Search

Objective: Ten patients with recurrent ovarian cancer received a combined treatment of optimal tumor debulking, adenovirus-mediated herpes simplex virus thymidine kinase gene therapy (GT), and systemic application of acyclovir or valacyclovir and topotecan. Biopsies were taken at the time of secondary debulking about 1 month after the application of GT and chemotherapy and were analyzed for expression of coxsackie-adenovirus receptor (CAR) and integrins alphavbeta3 and alphavbeta5 with respect to treatment response., Methods: Treatment modalities and study design have been described recently. Immunohistochemistry was used to visualize expression of CAR and integrins alphavbeta3 and alphavbeta5 in tumor samples taken before and after application of GT., Results: Before GT six of ten patients presented with CAR-positive and four with CAR-negative tumors. After GT all tumors showed CAR expression. Integrin alphavbeta3 was found in all tumors before and after GT. Expression of integrin alphavbeta5 was seen in eight of ten tumor samples before GT and in all samples after GT., Conclusion: Despite the importance of CAR and integrin expression for successful adenovirus internalization, other cell surface receptors might be involved in this process. It is too early to decide whether expressions of CAR and integrin alphavbeta3/alphavbeta5 on tumor cells are appropriate additional inclusion criteria for the enrollment of patients in GT trials. Further research is necessary to evaluate the effect of GT plus chemotherapy on CAR and integrin expression.

Objective: While topical androgen administration is widely used in the treatment of lichen sclerosus of the vulva, localization and level of expression of androgen receptor (AR) have not been described previously., Methods: Thirty-nine paraffin-embedded punch biopsies of patients with lichen sclerosus of the vulva were examined. Androgen receptor, estrogen receptor (ER), and progesterone receptor (PR) expression in lichen sclerosus and in normal vulvar skin were investigated by immunohistochemistry., Results: Five tissue specimens (12.8%) of lichen sclerosus showed nuclear staining with anti-AR in the parabasal cell layers of the epidermis. Median age of patients with positive nuclear staining for AR versus women without AR expression was 71 (range, 63-78) and 66.5 (range, 38-91) years, respectively. Estrogen receptor expression was present in only one patient. Nuclear staining reaction for PR expression was absent in all cases. Four of the five AR-positive women reported no complaints and therefore received no topical testosterone therapy., Conclusion: Our results suggest a lack of complaints in AR-positive lichen sclerosus patients. Our findings could justify a larger study comparing symptoms of patients with and without AR expression.