Expression of PTTG1 and PTEN in endometrial carcinoma: correlation with tumorigenesis and progression.

Human pituitary tumor-transforming gene 1 (PTTG1) is a newly identified proto-oncogene, and its overexpression occurs in a wide variety of human cancers. The tumor suppressor gene phosphatase and tensin homolog deleted from chromosome 10 (PTEN) is frequently mutated or deleted in numerous tumors, especially in endometrial carcinoma. The aim of this study was to investigate whether the aberrant expression of PTTG1 and PTEN is associated with tumorigenesis and progression of endometrial carcinoma. Tissue microarray and immunohistochemical staining were undertaken in 124 endometrial carcinoma, 28 atypical hyperplasia and 35 normal endometrium samples. Then, the correlation of PTTG1 and PTEN expression with the clinicopathological features and with the levels of estrogen and progesterone receptor was analyzed. The presence of PTTG1 and PTEN protein was significantly increased and decreased, respectively, as lesions progressed from normal endometrium to atypical hyperplasia to carcinoma. PTTG1 protein showed a significantly positive correlation with TNM stage, but not with other characteristics. In addition, PTEN protein did not correlate with any parameters except for histological grade, to which it was found to be inversely related. Statistical analysis confirmed a significant relationship between an increase in PTTG1 and a decrease in PTEN. These results indicate that high expression of PTTG1 and low expression of PTEN may be involved in pathogenesis and development of endometrial carcinoma. The findings also provide evidence that combined evaluation of the two markers may be useful in predicting tumor behavior and thus prognosis.

Asymptomatic process of hepatic artery thrombosis in a patient after orthotopic liver transplantation.

BACKGROUND: Hepatic artery thrombosis is one of the serious complications after liver transplantation. It will mostly cause a failure of the transplantation. This case of hepatic artery thrombosis showed a stable clinical course and minimal histological change, and now has been surviving for 4 years with normal liver function. We investigated the possible causes for asymptomatic hepatic artery thrombosis in one patient after orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) and discussed the diagnosis of ischemia of OLT pathologically and clinically. METHODS: Liver function test, color Doppler ultrasonography, and hepatic arteriography were performed during the development of hepatic arteriothrombosis. Possible factors for the asymptomatic process of the thrombosis were analyzed. RESULTS: On the 4th postoperative day, thrombosis formed at the anastomotic stoma of the hepatic artery, and on the 11th postoperative day, the artery was completely occluded. Serial liver biopsies revealed intrahepatic cholestasis, hydropic degeneration of hepatocytes, atrophy of the biliary epithelium, and fibrosis in the portal area. Monitoring of liver function showed nothing abnormal except elevation of gamma-GT and ALP levels. On the 71st day after OLT, arteriography demonstrated that the hepatic artery remained completely occluded in addition to the establishment of collateral circulation and compensation of the portal vein. The patient didn't show any symptoms of arterial thrombosis. CONCLUSION: Collateral circulation and compensation of the portal vein are beneficial to allograft survival and avoidance of retransplantation after thrombosis of the hepatic artery. Color Doppler ultrasonography within 2 weeks after OLT is helpful to the early diagnosis of hepatic arteriothrombosis.

[Research of fibronectin, p53 and Ezrin protein with occurrence, progress and prognosis in the primary laryngeal carcinoma by the tissuechip technology].

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the predictive role of fibronectin, p81 (Ezrin protein) and p53 gene in primary laryngeal carcinoma, it's relationship with epidemiology(smoking), histological grading, surgical treatment, TNM stage and prognosis were studied by the tissuechip technology. METHODS: The expression of fibronectin, p53 gene and p81 (Ezrin protein) on a series of 85 primary laryngeal carcinoma patients treated in our hospital between 1992 and 2000 was studied with tissuechip technology. The correlation of each score according to the intensity and percentage of labeled cells or intercellular substance with relevant clinical dada was statistically analyzed. RESULTS: Some cases were lost or boosted no tumor tissue in our tissuechip. Among the 70 cases available, 45.71% (32/70) of the specimens' basal membrane and extracellular matrix were strongly stained with fibronectin; there is statistical significance (P < 0.05) between primary tumor grading groups. Ezrin protein expressing rate is 87.3%, and the average percentage of its labeled cells is 53.68% (ranging from 0% to 100%, median is 58. 69%). There were significant difference between tumor grading groups, clinical early and late stages and 3-year survival rates (P < 0.05) after chi-square test. But no relation with smoking, gender, age and histological classes (P > 0.05). The average percentage of p53 positive cells is 21.6% (ranging from 0% to 90.3%, median is 5.85%) and 46.8% showed positive stains in our research. There was no statistical prominence in p53 protein demonstration between TNM stages, lymph node metastasis, 3-year survival rate, smoking, gender, age and histological classes (P > 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The tissue microarray technique spent shorter time and less expense, and showed higher consistency in our essays. And the present study suggests fibronectin and p81 (Ezrin protein) could be the clinical discriminators in laryngeal carcinoma.