Interferon gamma release assay in the diagnosis of tuberculous mastitis

Tuberculous mastitis is rare, especially in Western countries. We describe a case where the interferon gamma release assay blood test led to diagnosis and successful treatment of the disease.     

A novel approach to improve undergraduate surgical teaching

Background:

Undergraduate surgery is at an important crossroads. Many departments report significant difficulties delivering effective teaching. Our student feedback indicated a dated surgical curriculum lacking structure, quality and uniformity. We report on a new ”blended” approach employing a combination of professional DVDs, case based discussions, online material and traditional bedside teaching designed to provide structure, standardization, and equality of learning .

Methods:

Year 4 students who had undertaken the new course and year 5 students who had participated in the traditional teaching programme were compared. Students completed a 20 item questionnaire about their experiences of the surgical teaching programme.

Results:

One hundred and seventy-one year 4 (70%) and148 year 5 students (66%) responded. Domains relating to “Overall Satisfaction with the course”, “Approval of innovative teaching methods and interactivity” and “Satisfaction with the clarity of course information” showed improvements when comparing the new and old programmes. However bedside teaching was not rated as highly in the new programme (p<0.05).

Conclusion:

This blended approach has resulted in improved student understanding and engagement. The apparent compromise of bedside teaching may be a reflection of higher expectations. We believe that a similar blended approach has the potential to re-invigorate surgical teaching elsewhere.     

Expression of phosphatase of regenerating liver-3 (PRL-3) in endometrioid cancer and lymph nodes metastases

PurposeWe identify the expression of PRL-3 in primary endometrioid endometrial cancer and metastases in relation to the clinicopathological characteristics.Material/MethodsThe study involved 30 patients with type I endometrial cancer. Twelve of them were diagnosed with metastases in various localization of abdomen. The PRL-3 expression was evaluated on the basis of immunohistochemistry results by the use of monoclonal antibody anti-PRL3 clone 3B6.ResultsThe intensity of PRL-3 expression in correlation with tumor stage was statistically significant (p = 0.024). The strongest reaction was noted in cases classified as a 1a and 1b stage defined by FIGO. The strength of PRL-3 expression is significantly associated with the degree of histological tumor grade (p = 0.035).ConclusionsThe strong expression of PRL-3 in the primary tumor that was significantly correlated with the grade and clinical stage suggest that PTP4A3 participates in the process of endometrial carcinogenesis.     

Surgical delivery of drug releasing poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid)/poly(ethylene glycol) paste with in vivo effects against glioblastoma

Introduction

The median survival of patients with glioblastoma multiforme (astrocytoma grade 4) remains less than 18 months despite radical surgery, radiotherapy and systemic chemotherapy. Surgical implantation of chemotherapy eluting wafers into the resection cavity has been shown to improve length of survival but the current licensed therapy has several drawbacks. This paper investigates in vivo efficacy of a novel drug eluting paste in glioblastoma.

Methods

Poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid)/poly(ethylene glycol) (PLGA/PEG) self-sintering paste was loaded with the chemotherapeutic agent etoposide and delivered surgically into partially resected tumours in a flank murine glioblastoma xenograft model.

Results

Surgical delivery of the paste was successful and practical, with no toxicity or surgical morbidity to the animals. The paste was retained in the tumour cavity, and preliminary results suggest a useful antitumour and antiangiogenic effect, particularly at higher doses. Bioluminescent imaging was not affected significantly by the presence of the paste in the tumour.

Conclusions

Chemotherapy loaded PLGA/PEG paste seems to be a promising technology capable of delivering active drugs into partially resected tumours. The preliminary results of this study suggest efficacy with no toxicity and will lead to larger scale efficacy studies in orthotopic glioblastoma models.     

Living forever and dying in the attempt

Since the first cell culture was set at the beginning of the twentieth century it was believed that all cultured cells, if provided with the proper conditions, would replicate indefinitely. Sixty years later we overthrew this dogma by finding that normal cells have a finite capacity to replicate and that only abnormal or cancer cell populations can replicate indefinitely. We interpreted these findings to bear on our understanding of the aging process. If, as had been previously thought, normal cells can replicate indefinitely, then age changes could not have an intracellular origin. Our findings demonstrated that, on the contrary, age changes do have an intracellular origin. The hundreds of changes that were subsequently found to precede the loss of replicative capacity have been interpreted to be age changes and the finitude of replication to be an expression of longevity determination. Subsequent findings by others have determined the molecular mechanism that governs the finitude of normal cell replicative capacity and how immortal cancer cells escape this inevitability. Thus, key events in our understanding of aging, longevity determination and cancer have been revealed.