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BACKGROUND The present study aimed to evaluate the toxicity and efficacy of stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) for localized prostate cancer. PATIENTS AND METHODS We investigated 25 patients treated with SBRT of 35 Gy per five fractions from May 2014 to March 2015. RESULTS The median age of patients was 70 years, four (16%) patients were low risk and 21 (84%) were intermediate risk. Seven (28%) patients received neoadjuvant androgen-deprivation therapy. The median follow-up time was 53 months. Grade 2 acute and late genitourinary toxicities were observed in five (20%) and two (8%) patients and there were no Grade 2 gastrointestinal toxicities. There were no Grade 3 or higher acute or late toxicities at 2 years follow-up. The biochemical relapse-free survival rate at 2 years was 100%. CONCLUSION SBRT of 35 Gy per five fractions is a promising treatment method in the short term for prostate cancer. BACKGROUND/AIM While there has been a rapid development in genomic data mining approaches for T-cell receptor recombinations (TcR), less emphasis has been placed on B-cell receptor (BcR) recombinations. MATERIALS AND METHODS We obtained lung cancer exome files from the cancer genome atlas (TCGA) and mined the files for TcR and BcR recombination reads. RESULTS There was a robust detection of BcR light chain recombination reads in lung adenocarcinoma (TCGA-LUAD) samples, and there was a correlation between the detection of light chain recombination reads and a more favorable outcome. This result was supported by analyses of the expression of B-cell markers as indicated by LUAD RNASeq files. CONCLUSION BcR and TcR recombination reads recovered from LUAD WXS files, either alone or in combination with the human leukocyte antigen (HLA) type, are likely to have prognostic value. BACKGROUND SF3B4, a critical component of U2 pre-mRNA spliceosomal complex, has been recently indicated as a potential oncogene in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, limited information exists on how SF3B4 expression is regulated in HCC. MATERIALS AND METHODS To determine the regulatory factor for SF3B4 expression, small interfering RNA (siRNA), real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) and western blotting assay were performed. The in vivo expression profiles of SRSF3 and SF3B4 were analyzed using public datasets and clinical samples. RESULTS Among 10 liver-specific splicing factors, only SRSF3 knockdown resulted in a significant increase in SF3B4 mRNA and consequently protein levels in SNU-368 HCC cells, probably via the retardation of SF3B4 mRNA decay rates. Using green fluorescent protein-SF3B4 fusion construct, the coding region of SF3B4 was found to be involved in SRSF3-mediated regulation of SF3B4 expression. Publicly available data from paired normal and tumor tissues in HCC and results from patients with HCC suggest that SRSF3 and SF3B4 possess an inverse relationship. CONCLUSION SRSF3 is a key molecule for determining SF3B4 levels in HCC cells. this website BACKGROUND/AIM The winemaking procedure results in the generation of stems, a by-product that is harmful to the environment. Concomitantly, stems are rich in polyphenols and, hence, they are putatively beneficial for human health. MATERIALS AND METHODS In this study, the grape stem extracts derived from three native Greek vine varieties, namely Mavrodaphne, Muscat and Rhoditis were examined for their chemical composition and antioxidant and antimutagenic properties using a battery of in vitro biomarkers. RESULTS All extracts are rich in polyphenols. Moreover, they exhibit potent antioxidant and antimutagenic properties with the extract of Mavrodaphne being the strongest in reducing the DPPH• and O2 -• radicals and the Fe3+ and in protecting plasmid DNA from peroxyl radical-induced oxidative modification. CONCLUSION Therefore, although they are serious pollutants, grape stems contain phytochemicals with important biological properties and can be used as (ingredients of) bio-functional foods to improve certain aspects of human health. BACKGROUND/AIM CD38 is a cell surface marker commonly present in plasma cells and activated T cells, while CD138 is a representative plasma cell marker. The aim of this study was to describe the expression of cell surface markers including CD38 and CD138, in the tumors of patients with IgG4-related ophthalmic disease (IgG4-ROD) and extranodal marginal zone B-cell lymphoma (EMZL) of the ocular adnexa. MATERIALS AND METHODS Twenty-four consecutive patients of whom 12 had IgG4-ROD and 12 EMZL were enrolled in this study. Medical records were reviewed for flow cytometry (FCM) results on conventional T-cell markers, B-cell markers, CD38 and CD138. RESULTS Positive rates of T-cell markers, CD38 and CD138 were significantly higher in IgG4-ROD than in EMZL (p less then 0.01 and p less then 0.05, respectively). CONCLUSION Our FCM results on CD38 and CD138 showed that the lymphocyte populations were different between IgG4-ROD and EMZL, which may reflect the different pathophysiology of the two diseases. BACKGROUND/AIM We aimed to examine the association of the genotypes of Nijmegen breakage syndrome 1 (NBS1), a critical gene in DNA double strand break repair machinery, with bladder cancer risk in Taiwan. MATERIALS AND METHODS NBS1 rs1805794 genotypes among 375 bladder cancer patients and 375 non-cancer healthy controls were determined via the polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism methodology and their association with bladder cancer risk were evaluated. RESULTS The results showed that the percentages of GG, CG and CC of NBS1 rs1805794 genotypes were 45.4%, 43.7% and 10.9% in the bladder cancer patient group and 47.2%, 43.2% and 9.6% in the non-cancer control group, respectively (p for trend=0.7873). The analysis of allelic frequency distributions showed that the variant C allele of NBS1 rs1805794 does not contribute to an increased bladder cancer susceptibility (p=0.5066). CONCLUSION The genotypes of NBS1 rs1805794 are not closely associated with personal susceptibility to bladder cancer. BACKGROUND/AIM Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) are a family of proteins which are involved in breakdown of the extracellular matrix in embryonic development, tissue remodeling and in some diseases. MMP8 has both cancer-promoting and anticancer properties. However, the contribution of MMP8 to laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma (LSCC) has not been elucidated. In this study we aimed to test the contribution of two MMP8 polymorphisms, located in the gene promoter region, to the development of LSCC. MATERIALS AND METHODS This case-control study involved 569 DNA samples which were genotyped for two single nucleotide polymorphisms using real-time polymerase chain reaction method. Statistical analysis was performed with SPSS Statistics 20 software. RESULTS Regression analysis adjusted by age showed that for MMP8 rs11225395 each minor A allele copy significantly reduced the odds for LSCC development (odds ratio=0.49, 95% confidence intervaI=0.04-2.19, p=0.048). MMP8 rs11225395 AA genotype was associated with smaller laryngeal tumour size (p=0.