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Simple Summary: We are going to highlight new prognostic and predictive factors, CD44, PDL1, and ATG7, in surgical samples from patients with laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma (LSCC). Immunohistochemical analysis with primary antibodies anti-CD44, PD-L1 and ATG7 was performed using the tissue microarray (TMA) technique. Considering follow-up data, the 5-year disease-free survival (DFS) was 85.71% and 36% for CD44-negative and -positive tumors. The 5-year DFS was 60% and 33.33% for negative and positive PDL1 tumors, respectively. At the follow-up, 5-year DFS was 58.06% and 37.50% for negative and positive ATG7 tumors. We focus on the new prognostic and predictive factors CD44, PDL1, and ATG7 in our study of surgical samples of patients with laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma (LSCC) using tissue microarray (TMA). Thirty-nine previously untreated patients affected by laryngeal carcinoma who then underwent surgical treatment were considered in this retrospective study. All surgical specimens were sampled, embedded in paraffin blocks, and stained with hematoxylin and eosin. A representative sample of the tumor was chosen and transferred into a new block of paraffin, the recipient block, to perform immunohistochemical analysis with the primary antibodies anti-CD44, PD-L1, and ATG7. At follow-up, 5-year disease-free survival (DFS) for negative and positive tumors was determined as 85.71% and 36% for CD44, 60% and 33.33% for PDL1, and 58.06% and 37.50% for ATG7, respectively. Multivariate analysis revealed that CD44 expression is an independent predictive factor of low-grade tumors (p = 0.008), lymph node metastasis at the time of diagnosis, and AGT7 negativity. Thus, CD44 expression is a potential marker for more aggressive forms of laryngeal cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Uveal melanoma (UM) is the most common primary intraocular tumor in adults. To date, the main strategies to counteract its progression consist of focal radiation on the tumor site and ocular enucleation. Furthermore, many UM patients develop liver metastasis within 10 years following diagnosis, eventually resulting in a poorer prognosis for those patients. Dissecting the molecular mechanism involved in UM progression may lead to identify novel prognostic markers with significative clinical applications. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the role of Heme Oxygenase 1 (HO-1) in regulating UM progression. UM cell lines (92.1) were treated with Hemin (CONC e time), a strong inducer of HO-1, and VP13/47, a selective inhibitor of its enzymatic activity. Interestingly, our results showed an enhanced 92.1 cellular proliferation and wound healing ability following an HO-1 increase, overall unveiling the role played by this protein in tumor progression. Similar results were obtained following treatment with two different CO releasing molecules (CORM-3 and CORM-A1). These results were further confirmed in a clinical setting using our UM cohort. Our results demonstrated an increased median HO-1 expression in metastasizing UM when compared to nonmetastasizing patients. Overall, our results showed that HO-1 derived CO plays a major role in UM progression and HO-1 protein expression may serve as a potential prognostic and therapeutical factor in UM patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Uveal melanoma (UM) is the most frequent primary ocular malignancy of adults; it exhibits an almost invariably poor prognosis with onset of liver metastases within 10–15 years after the diagnosis. Serine and arginine-rich splicing factor 1 (SRSF1) is an RNA-binding protein with proto-oncogene functions, including stimulation of angiogenesis, cell migration and cell growth; regarding the complex regulation of tumor angiogenesis, it has been suggested that SRSF1 regulates the alternative splicing of vascular endothelial growth factor-α, promoting the formation of its pro-angiogenic isoform. The immunohistochemical expression of SRSF1 on a series of 85 primary UMs, including 39 metastasizing and 46 non-metastasizing cases, was investigated; to clarify the potential pathogenetic role of SRSF1 in this tumor and its effect on angiogenesis, we correlated our immunohistochemical findings with the clinico-pathological features, the prognostic data and blood vascular microvessel density (MVD) findings of the cases from our series. Cases with higher immunohistochemical expression of SRSF1 also had higher MVD, higher metastatic potential and shorter metastasis-free survival; conversely, cases with lower SRSF1 immunoexpression showed lower MVD, lower metastatic risk and longer metastasis-free survival times. Our results suggested that SRSF1 has a negative prognostic role and a pro-angiogenic function in UM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Uveal melanoma, in spite of its rarity, represents the most common primitive intraocular