ependymoma, central neurocytoma, and dysembryoplastic neuroepithelial tumor (DNT). There is no specific immunocytochemical marker allowing for the recognition of human oligodendroglial tumor cells. A current simplified grading scheme separates these tumors into low grade (WHO grade II) and anaplastic (WHO grade III) oligodendrogliomas. New molecular and genetic markers may aid in grading oligodendrogliomas and identifying patients with a better prognosis or response to chemotherapy. Markers studied include Ki-67, PCNA, EGFr, VEGF, platelet-derived growth factor, p16, p18, p53, bcl-2, COX-1, and chromosomal deletions. The combination of allelic losses on chromosomes 1p and 19q has been statistically associated with a longer recurrence-free survival after chemotherapy. CONCLUSIONS: A patient with an oligodendroglioma may at times still present a diagnostic challenge for the neuropathologist. Yet making an accurate diagnosis is essential, since the clinical course and optimal therapeutic approach differs from that of other gliomas. In the near future, molecular characterization of oligodendrogliomas is expected to play an even greater clinical role.     

Molecular biology: the polymerase chain reaction.

Upper aerodigestive tract (UADT) cancers provide an excellent carcinogenesis model for a number of reasons: they are accessible to observation, are usually associated with a known environmental carcinogen (tobacco by-products), are sometimes associated with a tumorigenic DNA virus (HPV), and fall along a spectrum of progressive disease from normal mucosa through leukoplakia and verrucous carcinoma to invasive and metastatic carcinoma. Despite the presence of this unique model, the field of head and neck oncology, as a whole, has been slow in establishing an efficient 2-way conduit between the bedside and the laboratory. Such open communication is important as current evidence suggests that future staging and therapy of head and neck tumors will depend not only on familiar macroscopic and light microscopic criteria, but also on factors that are currently identifiable only in the basic science laboratory. To have a significant impact on the direction and relevance of basic research, clinicians should become knowledgeable and conversant in the vocabulary and general concepts of basic science. The goal of this section is to facilitate communication between the basic researcher and the clinician, thereby promoting clinically relevant basic research. This is to be achieved by fostering understanding of the power, limitations, scope, and horizons of current basic research concepts and techniques. Subsequent articles will review current research topics germane to head and neck cancer, such as oncogenes and tumor suppressor genes, mechanisms of metastasis, tumor immunology and its modulation, and virology.     

Acute pancreatitis: Molecular biology update

Conclusion Molecular genetic studies provide critical information that points to trypsin as the central molecule in initiating acute pancreatitis. Susceptibility to acute pancreatitis appears to be related to the body’s ability to protect itself from trypsin activation. Once acute pancreatitis is initiated, the extent, severity, and complications are largely controlled by other factors, such as the immune response. Knowledge of these concepts will likely become more and more important as risk and pathways are better de.ned and early interventions developed.