Downregulation of C3 and C4A/B complement factor fragments in plasma from patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the penis

To investigate the use of ClinProt technique to identify cancer markers in plasma of patients suffering from squamous cell carcinoma of the penis (SCCP).

Plasma of 36 healthy subjects and 25 patients with penile carcinoma who underwent surgical treatment between June 2010 and June 2011 was collected and analyzed by the ClinProt/MALDI/ToF technique. Then the peptides were identified from the C8 MB eluted fraction of patients' and control subjects' plasma by LIFT MS/MS.

A cluster of 2 peptides (A=m/z 1897.22 ± 9 Da and B=m/z 2021.99 ± 9 Da) was able to discriminate patients from control subjects. Cross validation analysis using the whole casuistic showed 62.5% and 86.76% sensitivity and specificity, respectively. The cluster also showed very high sensitivity (100%) and specificity (97%) for SCCP patients that died due to the disease. Furthermore, patients with lymph node involvement presented sensitivity and specificity of 80% and 97%, respectively. These two peptides were identified by the proteomic approach based on a MALDI-TOF/TOF as fragments of C3 (m/z 1896.17) and C4a/b (m/z 2021.26) complement proteins.

The results showed that as the disease progresses, the fragments C3 and C4 A/B are less expressed in comparison with healthy subjects. These results may be useful as prognostic tools. .

Neoplasias genitales intraepiteliales: a propósito de dos pacientes inmunosuprimidos / Penile intraepithelial neoplasia: two case report

Las neoplasias genitales intraepiteliales constituyen lesiones que afectan a todo el espesor de la epidermis e incluyen entidades específicas, como la eritroplasia de Queyrat, la enfermedad de Bowen y papulosis bowenoide. Actualmente se describe aumento de la frecuencia de neoplasias intraepiteliales, pero la real incidencia de los carcinomas in situ genitales es desconocida. Se describen factores predisponentes, tanto para las neoplasias in situ como para los carcinomas invasores, dentro de los que se encuentran los pacientes no circuncidados, deficiente higiene genital, balanitis recurrente, liquen escleroso, fimosis, inmunosupresión, infección por virus papiloma humano, etc. Existen distintas terapias descritas para estas lesiones; sin embargo, aún no hay consenso en su manejo. Las opciones de tratamiento dependen de la localización, de la extensión de la enfermedad, costo de la terapia, etc. En general se ha descrito recidiva de las lesiones, con todos los tratamientos mencionados; no obstante, la cirugía micrográfica de Mohs es considerada por algunos autores la terapia de elección en estos casos. En este artículo se presentan dos casos de neoplasias genitales intraepiteliales tratadas con Imiquimod 5 por ciento y 5-Fluoracilo con buenos resultados.

The intraepithelial neoplasias of genitals are lesions that affect all the thickness of the epidermis and include specific carcinomas such as erythroplasia of Queyrat, Bowen’s disease and bowenoid papulosis. Presently, there is an increase in the frequency of intraepithelial neoplasias, but the real incidence of in situ genital carcinoma is unknown. Many predisposing factors are described for both in situ and invasive carcinomas, for example, the lack of circumcision, poor genital hygiene, recurrent balanitis, penile lichen sclerosus, phimosis, immune suppression, HPV infections, etc. Different therapies are described for these illnesses, but there is no uniform guideline assessment. Treatment depends on location, extension of the illness, cost of the therapy, etc. In general, recurrence of carcinomas has been described with all treatments, although Mohs micrographic surgery is considered by some authors as the therapy of choice in these cases. We present two cases of intraepithelial neoplasias of genitals that were treated with Imiquimod 5 percent and 5-Fluoracilo with positive results.