Hyperfunctioning intrathyroidal parathyroid carcinoma

Intrathyroidal parathyroid carcinoma is an exceedingly rare cause of primary hyperparathyroidism with difficulties in the diagnosis and management. We report a case of hypercalcemia from intrathyroidal parathyroid carcinoma in a 63-year-old Saudi female. She was diagnosed 2 years earlier with osteoporosis in a primary care clinic and was on alendronate since then. This year she was noted to have hypercalcemia, but in retrospect she had more than 10 years history of multiple medical problems related to hypercalcemia. Parathyroid 99mTc-SestaMIBI scintigraphy revealed parathyroid adenoma in the left inferior parathyroid gland. She had successful video-assisted parathyroidectomy that relieved most of her symptoms. The extreme rarity of such a case, the interesting clinical presentation and review of the literature are discussed.     

Enhancement of Gamma-ray Shielding Properties in Cobalt-Doped Heavy Metal Borate Glasses: The Role of Lanthanum Oxide Reinforcement

The direct influence of La³⁺ ions on the gamma-ray shielding properties of cobalt-doped heavy metal borate glasses with the chemical formula 0.3CoO-(80-x)B₂O₃-19.7PbO-xLa₂O₃: x = 0, 0.5, 1, 1.5, and 2 mol% was examined herein. Several significant radiation shielding parameters were evaluated. The glass density was increased from 3.11 to 3.36 g/cm³ with increasing La³⁺ ion content from 0 to 2 mol%. The S5 glass sample, which contained the highest concentration of La³⁺ ions (2 mol%), had the maximum linear (μ) and mass (μ_m) attenuation coefficients for all photon energies entering, while the S1 glass sample free of La³⁺ ions possessed the minimum values of μ and μ_m. Both the half value layer (T_1/2) and tenth value layer (TVL) of all investigated glasses showed a similar trend of (T_1/2, TVL)_S1 > (T_1/2, TVL)_S2 > (T_1/2, TVL)_S3 > (T_1/2, TVL)_S4 > (T_1/2, TVL)_S5. Our results revealed that the S5 sample had the highest effective atomic number (Z_eff) values over the whole range of gamma-ray energy. S5 had the lowest exposure (EBF) and energy absorption (EABF) build-up factor values across the whole photon energy and penetration depth range. Our findings give a strong indication of the S5 sample’s superior gamma-ray shielding characteristics due to the highest contribution of lanthanum oxide.     

Associations of dietary folate,Vitamins B6 and B12 and methionine intake with risk of breast cancer among African American and European American women

African American (AA) women are more likely than European American (EA) women to be diagnosed with breast cancer at younger ages and to develop poor prognosis tumors. However, these racial differences are largely unexplained. Folate and other methyl‐group nutrients may be related to breast carcinogenesis, but few studies have examined these associations in AA populations. We examined the associations of dietary intake of these nutrients with breast cancer risk overall, by menopausal and estrogen receptor (ER) status among 1,582 AA (749 cases) and 1,434 EA (744 cases) women using data from a case–control study, the Women's Circle of Health Study. Unconditional multivariable logistic regression models were used to compute odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for the association of each nutrient and breast cancer risk. In AA women, inverse associations were observed for natural food folate intake among premenopausal women (fourth vs. first quartile: OR = 0.57, 95% CI, 0.33–1.00; p for trend = 0.06) and for ER‐positive tumors (fourth vs. first quartile: OR = 0.58, 95% CI, 0.36–0.93; p for trend = 0.03), whereas in EA women, a positive association was observed for intake of synthetic folate (fourth vs. first quartile: OR = 1.53, 95% CI, 1.06–2.21; p for trend = 0.03). Our findings suggest that natural food folate intake is inversely associated with breast cancer risk and that this association may vary by race, menopausal status or ER status. The finding of an increased risk observed among EA women with the highest intake of synthetic folate from fortified foods warrants further investigation.     

Synuclein-γ (SNCG) expression in ovarian cancer is associated with high-risk clinicopathologic disease

Background

Synuclein gamma (SNCG) expression is associated with advanced disease and chemoresistance in multiple solid tumors. Our goal was to determine if SNCG protein expression in ovarian cancer was correlated with clinicopathologic variables and patient outcomes.

Methods

Tissue microarrays from primary tumors of 357 ovarian, fallopian tube, and primary peritoneal cancer patients, who underwent primary surgery at Roswell Park Cancer Institute between 1995 and 2007, were immunohistochemically stained for SNCG. A pathologist blinded to patient data scored tumors as positive if ≥10 % of the sample stained for SNCG. Medical records were reviewed for clinicopathologic and demographic variables. Between the positive and negative groups, Wilcoxon rank-sum test was used to compare the median ages and Fisher’s exact test was used to compare groups in categorical variables. Cox proportional hazard models examined associations between SNCG and overall and progression-free survival.

Results

The median follow-up was 36 months, median overall survival was 39 months, and median progression-free survival was 18 months. SNCG presence was associated with clinical variables of serous histology, grade 3 disease, suboptimal debulking, ascites at surgery, FIGO stage III-IV cancer, or initial CA-125 level >485. There was no significant difference in overall survival (HR 1.06 95 % CI 0.81–1.39 P 0.69) or progression-free survival (HR 1.16 95 % CI 0.89–1.50 P 0.28) for patients with or without SNCG expression.

Conclusions

SNCG expression in ovarian cancer is frequent in patients with high-risk features, but it does not correlate with chemotherapy response, overall survival, or progression-free survival.