Parameters and outcomes in 525 patients operated on for oral squamous cell carcinoma.

PURPOSE: This report analyzed the outcomes of patients undergoing surgery for oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) to identify the value of prognostic factors. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A total of 525 patients were studied who had undergone surgery for oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) between 2000 and 2011, of whom 222 had received postoperative radiation-therapy (PORT) and or chemoradiation-therapy (PORTC). For each patient, personal data, histological findings, treatment and outcome were recorded and analyzed statistically. Survival curves were calculated using the Kaplan-Meier algorithm, and the difference in survival among subgroups was examined. RESULTS: The overall survival (OS) and disease-specific survival (DSS) 5-year survival rate in the 525 patients were respectively 71.38% and 73.18%. The differences in the overall survival and disease-specific 5-year survival were significant (p < 0.05) for age < 40 years, site of origin, N status, staging, grading, osseous medullar infiltration, and perineural invasion. In patients undergoing radiation therapy, only perineural invasion negatively influenced the survival prognosis. In 150 pT1 cases of tongue and floor-of-mouth cancer, an infiltration depth (ID) > 4 mm was statistically correlated with poorer prognosis. CONCLUSIONS: The results demonstrate an improvement in the 5-year OS and DSS rates during the past decade compared with the previous decade. Univariate analysis revealed that age, tumor staging, and lymph node involvement, extracapsular spread, grading, perineurial invasion, infiltration depth, and osseus medullary invasion were associated significantly with overall survival and disease-specific survival.

Correlation between Skp2 expression and nodal metastasis in stage I and II oral squamous cell carcinomas.

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to investigate the role of S-phase kinase associated protein (Skp2) in the development of nodal metastasis and to assess its influence on prognosis in stage I and II oral squamous cell carcinomas (OSCCs). EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN: Seventy-one patients affected by OSCC (stage I-II) were observed in the period ranging from March 2003 to December 2006. The research was performed using immunohistochemical and histopathological analysis. RESULTS: The overall survival rate was 89.6% at 3 years, 87% at 5 years and 80.7% at 10 years. Patients with vascular or perineural invasion showed no statistically significant survival difference when compared with the ones with no invasion. The tumour depth of invasion did not prove to be related to the metastatic potential. Nine of the seventeen patients with Skp2 positive nuclei (≥20%) developed nodal metastasis. Conversely, only 6 of the 54 patients with a nuclear positivity lower than 20% developed a laterocervical metastasis (P=0.001). When comparing survival curves of Skp≥20% and Skp2<20% OSCCs, no significant P value emerged from the statistical analysis. CONCLUSIONS: This study is the first to report an important correlation between an Skp2 expression lower than 20% and the capability of the tumour not to develop nodal laterocervical metastases (P=0.001).

Synthesis and vasodilating properties of N-alkylamide derivatives of 4-amino-3-furoxancarboxylic acid and related azo derivatives.

A series of N-alkylamide derivatives of 4-amino-3-furoxancarboxylic acids 5a-11a and their oxidation products, the azo derivatives 5b-11b, were synthesised and studied for their vasodilating properties. All the products were able to release rat aorta strips precontracted with (-)noradrenaline. Azo derivatives proved to be 20-200 times more potent than the parent amines. The large variation of lipophilicity within the two series does not seem to influence significantly the activity. Experiments carried out in the presence of oxyhaemoglobin (HbO(2)) suggest the involvement of nitric oxide (NO*) in the vasodilation.

Comparison of complement fixation, immunofluorescence and immunoenzymatic tests for routine detection of cytomegalovirus IgG antibodies.

Complement fixation (CF), immunofluorescence (IF) and immunoenzymatic (ELISA) tests by commercial sources were compared, for routine laboratory detection of cytomegalovirus IgG antibodies, on 120 serum samples from normal pregnant females. IF and ELISA were comparable in terms of specificity and sensitivity, but in our opinion ELISA showed some advantages with regard to need for facilities and trained personnel. CF could not detect some of low titer positive sera, so it can not be suggested where it is critical to know a previous contact with the virus, as in blood donors or transplant donors and recipients.

[Epidemiologic surveillance of influenza in Rome (1981-1982)]. / Sorveglianza epidemiologica dell'influenza in Roma (1981-1982).

In the period from September 1981 to April 1982, one strain of influenza virus (A-H3N2) was isolated from 121 throat cultures obtained from patients with acute febrile respiratory disease. A sero-epidemiological survey on 520 serum samples and evaluation of excess mortality from respiratory diseases did not show significant activity of influenza viruses during the period from October 1981 to October 1982.

[Pneumonia mortality in Italy over a 26-year period (1951-1976)]. / Mortalità per polmonite in Italia nel corso di 26 anni (1951-1976).

During the period 1951-1976 the annual mortality rate due to pneumonia decreased from about 60 deaths/100.000 to about 26 deaths/100.000. By studying the pattern of mortality in relation to the age of population, it is shown that pneumonia deaths in the elder group (greater than 60 year-old) progressively diminished from 1951 (266/100.000) to 1966 (125/100.000). After this year mortality rates showed to stabilize their levels. Pneumonia mortality among people with age between 0-5 years and 5-60 years showed a progressive decline during all the period here examined. At this time elder people seem to contribute to more than 80% of mortality from pneumonia in Italy.