Telomere Attrition With Concomitant hTERT Overexpression Involved in the Progression of Gastric Cancer May Have Prognostic and Clinical Implications in High-Risk Population Group From North India.

Genetic instabilities exacerbated by the dysfunction of telomeres can lead to the development of cancer. Nearly 90% of all human malignancies are linked with telomere dysregulation and overexpression of telomerase, an enzyme that catalyzes the synthesis of telomeric DNA repeats at the ends of chromosomes. The burden of gastric cancer continues to inflict a deterring impact on the global health scenario, accounting for over one million new cases in 2020. The disease is asymptomatic in its early stages of progression, which is attributed to the poor prognosis and overall surge in mortality rate worldwide. Exploiting telomere physiology can provide extensive mechanistic insight into telomere-associated gastric cancer progression and its use as a target in a variety of therapeutic interventions. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the clinical implications of c-Myc, human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT) expression, and telomere length in patients with gastric cancer. A total of 57 gastric cancer cases and adjacent controls were included in the study. RT-PCR and immunohistochemistry were used to assess the expression levels of c-Myc and hTERT. The relative telomere length was measured by MMQPCR using the Cawthon method. Our results indicated that the shorter telomere and increased hTERT expression were associated with gastric cancer progression. The study also highlighted the role of short telomeres and increased expression of hTERT in gastric cancer progression and its association with various etiological risk factors, transcriptional activators, and overall survival among the ethnic Kashmiri population of North India.

Association of Helicobacter pylori with hepatobiliary stone disease, a prospective case control study.

BACKGROUND: Hepatobiliary stone disease is one of the most common surgical conditions worldwide. There are multiple causative agents responsible for the formation of hepatobiliary stones, and bacterial infection is one of them. The presence of Helicobacter DNA species has been investigated in the biliary epithelium of patients with biliary diseases. However, conflicting results have been observed that may have been due to the small number of subjects studied, difficulty in obtaining a healthy control group, absence of controlling for confounding factors, or ethical and regional differences among populations. METHODS: We investigated the presence of Helicobacter pylori species by PCR of 26-kDa surface antigen specific to H. pylori in bile samples from 50 cases with hepatobiliary stones and 25 controls without hepatobiliary stones. The control group comprised of 20 patients of hydatid cyst disease of liver and 5 patients of right colonic growth. RESULT: H. pylori was present in 20 bile samples among cases and was absent in 30 bile samples among cases. Among controls, H. pylori could not be detected. A significant association of the presence of H. pylori with hepatobiliary stone disease was seen (p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: There is an association between bile infection with H. pylori and hepatobiliary stone disease.

Giant Fecaloma Causing Small Bowel Obstruction: Case Report and Review of the Literature.

Fecaloma is a mass of hardened feces being impacted mostly in rectum and sigmoid. The most common sites of the fecaloma is the sigmoid colon and the rectum. There are several causes of fecaloma and have been described in association with Hirschsprung's disease, psychiatric patients, Chagas disease, both inflammatory and neoplastic, and in patients suffering with chronic constipation. Up to now several cases of giant fecaloma has been reported in the literature most of them presenting with megacolon or urinary retention. We herein report a case of giant fecaloma leading to bowel obstruction who was successfully treated by surgery. A 30-yrar-old man presented with sign and symptoms of acute bowel obstruction. He underwent exploratory laparotomy and enterotomy. He was found to have a giant fecaloma causing bowel obstruction in the jejunum. He was discharged after the operation with good condition. Jejunal fecaloma is extremely rare condition.

Gastric cancer in young patients.

AIM: The aim of this study was to see the clinical, pathological, and demographic profile of young patients with stomach carcinoma besides association with p53. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Prospective study of young patients with stomach carcinoma from January 2005 to December 2009. A total of 50 patients with age less than 40 years were studied. RESULTS: Male female ratio was 1 : 1.08 in young patients and 2.5 : 1 in older patients. A positive family history of stomach cancer in the first degree relatives was present in 10% of young patients. Resection was possible only in 50% young patients. 26% young patients underwent only palliative gastrojejunostomy. The most common operation was lower partial gastrectomy in 68%. Amongst the intraoperative findings peritoneal metastasis was seen in 17.4% in young patients. 50% young patients presented in stage IV as per AJCC classification (P value .004; sig.). None of the patients presented as stage 1 disease in young group. CONCLUSION: Early detection of stomach carcinoma is very important in all patients but in young patients it is of paramount importance.