Elevated oxidative stress and DNA damage and repair levels in urinary bladder carcinomas associated with schistosomiasis.

To cast light on mechanisms underlying development of urothelial carcinomas (UCs) of the urinary bladder associated with Schistosomiasis, we immunohistochemically analyzed the relationship between oxidative stress markers, DNA single strand breaks (ssDNA) which could also measure the levels of base damage and apoptosis in DNA, and expression of DNA repair genes with levels of nitric oxide synthases in bladder carcinomas of Egyptian patients with or without Schistosoma hematobium infection. Marked elevation of 8-hydroxy-2'-deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG) levels was found in squamous cell carcinomas and UCs associated with Schistosomiasis when compared with non-Schistosomal carcinomas. This was accompanied by strong over expression of the DNA-repair genes, 8-oxoguanine-DNA-glycosylase and apurinic/apyrimidinic endonuclease, as well as increased formation levels of ssDNA. Expression levels of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) which is known to be indirectly related to oxidative stress was higher in Schistosomal than in the non-Schistosomal carcinomas. However, expression of endothelial nitric oxide synthase was slightly stronger in non-Schistosomal than in the Schistosomal carcinomas. In conclusion, these findings suggest a strong correlation between Schistosoma haematobium infection and increased levels of oxidative stress accompanied by a continuous DNA damage and repair in UCs, all directly correlating with elevated iNOS.

Trichomonas vaginalis infection-associated risk of cervical cancer: A meta-analysis.

Trichomoniasis, caused by the extracellular eukaryotic parasite trichomonas vaginalis, is one of the most common non-viral sexually transmitted infections worldwide. The correlation between trichomoniasis and cervical cancer was ambiguous. This meta-analysis was carried out to determine the relevance between trichomoniasis and cervical cancer. Relevant data from 1985 to 2016 were identified through an extensive search of Medline, Cochrane database, Google Scholar, EMBASE, China National Knowledge Infrastructure. Finally 17 eligible articles covered 7715 individuals with cervical lesions and 67,598 controls were included. Meta-analysis of total eligible studies showed that odds ratio of retrospective studies was 2.06, with 95% confidence interval (95% CI) of 1.77 to 2.39, prospective studies with adjusted relative risk of 1.94 (95% CI = 1.19 to 3.15) and 2.84 (95% CI = 1.32 to 6.12) respectively, and the combined relative risk was 2.03 (95% CI = 1.35 to 3.06). Subgroup analysis indicated that there were significant regional and racial differences in the correlation between trichomoniasis and cervical cancer. Odds ratio of Africa and Europe are 2.43 (95% CI = 1.15 to 5.13) and 1.82 (95% CI = 1.67 to 2.62) respectively. Odds ratio of mixed population is 2.87 (95% CI = 2.00 to 4.12), followed by black and white, Asian with the lowest odds ratio of 1.91 (95% CI = 1.32 to 2.77). In conclusion, our data demonstrate that individuals infected with trichomonas vaginalis have a higher risk of cervical cancer, especially co-infected with Human Papilloma Virus. Besides, there is significant regional and racial variation in the correlation between trichomonas vaginalis infection and risk of cervical cancer.

Performance of urinary survivin as a non-invasive molecular marker of bladdercarcinoma in a schistosomiasis endemic area.

OBJECTIVE: To compare the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value of urinary survivin and that of urine cytology in the diagnosis of bladder carcinoma in a schistosoma endemic area. DESIGN AND SETTING: This is a 12-month prospective study of patients with features of bladder carcinoma as study group and patients with other urologic conditions and healthy volunteers as control group. PARTICIPANTS: Patients with features of bladder carcinoma formed the study group, while patients with other urological conditions and healthy volunteers formed the control group. RESULTS: There were 52 patients in study group and 36 patients in control group. The mean ages of patients in the study and control groups were 47.17 ± 17.00 and 44.19 ± 18.89 years respectively. There were 48 males and 4 females in the study group, giving a male: female ratio of 12:1. Thirty-one (60 %) of the patients were farmers and 44 patients (85%) had history suggestive of schistosomiasis at childhood. The sensitivity of urine cytology and survivin in the study were 29.1% and 100.0% respectively. The specificity of urine cytology and survivin were 100.0% and 100.0% respectively (p= 0.05). The marker was associated with false positive (FP) results in patients with prostate cancer. CONCLUSION: Urinary survivin is highly sensitive, specific and predictive of bladder carcinoma in our environment. The marker is associated with false positive results in patients with prostate cancer. FUNDING: By authors.

Giardia lamblia trophozoites in gastric biopsies.

