Radioecological studies of the main naturally occurring radionuclides in the area of Gela Phosphate Industry (Italy) through radioanalytical separation and measurement techniques.

Radioecological studies have been carried out in area of Gela Phosphate Industry. As a part of the project, some achievements have been described in the paper, including: (1) determination of the activity concentrations of 210Po, 210Pb, uranium, and radium isotopes in phosphogypsum, phosphoric acid, soil, and marine sediment, (2) inventory estimation of the NORM in the residual product and by-product, and (3) the radioecological investigation and evaluation on the NORM contamination in the sea area of Gela. The obtained data showed that the 210Po, 210Pb, uranium, and radium isotope contamination due to discharge of phosphogypsum from 1960s to 1990s is not observable through sediment analyses.

Cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) is frequently expressed in multiple myeloma and is an independent predictor of poor outcome.

Cyclooxygenase 2 (COX-2) is an inflammation-associated enzyme involved in the pathogenesis of many solid tumors, but little is known about its presence and role in hematologic neoplasms. Multiple myeloma (MM) is known to involve a deregulated cytokine network with secretion of inflammatory mediators. We thus decided to investigate the involvement of COX-2 in this neoplasm. Western blotting (WB) was used to evaluate 142 bone marrow (BM) specimens, including MM and monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance (MGUS). Selected cases under-went further evaluation by WB on purified CD138(+) cells, immunohistochemistry (IC), and real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for mRNA expression. COX-2 was expressed in 11% (2 of 18) of MGUS specimens, 31% (29 of 94) of MM at diagnosis, and 47% (14 of 30) of MM with relapsed/refractory disease. COX-2 positivity was associated with a poor outcome in terms of progression-free (18 vs 36 months; P < .001) and overall survival (28 vs 52 months; P < .05). Real-time PCR showed COX-2 mRNA overexpression. IC and cell separation studies demonstrated COX-2 expression to be restricted to malignant plasma cells. This is the first report of the presence and prognostic role of COX-2 expression in MM. Future studies will assess COX-2 involvement in other hematologic tumors and its potential use as a therapeutic or chemo-preventive target in onco-hematology.