[en] Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC) in the eyelid and periocular region can be treated surgically, in most cases, with preservation of the eye and reasonable visual function. Adjuvant radiation therapy, sentinel lymph node biopsy, and chemotherapy should be considered for MCC of the eyelid and periocular region, especially for larger tumors that are T2b or more advanced and lesions that present with regional nodal or distant metastasis

[en] Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are a crucial member of non-coding RNA family, and increasing evidence demonstrates that lncRNAs participate in the initiation and progression of cancers. Our study aimed to explore the role of lncRNA TTN-AS1 in cervical cancer (CC) development. In the present study, our results showed that TTN-AS1 was substantially increased in CC tissues and cell lines, high expression of TTN-AS1 was correlated with advanced FIGO stage, poor differentiation, lymph node metastasis, and poor overall survival of CC patients. Function assays showed that TTN-AS1 inhibition decreased the proliferation and invasion of CC cells both in vitro and in vivo. Mechanistically, we revealed that TTN-AS1 could positively modulate E2F3 expression via sponging miR-573 in CC cells. Together, our study revealed that lncRNA TTN-AS1 was involved in the progression of CC cells by regulation of miR-573-E2F3 axis, which offered a new insight into the treatment strategies of CC.

[en] The aim of this study was to clarify the predictive significance of nodal calcification in terms of the therapeutic option of ¹³¹I therapy in papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) patients. We reviewed 19 computed tomography (CT) examinations of PTC patients on receiving ¹³¹I therapy for the presence of nodal calcification, and compared the ¹³¹I whole-body scintigraphy and ¹⁸F-2-fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose (FDG) positron emission tomography (PET)/CT findings. The metastatic lymph nodes (mLNs) were divided into three groups: A, those with calcification; B, those without calcification but belonging to patients who had calcified mLNs; C, those without calcification and belonging to patients who had no calcified mLNs. The incidences of ¹³¹I accumulation and maximum standardised uptake values (SUV max) in the three groups were compared. A total of 70 mLNs were evaluated. Twelve mLNs belonged to group A, 13 to group B and 45 to group C. The incidences of ¹³¹I accumulation were significantly higher in groups A (100%) and B (100%) than in group C (11.1%) (p < 0.0001 for both). The SUVmax was significantly lower in groups A (4.1 ± 1.9) and B (3.9 ± 1.4) than in group C (7.1 ± 4.4) (p = 0.01, p = 0.002, respectively). Our results indicated that calcification in mLNs related to the ability of ¹³¹I accumulation and less dedifferentiation. (orig.)

[en] Prostate cancer (PCA) is the most-prevalent non-skin cancer in men worldwide. Nevertheless, the treatment of oligometastatic, especially lymph-node (ln) recurrent, PCA remains elusive. The aim of our study was to provide insights in radiotherapy (RT)-treatment of recurrent PCA exhibiting ln- or osseous (oss)-oligometastases. Between April 2012 and April 2017, 27 oligometastatic PCA patients (19 ln and 8 single oss) were treated with RT at our institution. The metastasis-free survival (MFS) was 24.8 m (22.0–36.0 m) and 25.4 m (23.9–28.1 m) for the ln- and oss-subgroup resulting in 1-year MFS of 75.4 and 100% and 2-year MFS of 58.7 and 83.3% for ln- and oss-metastatic patients, respectively. Of notice, none of the recurrences for ln-patients was in the RT-field, constituting a local control of 100%. Within the ln-group, pre-RT median-PSA was 2.6 ng/ml, median post-RT PSA was 0.3 ng/ml, which was significant (p = 0.003). Median biochemical-free survival (bfS) was 12.2 m. PCA that was initially confined to the prostate had a better bfS (p < 0.001) and MFS (p = 0.013). The oss-group had a median PSA of 4.9 ng/ml pre-treatment which dropped to a median value of 0.14 ng/ml (p = 0.004). Toxicities were moderate, with only 1 case of III° toxicity. There were no deaths in the ln-group, thus overall survial was 100% here. Our study points out the feasibility of RT as a treatment option in recurrent PCA and demonstrates an excellent local control with a low-toxicity profile.