To assess the prevalence of gastric giardiasis in gastric biopsies of patients with carcinoma stomach and in patients taking treatment for duodenal ulcer. Gastric biopsy specimens from 54 patients of carcinoma stomach and 100 antral biopsies from patients taking treatment for duodenal ulcer were included in the study. Sections were stained with haematoxylin and eosin, methylene blue and May Grunwald-Giemsa stains and examined for presence of Giardia lamblia trophozoites. Eight out of 54 (14.9%) biopsies of gastric carcinoma patients harboured trophozoites of Giardia lamblia. Associated H. pylori infection was present in all biopsies (8/8; 100%). Atrophy and intestinal metaplasia was present in 62.5% (5/8) and 25% (2/8) cases respectively. Sections from seven out of 35 patients (20%) taking treatment for duodenal ulcer showed presence of G. lamblia. H. pylori infection, gastritis and atrophy were found in 85.7% (6/7), 71.4% (5/7) and 28.6% (2/7) cases respectively. First gastric biopsy in these patients was negative for G. lamblia but 2nd and 3rd biopsies were positive. A careful search for G. lamblia trophozoites should be made while examining the gastric biopsies, especially in patients with carcinoma stomach, intestinal metaplasia, atrophic gastritis and those taking treatment for duodenal ulcer. This may help in indirect diagnosis of clinically unsuspected cases of intestinal giardiasis and may explain persistence of vague upper gastrointestinal tract (UGIT) symptoms despite clearance of H. pylori in patients on anti-ulcer therapy.

[Histological aspect of urinary schistosomiasis in Togo: results of a cohort of 192 cases]. / Aspect histologique des séquelles de la bilharziose urinaire au Togo: résultats d'une série de 192 cas.

The high prevalence of urinary schistosomiasis in Togo and its late management often lead to sequels. This study takes stock of these cancerous and non-cancerous lesions observed on histological pieces in the pathology laboratory of the Teaching Hospital of Lome in 10 years. We find 28.1 % of malignant tumor lesions, dominated by urothelial carcinoma.

Detection of C-erb B2 gene amplification in bilharzial associated bladder cancer using fluorescence in situ hybridization.

BACKGROUND: Gene amplifications are common events in different tumor types and may confer diagnostic, prognostic, or therapeutic information for patient management. Fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) represents a standard methodologic approach for testing for this genetic alteration, as it is rapid, reproducible and extremely reliable in detecting presence of C-erb-B2 gene amplification for clinical utility. PATIENTS AND METHODS: In this study, FISH is used in a series of archival human bilharzial bladder cancer specimens to evaluate for the presence of cerbB-2 gene alterations in the most common malignant tumor in bilharzial endemic areas, e.g., Egypt and some other countries. The study included 40 cases, 30 males and 10 females. Their ages ranged between 30 years and 76 years (median: 51 years). Twenty-one cases had squamous cell carcinoma, 16 had transitional cell carcinoma, two had adenocarcinoma, and one case had undifferentiated carcinoma. RESULTS: Thirteen out of 40 tumor samples (32.5%) show evidence of true C-erb-B2 gene amplification. Of the remaining samples, 24 (60%) show no gene amplification and three (7.5%) fall into the borderline category with a ratio between one and two C-erb-B2 genes/cell relative to chromosome 17 centromeres. No evidence of chromosome 17 polysomy was found in any cases scored as single copy with the C-erb-B2 probe. CONCLUSION: No significant association was found between gene amplification and any of the tested clinicopathologic parameters or tumor recurrence except for tumor grade where higher tumor grades tended to be associated with more C-erb-B2 gene amplification (P = 0.01) thus reflecting more tumor aggressiveness. So, the amplification of C-erb-B2 in bilharzial associated bladder cancer is probably not independently related to clinical outcome of patients.

Soluble interleukin-2 receptor levels and immune activation in patients with schistosomiasis and carcinoma of the urinary bladder.

Soluble interleukin-2 receptor (sIL-2R) level in serum is a marker of immune regulation and lymphocyte activation. Highly elevated levels of sIL-2R in serum were observed in patients of schistosomiasis with carcinoma of the bladder (SCB) and carcinoma of the bladder without schistosomiasis (CB) compared with patients with carcinoma of the prostate with or without schistosomiasis and normal healthy controls. Patients with SCB, who had an elevated percentage of cells expressing CD38+ activation antigen and CD71+ transferrin receptors in circulation, also had elevated levels of sIL-2R in serum. There were few interleukin-2 receptor (CD25+) positive cells in circulation in some patients with SCB. Despite this, the sIL-2R levels were extremely elevated. Our data suggest that in SCB, CD38+ and CD71+ cells may be the source of secretion of sIL-2R in serum. This relationship was confirmed by phenotypic characterizations of mononuclear cells and sIL-2R levels in individual patients. Measurements of sIL-2R levels in serum may provide a sensitive method of immune activation in patients with SCB.