A Set of miRNAs, Their Gene and Protein Targets and Stromal Genes Distinguish Early from Late Onset ER Positive Breast Cancer.

UNLABELLED: Breast cancer (BC) in young adult patients (YA) has a more aggressive biological behavior and is associated with a worse prognosis than BC arising in middle aged patients (MA). We proposed that differentially expressed miRNAs could regulate genes and proteins underlying aggressive phenotypes of breast tumors in YA patients when compared to those arising in MA patients. OBJECTIVE: Using integrated expression analyses of miRs, their mRNA and protein targets and stromal gene expression, we aimed to identify differentially expressed profiles between tumors from YA-BC and MA-BC. METHODOLOGY AND RESULTS: Samples of ER+ invasive ductal breast carcinomas, divided into two groups: YA-BC (35 years or less) or MA-BC (50-65 years) were evaluated. Screening for BRCA1/2 status according to the BOADICEA program indicated low risk of patients being carriers of these mutations. Aggressive characteristics were more evident in YA-BC versus MA-BC. Performing qPCR, we identified eight miRs differentially expressed (miR-9, 18b, 33b, 106a, 106b, 210, 518a-3p and miR-372) between YA-BC and MA-BC tumors with high confidence statement, which were associated with aggressive clinicopathological characteristics. The expression profiles by microarray identified 602 predicted target genes associated to proliferation, cell cycle and development biological functions. Performing RPPA, 24 target proteins differed between both groups and 21 were interconnected within a network protein-protein interactions associated with proliferation, development and metabolism pathways over represented in YA-BC. Combination of eight mRNA targets or the combination of eight target proteins defined indicators able to classify individual samples into YA-BC or MA-BC groups. Fibroblast-enriched stroma expression profile analysis resulted in 308 stromal genes differentially expressed between YA-BC and MA-BC. CONCLUSION: We defined a set of differentially expressed miRNAs, their mRNAs and protein targets and stromal genes that distinguish early onset from late onset ER positive breast cancers which may be involved with tumor aggressiveness of YA-BC.

[Molecular research methods in the detection of germinal mutations in hereditary colorectal cancer]. / Metodos de investigacion molecular en la deteccion de mutaciones germinativas en cancer colorrectal hereditario.

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the main causes of death in South American countries. The hereditary forms of CRC are, familial adenomatous (FAP) and hereditary nonpolyposis colorectal cancer (HNPCC) or Lynch Syndrome (LS), which is the most common form. The detection of mutations in the DNA repair genes (MMR) and in the APC genes enables the development of prevention strategies. Some of these methods for molecular diagnosis are applied in research and the detection of mutations of these genes, such as the partial thromboplastin time test (PTT), the single strand conformational polymorphism test (SSCP), the Denaturing High Performance Liquid Chromatography test (DHPLC) and the Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) in real time (qPCR).

Evaluation of the palate dimensions of patients with perennial allergic rhinitis.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to compare the transverse and vertical palate dimensions of two groups of children, one diagnosed as having perennial allergic rhinitis (PAR) and the other without any respiratory pathology. DESIGN: Case-control study. SETTING: Institute of Paediatrics and Child Care of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro. SAMPLE AND METHODS: The sample consisted of 101 children with the diagnoses of PAR (mean age 6.5) and 91 without any respiratory pathology (mean age 7.3). From 192 patients, 65% was in mixed dentition phase and 35% in primary dentition. Each subject underwent an intra-oral clinical examination using three-dimensional Korkhaus compass to measure the intermolar distance, intercanine distance and palate depth. RESULTS: The allergic group showed greater averages of palate depth (P = 0.00), both in the primary dentition phase (11.53 mm x 10 mm) and in the mixed dentition (11.96 mm x 10.21 mm). There was no statistically significant difference for intermolar and intercanine distances, either in primary or mixed dentition (P > 0.05). CONCLUSION: The transverse dimension of the palate did not vary significantly between the groups, which seems to confirm that the main influence of alteration of the breathing pattern from nasal to mouth occurs on the vertical plane.