Prognostic impact of alterations in E-cadherin and P-cadherin expression in canine mammary tumors

Expression of cadherins has been correlated to the development and aggressiveness of epithelial neoplasms, however, in canine mammary tumors, their significance prognostic is uncertain. Due to this fact, the expression of the intracellular adhesion molecules E and P-cadherin and correlation with overall survival were analyzed in 25 canine mammary gland tumors. E-cadherin expression reduction was correlated with histological type, high histological grade, and overall survival rate. P-cadherin staining was higher in malignant tumors, unrelated to other clinicopathological features of aggressiveness. The results of this study suggest a relationship between lower expression of E and P-cadherin and worse prognostic in canine mammary tumors, including shorter overall survival.

Association of Alpha B-Crystallin Expression with Tumor Differentiation Grade in Colorectal Cancer Patients

Alpha B-crystallin (CRYAB, HSPB5) belongs to the small heat shock protein (HSP) family and is highly expressed in various human cancers, suggesting a crucial role in tumor progression. However, few studies have examined CRYAB expression in colorectal cancer (CRC). In the present study, we investigated the relationship between CRYAB expression and the clinicopathological features of CRC samples. We comparatively analyzed CRYAB protein expression in 111 CRC tissues and normal adjacent colonic tissue, observing that it was significantly lower in CRC tissues than in corresponding non-cancerous tissues. Moreover, immunohistochemical analysis showed a significant correlation between CRYAB expression and high histological grade G3 (p = 0.033). In summary, our results point to its possible application as a prognostic biomarker in CRC patients.

Prognosis of Laparoscopic Surgery for Colorectal Cancer in Middle-Aged Patients: A Propensity Score-Matched Analysis

Background: The prognosis of middle-aged patients with CRC treated by laparoscopic resection (LR) is unclear. This study aimed to evaluate the survival outcomes of LR compared with open resection (OR) for patients with CRC and 45-65 years of age.Methods: This retrospective cohort study used the data from a database of all consecutive colorectal resections performed between January 2009 and December 2017. Propensity score matching (PSM) was done to handle the selection bias based on age, gender, body mass index (BMI), tumor location, AJCC stage, and admission year. Univariate and multivariate COX regression model was used to identify risk factors of overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS).Results: After PSM, 217 patients were included in each group. There were no differences in OS and PFS between the two groups (all P>0.05). There was less blood loss for LR (P<0.001), but the other complications were similar between the two groups. The multivariate analysis showed that high histological grade (hazard ratio [HR]=2.262, 95%CI: 1.334-3.836, P=0.002), stage III (HR=1.744, 95%CI: 2.360-25.406, P=0.001), stage IV (HR=47.905, 95%CI: 14.430-159.033, P<0.001), and adjuvant therapy (HR=0.547, 95%CI: 0.358-0.838, P=0.006) were independently associated with OS. High preoperative CEA (HR=1.585, 95%CI: 1.049-2.394, P=0.029), high histological grade (HR=2.128, 95%CI: 1.272-3.558, P=0.004), stage III (HR=5.562, 95%CI: 1.980-15.624, P=0.001), and stage IV (HR=26.338, 95%CI: 9.090-76.315, P<0.001), were independently associated with OS. LR was not associated with OS and PFS.Conclusions: In middle-aged patients with CRC, OR and LR have similar survival outcomes and complications.

p63 expression is associated with high histological grade, aberrant p53 expression and TP53 mutation in HER2-positive breast carcinoma

Aimp63, a member of the p53 family, is a myoepithelial cell marker usually expressed in metaplastic breast carcinoma and its expression suggests a myoepithelial phenotype. However, its expression and association with clinicopathological features of human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER 2)-positive breast carcinoma is poorly investigated.Materials and methodsSixty-seven patients with oestrogen receptor-negative and progesterone receptor-negative, HER2-positive breast carcinoma who received anti-HER2-based neoadjuvant±adjuvant therapy was retrospectively analysed.ResultsTwenty cases were p63-positive and 47 cases were p63-negative. The clinicopathological features and tumour responses after neoadjuvant therapy and outcomes were analysed. Among HER2-positive tumours, expression of p63 was significantly associated with younger age (42.5 vs 55.9; p=0.010). Expression of p63 was also significantly associated with histological grade 3 (11/20 (55%) vs 11/47 (23.4%); p=0.012) and negatively associated with grade 2 (9/20 (45%) vs 36/47 (76.6%); p=0.012). Intriguingly, p63-positive breast carcinomas showed significant aberrant p53 expression by immunohistochemistry (16/18 (88.9%) vs 29/47 (61.7%); p=0.03) and of TP53 mutation by Sanger sequencing (15/16 (93.8%) vs 12/22 (54.5%); p=0.009). No significant difference in tumour response after anti-HER2 neoadjuvant therapy nor in survival were found between p63-positive and p63-negative breast carcinomas.ConclusionExpression of p63 in HER2-positive breast carcinoma is significantly associated with younger age, poor differentiation, high histological grade and aberrant expression of p53 and of TP53 mutation. HER2-positive breast carcinoma with a myoepithelial immunophenotype shows distinctive clinicopathological features representing a distinct subtype of HER2-positive breast carcinoma. Further, these findings suggest an interaction between p63 and mutant p53 in the tumorigenesis of HER2-positive breast carcinomas.