Leiomyosarcoma of the small bowel presenting as an acute small bowel obstruction.

Leiomyosarcoma is a subtype of soft-tissue sarcoma, which is a rare soft-tissue malignancy comprising < 1% of adult cancers. There are a variety of etiologies of small bowel obstruction. Infrequently, small bowel malignancies can first present as small bowel obstruction. In exceedingly rare cases, leiomyosarcomas can be the offending malignancy. A 53-year-old male presented to the emergency department with several weeks of persistent right abdominal pain, nausea, and vomiting. Computed tomography scan revealed a central necrotic mass within the right lower quadrant originating from the small bowel. The patient underwent exploratory laparotomy to relieve the obstruction and a mass was identified originating from the terminal ileum that adhered to surrounding structures. Pathological analysis determined the mass to be small bowel leiomyosarcoma. Leiomyosarcoma is definitively diagnosed after primary resection with histopathology and immunohistochemistry. As opposed to other small bowel neoplasms, surgical resection with negative margins is the only potentially curative option.

Evaluation of the Quality and Comprehensiveness of YouTube Videos Discussing Pancreatic Cancer.

Pancreatic cancer is one of the most lethal diseases worldwide and incidence continues to rise, resulting in increased deaths each year. In the modern era, patients often turn to online sources like YouTube for information regarding their disease, which may be subject to a high degree of bias and misinformation; previous analyses have demonstrated low quality of other cancer-related YouTube videos. Thus, we sought to determine if patients can rely on educational YouTube videos for accurate and comprehensive information about pancreatic cancer diagnosis and treatment. We designed a search query and inclusion/exclusion criteria based on published studies evaluating YouTube user tendencies, which were used to identify videos most likely watched by patients. Videos were evaluated based on two well-known criteria, the DISCERN and JAMA tools, as well as a tool published by Sahin et al. to evaluate the comprehensiveness of YouTube videos. Statistical analyses were performed using Chi-square analysis to compare categorical variables. We used linear regression to assess for correlations between quantitative variables. Kruskal-Wallis and independent samples t-test were used to compare means between groups. We assessed inter-rater reliability using Cronbach's alpha. After the initial search query, 39 videos were retrieved that met inclusion criteria. The comprehensiveness and quality of these materials was generally low to moderate, with only 7 videos being considered comprehensive. Pearson's R demonstrated strong correlations between video length and both comprehensiveness and quality. Higher-quality videos also tended to be newer. YouTube videos regarding pancreatic cancer are generally of low to moderate quality and lack comprehensiveness, which could affect patients' perceptions of their disease or understanding of treatment options. These videos, which have collectively been viewed over 6 million times, should be subject to some form of expert review before upload, and producers of this content should consider citing the sources used in the video.

Antioxidant and Anti-Tumor Effects of Dietary Vitamins A, C, and E.

Oxidative stress, a condition characterized by an imbalance between pro-oxidant molecules and antioxidant defense systems, is increasingly recognized as a key contributor to cancer development. This is because the reactive oxygen species (ROS) generated during oxidative stress can damage DNA, proteins, and lipids to facilitate mutations and other cellular changes that promote cancer growth. Antioxidant supplementation is a potential strategy for decreasing cancer incidence; by reducing oxidative stress, DNA damage and other deleterious cellular changes may be attenuated. Several clinical trials have been conducted to investigate the role of antioxidant supplements in cancer prevention. Some studies have found that antioxidant supplements, such as vitamin A, vitamin C, and vitamin E, can reduce the risk of certain types of cancer. On the other hand, some studies posit an increased risk of cancer with antioxidant supplement use. In this review, we will provide an overview of the current understanding of the role of oxidative stress in cancer formation, as well as the potential benefits of antioxidant supplementation in cancer prevention. Additionally, we will discuss both preclinical and clinical studies highlighting the potentials and limitations of preventive antioxidant strategies.

Hyperostosis Frontalis Interna and a Question on Its Pathology: A Case Report.

