Molecular characterization of cancer stem cells in anaplastic thyroid carcinoma

Survival of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma in cirrhosis: a comparison of BCLC, CLIP and GRETCH staging systems

A major problem in assessing the likelihood of survival of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) arises from a lack of models capable of predicting outcome accurately.To compare the ability of the Italian score (CLIP), the French classification (GRETCH) and the Barcelona (BCLC) staging system in predicting survival in patients with HCC.We included 406 consecutive patients with cirrhosis and HCC. Seventy-eight per cent of patients had hepatitis C. Independent predictors of survival were identified using the Cox model.One-hundred and seventy-eight patients were treated, while 228 were untreated. The observed mortality was 60.1% in treated patients and 84.9% in untreated patients. Among…

Fine-Needle Aspiration (FNAB) Molecular Analysis for the Diagnosis of Papillary Thyroid Carcinoma through BRAFv600E mutation and RET/PTC rearrangement

Objective: To evaluate BRAFV600E mutation on consecutive fine-needle aspiration biopsy (FNAB) specimens in order to assess FNAB’s usefulness in preoperative papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) diagnosis with the contemporaneous analysis of RET=PTC1 and RET=PTC3 rearrangements obtained from ex vivo thyroid nodules. Design: Thyroid FNABs from 156 subjects with nodules and 49 corresponding surgical samples were examined for the presence of BRAF mutation by real-time allele-specific polymerase chain reaction, confirmed with the use of a laser pressure catapulting system. Samples were also examined for RET=PTC rearrangements. The results were compared with the cytological diagnosis and histopathol…