An overview of existing mesothelioma registries worldwide,and the need for a US Registry

The association between asbestos exposure, mainly in occupational settings, and malignant mesothelioma has been well established; this has prompted several countries to establish mesothelioma epidemiologic surveillance programs often at the request of national agencies. This review compares currently existing mesothelioma registries worldwide to develop a concept model for a US real-time case capture mesothelioma registry. Five countries were identified with a mesothelioma specific registry, including Italy, France, UK, Australia, and South Korea. All, except the UK, used interviews to collect exposure data. Linkage with the national death index was available or was in future plans for all registries. The registries have limited information on treatment, quality of life, and other patient-centered outcomes such as symptoms and pain management. To thoroughly collect exposure data, “real-time” enrollment is preferable; to maximize the capture of mesothelioma cases, optimal coverage, and a simplified consent process are needed.     

Heterogeneity in amount of growth factors secreted by platelets in platelet-rich plasma samples from alopecia patients

Platelet α-granules release growth factors (GFs) that promote healing and tissue regeneration. Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) is shown to be beneficial in treating alopecia, and however, clinical response can be inconsistent. Due to several fold enrichment of platelets secreting large quantities of GFs following PRP injections, heterogeneity in amounts of GFs secreted by platelets may contribute to inconsistent clinical responses. Herein, we evaluated factors that could potentially contribute to heterogeneous secretion of GFs by platelets. We measured platelet secretion of transforming growth factor beta1 (TGFβ1), platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF-BB), epidermal growth factor (EGF), vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and fibroblast growth factor (FGF2) in aliquots of de-identified PRP samples from female patients undergoing therapy in the hair disease clinic. Although secretion of GFs by platelets was comparable in PRP samples of patients with non-cicatricial and cicatricial alopecia, a Shapiro-Wilk test for normal distribution indicated significant variability across all patient samples. The amount of GF secreted by platelets was comparable when PRP prepared from two FDA-cleared devices with distinct techniques were compared. We provide evidence of platelets secreting heterogeneous amounts of GFs within each sample as high and low secretion of random factors could be simultaneously detected. These results suggest inherent heterogeneity in secretion of GFs by platelets in patient samples that are not influenced by the device used to prepare PRP. Since some GFs could have antagonistic effects on hair growth, a balance between amounts of growth promoting and inhibiting factors may be crucial in determining clinical response to PRP therapy.