Casein kinase 2 and survivin modulation in prostate and breast cancer

Objective: To find out whether Casein Kinase 2 [CK2] and Survivin co-express and correlate in prostate as well as in breast cancer

Study Design: A cross sectional analytical study

Place and Duration of Study: Study was done at Army Medical College and in collaboration with Armed Forces Institute of Pathology [AFIP]. The duration of this research was two years

Material and Methods: The research was authorized by the Ethical Committee of AFIP. CK2 expression was determined by immunohistochemistry in paraffin embedded tissues from established patients of prostate cancer [n=30] and breast adenocarcinoma [n=30]. Correlation of CK2 with Survivin was evaluated. Data were analyzed through SPSS version 20. For studying the correlation between the two proteins, pearson correlation coefficient was calculated. Data was considered at p-value

Results: An expressively strong and affirmative correlation was found among expression of total CK2 and total Survivin in invasive along with non-invasive cases of both prostate and breast cancers. A significantly strong and positive correlation was found between nuclear CK2 and Survivin expression in non-invasive cases of prostate cancer and invasive as well as non-invasive cases of breast cancer. A significantly strong and positive correlation was found only between cytoplasmic CK2 and Survivin expression in non-invasive cases of prostate cancer

Conclusion: CK2 and Survivin expressions have strong and positive correlation in both prostate and breast cancer particularly in non-invasive stage of the cancer

Frequency of helicobacter pylori in histologically proven gastritis cases - a study of 100 cases

Objective: To determine the frequency of Helicobacter pylori [H. pylori] based on endoscopic of special stains in gastritis cases

Study Design: Prospective descriptive study

Place and Duration of Study: Histopathology department, Army Medical College Rawalpindi, from Oct 2016 to Mar 2017

Material and Methods: One hundred [100] cases were included in the study. Gastric biopsies of the patients histologically diagnosed as gastritis were included in the study, which were evaluated for the presence of H. pylori with the help of special stain [Modified Giemsa stain]

Results: Gastric biopsies of 100 patients, who were diagnosed as gastritis on histopathological examination were analyzed with the help of Giemsa stain for the presence or absence of H. pylori. Out of these 100 cases, 60 were males and 35 were females. Most patients were between the age group of 30-40 years. Histological examination and special stain analysis revealed presence of H. pylori in 30 cases [30%], while rest of the 70 cases [70%] showed no H. pylori. Out of 30 cases positive for H. pylori, 28 cases [93%] had chronic active gastritis, while 2 cases [7%] had no element of activity

Conclusion: Among the cases of chronic gastritis, H. pylori negative gastritis was more common than H. pylori associated gastritis. A significantly decreased frequency of H. pylori in histologically gastritis cases in our population may be due to more frequent use of complete or incomplete therapies against H. pylori by general practitioners at some stage of disease

Breast cancer; apoptosis inhibitory protein survivin and Casein Kinase 2

CK2 enzyme is up regulated in several cancers. It has many substrates including survivin which is up regulated in cancers

Objectives: to find out the correlation between expression of CK2alpha and survivin and evaluate it as a prospective prognostic marker in pathogenesis of the breast cancer and to find if positive correlation between CK2 and surviving was associated with advancing disease

Study Design: cross Sectional Analytical type of study

Setting: department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Army Medical College, Rawalpindi and Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, Rawalpindi

Duration of study: January 2013- December 2014

Methods: the research protocol was approved by Armed Forces Institute of Pathology Ethical Committee. Paraffin embedded tissue sections of diagnosed breast cancer, obtained from AFIP, were used. Immunohistochemistry was performed to determine nuclear and cytoplasm expression of survivin, and CK2 .Scoring done by three histopathologists, independently

Results: total CK2 expression was high in invasive as compared to noninvasive cases [p =0.209]. Cytoplasm and nuclear localization of CK2 in invasive group was a little higher too [p = 0.092] and [p=0.286] respectively. Total survivin expression was high in invasive as compared to non-invasive cases [p= 0.449]. Cytoplasm and nuclear localization of survivin in invasive group was higher as compared to noninvasive group with no significant different [p=0.472] and [p=0.367] respectively. A positive and strong correlation was found in CK2 and survivin expression and localization in both non-invasive as well as invasive groups

Conclusion: CK2 and survivin correlation in cancers can be used in predicting the cancer phenotype and aggression at early stages