Willingness of pregnant women to vaccinate themselves and their newborns with the HPV vaccine.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the willingness of pregnant women to accept the HPV vaccine for their newborns as well as themselves. METHODS: An 18-item questionnaire was distributed to antepartum women. Demographic data about the respondent's current pregnancy and her knowledge of HPV and the HPV vaccine was collected. Information about the respondent's HPV and HPV vaccine status as well as her acceptance of the vaccine for herself during pregnancy and her newborn son and/or daughter after delivery was also collected. RESULTS: Three hundred surveys were completed and available for review. Only 6 respondents (2%) had received the HPV vaccine. Despite the small group of patients who had previously been vaccinated, 112 respondents (37.3%) stated that they would receive the HPV vaccine during pregnancy if recommended by an obstetrician. 99 respondents (33%) stated that they would vaccinate their newborn female infant and 83 (27.7%) stated would vaccinate their male infants. CONCLUSION: Providing the HPV vaccine to pregnant women as well as newborns could be an important way to increase the patient population who is protected against HPV. A percentage of pregnant women are willing to accept the vaccine for themselves and their newborns.

Minimally invasive staging of endometrial cancer is feasible and safe in elderly women.

STUDY OBJECTIVE: To compare the surgical outcome of elderly and younger patients undergoing laparoscopic or robotic surgical staging of endometrial cancer. DESIGN: Retrospective analysis (Canadian Task Force classification II-2). SETTING: University-affiliated hospital. PATIENTS: One hundred twenty-nine patients comprised the study group. Sixty patients were aged 65 years or older (elderly group), and 69 patients were younger than 65 years (younger group). INTERVENTION: Abdominal, laparoscopic, or robotic hysterectomy. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Among the 109 patients who underwent laparoscopic or robotic staging, there were no differences in estimated blood loss, lymph node count, surgical time, complications, rate of blood transfusion, conversion to laparotomy, and mean postoperative stay between elderly and younger patients. CONCLUSION: Minimally invasive surgical staging for endometrial cancer is both feasible and safe in the elderly population and offers similar outcomes as in younger patients.

A case report of hereditary leiomyomatosis and renal cell cancer.

A 27-year-old woman, gravida 0, presented with uterine and cutaneous leiomyomata. Genetic testing confirmed hereditary leiomyomatosis and renal cell cancer syndrome, an autosomal dominant disorder caused by germline mutations in the fumarate hydratase gene. Specific screening guidelines do not exist and are often individual and treatment center dependent.

Dynamics of dynamin during clathrin mediated endocytosis in PC12 cells.

BACKGROUND: Members of the dynamin super-family of GTPases are involved in disparate cellular pathways. Dynamin1 and dynamin2 have been implicated in clathrin-mediated endocytosis. While some models suggest that dynamin functions specifically at the point of vesicle fission, evidence also exists for a role prior to fission during vesicle formation and it is unknown if there is a role for dynamin after vesicle fission. Although dynamin2 is ubiquitously expressed, dynamin1 is restricted to the nervous system. These two structurally similar endocytic accessory proteins have not been studied in cells that endogenously express both. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: The present study quantitatively assesses the dynamics of dynamin1 and dynamin2 during clathrin-mediated endocytosis in PC12 cells, which endogenously express both proteins. Both dynamin isoforms co-localized with clathrin and showed sharp increases in fluorescence intensity immediately prior to internalization of the nascent clathrin-coated vesicle. The fluorescence intensity of both proteins then decreased with two time constants. The slower time constant closely matched the time constant for the decrease of clathrin intensity and likely represents vesicle movement away from the membrane. The faster rate may reflect release of dynamin at the neck of nascent vesicle following GTP hydrolysis. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: This study analyses the role of dynamin in clathrin-mediated endocytosis in a model for cellular neuroscience and these results may provide direct evidence for the existence of two populations of dynamin associated with nascent clathrin-coated vesicles.