Endoscopic management of ectopic pregnancy

Ectopic pregnancy is a common problem usually diagnosed at an early stage and often in an emergency situation. Both medical and surgical treatments can be used for its management. In case of surgical treatment, laparoscopy rather than open surgery must be practiced. Concerning the choice between salpingostomy and salpingectomy, it depends of the controlateral tubal patency. In case of altered controlateral tube, if a sparing surgery is possible it should be preferred. However, this question is still debated if the controlateral tube seems patent.     

The role of RANK/RANKL/osteoprotegerin (OPG) triad in cancer-induced bone diseases: physiopathology and clinical implications

Bone homeostasis is maintained by the remodelling of bone which depends on a balance between osteoclast-mediated bone resorption and osteoblast-mediated bone formation. Malignant bone lesions are very common in patients with cancer; whether they result from a tumor in bone (giant cell tumour of bone, osteosarcoma, multiple myeloma...) or they are bony metastases from advanced cancers of which the most osteotropic are breast and prostate cancer. Malignant cells within the bone disrupt the normal bone remodelling process, leading to increased bone destruction and occurence of pathological fractures. Receptor activator of NF-kB (RANK) and its ligand (RANKL) play a pivotal role in the regulation of bone remodelling; by binding to RANK, RANKL stimulates osteoclastogenesis and bone resorption, whereas its cognate decoy receptor osteoprotegerin (OPG) blocks this process by interacting with RANKL. Tumour cells produce different factors that manipulate the RANK/RANKL/OPG pathway in order to stimulate bone destruction. Furthermore, pending on the tumour type, RANKL plays a role in the migration, invasion and proliferation of malignant cells within the bone, while OPG increases survival of tumour cells. Inhibition of RANK/RANKL system may therefore offer new therapeutic perspectives for the treatment of primitive and secondary bone cancers.