Procalcitonin in patients with colorectal cancer.

PURPOSE: Bacterial translocation (BT) is common in colon cancer patients and may be associated with increased occurrence of septic complications as well as with adverse oncologic outcomes. The aim of the present study was to correlate the BT detectable through peritoneal lavage culture or identified by abnormal inflammatory parameters with the clinicopathologic parameters and the short-term prognosis in a prospective series of patients. METHODS: Fifty-four consecutive patients with histologically proven colorectal cancer were included in this prospective study. White blood cells (WBC), erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) and serum levels of procalcitonin (PCT) and C-reactive protein (CRP) were determined and cultures from peritoneal lavage were collected immediately after laparotomy. RESULTS: Positive PCT was detected in 31 (55.3%) patients while positive cultures were obtained in 6 (11%) patients. Significant positive correlation of PCT with inflammation markers was noticed. Patients with distant metastases had higher serum PCT levels than patients without distant metastases (p=0.01). Borderline statistical significance was found between PCT and tumor grade (p=0.09). PCT was not correlated with the cultures of the lavage or the outcome. CONCLUSION: PCT is an adequate inflammatory marker, able to preoperatively discriminate patients with bacterial systemic inflammatory reaction due to BT. However, the clinical consequence of BT may be minimal as is shown by the lack of association of PCT or positive peritoneal lavage cultures with time to discharge, complications and short-term survival.

Prognostic value of EZH2, paxillin expression and DNA ploidy of breast adenocarcinoma: correlation to pathologic predictors.

PURPOSE: The objective of this study was to examine the association of EZH2 and paxillin expression and DNA ploidy status with pathological parameters of breast cancer, aiming to correlate tumor phenotype with its malignant behavior. METHODS: EZH2 and paxillin expression and DNA ploidy were evaluated in imprint smear samples obtained from 105 breast tumors after surgical removal. RESULTS: Increased expression of paxillin was associated with p53 expression (p=0.005), Ki-67 expression (p=0.018) and EZH2 expression (p<0.0001). EZH2 expression correlated with estrogen receptor (ER) and progesterone receptor (PR) status (p=0.01 and p=0.035, respectively), and expression of p53 and Ki-67 (p=0.007 and p<0.0001, respectively). Aneuploid tumors were significantly correlated with poor differentiation (p=0.000), stage of disease (p=0.000), size of the primary tumor (p=0.015), presence of nodal metastasis (p=0.001), ER status (p=0.008), cerbB2 status (p=0.012), and expression of Ki-67 (p=0.001) and EGFR (p=0.018). Multivariate analysis of ploidy results using paxillin and EZH2 expression as dependent variables revealed that aneuploid tumors were associated with disease stage and grade of differentiation, cerbB2 expression and EZH2 expression. CONCLUSION: Our results show that aneuploid tumors, EZH2 expression and paxillin expression correlate with more aggressive phenotype of breast cancer.

The value of proliferation indexes in breast cancer.

INTRODUCTION: During the past several years, the Ki-67 antigen has gathered great interest in its role as a prognostic marker. Nevertheless, despite the large number of published papers, the role of Ki-67 in clinical practice remains controversial. AIM: To evaluate the association between Ki-67 immunoreactivity and other clinicohistopathological parameters. METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed the archival pathology tissues of 356 patients, diagnosed and treated in our department, from 2002 to 2006. Statistical analysis was used to examine the association between Ki-67 expression and other clinicopathological factors. RESULTS: The expression of Ki-67 was correlated with the mitotic count, tumor grade and size and p53, HER2 and EGFR expression. Furthermore Ki-67 expression was significantly related with nodal status and inversely associated with hormonal expression. Moreover, invasive carcinomas appeared to have greater proliferation values than in situ carcinomas, while invasive ductal carcinomas were correlated with higher Ki-67 expression compared to lobular cancers. CONCLUSION: The expression of Ki-67 appears to be a valuable method of proliferation measurement that could prove helpful in clinical practice. Further research is warranted in order to standardize the methodology and to reach uniformity in regard with the optimal cut-off value.