malignant neoplasm of the adults; it affects choroid, ciliary bodied and iris and remains clinically silent for a long time, being accidentally discovered by routine ophthalmic exams. Prognosis of uveal melanoma is poor and frequently characterized by liver metastases, within 10–15 years from diagnosis. Autophagy is a multi-step catabolic process by which cells remove damaged organelles and proteins and recycle nutrients. It has been hypothesized that in early stages of tumorigenesis autophagy has a tumor suppressor role while, in more advanced stages, it may represent a survival mechanism of neoplastic cells in response to stress. Several proteins related to autophagy cascade have been investigated in numerous subtypes of human cancer, with overall controversal results. In this paper we studied the immunohistochemical expression of 3 autophagy related proteins (Beclin-1, p62 and ATG7) in a cohort of 85 primary uveal melanoma treated by primary enucleation (39 with metastasis and 46 non metastatic) and correlated their expression with clinico-pathological parameters and blood vascular microvessel density, in order to investigate the potential prognostic role of autophagy in this rare neoplasm. We found that high immunohistochemical levels of Beclin-1 correlated with a lower risk of metastasis and higher disease-free survival times, indicating a positive prognostic role for Beclin-1 in uveal melanoma. No statistically significative differences regarding the expression of ATG7 and p62 between metastatic and non metastatic patients was detected. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Uveal melanoma represents the most common primary intraocular malignancy in adults; it may arise in any part of the uveal tract, with choroid and ciliary bodies being the most frequent sites of disease. In the present paper we studied ABCB5 expression levels in patients affected by uveal melanoma, both with and without metastasis, in order to evaluate if ABCB5 is associated with a higher risk of metastatic disease and can be used as a poor prognostic factor in uveal melanoma. The target population consisted of 23 patients affected by uveal melanoma with metastasis and 32 without metastatic disease. A high expression of ABCB5 was seen in patients with metastasis (14/23, 60.9%), compared to that observed in patients without metastasis (13/32, 40.6%). In conclusion, we found that ABCB5 expression levels were correlated with faster metastatic progression and poorer prognosis, indicating their role as a prognostic factor in uveal melanoma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Uveal melanoma is the most frequent primary intraocular neoplasm in adults. Although malignant melanoma may be located at any point in the uveal tract, the choroid and ciliary body are more frequent locations than the iris. In the present study, we examined ADAM10 expression levels in primary uveal melanoma both with and without metastasis, and we evaluated their association with other high risk characteristics for metastasis in order to assess if ADAM10 can be used to predict metastasis. This study included a total of 52 patients, 23 men and 29 women, with uveal melanoma. A significantly high expression of ADAM-10 was seen in patients with metastasis (11/13, 84.6%), but not in patients without metastasis (15/39, 38.5%). In conclusion we found that ADAM10 expression was associated with a more rapid metastatic progression confirming its role in uveal melanoma metastasis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) shows overlapping epidemiology with invasive ductal carcinoma of the breast, sharing similar risk factorssuch as age, mammographic density, family history, and hormonal therapy as well as genetic factors such as BRCA1/BRCA2, histotypes, and molecular subtypes such as luminal A and B, HER2 enriched, and basal-type, thus suggesting its potential precursor role. A small percentage of patients with a history of DCIS die without a documented intermediate diagnosis of invasive breast carcinoma (IBC). The increased risk of death is usually associated with ipsilateral recurrence such as IBC. The slightly variable incidence of DCIS in different countries is mainly due to a different diffusion of mammographic screening and variability of the risk factors. The majority of DCIS lesions are not palpable lesions, which can be only radiologically detected because of the association with microcalcifications. Mammography is a highly sensitive diagnostic procedure for detecting DCIS with microcalcifications, while magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is considered more sensitive to detect DCIS without calcifications and/or multifocal lesions. The aim of the present overview was to focus on the clinical, radiological, and pathological features of DCIS of the breast, with an emphasis on the practical diagnostic approach, predictive prognostic factors, and therapeutic options. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]