Two clusters of Plasmodium knowlesi cases in a malaria elimination area, Sabang Municipality, Aceh, Indonesia.

In malaria elimination areas, malaria cases are sporadic and consist predominantly of imported cases. Plasmodium knowlesi cases have been reported throughout Southeast Asia where long-tailed and pig-tailed macaques and Anopheles leucosphyrus group mosquitoes are sympatric. The limitation of microscopic examination to diagnose P. knowlesi is well known. In consequence, no P. knowlesi case has previously been reported from routine health facility-based case finding activities in Indonesia. This report describes two clusters of unexpected locally acquired P. knowlesi cases found in an area where Plasmodium falciparum and Plasmodium vivax infection had been eliminated in Sabang Municipality, Aceh, Indonesia. The difficulties in diagnosis and response illustrate challenges that Southeast Asian countries will increasingly face as the formerly common malaria parasites P. falciparum and P. vivax are gradually eliminated from the region.

Prognostic Value of ß-Catenin and L1CAM Expressions in Type I Endometrial Carcinoma.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study is to evaluate the expression of ß-catenin and L1CAM in the type I of Endometrial Carcinoma. MATERIAL AND METHODS: This study was an analytical study with a cross-sectional design using 49 samples of type I Endometrial Carcinoma. Immunohistochemical method was used to evaluate the expression of ß-catenin and L1CAM related to two significant prognostic parameters i.e., lymphovascular space invasion (LVSI) and metastases event of type I Endometrial Carcinoma samples. RESULTS: From all samples collected, based on the presence of LVSI, there were 17 cases (34.7%) with LVSI and 32 (65.3%) no LVSI. Among them, there were 13 cases that included lymph node or omental samples in type I Endometrial Carcinoma, 5 (38.5%) cases of metastasis, and 8 (61.5%) cases that did not metastasize. The statistical results showed that there was a significant correlation between ß-catenin and L1CAM expressions examined from tumor cells with lymphovascular space invasion and the presence of metastases in the type I Endometrial Carcinoma (p <0.05). CONCLUSION: This study suggest that the positive expression of ß-catenin together with L1CAM can participate in the development of tumor cells in type I Endometrial Carcinoma, in its ability to involve lymphovascular space invasion, and metastases to other sites. Our results indicate that both of ß-catenin and L1CAM are prominent biomarkers for the prognosis of type I Endometrial Carcinoma.

The Relationship Between Expression of EpCAM Cancer Stem Cell Marker with Histopathological Grading, Lymphovascular Invasion, and Metastases in Colorectal Adenocarcinoma.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to analyze the expression of EpCAM in the colorectal adenocarcinoma. MATERIAL AND METHODS: This study used a cross-sectional design. One hundred and thirteen paraffin embedded block of Colorectal Adenocarcinoma were assessed using anti-EpCAM/Epithelial Specific Antigen (Ber-EP4) mouse monoclonal antibody and their expression were performed using Olympus CX-43 light microscope. The relationship between EpCAM expression with histopathological grade of colorectal adenocarcinoma, lymphovascular invasion and metastases ability were statistically analyzed by Chi-Square tests and presented in tables using SPSS 18. RESULTS: From 113 samples, in samples with lymphovascular invasion there were 37 samples (32.7%) with strong expression, while those with weak expression were 19 samples (16.8%). There were 39 samples with metastases and strong expression of EpCAM (34.5%), while 21 samples with weak expression (18.6%). There was a significant relationship between the expression of cancer stem cell marker EpCAM with lymphovascular invasion and colorectal adenocarcinoma metastases (p = 0.002), but there was no significant relationship with histopathological grade (p = 0.574). CONCLUSION: The EpCAM expression can be used as a prognostic factor, and can be considered as a predictive or an option for target therapy in colorectal adenocarcinoma.