Adenocarcinoma constitutes around 0.5 to 2% of all neoplastic lesions of the urinary bladder, out of which, the mucinous variant is seen on rare occasions. Intestinal metaplasia resulting from nephrolithiasis, chronic inflammation and hydronephrosis could be the precursor lesion. Bladder exstrophy and remnants of the urachus are considered as other possible risk factors. The tumour prefers patients who are over 50 years. Hematuria, difficult voiding and suprapubic pain are the most common presenting symptoms. The tumour has a very bad prognosis and is poorly responsive to chemo and radiotherapy and hence surgery is the treatment of choice. Hence early diagnosis is of paramount importance. While managing adenocarcinoma of the bladder, it is important to rule out any possibility of a metastatic lesion that could have come from other organs where mucinous adenocarcinoma is more common.
HPV viruses are integral to the development of cervical cancer. The pathogenesis has been extensively studied. To date, numerous HPV tests and products have been developed and successfully utilized in diagnosis, treatment and prevention of cervical cancer. The HPV DNA test, when combined with other routine cervical cancer screening and diagnostic tests namely exfoliative cytology, visual inspection with acetic acid (VIA) and colposcopy has increased the detection rate of cervical cancer. HPV DNA products could also be measured in other body fluids like urine, lymph node tissue, and serum. HPV association could also be quantified by measuring other parameters like HPV mRNA, viral load, viral integration and methylation status. Vaccination against HPV has been found to decrease the incidence of cervical cancer. Further, therapeutic vaccines for cervical cancer against HPV continue to evolve. All these findings pertaining to HPV could possibly decrease the incidence of cervical cancer in the near future. This review aims to give an overview of the HPV tests and products in use and those under trial currently.
Papillary thyroid cancer (PTC) is the most prevalent form of malignancy among all cancers of the thyroid. It is also one of the few cancers with a rapidly increasing incidence. PTC is usually contained within the thyroid gland and generally biologically indolent. Prognosis of the cancer is excellent, with less than 2% mortality at 5 years. However, more than 25% of patients with PTC developed a recurrence during a long term follow-up. The present article provides an updated condensed overview of PTC, which focuses mainly on the molecular alterations involved and recent biomarker investigations.