MicroRNA (miR)-203 and miR-205 expression patterns identify subgroups of prognosis in cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma.

BACKGROUND: Cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (CSCC) is the second most widespread cancer in humans and its incidence is rising. These tumours can evolve as diseases of poor prognosis, and therefore it is important to identify new markers to better predict its clinical evolution. OBJECTIVES: We aimed to identify the expression pattern of microRNAs (miRNAs or miRs) at different stages of skin cancer progression in a panel of murine skin cancer cell lines. Owing to the increasing importance of miRNAs in the pathogenesis of cancer, we considered the possibility that miRNAs could help to define the prognosis of CSCC and aimed to evaluate the potential use of miR-203 and miR-205 as biomarkers of prognosis in human tumours. METHODS: Seventy-nine human primary CSCCs were collected at the University Hospital of Salamanca in Spain. We identified differential miRNA expression patterns at different stages of CSCC progression in a well-established panel of murine skin cancer cell lines, and then selected miR-205 and miR-203 to evaluate their association with the clinical prognosis and evolution of human CSCC. RESULTS: miR-205 was expressed in tumours with pathological features recognized as indicators of poor prognosis such as desmoplasia, perineural invasion and infiltrative growth pattern. miR-205 was mainly expressed in undifferentiated areas and in the invasion front, and was associated with both local recurrence and the development of general clinical events of poor evolution. miR-205 expression was an independent variable selected to predict events of poor clinical evolution using the multinomial logistic regression model described in this study. In contrast, miR-203 was mainly expressed in tumours exhibiting the characteristics associated with a good prognosis, was mainly present in well-differentiated zones, and rarely expressed in the invasion front. Therefore, the expression and associations of miR-205 and miR-203 were mostly mutually exclusive. Finally, using a logistic biplot we identified three clusters of patients with differential prognosis based on miR-203 and miR-205 expression, and pathological tumour features. CONCLUSIONS: miR-205 and miR-203 tended to exhibit mutually exclusive expression patterns in human CSCC. This work highlights the utility of miR-205 and miR-203 as prognostic markers in CSCC.

Factors associated to recurrent wheezing in infants under one year of age in the province of Salamanca, Spain: Is intervention possible? A predictive model.

OBJECTIVES: Wheezing is a very common problem in infants in the first months of life. The objective of this study is to identify risk factors that may be acted upon in order to modify the evolution of recurrent wheezing in the first months of life, and to develop a model based on certain factors associated to recurrent wheezing in nursing infants capable of predicting the probability of developing recurrent wheezing in the first year of life. METHODS: The sample was drawn from a cross-sectional, multicentre, descriptive epidemiological study based on the general population. A total of 1164 children were studied, corresponding to a questionnaire response rate of 71%. The questionnaire of the Estudio Internacional de Sibilancias en Lactantes (EISL) was used. Multiple logistic regression analysis was used to estimate the probability of developing recurrent wheezing and to quantify the contribution of each individual variable in the presence of the rest. RESULTS: Infants presenting eczema and attending nursery school, with a mother who has asthma, smoked during the third trimester of pregnancy, and did not consume a Mediterranean diet during pregnancy were found to have a probability of 79.7% of developing recurrent wheezing in the first year of life. In contrast, infants with none of these factors were seen to have a probability of only 4.1% of developing recurrent wheezing in the first year of life. These results in turn varied according to modifications in the risk or protective factors. CONCLUSIONS: The mathematical model estimated the probability of developing recurrent wheezing in infants under one year of age in the province of Salamanca (Spain), according to the risk or protective factors associated to recurrent wheezing to which the infants are or have been exposed.

[Quality of life questionnaire related to nutritional status]. / Cuestionario de calidad de vida relacionado con el estado nutricional (CaVEN).

OBJECTIVE: To build and validate an instrument to measure the perceived quality of life in the nutritional status. MATERIAL AND METHODS: By focal groups and interviews with nutrition experts, the dimensions with greater affectation were identified. After the judge test, the CaVEN questionnaire was defined. For its valuation a multicentric study was performed, participating 7 Spanish hospitals. The internal structure of the questionnaire was evaluated by explanatory factorial analysis. Reliability was tested using the Cronbach α coefficient and the validity of the criteria with the nutritional Gold Standards. RESULTS: A questionnaire of 26 items with 6 health dimensions was built. It was applied to 68 patients that were valued in the Nutrition Units. The test KMO was 0.756, showing a good accuracy in the Factorial Analysis. The existence of principal dimension of inertia was found (Bartlett p < 0.01). The 6 dimensions showed an accumulative variance of 77.670. It was observed a direct relationship in the Subjective Global Valuation and CaVEN (p < 0.01) and with the "Mini Nutritional Assessment Short" (p = 0.02), which was interpreted as the greater affectation of the nutritional status, the lower the quality of life detected by the CaVEN. CONCLUSIONS: The CaVEN questionnaire has proved a useful tool for assessing the quality of life related to nutritional status, even in groups with little nutritional alterations.

[Colorectal cancer: retrospective analysis of 762 cases]. / Cáncer colorrectal: análisis retrospectivo de 762 casos.

A study carried out during 1976-1988 on patients with colorectal cancer revealed an increase in the incidence of this disease of 150%, with a sex ratio of 1:1.17, there being a slight predominance in males. In the patients studied, 3.41% were older than 40. In patients in the 60-70 age group, 63.4% of the cases were diagnosed. The most frequent location of the tumor is the rectum (24.4%) and the least frequent (1.57% and 1.04%, respectively) in the hepatic and splenic angles. This was observed in all the years comprising the study. Adenocarcinoma was the commonest type of tumor, there being a highly significant association (p less than 0.001) between the histological type of cancer and the state of infiltration observed at the time of diagnosis.