Ovarian cancer is the 6 th most common cancer among women. In ovarian tumors, the borderline category is not well defined due to the difficulty in assessing stromal invasion. The World Health Organization (WHO) defined it as tumor that lacks obvious invasion of the stroma with mitotic activity and nuclear abnormalities intermediate between clearly benign and unquestionably malignant. Telomerase is expressed in many human cancers and is hence a potential biomarker for cancer. Immunohistochemical study of anti-human telomerase enzyme reverse transcriptase (hTERT) antibody allows direct visualization of its expression. The aim of this study was to determine the expression of hTERT and serum CA-125 level in ovarian epithelial tumors, and their ability to distinguish borderline tumor from malignancy.
Cervical cancer is the second most common cancer affecting Malaysian women. Despite the implementation of pap smear screening, many women are still diagnosed only in the advanced stage of cervical cancer. This could partly be due to failure of detection of its precursor lesions; hence the need to search for novel biomarkers to assist in the screening and diagnosis of cervical neoplasia. This study aims to determine the expression of p16INK4A and survivin as possible predictive biomarkers in cervical squamous neoplasm.
Cervical cancer is the second most common female malignancy in Malaysia. Despite advances in treatment, the overall survival for this disease has not changed in the last decade. Infection by certain types of HPV is recognized as a causal and necessary factor for its development. This study was carried out to determine the prevalence of HPV infection in abnormal cervical smears in Malaysian patients using archival cervical smears retrieved from the Cytopathology Unit, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Medical Centre (UKMMC) between the years 1992-1995. DNA was extracted from 38 abnormal smears comprising 25 intraepithelial lesions and 13 cervical carcinomas and 10 normal smears. Amplification of HPV genes was carried out using the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technique. HPV genotypes were determined using direct sequencing and the results were compared to the database from Genebank. DNA was successfully extracted from all 48 cervical smears. High-risk HPV (HR-HPV) genotypes were detected in 95% of the abnormal smears. Eight high-risk oncogenic types were identified: 16, 18, 31, 51, 52, 56, 58 and 66. All (100%) cervical cancer smears showed presence of HR-HPV compared to 92% of the cervical intraepithelial lesions. Among the eight HR-HPV genotypes identified, HPV 16 and 52 were the commonest (23.7% each) HPV genotypes encountered and among the CIN lesions, HPV 16 (28%) was the most frequent. We conclude that HPV 16 is the most prevalent HPV genotype present in abnormal cervical smears in Malaysian patients, and that the use of archival material to assess the presence of HPV is potentially worthwhile, and can be utilized for longitudinal studies of HPV presence and persistence.
The differentiation between cervical intraepithelial neoplasia 3 (CIN 3) and early squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) of the cervix may be difficult in certain situations. Identification of invasion beyond the basement membrane is the gold standard for the diagnosis of the latter. The objective of this study was to determine whether the use of Ki-67 and p53 could help in solving the above dilemma. This was a retrospective study on 61 cases of cervical neoplasms comprising of 25 cases of CIN 3 and 36 SCC. All cases were evaluated by immunohistochemistry using Ki-67 and p53 monoclonal antibodies. Results showed that the differences of Ki-67 and p53 expression between CIN 3 and SCC were statistically significant. In conclusion, Ki-67 and p53 may serve as helpful adjuncts to routinely-stained histological sections in differentiating between CIN 3 and SCC.
The aim of this proof-of-concept study was to determine the effects of three-month Metformin therapy on the expression of tumor-regulatory genes (p53, cyclin D2 and BCL-2) in the endometrium of women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). A total of 40 women, aged between 21 and 45 years with PCOS (Rotterdam criteria) were recruited. The participants were assessed at pre- and 3-month-post-Metformin therapy for the menstrual regularities, weight reduction, Ferriman Galway scores, fasting blood glucose (FBG), total cholesterol, LDL, HDL and p53, BCL-2 and cyclin D2 gene expression. Five participants conceived spontaneously after the initial recruitment. Majority (68%) resumed regular menstrual cycles after Metformin. There were significant reduction in BMI (p = 0.001), weight (p = 0.001) and Ferriman Galway scores (p = 0.001). A significant improvement was seen in mean FBG (p = 0.002), total cholesterol (p = 0.001), LDL (p = 0.003) and HDL cholesterol levels (p = 0.015). Tumor suppressor gene (p53) was significantly up-regulated after Metformin (10 out of 14 women), with p value 0.016. BCL-2 and cyclin D2 (oncogenes) were slightly up-regulated without significant difference (p = 0.119 and 0.155, respectively). In conclusion, Metformin therapy improved clinical and metabolic parameters in women with PCOS and up-regulated p53 tumor suppressor gene significantly. Further studies are however required to independently validate our findings.