ABSTRACT
Skin melanoma represents one of the most common and lethal solid tumor. It usually develops on the skin but it can occur in any tissues with melanine- containing-cells (extracutaneous malignant melanoma). Only 4-5% of malignant melanomas originate in extracutaneous tissues, and they have an extremely lethal behavior (1). These non-skin malignant melanomas are rare but extremely aggressive. Primary melanoma of the genitourinary tract accounts for less than 0.2% of all melanomas. To date only 28 cases of primary bladder melanoma (PMM) are described. We report a rare case of PMM of the bladder in a 72 years old man treated with radical cystectomy and immunotherapy with Nivolumab.
Subject(s)
Cystectomy/methods , Immunotherapy/methods , Melanoma/therapy , Urinary Bladder Neoplasms/therapy , Aged , Antineoplastic Agents, Immunological/administration & dosage , Combined Modality Therapy , Humans , Male , Melanoma/diagnosis , Melanoma/pathology , Nivolumab/administration & dosage , Urinary Bladder Neoplasms/diagnosis , Urinary Bladder Neoplasms/pathologyABSTRACT
PURPOSE: To compare the incidence of distal emboli occurring during percutaneous transluminal angioplasty (PTA) and primary stent on the superficial femoral artery (SFA) METHODS: A total of 50 consecutive patients were entered in a prospective, randomized trial. Inclusion criteria were the presence of symptomatic limb ischemia due to stenosis or occlusion of the SFA. An embolic protection device was placed in the popliteal artery. The patients were then randomly assigned to undergo primary stent implantation or PTA. The filters were retrieved and sent for histologic examination. RESULTS: Stenting in the SFA produced more emboli (1.44 mm(3)) than PTA (0.772 mm(3)), P = .031. Reanalyzing the patients according to actual treatment performed, volume of debris in the stent group was 1.271 mm(3) and in the PTA group was 0.191 mm(3), P = .00087. CONCLUSION: Volume of embolized material during endovascular interventions in the SFA-above-knee popliteal artery is higher when a stent is used.
Subject(s)
Angioplasty, Balloon/instrumentation , Arterial Occlusive Diseases/therapy , Embolic Protection Devices , Embolism/prevention & control , Femoral Artery , Popliteal Artery , Stents , Aged , Angioplasty, Balloon/adverse effects , Ankle Brachial Index , Arterial Occlusive Diseases/complications , Arterial Occlusive Diseases/diagnosis , Arterial Occlusive Diseases/physiopathology , Constriction, Pathologic , Embolism/etiology , Embolism/pathology , Embolism/physiopathology , Female , Femoral Artery/diagnostic imaging , Femoral Artery/physiopathology , Humans , Incidence , Italy , Kaplan-Meier Estimate , Logistic Models , Male , Multivariate Analysis , Odds Ratio , Popliteal Artery/diagnostic imaging , Popliteal Artery/physiopathology , Prospective Studies , Prosthesis Design , Radiography , Risk Assessment , Risk Factors , Time Factors , Treatment Outcome , Ultrasonography, Doppler, Duplex , Vascular PatencyABSTRACT
The ability to predict the recurrence risk in breast cancer patients is not available for the individual. It is commonly accepted that the different clinical course of tumours with identical histology and stage are the result of differences at the molecular level. This case study of 80 patients affected by breast cancer looked at the messenger ribonucleic acid expression level of 22 genes, by using quantitative reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction. Our results showed that a panel of seven genes is associated to patients' survival. Moreover, the combination of two couples of genes is able to define short- and long-living cohorts of patients. In particular, our findings strongly demonstrate that retinoblastoma (RB) and cyclin-dependent kinase 2 (CDK2) on one side and cytokeratin 8 (CK8) and epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) on the other may affect the clinical course of the disease in 56% of patients. Groups characterised by low RB and high CDK2 as with low CK8 and high HER2 have a higher risk of recurrences and death in 5 years. The identification of these sub-groups of patients with higher risk of early relapse could have further involvement in the selection of the cases to submit to therapy against HER2 or CDK2 as a possible therapy target.
Subject(s)
Breast Neoplasms/pathology , Neoplasm Recurrence, Local , Aged , Breast Neoplasms/genetics , Cohort Studies , Cyclin-Dependent Kinase 2/genetics , Female , Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic , Genetic Predisposition to Disease , Humans , Keratin-8/genetics , Middle Aged , Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinases/genetics , Proportional Hazards Models , Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt/genetics , Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-raf/genetics , Receptor, ErbB-2/genetics , Retinoblastoma Protein/genetics , Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction/statistics & numerical data , Risk Factors , Survival AnalysisABSTRACT
Progression through the mammalian cell cycle is regulated by cyclin-cyclin-dependent kinase (CDKs) complexes that are activated throughout the cell cycle. Alteration in cell cycle control could lead to proliferation and tumourogenesis. This study was designed to analyse, at messenger RNA (mRNA) level, cyclins and CDKs involved in the retinoblastoma pathway, as well as cell division cycle 25a phosphatase (CDC25a), which activates some of the CDKs that were analysed. The aim of the study was to determine the possible prognostic relevance of these molecules in 73 women with peri- and post-menopausal breast cancer. Cyclins A, D1 and E; CDKs 2, 4 and 6 and phosphatase CDC25a expression status were analysed in primary tumours at mRNA level, by reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction analysis in paraffin-embedded primary breast cancers. High expression levels of CDK2, CDK4 and CDC25a were related to tumour recurrence. Over-expression of CDK2 and CDC25a was also associated with reduced overall survival; moreover, the CDK2 expression level was able to define a short-living cohort of patients with tumour-positive lymph nodes. CDK2, CDK4 and CDC25a can be used as reliable biomarkers to predict prognosis in women with peri- and post-menopausal breast cancer.
