Predicting recurrences or major bleeding in women with cancer and venous thromboembolism. Findings from the RIETE Registry.

BACKGROUND: Cancer patients with venous thromboembolism (VTE) have an increased incidence of recurrences and bleeding complications Reliable information on the factors determining the risk for such complications may facilitate better use of therapy. METHODS: RIETE Registry is an ongoing, international registry of consecutive patients presenting with symptomatic acute VTE confirmed by objective tests. We assessed the 3-month outcome in all women with active cancer, trying to identify if differences exist according to the tumor site. RESULTS: Up to May 2007, 18,883 patients had been enrolled. Of them, 3805 (20%) had active cancer, 1719 (45%) were women. During the 3-month study period, 40 (2.3%) had recurrent deep vein thrombosis, 39 (2.3%) recurrent pulmonary embolism (PE), 67 (3.9%) major bleeding, 394 (23%) died. Of these, 13 (33%) women with recurrent PE died of the PE, 17 (42%) with major bleeding had fatal bleeding. In women with gastrointestinal (5.7% vs. 4.3%) or genitourinary (6.4% vs. 4.7%) cancers the incidence of bleeding complications exceeded that of VTE recurrences, while in those with brain (3.4% vs. 13%) or lung cancer (2.6% vs. 11%) the rate of recurrences outweighed that of major bleeding. CONCLUSIONS: We identified significant differences in outcome according to the site of cancer that may help to identify those women with cancer and VTE at a higher risk for recurrences or major bleeding.

Absolute quantitation of normal and ROS-induced patterns of gene expression: an in vivo real-time PCR study in mice.

Most studies using real-time PCR are taken semiquantitatively and assume a steady level of expression forthe so-called housekeeping genes. By absolute real-time PCR we demonstrate that the transcript amounts of two of the most popular internall controls (coding GAPDH and beta-actin) fluctuate dramatically across diverse mouse or human tissues. This raises the question about the inaccuracy of these genes a squantitative references in tissue-specific mRNA profiling. Target genes chosen for absolute real-time PCR analysis are involved in DNA repair, regulation of gene expression, and oxidative stress response. Hence, they code for 8-oxoG-DNA glycosylase/AP-lyase, major AP-endonuclease, and heme oxygenase-1. Quantitations reported: i) determine mouse-to-mouse variability in basal gene expression, ii) establish organ- and embryo-associated differences in mouse, iii) compare mouse and human tissue-specific profiles, iv) examine the time course (30-240 min) expression in liver and lung of mice treated with paraquat (superoxide generator) at 30 mg kg(-1) (one half LD50 value), and v) explore the utility of absolute real-time PCR in field studies with genetically diverse mice. We conclusively establish that real-time PCR is a highly sensitive and reproducible technique for absolute quantitation of transcript levels in vivo and propose its use to quantitate gene expression modulation under mild physiological exposures and for field epidemiological studies.