[en] Posttranscriptional protein modification by SUMOylation plays an important role in tumor development and progression. In the current study we analyzed prevalence and prognostic impact of the de-SUMOylation enzyme SENP1 in prostate cancer. SENP1 expression was analyzed by immunohistochemistry on a tissue microarray containing more than 12,400 prostate cancer specimens. Results were compared to tumor phenotype, ERG status, genomic deletions of 3p, 5q, 6q and PTEN, and biochemical recurrence. SENP1 immunostaining was detectable in 34.5 % of 9,516 interpretable cancers and considered strong in 7.3 %, moderate in 14.9 % and weak in 12.3 % of cases. Strong SENP1 expression was linked to advanced pT stage (p < 0.0001), high Gleason grade (p < 0.0001), positive lymph node status (p = 0.0019), high pre-operative PSA levels (p = 0.0037), and PSA recurrence (p < 0.0001). SENP1 expression was strongly associated with positive ERG fusion status as determined by both in situ hybridization (FISH) and immunohistochemistry as well as with PTEN deletions. Detectable SENP1 immunostaining was found in 41 % of ERG positive and in 47 % of PTEN deleted cancers but in only 30 % of ERG negative and 30 % of PTEN non-deleted cancers (p < 0.0001 each). Deletions of 3p, 5q, and 6q were unrelated to SENP1 expression. Subset analyses revealed that the prognostic impact of SENP1 expression was solely driven by the subgroup of ERG positive, PTEN undeleted cancers. In this subgroup, the prognostic role of SENP1 expression was independent of the preoperative PSA level, tumor stage, Gleason grade, and the status of the resection margin. SENP1 expression has strong prognostic impact in a molecularly defined subset of cancers. This is per se not surprising as the biologic impact of each individual molecular event is likely to be dependent on its cellular environment. However, such findings challenge the concept of finding clinically relevant molecular signatures that are equally applicable to all prostate cancers. The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12885-015-1555-8) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users

[en] Tumor-induced lymphangiogenesis plays a crucial role in metastasis and tumor progression. However, the significance of intratumoral lymphovascular density (I-LVD) and peritumoral lymphovascular density (P-LVD) has been controversial in gastric cancer. The purpose of this study was to investigate the differences of clinicopathologic characteristics with respect to I-LVD and P-LVD in gastric cancer. Samples of I-LVD and P-LVD from 66 patients who had undergone radical gastrectomy for gastric cancer were assessed after staining with D2-40, an immunostaining marker for lymphatic endothelium. The mean number of lymphatic vessels in three hotspots was calculated in intratumoral and peritumoral areas. The peritumoral lymphatics were enlarged with dilated lumens compared to the intratumoral lymphatics. I-LVD was positively correlated with diffuse gastric cancer subtype, tumor stage, lymphovascular invasion, tumor node metastasis stage, and overall survival (P <0.05). P-LVD was associated with lymphovascular invasion, node stage, and disease-free survival (P <0.05). We conclude that P-LVD had an important role in lymph node metastasis, while I-LVD was more associated with depth of tumor invasion. However, both LVDs contributed to gastric cancer progression and prognosis

No abstract available

[en] Mesenteric lymphangiomas are uncommon benign tumors of the lymphatic vessels. They occur mainly in children and most often contain chylous liquid, less commonly serous or mixed fluids. Authors have experienced two cases of mesenteric lymphangioma recently and tried to differentiate these cases from the other entities for preoperative diagnosis

[en] Treatment options available in the management of Stage I and II non-seminomatous tumours of the testis are discussed. It no longer seems acceptable to treat all C.S. I and II patients with post-operative radiotherapy as a blanket policy. Radiotherapy remains appropriate treatment for patients with limited retroperitoneal lymph node metastases and provides a low rate of relapse for C.S. I patients where documented conversion of serum tumour marker levels from positive to negative after orchidectomy is not available as part of clinical staging

[en] The Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors (RECIST) are the current standard for evaluating disease progression or therapy response in patients with solid tumors. RECIST 1.1 calls for axial, longest-diameter (or perpendicular short axis of lymph nodes) measurements of a maximum of five tumors, which limits clinicians’ ability to adequately measure disease burden, especially in patients with irregularly shaped tumors. This is especially problematic in chordoma, a disease for which RECIST does not always adequately capture disease burden because chordoma tumors are typically irregularly shaped and slow-growing. Furthermore, primary chordoma tumors tend to be adjacent to vital structures in the skull or sacrum that, when compressed, lead to significant clinical consequences. Volumetric segmentation is a newer technology that allows tumor burden to be measured in three dimensions on either MR or CT. Here, we compared the ability of RECIST measurements and tumor volumes to predict clinical outcomes in a cohort of 21 chordoma patients receiving immunotherapy. There was a significant difference in radiologic time to progression Kaplan-Meier curves between clinical outcome groups using volumetric segmentation (P = 0.012) but not RECIST (P = 0.38). In several cases, changes in volume were earlier and more sensitive reflections of clinical status. RECIST is a useful evaluation method when obvious changes are occurring in patients with chordoma. However, in many cases, RECIST does not detect small changes, and volumetric assessment was capable of detecting changes and predicting clinical outcome earlier than RECIST. Although this study was small and retrospective, we believe our results warrant further research in this area