• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.13 no.12
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• pp.6221-6225
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• 2012

Background: To determine the frequency of HER-2 overexpression in colorectal cancer (CRC) patients, and to explore the relationship between clinicopathological prognostic factors and their effects on survival, based on immunohistochemistry (IHC) and fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) analysis. Materials and Methods: The study included 80 patients with a histologically proven diagnosis of CRC that received adjuvant FOLFOX-4 chemotherapy at our department between March 2006 and September 2010. Patient data were analyzed retrospectively. Results: The median follow-up period and age of the patients were 24 months and 59 years, respectively. In immunohistochemical staining, 3+ staining was found in 2 patients (2.5%) while 2+ was in 13 (16%). FISH for HER-2 was performed for all of these 15 patients; samples which were 3+ showed positivity but the ones with 2+ were negative. There was no significant correlation between HER-2 expression and age, gender, tumor localization, histological subtype, grade, lymphovascular and perineural invasion, or pTN stage (P>0.05), even when the patients with HER-2 overexpression were analyzed separately. There was also no significant relationship between progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS), and HER-2 expression, gender, tumor localization, obstruction-perforation, bleeding, histological type, grade, lymphovascular and perineural invasion, or pT staging (P>0.05); however, there was a significant relationship between lymph node involvement, and PFS and OS (P<0.05). Conclusions: Evaluation of HER-2 overexpression in a more comprehensive, multi-center, prospective trial with standardized methods will be an appropriate approach.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.271-274
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• 2015

Background: To explore vascular endothelial growth factor C (VEGF-C) and VEGF-D expression and its correlation with lymph node metastasis in esophageal squamous cell cancer (ESCC) tissue. Materials and Methods: Immunohistochemical methods were applied to detect the levels of VEGF-C and VEGF-D expression in 64 surgicall removal ESCC tissues, tissues adjacent to cancer and normal tissues, and the relationship between VEGF-C and VEGF-D expression and lymph node metastasis was analyzed. Results: Both VEGF-C and VEGF-D were expressed by varying degrees in esophageal cancer tissue, the tissue adjacent to cancer and normal tissue, and the positive expression rate went down successively. The positive expression rates of VEGF-C (59.4%) and VEGF-D (43.8%) in esophageal cancer tissue were significantly higher than in the tissue adjacent to cancer (34.4%, 15.6%) and normal tissue (20.3%, 12.5%), respectively, in which significant differences were manifested (p<0.01). Positive expression rates of VEGF-C and VEGF-D in esophageal cancers with lymph node metastasis were markedly higher than without such metastasis (p<0.01), while those in the tissue with TNM staging I~II were markedly lower than that with TNM staging III~IV (p<0.01). Conclusions: Both VEGF-C and VEGF-D are highly expressed in ESCC tissue, which may be related to the lymph node metastasis of cancer cells. Hence, VEGF-C and VEGF-D can be clinically considered as important reference indexes of lymph node metastasis in esophageal cancer.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.15
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• pp.6425-6428
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• 2014

Background: Prostatic adenocarcinoma is one of the main causes of cancer death, and its timely diagnosis and preventing its progression dramatically helps improve life indexes. Given the high disease recurrence rate, today, research is more inclined toward exploring causes of recurrence and development, and innovation of modern treatment methods. Several studies have explored over-expression of human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER-2/neu) in prostatic cancer so far, with different results. Thus, it was decided to investigate HER-2/neu overexpression in patients with prostatic adenocarcinoma in Iran. Materials and Methods: A sample size of 40 patients with prostate cancer entered the study, using a cross-sectional, non-randomized sampling method. Parameters studied included patient age at surgery, Gleason score, serum prostatic specific antigen (PSA) before surgery, and positive sample rate after immunohistochemical staining to investigate HER-2/neu overexpression. Results: In terms of HER-2/neu receptor staining rate, of 40 slides, 16 (40%) scored 0, 13 (32.5%) 1+, 7 (17.5%) 2+, and 4 (10%) 3+. In total 27.5% of slides showed HER-2/neu overexpression. In terms of age, an inverse correlation was found (-0.181), but without significance (p=0.263). In terms of serum PSA, the correlation coefficient was 0.449 (p=0.004). With respect to Gleason score, the coefficient was 0.190 (p=0.240). Conclusions: In this study, HER-2/neu overexpression occurred in 27.5% of prostate cancer cases, which is a relatively high figure, compared to similar studies elsewhere. While, we failed to reveal any relationship between HER-2/neu expression status with progression and prognosis of disease, it was demonstrated that the serum PSA level was significantly higher in cases with increased receptor expression.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.17 no.7
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• pp.3295-3300
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• 2016

