The role of intrinsic pathway in apoptosis activation and progression in Peyronie's Disease.
Peyronie’s disease (PD) is characterized with formation of fibrous plaques which result in penile deformity, pain, and erectile dysfunction. The aim of this study was to investigate the activation of the intrinsic apoptotic pathway in plaques from PD patients. Tunica albuginea from either PD or control patients was assessed for the expression of bax, bcl-2 and caspases 9 and 3 using immunohistochemistry and by measurement of apoptotic cells using TUNEL assay. Bax overexpression was observed in metaplastic bone tissue, in fibroblasts, and in myofibroblast of plaques from PD patients. Little or no bcl-2 immunostaining was detected in samples from either patients or controls. Caspase 3 immunos…
Expression pattern of estroprogestinic receptors in sinonasal inverted papilloma
// Agostino Serra 1 , Rosario Caltabiano 2 , Giacomo Spinato 3 , Salvatore Gallina 4 , Salvatore Caruso 5 , Venerando Rapisarda 6 , Paola Di Mauro 1 , Veronica Castro 1 , Angelo Conti 1 , Luisa Licciardello 1 , Luigi Maiolino 1 , Salvatore Lanzafame 2 , Salvatore Cocuzza 1 1 Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences and Advanced Technologies “G. Ingrassia”, ENT Section, University of Catania, Catania, Italy 2 Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences and Advanced Technologies “G. Ingrassia”, Section of Anatomic Pathology, University of Catania, Catania, Italy 3 ENT Department, Rovigo Provincial Hospital, Rovigo, Italy 4 Department of Experimental Biomedicine and Clinical Neurosciences, …
Differential modulation and prognostic values of immune-escape genes in uveal melanoma
Uveal melanoma (UM) is the most common primary intraocular cancer in adults. In the present study, we aimed to characterize the immunological features of primary UM cancer and to provide an association with prognostic markers and outcome. Also, we assessed the influence of the microenvironment on the expression of inhibitory immune checkpoints in UM. Genes of interest included MHC Class I and Class II molecules, as well as inhibitory immune-checkpoints, i.e. PDL1, PDL2, B7-H3, B7-H4, TBFRSF6B, CD47, CD155, GAL9, HVEM and CD200. We observed significant lower levels of MHC genes in UM cells as compared to normal uveal melanocytes. Unexpectedly however, the expression levels of most of the ana…
Discordance rate of HER2 status in primary breast carcinomas versus synchronous axillary lymph node metastases: a multicenter retrospective investigation.
Antonio Ieni,1 Valeria Barresi,1 Rosario Caltabiano,2 Anna Maria Cascone,3 Rachele Del Sordo,4 Daniela Cabibi,5 Pio Zeppa,3 Salvatore Lanzafame,2 Angelo Sidoni,4 Vito Franco,5 Giovanni Tuccari1 1Department of Human Pathology Gaetano Barresi, Section of Anatomic Pathology, University of Messina, Messina, 2Department GF Ingrassia, Section of Anatomic Pathology, University of Catania, Catania, 3Department of Medicine and Surgery, University of Salerno, Salerno, 4Institute of Pathologic Anatomy and Histology, Division of Cancer Research, University of Perugia, Perugia, 5Department of Human Pathology, Section of Anatomic Pathology, University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy Background: Human epiderma…
Current molecular and clinical insights into uveal melanoma (Review)
Uveal melanoma (UM) represents the most prominent primary eye cancer in adults. With an incidence of approximately 5 cases per million individuals annually in the United States, UM could be considered a relatively rare cancer. The 90.95% of UM cases arise from the choroid. Diagnosis is based mainly on a clinical examination and ancillary tests, with ocular ultrasonography being of greatest value. Differential diagnosis can prove challenging in the case of indeterminate choroidal lesions and, sometimes, monitoring for documented growth may be the proper approach. Fine needle aspiration biopsy tends to be performed with a prognostic purpose, often in combination with radiotherapy. Gene expres…
Intravitreal aflibercept for the treatment of radiation-induced macular edema after ruthenium 106 plaque radiotherapy for choroidal melanoma.
Purpose: To assess the efficacy of intravitreal aflibercept in patients suffering from post-radiation macular edema following plaque radiotherapy for choroidal melanoma. Methods: This prospective, interventional case series included patients affected by radiation maculopathy (RM) with macular edema secondary to ruthenium-106 plaque brachytherapy for choroidal melanoma. The effect of intravitreal aflibercept on best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA), central foveal thickness (CFT) detected by spectral domain optical coherence tomography (sd-OCT), and Horgan’s grading scale of RM was evaluated throughout the 24-month follow-up. Intraocular pressure (IOP) and possible complications were also reco…