RESUMO
Brain cancer is a group of diverse and rapidly growing malignancies that originate in the central nervous system (CNS) and have a poor prognosis. The complexity of brain structure and function makes brain cancer modeling extremely difficult, limiting pathological studies and therapeutic developments. Advancements in human pluripotent stem cell technology have opened a window of opportunity for brain cancer modeling, providing a wealth of customizable methods to simulate the disease in vitro. This is achieved with the advent of genome editing and genetic engineering technologies that can simulate germline and somatic mutations found in human brain tumors. This review investigates induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-based approaches to model human brain cancer. The applications of iPSCs as renewable sources of individual brain cell types, brain organoids, blood-brain barrier (BBB), and brain tumor models are discussed. The brain tumor models reviewed are glioblastoma and medulloblastoma. The iPSC-derived isogenic cells and three-dimensional (3D) brain cancer organoids combined with patient-derived xenografts will enhance future compound screening and drug development for these deadly human brain cancers.
RESUMO
BACKGROUND: Infection is the main cause of mortality and complications in burn patients. The present study was the first to examine the local profile and antecedents of bacterial infections among patients admitted to a Lebanese burn care center. METHODS: The present study was a retrospective analysis of the occurrence and recurrence of infection, its characteristics as well as antimicrobial susceptibility among 475 patients admitted to the Burn Centre at the Lebanese Geitaoui Hospital between January 2014 and December 2018. RESULTS: 55% of patients contracted at least one infection during their hospitalization. Length of stay (LOS), sepsis, wound dressing under anesthesia, blood transfusion and female sex independently and positively predicted infection in burn patients. Infection was predominately caused by Staphylococcus aureus (48.7%), followed by Pseudomonas aeruginosa (22.6%) and Acinetobacter baumannii (15.7%). Bacterial isolates were predominately multi-drug or extensively drug resistant and showed variable antimicrobial susceptibility patterns. Recurrent infections occurred in 44.1% of infected burn patients, and were independently predicted by LOS (p = 0.004), sepsis (p = 0.001), surgery (p = 0.003), burn excision and skin grafting (p = 0.019), and central line insertion (p = 0.004). CONCLUSION: Existing burn management and infection control measures must be revised in order to reduce the incidence and improve the treatment of infections in burn patients.