Ratio of directly necrotized volume to total volume of a submucosal myoma predicts shrinkage after microwave endometrial ablation.

AIM: To explore parameters relating to shrinkage of submucosal myomas after microwave endometrial ablation. METHODS: Fourteen patients underwent microwave endometrial ablation at 2.45 GHz using a curved microwave applicator to treat menorrhagia caused by a submucosal myoma. The size of myomas was measured on magnetic resonance images before, one month after, and six months after the operation. The average radius r was defined as half of the size of the myoma measured in three dimensions. The protrusion ratio alpha was defined as the ratio of the thickness of the protruding part of a myoma in the uterine cavity to the size of the myoma before the operation. The ratio of the directly necrotized volume by microwave irradiation to the total volume (RODNeV) of preoperative myomas was calculated using the following formula: (1) where d is the depth of myoma tissue directly necrotized by microwave irradiation. The relationships of preoperative alpha, r and RODNeV to postoperative shrinkage were then examined. RESULTS: Two-dimensional plots showing shrinkage of submucosal myomas versus the RODNeV indicated that shrinkage at six months after microwave endometrial ablation depends on the RODNeV. Myomas with a RODNeV greater than 0.17 had shrunk more than 50% at six months after the operation. CONCLUSIONS: RODNeV is closely related to postoperative necrosis and shrinkage of the submucosal myoma after microwave endometrial ablation. Prediction of the shrinkage rate of submucous myomas appears to be possible by calculating the RODNeV preoperatively.

Vascular endothelial growth factor, matrix metalloproteinases, and cyclooxygenase-2 influence prognosis of uterine cervical cancer in young women.

Recent changes in the lifestyle of young women have led to an increase in the rate of uterine cervical cancer. We investigated the clinicopathological characteristics of uterine cervical cancer in young women, and examined the expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) and cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2). Tumor samples from 439 patients with uterine cervical cancer, who were initially treated at Osaka City University Medical School Hospital, Japan between 1995 and 2004, were stained immunohistochemically. The patients were classified into two groups according to age at onset: group Y included women aged < or =35 years, and group O included women aged > or =36 years. Group Y had more cases of squamous cell carcinoma, while group O had more advanced cases (P<0.05). Advanced cases (beyond stage Ib2) had a significantly worse prognosis in group Y than in group O (P<0.05). There were no differences between the two groups in the expressions of VEGF, MMP-2 and COX-2. However, in advanced cases (beyond stage Ib2), the expression of VEGF, MMP-2 and COX-2 was significantly greater in group Y than in group O (P<0.05). The above findings suggest that the expression of VEGF, MMPs and COX-2 is related to a worse prognosis for advanced uterine cervical cancer in young women.

Expression of glucose transporters in epithelial ovarian carcinoma: correlation with clinical characteristics and tumor angiogenesis.

We immunohistochemically examined the expression of the glucose transporters (GLUT)1, GLUT3 and GLUT4, in 154 tumor samples of epithelial ovarian carcinoma. In addition, we investigated the correlations between the expression of GLUTs and the vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), and microvessel count and clinical parameters. The rates of expression of GLUT1, GLUT3 and GLUT4 were 98.7%, 92.8% and 84.4%, respectively. GLUT1 and GLUT4 were both strongly expressed in serous adenocarcinoma, but weakly expressed in clear cell adenocarcinoma. The expressions of GLUT1 and GLUT4 correlated with the clinical disease stage. The expressions of GLUT1, GLUT3 and GLUT4 correlated positively with VEGF expression. The expression status for GLUT1, GLUT3, GLUT4 and VEGF did not represent a prognostic factor. These findings suggest that characteristic differences in the patterns of glucose uptake can exist according to the histological type and that GLUT1, GLUT3 and GLUT4 could be related to tumor angiogenesis in epithelial ovarian carcinoma.

VEGF mRNA in adipocytes increase with rebound weight-gain after diet-restriction.

The mechanism of rebound body weight-gain after a restricted-diet state is unclear. We investigated the expression of angiogenic factors in human adipocytes with a changing nutritional state in culture medium, and attempted to ascertain the mechanisms involved in rebound weight-gain. Adipocytes were divided into three groups; the first group (control group) was cultured in medium with 10% fetal calf serum (FCS), the second (DR3% group) was cultured in medium with 3% FCS, and the third (DR6% group) was cultured in medium with 6% FCS. After being cultured for 48 h, each was next cultured with 12% FCS for a further 48 h. When made to change from a low nutrition state to a higher one, adipocytes changed from hypotrophic to hypertrophic. Simultaneously, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in the culture medium increased significantly. When investigated immunohistochemically, the expression of VEGF was similarly shown in the cytoplasm of adipocytes. The same tendency with the same quantity of mRNA was shown by RT-PCR. These results show that VEGF produced and secreted from adipocytes increases, when the cultivation state of adipocytes is changed from a low nutritional state to a higher one. VEGF produced and secreted from adipocytes may be related to rebound weight-gain.