BACKGROUND Hyperostosis frontalis interna is a boney overgrowth of the inner side of the frontal bone of the skull caused by overgrowth of the endocranial surface. It is most often found in women after menopause. It is also associated with hormonal imbalance, being overweight, history of headaches, and neurocognitive degenerative conditions. Female gender, advanced age, extended estrogen stimulation, and elevated leptin levels may also play a role. The thickening is usually confined to the frontal bone, but it can spread as far as the anterior parietal and temporal bones. CASE REPORT During a medical school dissection course, an extensive boney overgrowth in the frontal regions covering the inside of the frontal bone of the skull of a 90-year-old female donor, who died of a cerebrovascular infarction, was identified. This boney overgrowth was mainly confined within the frontal region, but there was some boney overgrowth that extended to the temporal bones. The overgrowth in the endocranium of the temporal bone was not as severe as the overgrowth of the frontal bone. The morphology of the overgrowth was rigid, uneven, and bumpy. Based upon the physical characteristics, we concluded that this presentation was consistent with hyperostosis frontalis interna. CONCLUSIONS Our female donor was found to exhibit a phenomenon which could be clinically underdiagnosed due to its internal nature and asymptomatic presentation. Insight into the potential causes of HFI and its identification during clinical evaluation offers a path for future research to better identify and manage cases of HFI.

Induced organoids derived from patients with ulcerative colitis recapitulate colitic reactivity.

The pathogenesis of ulcerative colitis (UC), a major type of inflammatory bowel disease, remains unknown. No model exists that adequately recapitulates the complexity of clinical UC. Here, we take advantage of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) to develop an induced human UC-derived organoid (iHUCO) model and compared it with the induced human normal organoid model (iHNO). Notably, iHUCOs recapitulated histological and functional features of primary colitic tissues, including the absence of acidic mucus secretion and aberrant adherens junctions in the epithelial barrier both in vitro and in vivo. We demonstrate that the CXCL8/CXCR1 axis was overexpressed in iHUCO but not in iHNO. As proof-of-principle, we show that inhibition of CXCL8 receptor by the small-molecule non-competitive inhibitor repertaxin attenuated the progression of UC phenotypes in vitro and in vivo. This patient-derived organoid model, containing both epithelial and stromal compartments, will generate new insights into the underlying pathogenesis of UC while offering opportunities to tailor interventions to the individual patient.

Cancer-predicting transcriptomic and epigenetic signatures revealed for ulcerative colitis in patient-derived epithelial organoids.

Ulcerative colitis (UC) is a prevalent form of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) whose pathogenic mechanisms remain unclear. Elucidating these mechanisms is important to reduce UC symptoms and to prevent UC progression into colitis-associated colon cancer (CAC). Our goal was to develop and validate faithful, human-derived, UC models and analyze them at histologic, transcriptomic and epigenetic levels to allow mechanistic studies of UC and CAC pathogenesis. We generated patient-derived primary-organoid cultures from UC and non-IBD colonic epithelium. We phenotyped them histologically and used next-generation-sequencing approaches to profile whole transcriptomes and epigenomes of organoids and primary tissues. Tissue organization and expression of mucin 2 (MUC2) and lysozyme (LYZ) demonstrated histologic faithfulness of organoids to healthy and diseased colonic epithelium. Transcriptomic analyses showed increased expression of inflammatory pathways in UC patient-derived organoids and tissues. Profiling for active enhancers using the H3K27ac histone modification revealed UC-derived organoid enrichment for pathways indicative of gastrointestinal cancer, including S100 calcium-binding protein P (S100P), and revealed novel markers for GI cancer, including both LYZ and neuropeptide S receptor 1 (NPSR1). Immunolocalization showed increased levels of LYZ, S100P, and NPSR1 proteins in UC and CAC. In conclusion, primary colonic organoid cultures from UC and non-IBD patients can be established that faithfully represent diseased or normal colonic states. These models reveal precancerous molecular pathways that are already activated in UC. The findings demonstrate the suitability of primary organoids for dissecting UC and CAC pathogenic mechanisms and suggest new targets for therapeutic intervention.