32 research outputs found
Atypical fibroxanthoma arising in a tracheostomy scar: A rare cicatricial neoplasm
No full textDear Editor,
Atypical fibroxanthoma (AFX) is a cutaneous neoplasm that classically occurs in heavily sun‐damaged skin on the head and neck of elderly patients.1 We report the case of a 70‐year‐old man who presented with a 1‐year history of a slowly enlarging, nodular lesion on his anterior neck (Fig. 1). The lesion was asymptomatic, apart from scant straw‐yellow discharge that had emanated from the lesion since its onset. The lesion was at the site of a scar from a tracheostomy, which was performed 40 years earlier following a motor vehicle accident. On examination, a nontender, flesh‐coloured nodule was found at the superior aspect of the scar, with a central pit and serous crusting. The lesion was mobile with deglutition due to cicatricial tethering to the trachea. A punch biopsy revealed a pleomorphic tumour with immunohistochemistry consistent with AFX, and the excision specimen supported this diagnosis (Fig. 2a–c).No Full Tex
Skin surface topography grading is a valid measure of skin photoaging
No full textThe technique of grading the surface topography of sun-exposed skin using silicone impressions of the skin surface is a simple, non-invasive method for measuring skin damage because of sun exposure, but it has never been validated in a community setting
PITX2 and non-canonical Wnt pathway interaction in metastatic prostate cancer
No full textThe non-canonical Wnt pathway, a regulator of cellular motility and morphology, is increasingly implicated in cancer metastasis. In a quantitative PCR array analysis of 84 Wnt pathway associated genes, both non-canonical and canonical pathways were activated in primary and metastatic tumors relative to normal prostate. Expression of the Wnt target gene PITX2 in a prostate cancer (PCa) bone metastasis was strikingly elevated over normal prostate (over 2,000-fold) and primary prostate cancer (over 200-fold). The elevation of PITX2 protein was also evident on tissue microarrays, with strong PITX2 immunostaining in PCa skeletal and, to a lesser degree, soft tissue metastases. PITX2 is associated with cell migration during normal tissue morphogenesis. In our studies, overexpression of individual PITX2A/B/C isoforms stimulated PC-3 PCa cell motility, with the PITX2A isoform imparting a specific motility advantage in the presence of non-canonical Wnt5a stimulation. Furthermore, PITX2 specific shRNA inhibited PC-3 cell migration toward bone cell derived chemoattractant. These experimental results support a pivotal role of PITX2A and non-canonical Wnt signaling in enhancement of PCa cell motility, suggest PITX2 involvement in homing of PCa to the skeleton, and are consistent with a role for PITX2 in PCa metastasis to soft and bone tissues. Our findings, which significantly expand previous evidence that PITX2 is associated with risk of PCa biochemical recurrence, indicate that variation in PITX2 expression accompanies and may promote prostate tumor progression and metastasis
A rare pitfall in the molecular interpretation of BRAF V600E status in melanoma in the setting of BRAF V600E-mutated chronic lymphocytic leukemia/small lymphocytic lymphoma
No full textBRAF mutation status is a critical predictive and prognostic biomarker in guiding management of unresectable and metastatic melanoma. We recently observed a case of BRAF V600E-mutated chronic lymphocytic leukemia/small lymphocytic lymphoma (CLL/SLL) intermixed with BRAF V600E wild-type melanoma reported to harbor BRAF V600E mutation on molecular testing. Our observation underscores the importance of appropriate tumor selection for molecular studies and knowledge of mutational status of co-existing tumors. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved
Sea ice meltwater and Circumpolar Deep Water drive contrasting productivity in three Antarctic polynyas
No full textAuthor Posting. © American Geophysical Union, 2019. This article is posted here by permission of American Geophysical Union for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Journal of Geophysical Research-Oceans 124(5), (2019): 2943-2968, doi:10.1029/2019JC015071.In the Southern Ocean, polynyas exhibit enhanced rates of primary productivity and represent large seasonal sinks for atmospheric CO2. Three contrasting east Antarctic polynyas were visited in late December to early January 2017: the Dalton, Mertz, and Ninnis polynyas. In the Mertz and Ninnis polynyas, phytoplankton biomass (average of 322 and 354 mg chlorophyll a (Chl a)/m2, respectively) and net community production (5.3 and 4.6 mol C/m2, respectively) were approximately 3 times those measured in the Dalton polynya (average of 122 mg Chl a/m2 and 1.8 mol C/m2). Phytoplankton communities also differed between the polynyas. Diatoms were thriving in the Mertz and Ninnis polynyas but not in the Dalton polynya, where