Fascin expression in colorectal carcinomas

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to investigate the significance of fascin expression in colorectal carcinoma. METHODS: This is a retrospective study of 167 consecutive, well-documented cases of primary colorectal adenocarcinoma for which archival material of surgical specimens from primary tumor resections were available. We chose a representative tissue sample block and examined fascin expression by immunohistochemistry using a primary antibody against "fascin". We calculated the "immunohistochemical score (IHS)" of fascin for each case, which was calculated from the multiplication of scores for the percentage of stained cells and the staining intensity. RESULTS: Fascin immunoreactivity was observed in 59 (35.3 percent) of all cases with strong reactivity in 24 (14.4 percent), moderate reactivity in 25 (14.9 percent) and weak reactivity in 10 (6.0 percent) cases. Strong/moderate immunoreactivities were mostly observed in invasive fronts of the tumors or in both invasive and other areas. Fascin immunoreactivity scores were significantly higher in tumors with lymph node metastasis (p:0.002) and advanced stage presentation (p:0.007). There was no relation between fascin expression and age, gender, depth of invasion, distant metastasis or histological grade (p>0.05). There was a higher and statistically significant correlation between fascin immunoreactivity in the invasive borders of tumors and lymph node metastasis (r:0.747, p:0.005). In stage III/IV tumors, two-year survival was 92.2 percent in tumors without fascin immunoreactivity, and only 60.0 percent in tumors with a fascin IHS>10 (p:0.003). CONCLUSION: These findings suggest that fascin is heterogeneously expressed in approximately one third of colorectal carcinomas with a significant association with lymph node metastasis, tumor stage and location. Moreover, these results indicate that fascin may have a role in the lymph node metastasis of colorectal carcinomas.

Does the type of resuscitative fluid affect healing of colonic anastomosis in experimentally induced hemorrhagic shock in rats?

The aim of the study was to investigate the effects of different resuscitative fluids on the healing of intestinal anastomosis in a hemorrhagic-shock rat model. Closed-colony Wistar male rats [n = 40; 8 rats per group] were subjected to volume-controlled hemorrhagic shock, followed by a 30-min shock phase. The animals were then resuscitated with one of the following fluids [which also corresponds to their respective groups]: lactated Ringer's solution [LR], hydroxyethyl starch [HES], 7.5% hypertonic saline [HS] and autologous blood [AB]. There was also a control group [CL], which did not experience hemorrhagic shock or receive any resuscitative fluids. All rats underwent laparotomy, segmental resection and anastomosis of the left colon. Five days later, a 2nd laparotomy was performed and the anastomotic bursting pressure was measured in vivo. Thereafter, the anastomosed segment was resected to measure the tissue hydroxyproline level and the grade of anastomotic fibrosis. All experimental groups [LR, HES, HS and AB] exhibited lower anastomotic bursting pressures than the CL group; however, nointergroup differences achieved statistical significance. The mean tissue hydroxyproline level and fibrosis grade also were similar across all 5 groups. In traumatic hemorrhagic shock, anastomosis safety does not appear to be affected by the type of fluid used for resuscitation. Moreover, LR, HES and HS all seemed to reinforce healing as effectively as transfused blood