Incidence of glioblastoma multiforme in Aragon and La Rioja. An epidemiological survey

The aim of this work has been to evaluate the epidemiologic data in a series of 157 patients operated for glioblastoma multiforme in Aragón and La Rioja, during a period of 15 years. We haven't analyzed the cases that weren't operated on, because of the localization of the tumor or the bad situation of the patient. All the patients have an anatomopathologic confirmation. We have studied a total of 795 patients operated for a cerebral or cerebellar tumor. The glioblastoma multiforme was the third type of tumor in frequency, after the meningioma and the astrocytoma. In the different groups of age the peak incidence was between the 50 and 59 years old, followed the group between 60 to 69. 153 cases appeared in adults and only 4 cases were found below the age of 20. The right hemisphere was the most frequently affected. Males were more often affected than females, with 96 cases (61.14%) in males and 61 cases (38.85%) in females. We couldn't find a significative relation between the presence of the tumor and the profession or another personal antecedent of the patients.     

Kaposi's sarcoma pathogenesis: a link between immunology and tumor biology

Kaposi's sarcoma (KS) was a rare disease in Europe and North America until a decade ago, when it became the most common neoplasm complicating the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), where it acquires an aggressive course. Clinical and experimental data suggest that, at least in early stage, KS may not be a true sarcoma, but an hyperplastic-proliferative lesion that may regress. At least three components characterize KS lesions: (1) neoangiogenesis and proliferation of spindle-shaped cells of endothelial and macrophage cell origin, some of which may originate from a circulating precursor; (2) a cellular infiltrate represented by macrophages, lymphoid cells, mast cells, and neutrophils; and (3) the infection of spindle cells and mononuclear cells with a new virus of the Herpesvirinae family defined KS-associated herpesvirus or human herpesvirus-8 (HHV-8). KS lesions are highly responsive, in terms of growth, to inflammatory cytokines (IC) and many lesional cell components are able to secrete cytokines and chemokines, which induce paracrine-autocrine mechanisms of growth, angiogenesis, and promote further cellular recruitment. The association between HHV-8 and KS is close; however, the role of the virus in KS development is yet unknown. Nevertheless, the virus has the potential to encode for homologs of cellular cytokines and some chemokines and its reactivation is sensitive to stimuli provided by IC. This review focuses on these aspects of KS pathogenesis, trying to reconcile many of the clinical and experimental observations. Finally, the role of the HIV-1 Tat protein as a factor of progression in AIDS-KS as well as the role of cellular and HHV-8 encoded proto-oncogenes as factors and markers of progression of KS to a true malignancy is reviewed.     

Case report: successful obliteration of a bleeding duodenal varix using endoscopic ligation

BACKGROUND: To determine the concentration of cytokines having an immunomodulating effect in the first trimester in women who subsequently developed preeclampsia. METHODS: The serum concentrations of IL-10, TNFalpha, IL-6 and IL-2R were determined in ten women who later developed severe preeclampsia and in ten healthy controls. The groups were compared with the Mann-Whitney U test. RESULTS: The IL-2R concentration was significantly higher in the women who later developed preeclampsia than in normal patients (p = 0.028). No significant differences were detected between the groups with respect to the other evaluated cytokines. CONCLUSION: Elevated IL-2R concentrations in maternal serum as early as in the first trimester may be a sign of immunological maladaptation and might be associated with a disturbance of trophoblastic invasion.     

Metalloproteinases and their inhibitors in squamous cell carcinoma of the hypopharynx: indicators of individual tumor aggressiveness

The physicochemical properties of recombinant hepatitis B surface antigen (r-HBsAg), which was expressed in C127 mammalian cell were studied. Using roller bottle culture in DMEM supplemented with fetal bovine serum, 10-15 mg/L of r-HBsAg was produced with about 31% of purification yield. The purity of r-HBsAg by HPLC was 99.8% and electron microscopic examination showed homogeneous spherical particle with 22 nm in diameter, a morphological characteristic of HBsAg. The density of r-HBsAg by CsCl density gradient method was 1.19 g/ml and the isoelectric point by Mono P HR 5/20 column was 4.6. The analysis of subunit protein pattern using SDS-PAGE followed by scanning densitometry gave 81.3% of S protein and 18.7% of pre-S protein. Fluorophore-assisted-carbohydrate-electrophoresis analysis showed the relative amount of carbohydrate to protein was 1.7% and its major component was N-acetyl glucosamine, which was about 39% of total carbohydrate. The relative amount of lipid to protein determined by vanillin phosphoric acid method was 32.5% and its major component was phospholipid, which was about 70% of total lipid. The physicochemical properties of C127 mammalian cell-derived r-HBsAg are similar to those of p-HBsAg, suggesting that the r-HBsAg can be used in developing a new preventive vaccine against hepatitis B.     

Identification of cis-acting elements in the SUC2 promoter of Saccharomyces cerevisiae required for activation of transcription

We analyzed the effects of site-directed mutations in the SUC2 promoter of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Analyses were performed in wild-type as well as mig1 and tup1 mutant strains after the promoter mutants were reintroduced into the native SUC2 locus on the left arm of chromosome IX. Mutation of the two GC boxes revealed that these elements play two distinct roles: they are, as expected, required for Mig1-mediated repression but they are also necessary for activation of the SUC2 promoter in response to glucose limitation. The individual GC boxes are functionally redundant with regard to Mig1-mediated repression, however, only the upstream GC box is essential for high level expression of SUC2. Microccocal nuclease sensitivity of the SUC2 promoter in derepressed cells was reduced in the GC box mutant promoters, particularly in the vicinity of the TATA box. The difference in nuclease sensitivity between wild-type and GC box mutant promoters was not evident in tup1- cells. The formation of nuclease-resistant chromatin does not require the GC boxes, indicating that other cis-acting elements can serve to recruit the Ssn6-Tup1 co-repressor complex to the SUC2 promoter.     

Identification of the 185delAG BRCA1 mutation in a Spanish Gypsy population

The 185delAG BRCA1 deletion occurs with a high frequency in Ashkenazi Jews. We detected this mutation in two Spanish Gypsy women (the only Gypsy participants) in an extensive study of 90 high-risk families and 160 women with early-onset breast cancer. One of these Gypsy women belonged to a high-risk family and the other had had early-onset breast cancer. The mutation was also detected in 1 out of 25 Gypsy samples unrelated to breast cancer. All the samples with the mutation shared the marker alleles present in Jewish samples with 185delAG. This is the first report of this mutation in a non-Jewish well-defined ethnic population. According to these findings the carrier frequency of this mutation in Gypsy individuals could be several times higher than that of the general population, and this should be taken into consideration in genetic screening for cancer in Gypsy populations.