Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy in the Study of Discrimination of Lobular Breast Cancers.

BACKGROUND/AIM: The early diagnosis of breast cancer plays an important role in reducing mortality and optimizing the prognosis of the disease. The existing visual and histopathological methods do not give any information at a molecular level. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy does not require any preparation, such as fixation and histological stains. The collected infrared spectral "biomarker bands" give information at a molecular level and could be used for biomarker screening, in order to minimize the false-positive or false-negative results. MATERIALS AND METHODS: For this prospective study, nine biopsies of lobular carcinoma (7 in situ and 2 invasive) and the adjacent healthy region of the biopsies were used. Each infrared spectrum consisted of 120 scans/spectrum (120 co-added spectra) at a spectral resolution of 4 cm -1 . RESULTS: The infrared spectral analysis revealed three important "diagnostic spectral regions" between 3,300-2,850 cm -1 , 1,700-1,500 cm -1 , and 850-800 cm -1 , which are related to membrane, collagen, and DNA configuration damage, respectively. The shift of the absorption band at 1,161 cm -1 at higher wave numbers up to 1,172 cm -1 is assigned to vC-O-C bonds due to membrane, protein, and DNA glycosylation. CONCLUSION: The "biomarker bands" at 1,172 cm -1 can be used as "diagnostic marker bands" for cancer progression. The shift of the absorbance band at 825 cm -1 of the native configuration of B-DNA to lower wavenumbers at 810 cm -1 Z-DNA in grade III, suggests the irreversible stage of the disease. The detection and possibility to differentiate the DNA structures may allow detection of carcinogenesis at the early stage of the disease, and development of new anticancer therapies.

Systemic therapy of metastatic renal cell carcinoma: Review of the current literature.

INTRODUCTION:: Renal cell carcinoma represents a neoplasm with usually aggressive behavior. Due to its nature, it is often diagnosed in an advanced stage or when metastatic dissemination has been occurred. The aim of this review is to provide an overview of the current management of metastatic renal cell carcinoma and briefly discuss the potential new therapeutic strategies for this disease. METHODS:: Review of the literature was performed in PubMed/MEDLINE, Cochrane, and EMBASE and we included English articles up to February 2018. RESULTS:: Over the past years, many efforts have been made in the context of confronting metastatic disease and led to the introduction of targeted therapies. More available agent options, including various tyrosine kinase inhibitors and mammalian target of rapamycin inhibitors, can be served nowadays as the first-, second-, and third-line therapy in the metastatic setting of the disease providing better outcomes. DISCUSSION:: Moreover, regarding the recent advances in the field of cancer immunotherapy, the landscape of metastatic renal cell carcinoma management is being shaped toward novel immunotherapeutic interventions alone or in combination with other types of therapy.

Prognostic significance of MRP5 immunohistochemical expression in glioblastoma.

INTRODUCTION: Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is the most frequent malignant primary brain tumor in adults, exhibiting poor survival. The efficacy of chemotherapy is often limited by the development of multidrug resistance by the tumor cells. In the current study, we investigated the prognostic significance of the multidrug resistance protein 5 (MRP5) in patients with GBM. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We retrospectively studied 33 patients with GBM treated with a combination of surgery, postoperative radiotherapy and adjuvant temozolomide chemotherapy. MRP5 protein expression was determined immunohistochemically and correlated with other prognostic factors and survival. RESULTS: The immunohistochemical expression of MRP5 was observed in 0-45% of tumor cells. Patients with MRP5 index >11% exhibited significantly worse survival compared to those with MRP5 index ≤ 11 (10.5 vs. 18 months, p = 0.0002). Patients with Ki-67 index lower than 30% had longer survival (15 vs. 11 months, p = 0.0084). Furthermore, patients with a gross total tumor excision had better survival (p = 0.016). No significant difference was observed between preoperative Karnofsky performance score, age, gender and survival. In multivariate analysis, MRP5 index and the extent of tumor resection were identified as factors with independent prognostic power. CONCLUSION: The present results imply that MRP5 index may hold a prognostic role in patients with GBM.