METHODS: This was a cross-sectional study consisted of 21 pregnant women with hypertension and 23 without hypertension. The gestational age ranged from 28 to 39 weeks (hypertensive) and 32 to 40 weeks (normotensive). The paraffin embedded formalin fixed placenta tissue blocks were retrieved from the pathology archives. Endocan immunohistochemistry was performed on tissue sections of full thickness and maternal surface of the placenta. The endocan expression was determined in fetal endothelial cells, maternal endothelial cells, cytotrophoblasts, syncytiotrophoblasts and decidual cells. The differences in endocan expression in placenta between hypertensive and normotensive subjects were evaluated by Pearson chi-square test and t-test were used in the statistical analysis.
RESULTS: The endocan expression was significantly higher in fetal endothelial cells (P
METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional study by using 29 archived formalin-fixed paraffin embedded tissue blocks of DLBCL. All the samples were evaluated for the subgrouping of COO DLBCL was determined by expression of CD10, BCL6 and MUM1 based on Hans classification. In addition, expressions of c-MYC, BCL2 and BCL6 were detected by IHC.
RESULTS: Among the 29 cases, MYC, BCL2 and BCL6 proteins were detected in 72.4%, 62.1% and 62.1% of patients, respectively. Concurrent expression (c-MYC positive/BCL2 positive and/or BCL6 positive) was present in 58.6% of patients. 34.5% were categorised as germinal centre like (GCB) subgroup and 65.5% were categorised as nongerminal centre like (non-GCB) subgroup. Among the clinicopathological features, the double/triple protein expression lymphoma was significantly associated with elevated LDH level (p=0.018), IPI score (p=0.003), Ann Arbor stage (p=0.011) and complete response rate (p=0.011).
CONCLUSION: Double/triple protein lymphoma was strongly associated more adverse clinical risk factors. Thus, analyses of MYC, BCL2 and BCL6 expression by IHC represents a rapid and inexpensive approach to risk-stratify patients with DLBCL at diagnosis.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: Using a cross-sectional design, cases of ovarian and breast cancer with clinical status of T2DM were selected over a 10-year period in Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia. Immunohistochemical staining for IGFBP-rP1 was performed on paraffin-embedded tissues and the results were correlated with the patient's demographic and clinicopathological data.
RESULTS: A total of 152 breast cancer patients were recruited into the current study with 33.5% (51/152) patients were positive T2DM. Most of the breast cancer patients with T2DM were IGFBP-rP1-negative (66.7%, 34/51). The IGFBP-rP1 expression was significantly difference between breast cancer subjects with and without T2DM (p<0.001). There was no significant association of IGFBP-rP1 expression with data on the demographic and clinicopathological profiles of patients with breast cancer. Meanwhile, positive IGFBP-rP1 expression was evident in 44 out of 108 (40.74%) ovarian cancer cases. Among these cases, 36 were T2DM. In contrast to breast cancer cases, IGFBP-rP1 was mostly expressed among ovarian cancer patients with T2DM (66.7%, 24/36, p < 0.001). However, the -positive expression was not significantly associated with any sociodemographic and clinicopathological features of ovarian cancers.
CONCLUSIONS: Majority of breast cancer patients with T2DM did not express IGFBP-rP1. In contrast, majority of the ovarian cancer patients with T2DM expressed IGFBP-rP1.
Methods: A total of 100 formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded urothelial carcinoma tissues were selected from the Department of Pathology, Hospital Kuala Lumpur and the protein expression of ISL1 and LHX5 was determined using immunohistochemistry.
Results: Positive expression of ISL1 and LHX5 was detected in 94% and 98% of the samples, respectively. There were no distinct LHX5 expression patterns associated with different cancer stages, but the proportion of high-expressing tumours was higher in high-grade tumours. In addition, there was a significant association between the expression of LHX5 and tumour grade. The proportion of tumours expressing high levels of ISL1 was found to be highest in later stage tumours.
Conclusion: The high percentage of tumours expressing both these genes suggests that ISL1 and LHX5 play an important role in bladder tumourigenesis across multiple stages.
Methods: Eighty (40 right-sided and 40 left-sided) formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded primary CRC were immunohistochemically studied for CD133, a putative CRC stem cell marker, and MMR proteins MLH1, MSH2, MSH6 and PMS2. CD133 expression was semi-quantitated for proportion of tumor immunopositivity on a scale of 0-5 and staining intensity on a scale of 0-3 with a final score (units) being the product of proportion and intensity of tumor staining. The tumor was considered immunopositive only when the tumor demonstrated moderate to strong intensity of CD133 staining (a decision made after analysis of CD133 expression in normal colon). Deficient MMR (dMMR) was interpreted as unequivocal loss of tumor nuclear staining for any MMR protein despite immunoreactivity in the internal positive controls.
Results: CD133 was expressed in 36 (90.0%) left-sided and 28 (70.0%) right-sided tumors (p 0.05).
Conclusion: Proficient MMR correlated with high levels of CD133-marked putative cancer stem cells in both right- and left-sided tumors, whereas significantly lower levels of CD133-marked putative cancer stem cells were associated with deficient MMR status in colorectal carcinomas found on the right.
METHODS: Surgical samples from seven patients with a total of 17 sequential biopsies were retrieved for the study of p53 gene expression using immunohistochemical stain, and gene status by PCR-SSCP for exons 5-8. The tumours were graded according to the WHO classification criteria. P53 was distinctly over-expressed in five transformed higher grade biopsies, and all except one showed electrophoretic mobility shift in PCR-SSCP analysis. Sequencing analysis revealed single nucleotide substitutions in three of four of these high-grade transformed cases with band shift (75%), whereas some other studies reported a lower frequency of 25-30%, and mobility shift result was found to correlate with P53 expression. Lower grade tumours without P53 over-expression did not demonstrate band shift, and sequencing analysis did not reveal mutations.
CONCLUSIONS: We demonstrated the feasibility of adopting PCR-SSCP for screening of p53 mutations in archival tissue samples in this study, and there is a strong correlation of p53 gene over-expression and mutation events in high-grade transformed tumours.
METHODS: ALK gene rearrangement was detected by immunostaining of ALK protein and fluorescence in situ hybridisation (FISH) targeting at the 2p23 region.
RESULTS: The expression of ALK protein was detected in 24/34 (71%) of the cases, and it was significantly higher in childhood cases (100%) when compared to adult cases (47%). The analyses by FISH were consistent with the results from immunostaining of ALK protein, but the analyses were only successful in 15/34 (44%) cases. FISH analyses detected extra copies of ALK gene in three cases, including one case that expressed ALK protein and showed 2p23 rearrangement.
CONCLUSIONS: The current series revealed a high frequency of ALK gene rearrangement, especially in the children. Immunostaining of ALK protein is a reliable indication of ALK gene rearrangement, and is superior to FISH. However, FISH analysis is useful in detecting other genetic aberrations that are not related to ALK gene rearrangement.