microRNA-138-5p as a Worse Prognosis Biomarker in Pediatric, Adolescent, and Young Adult Osteosarcoma.

Osteosarcoma (OS) is the most common primary malignant bone tumor with two peaks of incidence, in early adolescence and the elderly. Patients affected with this malignancy often present metastatic disease at diagnosis, and despite multimodality therapy, survival has not improved substantially over the past 3 decades. Recently, miR-138-5p, proposed as a crucial intracellular mediator of invasion, has been recognized to target the Rho-associated coiled-coil containing protein kinase 2 (ROCK2). Dysregulation of ROCK1 and ROCK2 was also described in OS, being associated to higher metastasis incidence and worse prognosis. Nonetheless, the specific roles of miR-138-5p in pediatric and young adult OS and its ability to modulate these kinases remain to be established. Thus, in the present study, the expression levels miR-138-5p were evaluated in a consecutive cohort of exclusively pediatric and young adult primary OS samples. In contrast to previous reports that included adult tissues, our results showed upregulation of miR-138-5p associated with reduced event-free survival and relapsed cases. In parallel, ROCK1 mRNA levels were significantly reduced in tumor samples and negatively correlated with miR-138-5p. Similar correlations were observed after studying the profiles of ROCK1 and ROCK2 by immunohistochemistry. Our data present miR-138-5p as a consistent prognostic factor in pediatric and young adult OS, reinforcing its participation in the post-transcriptional regulation of ROCK kinases.

Sucesso clínico e radiográfico do capeamento pulpar indireto com remoção parcial de tecido cariado em molares decíduos / Clinical e radiographic sucess of indirect pulp capping with partial excavation of demineralization dentin in primary posterior teeth

Objetivo: Avaliar o índice de sucesso da técnica de capeamento pulpar indireto, com remoção parcial do tecido cariado, em molares decíduos de pacientes tratados no período de 2004 a 2006. Métodos: A amostra consistiu de 81 dentes de 36 pacientes, com idade entre 1 e 8 anos. Foram estabelecidos critérios clínicos e radiográficos de seleção da amostra e critérios de sucesso para os tratamentos avaliados. Resultados: Foram observados 4 insucessos (4,9%) e 77 (95,1%) tratamentos que apresentaram sucesso, sendo três em crianças do gênero feminino e um no gênero masculino, não havendo diferença estatisticamente significativa (p=0,341). Vinte e três dentes foram tratados com cimento de ionômero de vidro resinoso modificado, com 22 sucessos, e 58 tratados com resina composta, com 55 dentes que apresentaram sucesso no período avaliado, não sendo encontrada diferença estatisticamente significativa entre os materiais restauradores utilizados (p=0,877). Já, em relação à faixa etária estudada, pacientes com faixa etária entre 1 e 4 anos apresentaram um índice de sucesso significativamente inferior aos obtidos em crianças entre 5 e 8 anos (p=0,0428). Conclusão: Os resultados obtidos sugerem que o capeamento pulpar indireto, com remoção parcial de tecido cariado, é uma técnica confiável para ser adotada em lesões de cárie agudas e profundas, em dentina de dentes decíduos.

Objective: To assess the outcome of the indirect pulp capping technique after incomplete excavation of the demineralized dentin in primary molars of patients treated in the period from 2004 to 2006. Methods: Sample consisted of 81 teeth of 36 patients aged from 1-to-8 year-old. Clinical and radiographic inclusion criteria, as well as criteria of the success of the evaluated treatments were established. Results: There were four (4.9%) failures and 77 (95.1%) successful treatments. Treatment failure occurred in three girls and in one boy, and no statistically significant difference (p=0.341) was found. Twenty three teeth were treated with resin-modified glass-ionomer cement and 58 with composite resin, of which 22 and 55, respectively, showed successful results. There was no statistically significant difference between restorative materials used (p=0.877). As regards the studied age group, patients aged from 1 to 4 years showed a significantly lower success rate when compared with 5-8 year-old children (p = 0.0428). Conclusion: The results suggest that the indirect pulp capping technique after incomplete excavation of demineralized dentin is a reliable technique to be adopted in deep lesions of primary teeth.