Phaeocystis antarctica dominated. These strong regional differences were explored using physiological, biological, and physical parameters. The most likely drivers of the observed higher productivity in the Mertz and Ninnis were the relatively shallow inflow of iron‐rich modified Circumpolar Deep Water onto the shelf as well as a very large sea ice meltwater contribution. The productivity contrast between the three polynyas could not be explained by (1) the input of glacial meltwater, (2) the presence of Ice Shelf Water, or (3) stratification of the mixed layer. Our results show that physical drivers regulate the productivity of polynyas, suggesting that the response of biological productivity and carbon export to future change will vary among polynyas.This work was cofunded by the Australian Antarctic Division research projects AAS 4131 and 4291. This project was also supported by the Australian Government Cooperative Research Centres Programme through the Antarctic Climate & Ecosystems (ACE CRC). S. Moreau and C. Genovese were supported by the Australian Research Council's Special Research Initiative for Antarctic Gateway Partnership (project ID SR140300001). V. Puigcorbé and M. Roca‐Martí are grateful for the support from Pere Masque and Edith Cowan University. M.C. Arroyo was supported by the Dickhut Fellowship, administered by the Virginia Institute of Marine Science. The authors would like to thank the officers and crew of the R/V Aurora Australis for their logistic support, the CSIRO hydrochemists for their analyses of nutrient concentrations, and E. J. Yang for her microscope analysis of phytoplankton species. We also want to thank two anonymous reviewers for their very good comments on this study. The data presented in this paper are available on the Australian Antarctic Division (AAD) Data Centre at https://data.aad.gov.au/aadc/metadata/metadata_by_parameter.cfm.2019-09-2
GLUCAGONOMA SYNDROME WITH INCREASED LACTATE DEHYDROGENASE ISOENZYMES: OCTREOTIDE TREATMENT
No full textReduced melanoma after regular sunscreen use: Randomized trial follow-up
No full textPurpose: Regular sunscreen use prevents cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma long term, but the effect on melanoma is highly controversial. We evaluated whether long-term application of sunscreen decreases risk of cutaneous melanoma. Participants and Methods: In 1992, 1,621 randomly selected residents of Nambour, a township in Queensland, Australia, age 25 to 75 years, were randomly assigned to daily or discretionary sunscreen application to head and arms in combination with 30 mg beta carotene or placebo supplements until 1996. Participants were observed until 2006 with questionnaires and/or through pathology laboratories and the cancer registry to ascertain primary melanoma occurrence. Results: Ten years after trial cessation, 11 new primary melanomas had been identified in the daily sunscreen group, and 22 had been identified in the discretionary group, which represented a reduction of the observed rate in those randomly assigned to daily sunscreen use (hazard ratio [HR], 0.50; 95% CI, 0.24 to 1.02; P = .051). The reduction in invasive melanomas was substantial (n = 3 in active v 11 in control group; HR, 0.27; 95% CI, 0.08 to 0.97) compared with that for preinvasive melanomas (HR, 0.73; 95% CI, 0.29 to 1.81). Conclusion: Melanoma may be preventable by regular sunscreen use in adults. © 2010 by American Society of Clinical Oncology
Validation of skin surface microtopography as a measure of skin photoaging in a subtropical population aged 40 and over
No full textBackground: Evidence suggests that skin surface microtopography is a valid measure of photoaging among young adults, but whether this applies to older adults is unknown. Methods: We investigated the association between degree of photoaging as measured by histological dermal elastosis and skin microtopography grades by decade of age from 40 to 89 years in a community sample in Australia. Skin surface replicas and punch biopsies were taken from 664 participants of the Nambour Skin Cancer Study. The association was assessed using ordinal logistic regression with proportional odds assumption, using histological dermal elastosis grades as outcome. Results: There was significant increase in odds of higher skin surface microtopography grades with higher dermal elastosis grades for age groups below 70 years [40 to 49 years: odds ratio (OR) 2.96, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.68-5.22; 50 to 59 years: OR 3.78, 95% CI 2.28-6.26; 60 to 69 years: OR 2.47, 95% CI 1.41-4.35). The association was not significant for those 70 years or older. Conclusion: Skin surface microtopography grading system is a valid measure of degree of dermal elastosis for middle-aged and older adults up to 69 years but appears not to be valid for adults 70 years or more living in a high sun exposure setting. © 2012 John Wiley & Sons A/S
