An evaluation of CA 549, a circulating marker of breast cancer using a procedure for comparison with CA 15.3.

A serum assay of CA 549 (Hybri-BREScan CA 549 degrees, Hybritech), a new tumor marker, was performed in 129 patients with breast cancer and 35 healthy women, in parallel with CA 15.3 (ELSA-CA 15.3 degrees, CIS Biointernational). Comparing 95 women with primary breast carcinoma and 35 controls, Relative (or Receiver) Operating Characteristic (ROC) analysis revealed that the Area Under ROC Curve (AUC) of CA 15.3 was significantly higher than that of CA 549, indicating that, for our population, the first marker was more effective. Parallel and series analyses were also performed using ROC AUC and revealed that the combination of these two tests did not give more information than the CA 15.3 test alone; however, they did not in any way constitute diagnostic tools. In our experience, the best field of application for CA 549 seems to be the therapeutic monitoring and early detection of breast cancer recurrences. However, further investigations on a larger scale are necessary to assess more precisely the place of CA 549 in following the clinical course of breast cancer patients.     

Expression of ps2 and cathepsin-d in breast-cancer

Cytosolic levels of pS2 and Cathepsin D (Cath D) were compared in 145 primary breast cancer patients using the immunoradiometric (IRMA) assays ELSA-pS2-degrees and ELSA-Cath. D-degrees of Cis biointernational. The mean values were 20.04 +/- 41.75 ng pS2/mg of cytosol protein (cp) and 49.94 +/- 33.71 pmol Cath D/mg cp. The pS2 level was significantly associated with Estrogen Receptor (ER), Progesterone Receptor (PgR) and Cath D levels. Significant associations were also found between Log (pS2) or Log (Cath. D) and differentiation grade (SBR), between Log (pS2) and ER (+,-) or PgR (+,-), between Log (Cath. D) and PgR (+,-). No correlations were noted between Log (pS2) or Log (Cath D) and menopausal status, tumor size (T) and lymph node involvement (N), between pS2 and age, between Cath D and age, ER and PgR, between Log (Cath D) and ER (+,-). Contrary to Cath D, pS2 was strongly linked to steroid receptors.     

Liver tumours in children: diagnostic and therapeutic approach in the Tropics

Liver tumours in children are rare and their prognosis are poor. Through a cross and retrospective study, we examined the epidemiological, clinical and therapeutic aspects on a number of patients in our hospital to try and improve the management of cases. This study involved 66 children admitted to the pediatric oncology unit of University Hospital of Treichville in Abidjan between 1991 and 2007. The average age of children was 7.2 years and the sex ratio of 1.4. 42 children lived in the countryside and 52 children were from disadvantaged areas. 63.2% of children were not vaccinated against hepatitis B. The abdominal mass was the primary sign of discovery and these tumours were dominated in both their primitive and secondary forms by the Burkitt's lymphoma.     

Multi-Mesh-Scale Approximation of Thin Geophysical Mass Flows on Complex Topographies

This paper is devoted to a multi-mesh-scale approach for describing the dynamic behaviors of thin geophysical mass flows on complex topographies. Because the topographic surfaces are generally non-trivially curved, we introduce an appropriate local coordinate system for describing the flow behaviors in an efficient way. The complex surfaces are supposed to be composed of a finite number of triangle elements. Due to the unequal orientation of the triangular elements, the distinct flux directions add to the complexity of solving the Riemann problems at the boundaries of the triangular elements. Hence, a vertex-centered cell system is introduced for computing the evolution of the physical quantities, where the cell boundaries lie within the triangles and the conventional Riemann solvers can be applied. Consequently, there are two mesh scales: the element scale for the local topographic mapping and the vertex-centered cell scale for the evolution of the physical quantities. The final scheme is completed by employing the HLL-approach for computing the numerical flux at the interfaces. Three numerical examples and one application to a large-scale landslide are conducted to examine the performance of the proposed approach as well as to illustrate its capability in describing the shallow flows on complex topographies.