Patients' satisfaction with dental services provided by a university in Hong Kong

This study was a consumer evaluation of the dental care services provided by a university dental clinic in Hong Kong which provides dental care to all university students and staff and their dependents. The objectives of this study were to study the consumers' satisfaction with the dental services; to identify their reasons for not using the dental services; and to compare the opinions of the students with those of the university staff and their spouses. A total of 140 students and 180 staff and their spouses were randomly selected for this study. The response rates were 100 per cent for students and 77 per cent for staff and their spouses. Results showed that both groups of respondents were satisfied with the quality of dental services provided by the university dental clinic. However, they were not satisfied with the long waiting time for an appointment. Students who had not attended the university dental clinic commonly stated that they were busy and had no time for a dental visit. Conversely, many staff and their spouses did not seek care from the university dental clinic because they thought that the fees were high. Although the overall Dental Satisfaction Index (DSI) scores for the students (64.5) and staff and their spouses (65.1) were similar, there were differences in the aspects of the services with which the two group were satisfied or dissatisfied. Thus if the university dental clinic wants to implement changes so as to improve consumer satisfaction and utilisation, a careful analysis of the specific opinions of its various consumer groups is required.     

Parents associated with children in measuring acute and delayed nausea and vomiting

The purpose of this study was to identify the relationship between parents and children in measuring children's acute and delayed nausea and vomiting induced by cancer chemotherapy. Twenty parent-child dyads participated in the study. Both instruments: Adapted Rhodes Index of Nausea and Vomiting by parent and by child (8-18 years old) were used every 12 h. The reliability and validity of these instruments have been established. There were significantly moderate to strong associations between parents and children in measuring these symptoms from Day 1 to Day 3 (total scores: r = 0.85-0.93; nausea scores: r = 0.67-0.93; and vomiting scores: r = 0.91-0.99, all P < 0.01). Therefore, parents' observation of their children's symptoms was strongly associated with their child's self-report of symptoms. Parents were able to assess their children's acute and delayed nausea and vomiting because in this sample almost all parents accompanied their children all day long.     

Inhibition of focal contact formation in cells transformed by p185neu.

Signaling pathways mediated by adhesive molecules are tightly associated with cytoskeletal organization and cell growth regulation. Focal adhesion kinase (FAK) plays a prominent role in the adhesion signaling pathway through its tyrosine kinase activity and protein-protein interaction with other signaling molecules, including src, paxillin, and p130CAS, and other proteins. We explored the roles of these signaling molecules in the transformation of B104-1-1 cells, an NIH/3T3-derived cell line transformed by activated rat p185neu. The cytoskeletal organization of the p185neu-transformed cells was disrupted, and their morphology was dramatically altered. FAK, paxillin, and p130CAS appeared to be tyrosine phosphorylated in both NIH/3T3 and B104-1-1. However, the phosphorylation levels of paxillin and p130CAS were lower in B104-1-1 cells than in NIH/3T3 cells. Surprisingly, the association between FAK and paxillin was enhanced in B104-1-1 cells, suggesting reorganization of protein-protein interaction modulated by protein phosphorylation. Our results showed that even though cellular transformation by src and neu has similar consequences, such as focal adhesion disassembly and increased metastasis potential, the molecular events underlying the signaling pathways can be dramatically different.     

Efficacy of total androgen blockade in metastatic prostatic carcinoma with transient hypogonadotropic hypogonadism: a case report

A patient affected by metastatic prostatic carcinoma and hypogonadotropic hypogonadism (HH) was treated with flutamide 750 mg/day plus an LH-RH analog. After confirmation of basal castration during treatment, he continued with antiandrogens alone. Following the normalization of gonadic function and subjective mild bone flare-up, the patient resumed the initial treatment and obtained a partial response. When flutamide was interrupted because of liver toxicity, the patient showed progressive disease in the bone, which was unresponsive to both flutamide resumption and salvage hormone therapy (bicalutamide). The patient is currently receiving chemotherapy with VP16 and estramustine phosphate and is showing both serologic (PSA) and symptomatic response. The interest of this case lies in the incidental detection of HH during therapy and in the responsiveness to treatment.     

Frequent allelic loss on chromosome 9 in hepatocellular carcinoma

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a common malignancy worldwide and highly associated with chronic virus-B or -C infection and cirrhosis. Molecular studies have shown high frequency of loss of heterozygosity (LOH) in some specific chromosome regions, but LOH on chromosome 9 in HCC has not been thoroughly investigated. In our investigation of chromosome 9 with 19 polymerase-chain-reaction (PCR)-based polymorphic microsatellite markers, 30 of 48 HCC tissue samples (63%) had LOH, and a distinct common deletion region and a region of loss were identified. The first region was located at the 9p21 region and the minimal deletion region was located between loci D9S1747 and D9S1748. This is a region of approximately 200 kb which includes the p16 tumor-suppressor gene. A region of loss was located on 9p13 to 9q33. The putative tumor-suppressor gene for nevoid-basal-cell-carcinoma syndrome (NBCCS) at 9q22.3 resides within this region. In addition to LOH, 4 HCC cases showed possible homozygous deletions at 9p21 with markers D9S1748, D9S1752 and D9S171 by multiplex PCR analysis. In 3 cases, the minimal region of possible homozygous deletion was approximately 300 kb and was defined between markers D9S1747 and D9S1752. Since this deletion region includes both the p15 and the p16 tumor-suppressor genes, these genes were possibly inactivated by homozygous deletion in HCC. In addition, a second region of possible homozygous deletion was present on the centromeric side of 9p21. However, these changes are not associated with age, gender, size or tumor-cell differentiation. Our data also suggest that inactivation of the p16 and the p15 genes and the possibility of other unknown tumor-suppressor genes located on these defined deleted regions of chromosome 9 may be involved in the pathogenesis of HCC.     

Two distinct regions of deletion on chromosome 13q in primary nasopharyngeal carcinoma.

Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is rare in most parts of the world, but prevalent in Southern China. Although this disease poses a serious health problem in our population, the genetic alterations that lead to the development of NPC have yet to be defined. In a comparative genomic hybridization (CGH) study on NPC by our group, loss of the long arm of chromosome 13 has been identified as a frequent event. To investigate further the involvement of this genetic alteration in NPC tumorigenesis, we examined 31 primary NPC tumours by LOH analysis with a panel of 13 microsatellite polymorphic markers distributed along the long arm of chromosome 13. It was found that 19/31 tumours (60%) showed LOH for markers on chromosome 13q. The highest frequency of LOH was found at loci D13S133 (53.6%) on 13q14.3 and D13S796 (38.5%) on 13q32-34. Two distinct smallest deletion regions were delineated: the first region between D13S133 and D13S119 at 13q14.3-22, and the second region between D13S317 and D13S285 at 13q31-34. Our findings show that LOH of 13q is a common event in NPC and that at least 2 putative tumour-suppressor loci may be present on 13q. Mapping of the critical regions of these loci suggests that some candidate tumour-suppressor genes on 13q, other than Rb and BRCA2, may be involved in the development of NPC.     

Peritoneal leiomyoid mesothelioma mimiking a metastasis of papillary carcinoma

The authors describe a rare case of peritoneal mesothelioma. Cytological, histological and immunohistochemical characterization of the tumor allowed the differential diagnosis from papillary carcinoma and suggested the diagnosis of leiomyoid mesothelioma.