Background: Different types of cancer exhibit abnormalities in cell cycle regulators. The murine double minute-2(MDM2) cell cycle regulator is a proto-oncogene that negatively regulates the P53 tumour suppressor gene. Surface epithelial tumours constitute approximately two thirds of ovarian neoplasms. Each histologic type can be classified as benign, borderline and malignant. This study aimed to examine immunohistochemical expression of the MDM2 protein in ovarian serous and mucinous epithelial tumours (benign, borderline and malignant). Materials and Methods: This study included forty five ovarian tumours, subdivided into fifteen cystadenomas (5 serous and 10 mucinous), fifteen borderline tumours (11 serous and 4 mucinous) and fifteen cystadenocarcinomas (9 serous and 6 mucinous). Paraffin sections were stained with haematoxylin and eosin for histopathologic study, and with mouse monoclonal anti-MDM2 antibody for immunohistochemistry. Results: MDM2 positivity was detected in 28.9% of the studied ovarian tumours. All benign tumours were negative and positivity was significantly higher in malignant than borderline tumours (P value of chi-square test =0.000). Significantly, all MDM2 positive mucinous tumours were malignant with no positive mucinous borderline tumours. Malignant tumours showed positive MDM2 expression in 83.3% of mucinous type and in 55.6% of serous type. Borderline serous tumours showed negative MDM2 in 72.7% of cases (P value of Z test =0.04). Conclusions: Alterations in the expression of the cell cycle regulator (MDM2) occur early in the process of tumourigenesis in serous and mucinous ovarian tumours. We suggest that MDM2 may be used in those tumours as a marker for risk stratification and identification of cases with cancer development and progression. We recommend further studies on MDM2 immunohistochemistry, in conjunction with adjuvant methods as DNA ploidy and FISH gene amplification, focusing on the mucinous tumours and differentiating between the three tumour categories, benign, borderline and malignant.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.14
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• pp.5535-5538
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• 2014

Background: To determine the amount of co-expression of IDO and EGFR in breast cancer patients. Materials and Methods:In order to obtain the distribution of co-expression of IDO and EGFR in breast cancer, we tested 110 breast cancer paraffin tissue blocks with immunohistochemical methods. Then we investigated the relationship between the diagnostic and pathologic characteristics (tumor size, lymph node status, histologic grade, the gene expression of ER, PR, HER2, p53, Ki67 and PCNA) with the situation of co-expression of IDO and EGFR by reviewing the medical records of 32 breast cancer patients. Results: Among 110 breast cancers, 32 cases demonstrated IDO and EGFR co-expression (29.1%), IDO and EGFR synchronous co-expression being found in 19.1% and asynchronous in 10.0%. Conclusions: IDO and EGFR were co-expressed in breast cancer, including synchronous and asynchronous co-expression. The results suggest that considering IDO and EGFR as two indicators for breast cancer treatment or prognosis analysis provides a potential option of individual treatment for the portion of breast cancer patients with co-expression of IDO and EGFR.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.14
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• pp.5753-5757
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• 2014

Background: The purpose of this study is to determine whether the IGF1R expression has a prognostic role in non-small cell lung cancer. Materials and Methods: Forty-seven patients histopathologically diagnosed with small cell lung cancer upon bronchoscopic biopsy or resection materials were included in the study. IGF1R expression was examined via immunohistochemical methods. In samples, >10% staining were assessed as positive and ${\leq}10%$ as negative. Information about demographic datas and treatments was obtained by retrospective searches of patient files. Results: IGF1R expression was determined as positive in 38 (80.9%) and as negative in 9 (19.1%) patients. There was no significant relation between IGF1R expression and histological sub-type, local invasion, lymph node and metastasis status (p=0.842, p=0.437, 0.064, 0.447, respectively). There was also no correlation with IGF1R expression and survival (p=0.141). Conclusions: There are conflicting results between IGF1R and its prognostic effects in the various studies. It has been claimed in some studies it is not related to prognosis as in our study, and in some studies it has been claimed that it is a good prognostic factor whereas in some studies it has been claimed as being a factor for worse prognosis. We think that IGF1R expression in non-small cell lung carcinoma patients deserves further analysis, because of its potential prognostic and predictive roles.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.9
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• pp.5175-5178
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• 2013

Background: The prognostic value of tumor osteopontin (OPN) in patients with squamous-cell head and neck cancer (SCHNC) was investigated. Materials and Methods: OPN expression was assessed by immunohistochemical methods in 50 patients, who were treated with primary radiotherapy (RT) for locally advanced SCHNC. The effects of OPN on clinical parameters, local-regional control after RT and metastasis-free survival, was assessed. Results: The rate of OPN expression in tumor tissue was 76%. OPN positive cases had lower Hb levels (p=0.088). Mean time to local recurrence was 53.8 months (SE 3.9) in OPN-negative cases and 39.1 months (SE 4.7) in OPN-positive cases (p=0.047). OPN increased the risk of local recurrence 5.9 times (p=0.085). It had no effect on metastasis-free (p=0.116) or overall survival (p=0.123). OPN was positive in 12 of 19 cases that developed grade 3-4 acute radiation dermatitis (p=0.096). Conclusions: OPN expression is associated with an increase in local recurrence in patients who were treated with primary RT for locally advanced SCHNC.

