Who Benefits from Oncoplastic Surgical Techniques?

Breast-conserving therapy, which includes wide local excision of the tumor followed by irradiation, has become a standard treatment option for women with early-stage invasive breast cancer. The potential advantages of conservative breast surgery include the minor outpatient nature of the procedures, lower incidence of post-operative pain and complications, preservation of the breast and nipple areolar complex, and shorter delay to adjuvant therapy. However, not all patients are optimal candidates for breast-conserving procedures. Oncoplastic techniques combine the removal of breast cancer tumors in combination with either local volume replacement techniques to correct small defects, or by immediate reconstruction of larger defects using techniques of plastic surgery with or without contralateral breast procedures for symmetry. Therefore, oncoplastic techniques offer the potential to perform a wider excision of the tumor with an improved cosmetic result, thus potentially increasing the eligible pool for breast conservation.     

Preoperative Endocrine Therapy: Preferred Therapy for Whom?

Neoadjuvant endocrine therapy is safe and can be effective in many postmenopausal women with estrogen receptor positive breast cancer. There are limited data available for premenopausal women taking aromatase inhibitors in combination with estrogen suppression. Letrozole, anastrozole, and exemestane have all been shown to be equivalent or superior to tamoxifen in relatively small neoadjuvant trials in postmenopausal women. Tumor factors that appear to have good response are estrogen receptor positivity, characteristics consistent with the so-called Luminal A subtype and lobular carcinomas. Response to neoadjuvant treatment may inform decision making regarding adjuvant treatment, which should include radiotherapy following breast-conserving surgery, or mastectomy, made feasible by neoadjuvant treatment to maintain low local recurrence rates. Chemotherapy may also be required in some cases based on the biological characteristics of the residual tumor and the extent of residual disease.     

Anaphase-promoting complex/cyclosome protein Cdc27 is a target for curcumin-induced cell cycle arrest and apoptosis

Background  

Curcumin (diferuloylmethane), the yellow pigment in the Asian spice turmeric, is a hydrophobic polyphenol from the rhizome of Curcuma longa. Because of its chemopreventive and chemotherapeutic potential with no discernable side effects, it has become one of the major natural agents being developed for cancer therapy. Accumulating evidence suggests that curcumin induces cell death through activation of apoptotic pathways and inhibition of cell growth and proliferation. The mitotic checkpoint, or spindle assembly checkpoint (SAC), is the major cell cycle control mechanism to delay the onset of anaphase during mitosis. One of the key regulators of the SAC is the anaphase promoting complex/cyclosome (APC/C) which ubiquitinates cyclin B and securin and targets them for proteolysis. Because APC/C not only ensures cell cycle arrest upon spindle disruption but also promotes cell death in response to prolonged mitotic arrest, it has become an attractive drug target in cancer therapy.     

Anti-apoptotic gene transcription signature of salivary gland neoplasms

Background  

Development of accurate therapeutic approaches to salivary gland neoplasms depends on better understanding of their molecular pathogenesis. Tumour growth is regulated by the balance between proliferation and apoptosis. Few studies have investigated apoptosis in salivary tumours relying almost exclusively on immunohistochemistry or TUNEL assay. Furthermore, there is no information regarding the mRNA expression profile of apoptotic genes in salivary tumors. Our objective was to investigate the quantitative expression of BCL-2 (anti-apoptotic), BAX and Caspase3 (pro-apoptotic genes) mRNAs in salivary gland neoplasms and examine the association of these data with tumour size, proliferative activity and p53 staining (parameters associated with a poor prognosis of salivary tumours patients).     

Highlights from the 8th World Congress on Peritoneal Surface Malignancies

The 8th World Congress on Peritoneal Surface Malignancies was held in Berlin,Germany from October 31,2012 to November 2,2012,in which more than 571 delegates from 56 countries attended.This conference covered a variety of topics on peritoneal carcinomatosis(PC) from gastric, colorectal,and ovarian cancers,as well as pseudomyxoma peritonei,malignant peritoneal mesothelioma,and abdominal sarcoma.PC experts across the world presented the most upto -date results of their basic and translational studies as well as clinical trials.In particular,the following research interests were highlighted. Professor Paul H.Sugarbaker from the Washington Hospital Cancer Center,Washington DC,USA,systemically     

儿童抽动症的病因分析

目的分析儿童抽动症的病因,以指导其治疗。方法对儿童抽动症患儿进行眼科检查、耳鼻喉科检查、鼻窦区摄片、头颅MRI、脑电图、微量元素、肺功能检查及支气管激发试验、气质评价、脑生物反馈检查以发现其病因。结果儿童抽动症的主要病因是精神因素,是躯体疾病后致习惯性抽动,其反复发作与儿童抽动症反复发作易并存。结论积极控制躯体疾病,减少躯体不适因素刺激后出现习惯性抽动,在儿童抽动症的治疗中很重要,临床治疗过程中将儿童抽动症的心理、药物治疗与躯体疾病的治疗同时进行可取得更好的临床效果。     

Brain asymmetry,immunity, handedness

The principle of symmetry-asymmetry is widely presented in the structural and functional organization of the nonliving and living nature. One of the most complex manifestations of this principle is the left-right asymmetry of the human brain. The present review summarizes previous and contemporary literary data regarding the role of brain asymmetry in neuroimmunomodulation. Some handedness-related peculiarities are outlined additionally. Brain asymmetry is considered to be imprinted in the formation and regulation of the individual’s responses and relationships at an immunological level with the external and internal environment. The assumptions that the hemispheres modulate immune response in an asymmetric manner have been confirmed in experiments on animals. Some authors assume that the right hemisphere plays an indirect role in neuroimmunomodulation, controlling and suppressing the left hemispheric inductive signals.