Immunoexpression of E-cadherin, P-cadherin and fibronectin in gastric carcinomas.

One of the mechanisms involved in gastric carcinomas progression is represented by epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT), a complex process during which tumor cells acquire an invasive and migratory mesenchymal phenotype. In this study, we analyzed the immunoexpression of E-cadherin, P-cadherin and fibronectin in 50 gastric carcinomas, in relation with the tumoral type, differentiation grade and lesions stage. The reactions presented variable patterns related to lesions stage. Membrane and cytoplasmic reactions were present in 62% of cases for E-cadherin and in 56% of cases for P-cadherin, being present only cytoplasmic in 34% of cases for fibronectin. The immunoexpression for E-cadherin and P-cadherin was superior in tubular gastric carcinomas, of low grade and early stage, while fibronectin expression was superior in discohesive or mixed gastric carcinomas, of high grade and in advanced stages. Negative E-∕P-cadherin and positive fibronectin immunophenotype may be associated with aggressive gastric carcinomas and supports the EMT involvement in gastric carcinogenesis.

The impact of liver steatosis on early and sustained treatment response in chronic hepatitis C patients.

Steatosis is a frequent feature of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. Steatosis may be an important cofactor in both accelerating fibrosis and increasing liver necroinflammatory activity in chronic hepatitis C. The main objective of this study was the evaluation of biological response rates, early viral response, sustained viral response in patients with chronic hepatitis C treated with Interferon-alpha (IFN-α), Pegylated (PEG)-IFN-α2a or -α2b plus Ribavirin and to relate it to the presence of hepatic steatosis. There were selected to take part to the research 210 patients with chronic hepatitis C who have fulfilled all inclusion and exclusion criteria and were treated with PEG-IFN plus Ribavirin. Patients' progress has been monitored by determining next parameters: age, gender; biochemical tests - alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST); serological assays - detect antibody to hepatitis C virus (anti-HCV); molecular assays - detect, quantify and/or characterize HCV-RNA; liver histopathological examination. Steatosis was graded using the Brunt system. These parameters were included in an area under curve (AUC) analysis. Purpose is to estimate their degree of influence on getting early viral response (EVR) and sustained viral response (SVR). Based on the obtained results, it appears that initial value of HCV-RNA, dVL parameter value (low relative percentage of viral load during the first 12 weeks of treatment), histological scores steatosis may be predictive in the viral response in chronic hepatitis C. Our research demonstrates that a high degree of liver steatosis impairs both EVR and SVR in chronic hepatitis C treated with standard PEG-IFN and Ribavirin for 48 weeks and that a steatosis score of ≤3 predicts EVR with a sensibility of 91.03% with specificity of 21.54%.