• The Korean Journal of Pain
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.185-192
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• 2015

Background: Neuropathic pain is a global clinical problem; nevertheless, nerve injury treatment methods remain limited. Olanzapine has antinociceptive and anti-nueropathic properties; however, its preventive effects have not been assessed in nerve injury models. Methods: We prepared a partial sciatic nerve ligation (Seltzer model) or sham-operated model in male Sprague-Dawley rats under isoflurane anesthesia. In a pre-treatment study, we administered olanzapine (10 mg/kg) intraperitoneally 1 h before nerve ligation. In post-treatment and dose-dependent studies, we injected 3 different doses of olanzapine intraperitoneally 1 h after nerve ligation. Mechanical allodynia was measured before and 7 days after surgery. Immunohistochemical analysis using anti-Iba-1 antibody was used to assess the effect of olanzapine at the spinal level. Results: In the pre-treatment study, median withdrawal thresholds of the normal saline groups were significantly lower than those of the sham-operated groups; however, those of the olanzapine (10 mg/kg) and sham-operated groups were not different. In the post-treatment and dose-dependent studies, the median withdrawal thresholds of the olanzapine (2.5 mg/kg) and normal saline groups were not different; however, those of the olanzapine (10 and 50 mg/kg) groups were significantly higher than those of the normal saline groups. Olanzapine did not have a significant effect on the density of Iba-1 staining. Conclusions: Olanzapine attenuated mechanical allodynia dose-dependently in the Seltzer model. This anti-allodynic effect of olanzapine was observed even when injected 1 h after nerve ligation. This effect of olanzapine appeared to be unrelated to microglia activation in the ipsilateral dorsal horn of the lumbar spinal cord.

• Reproductive and Developmental Biology
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.287-291
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• 2006

We have developed a new passaging technique for the expansion of human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) that involves simply pipetting portions of hESCs acquired from colonies, reducing the laborious and time-consuming steps in the expansion of hESCs. Compared to general mechanical methods of passaging, our pipetting method allowed hESCs colonies to be broken into small fragments, which showed significantly higher attachment rates onto feeder cell layers. This technique produced three times the number of hESCs colonies than conventional mechanical methods. In addition, this pipetting method allowed us to distinguish differentiated hESCs from undifferentiated hESCs during hESCs colony pipetting. The hESCs cultured by pipetting method displayed normal human chromosomes for over 60 passages. According to RT-PCR and immunohistochemical analysis, the hESCs successfully maintained their undifferentiated state and pluripotency which was also confirmed by teratoma formation in viva Therefore, the pipetting method described in this study is a useful tool to efficiently and quickly expand hESCs on a large scale without enzyme treatment.

• The Journal of Korean Society of Virology
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.61-70
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• 2000

Standard plaque assay using agarose-overlay has long been used for titration of many infectious virus particle. Plaque assay for the titration of varicella-zoster virus and its live vaccine requires three intermittent agarose overlay to visualize plaques. Overall procedure of the assay takes at least nine days from virus inoculation and microbe contamination including fungi is frequently accompanied during incubation period. We studied whether an immunofocus assay in conjunction with peroxidase-mediated immunohistochemical reaction may replace the standard plaque assay for the virus titration by comparing the two methods. A linear relationship was observed between number of foci and virus dilution. The number of foci in a given dilution of virus appeared a little higher than counted plaques formed in standard plaque assay. Independent titration results obtained from two assay methods for a given dilution of virus demonstrated a strong correlation ($r^2=0.99$). Foci of virus infected cells as revealed by the enzyme reaction could be counted either 4 days post-infection (p.i.) under low magnification (40X) microscopy, or 6 days p.i. by naked eye observation. Larger size of cell cuture plate, virus adsorption at $35^{\circ}C$, and 10% FBS in diluent appeared to be better conditions for the assay. Immunofocus assay will be an effective and dependable titration method for varicella-zoster virus and its live vaccine in place of the standard plaque assay in respect to accuracy, costs, and experimental convenience.