Department of Pathology, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, USA.

The expression of mucin (MUC2) in prostate cancer has not been well studied previously and may be of prognostic and pathobiologic significance. It is, however, well known that MUC2 expression in mucinous pancreatic and breast cancer represents an indolent pathway since these tumors have a significantly better outcome than their conventional counterparts. Twenty-five cases each of Gleason pattern 3 and 4 mucinous adenocarcinoma of the prostate defined by greater than 25% mucinous component and nonmucinous adenocarcinoma of the prostate were obtained from the surgical pathology files of the Johns Hopkins Hospital and Emory University Hospital. Immunohistochemical stains were performed for MUC2 on all 50 cases. Mean patient age was 60 years (range 44-72 years). MUC2 was expressed in all 25 cases (100%) of mucinous adenocarcinoma of the prostate, irrespective of the Gleason pattern. The nonmucinous component of these cases was negative for MUC2. In contrast, MUC2 expression was significantly lower in nonmucinous adenocarcinoma of the prostate, detected in only 6/25 cases as a focal finding, while 19/25 (76%) of nonmucinous adenocarcinoma of the prostate were completely negative for MUC2 (P<0.01). In six cases that showed focal positivity, MUC2 was expressed in areas with Gleason pattern 3 cancer with extensive mucinous fibroplasia (one case) and prominent intraluminal mucin (five cases). Other areas of these tumors were negative for MUC2. Mucinous adenocarcinoma of the prostate shows diffuse expression of MUC2, a known tumor suppressor, which is not present in either normal prostate or the majority of conventional adenocarcinomas of this organ. This indicates that mucinous adenocarcinoma of the prostate is indeed of the ‘colloid type’ akin to those in other exocrine organs. It is highly conceivable that this de novo expression of MUC2 has a role, not only in the mucinous differentiation of these tumors and their colloid pattern, but also in their relatively indolent behavior that has been recently elucidated.Modern Pathology advance online publicaton, 16 May 2008; doi:10.1038/modpathol.2008.47.

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Department of Otorhinolarynology, Shengjing Hospital, China Medical University, Shenyang, PR of China.

Conclusions. In the past 20 years, the level of laryngeal carcinoma treatment in our country has been significantly improved. Early diagnosis is the key for increasing the ratio of larynx preservation surgeries and improving survival rates. The main causes of death within 5 years are local recurrence and metastasis. Objective. To describe the main treatment methods for laryngeal carcinoma in China in the 1980s and 1990s and their prospective effects and investigate the prognostic factors. Patients and methods. A retrospective investigation was performed on the 1115 laryngeal carcinoma patients receiving treatment in the department of ENT of the First Affiliated Hospital of China Medical University during 1983-1996 and the survival rates and causes of death were analyzed statistically. Results. There were 780 patients surviving for more than 5 years, 260 dead patients, and 75 patients lost to follow-up. According to the cumulative survival rate curve, the 5-year survival rate was 77% (94% for stage I, 89% for stage II, 82% for stage III, and 66% for stage IV). Glottic cancer has the highest 5-year survival rate, followed by supraglottic cancer, subglottic cancer, and transglottic cancer. The 5-year survival rate of patients receiving partial laryngectomy was 85%, while the 5-year survival rate of those receiving total laryngectomy was 68%. The leading causes of death within 5 years were local recurrence and metastasis (70%), and the causes of death were unknown in 14% of cases.

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Laboratory Center for Diagnostics, Dalian Medical University, Dalian, 116023, Liaoning, China.

Microchip-based systems have many desirable characteristics and can be used in much cellular biochemical analysis. Glucose-regulated protein 78 (GRP78), an endoplasmic reticulum chaperone, has a critical role in chemotherapy resistance of some cancers. This work aimed at analyzing the correlation between the expression of GRP78 and an anticancer drug, topoisomerase II inhibitor-VP-16, in human lung cancer cell line NCI-H460 using this microchip-based system. The cells were cultured on a PDMS chip, the expression of GRP78 at both protein and mRNA levels for the cells under the condition with or without the induction of A23187 were assayed by immunofluorescence and chip electrophoresis, respectively. Then the cells were treated by VP-16, percentages of apoptosis and the cycle distributions of the cells were detected by flow cytometry. The cells cultured on the PDMS attached and spread well to micro-channels with high viability. Compared with the non-induced cells, the expression of GRP78 at both protein and mRNA levels for the A23187-induced cells were increased greatly. After treatment by VP-16, the percentage of apoptotic cells decreased nearly threefold for the A23187-induced cells in contrast to the non-induced cells (13.15 +/- 3.84% versus 34.03 +/- 11.45%), and the cells distributed in S phase reduced dramatically (11.96 +/- 1.27% versus 20.76 +/- 3.05%) whereas in G(1) phase increased greatly (74.16 +/- 0.95% versus 57.06 +/- 4%). GRP78 is correlated to the resistance to VP-16 in human lung cancer cell line. The microchip-based system has the potential application and feasibility for cell culture and its functional research.

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