Somatostatin Receptors in Human Meningiomas—Clinicopathological Aspects

Meningiomas have high recurrence rates despite frequently benign histopathological appearances. Somatostatin receptors (SSTRs) may be reliable biomarkers that could identify patients with increased risk of recurrence. Even though SSTRs are previously detected in meningiomas, their associations to clinicopathological features remain unclear. The aim of this study was to investigate the diagnostic and prognostic value of SSTRs in a large series of human meningiomas with long follow-up data. Immunohistochemistry was used to measure the expression of SSTR1-SSTR5 in tissue samples from 162 patients diagnosed with intracranial meningiomas of World Health Organization (WHO) grade 1 or 2. Digital scoring and a manual staining index were applied to assess immunoreactivity. All SSTRs, except SSTR4, were upregulated in our series of meningiomas. SSTR1 (p = 0.036), SSTR2 (p = 0.036) and SSTR5 (p = 0.029) were associated with a higher malignancy grade. SSTR2 presented as the most reliable marker. Only SSTR2 was associated with time to recurrence (TTR) in univariate Cox regression analyses. Manual staining index was strongly correlated with digital scoring for all SSTRs (r > 0.65, p < 0.001). SSTRs, and especially SSTR2, are useful in the diagnostics of meningiomas, even though their prognostic value appears limited. Digital scoring is valuable to ensure reproducibility.

Comparison of 0.2% chlorhexidine mouthwash with and without anti-discoloration system in patients with chronic periodontitis: A randomized controlled clinical trial

Background. Chemical plaque control, an adjunct to mechanical approaches, could improve the maintenance of patients with different types of periodontitis. Chlorhexidine, the gold standard in chemical plaque control, might have some side effects; the most determining one is tooth discoloration. Anti-discoloration systems (ADS) have been added to minimize brownish tooth discoloration. This study aimed to evaluate the staining potential and clinical efficacy of chlorhexidine with and without ADS in patients with chronic periodontitis. Methods. In this randomized controlled trial, 46 patients with chronic periodontitis were randomly allocated to two groups. Each patient used 10 mL of mouthwash A (CHX without ADS) or B (CHX with ADS, including sodium metabisulfite and ascorbic acid) twice a day for two weeks. After a two-week interval, they used the second mouthwash. At the beginning and the end of each two-week cycle, plaque index (PI), bleeding on probing (BoP), and staining index were recorded. Results. There was no significant difference between mouthwash A and B in the reduction of BoP and PI. The staining index was significantly lower after rinsing with mouthwash B compared to mouthwash A. Conclusion. CHX mouthwash containing ADS has similar efficacy in microbial plaque control and reduction of BOP as CHX without ADS, with the advantage of lower stain formation on tooth surfaces in patients with chronic periodontitis.

Expression of Myofibroblasts in Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma: An Immunohistochemical Study

ABSTRACT Introduction Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is one of the most common types of malignancy affecting the orafacial region and with a high mortality rate. The fact that stroma of the tumor modulates and facilitates the progression and metastasis of the malignancy has been shown in the past studies. The cells of the activated stroma that are responsible for the progression and metastasis of the tumor are the fibroblasts having smooth muscle properties. These myofibroblasts are said to secrete numerous inflammatory mediators and factors which are said to play a crucial role in tumor progression. Therefore, we evaluated the presence of myofibroblasts in OSCC, by immunohistochemistry using alpha smooth muscle actin (α-SMA) antibody. Materials and methods We evaluated a total of 50 biopsy specimens from the archives of the oral pathology, where 20 specimens out of 50 were of well-differentiated OSCC (WDOSCC), 20 were of poorly differentiated OSCC (PDOSCC), and 10 were of normal healthy controls. All the specimens were stained by immunohistochemically using with monoclonal antihuman α-SMA. Etemad-Moghadam et al method was used for assessing the myofibroblast distribution. Staining index was evaluated for the groups and compared. All the results were analyzed by Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) software. Results The mean percentage of myofibroblasts score for WDOSCC and PDOSCC were 2.88 and 2.92 respectively. The mean staining intensity score in WDOSCC and PDOSCC were 2.88 and 2.55 respectively. Statistically significant results were obtained while comparing the final staining index score between the OSCC group and normal control group. No significant correlation could be obtained while comparing the mean staining index score in between WDOSCC and PDOSCC. Conclusion Malignant epithelium might induce the adjacent stromal tissue to produce myofibroblasts. These specialized cells may be utilized as therapeutic targets for the treatment of OSCC. Clinical significance Proliferation of myofibroblasts may be used as a stromal marker of premalignancy and malignancy. How to cite this article Prasad BV, Kakatkar GS, Jain P, Jain M, Patel M, Khan J. Expression of Myofibroblasts in Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma: An Immunohistochemical Study. J Contemp Dent Pract 2016;17(10):857-860.

pAKT expression in paraffin-embedded xenograft tumors after fixation delays and human breast cancer by optimized immunohistochemistry.

10603 Background: With progress in targeting PI3K/AKT pathway in the treatment of a wide range of cancers, it is getting more important than ever for optimization of detection method of AKT kinase, a central effector of the pathway, in archived tissues. Recently, we found that pAKT-S473 (pAKT) significantly predicts paclitaxel benefit in breast cancer (JCO 28: 2974, 2010), in which a good analytical and clinical performance of quantitative pAKT immunohistochemistry (IHC) was demonstrated. The current study evaluates pAKT stability in human breast cancer xenograft tumors after delays in fixation, and assesses a detection window following fixation delays with an established cutoff [staining index (SI) > 2]. Methods: Xenograft tumors with high (MDA-MB-468) and intermediate levels (MDA-MB-231) of pAKT were fixed or snapped frozen in 10% neutral-buffered formalin or liquid nitrogen after delays post-excision. pAKT staining was performed in xenograft tumors and 96 cases of human surgical breast tumors by our optimized and traditional IHCs, and Western blot. Results: The mean SIs were 133, 121, 112, 94, 84, and 66 using optimized, and in contrast were 51, 44, 29, 14, 12, and 6.4 on traditional method at 0, 15, 30, 60, 120 and 180 min (2.6-fold by comparing the optimized with the traditional at baseline) in MDA-MB-468 xenograft tumors. pAKT level was ½ by the optimized, similar to the level detected by Western blot, relative to 1/8 of the baseline by the traditional (10.6-fold) at 180 min. The logarithmic decline rate by the optimal was 3.1 times (95% CI, 2.4 - 3.7) less than that of the traditional (normal approximation; 2-sided P < 0.0001). pAKT expression was observed in 38.5% (37/96 ) of surgical breast tumors, comparable to 38% (606/1581) in a large cohort derived from the NSABP B-28 trial. There was little loss of pAKT in MDA-MB-231 xenograft tumors up to 180 min by IHC and Western blot. Conclusions: The optimized pAKT IHC significantly increases the sensitivity of detection with a large window for positivity. It is suitable for use in archived human specimens although it warrants further standardization and validation among research laboratories and perhaps diagnostic laboratories in the future.