Independent Prognostic Information (independent + prognostic_information)

Distribution by Scientific Domains


Selected Abstracts


Asking patients with hematological malignancies: ,how do you feel?' Does it really provide independent prognostic information for survival?

EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF HAEMATOLOGY, Issue 6 2009
Fabio Efficace
No abstract is available for this article. [source]


c-FLIP expression in colorectal carcinomas: association with Fas/FasL expression and prognostic implications

HISTOPATHOLOGY, Issue 2 2007
P Korkolopoulou
Aims:, Disruption of apoptotic cell death has been implicated in tumour aggressiveness in colonic carcinogenesis. The Fas,Fas ligand (FasL) system is involved in the execution of apoptosis induced by the immune system. c-FLIP protein constitutes an inhibitor of Fas and other (TRAIL) death receptor-mediated apoptosis. The aim of this study was to investigate the simultaneous expression of Fas, FasL and c-FLIP in relation to standard clinicopathological parameters and patients' outcome in colorectal cancer. Methods and results:, Levels of Fas, FasL and c-FLIP protein expression were quantified immunohistochemically in paraffin-embedded tissues from 90 patients. Immunopositivity was detected for Fas, FasL and c-FLIP in 71%, 35.5% and 68.8% of cases, respectively. Concurrent expression of Fas/FasL was seen in 28 samples (31%), of which 24 (85.7%) also displayed c-FLIP positivity (P = 0.04). c-FLIP overexpression (> 10%) tended to prevail marginally in higher stage tumours (P = 0.09). Additionally, FasL and c-FLIP adversely affected survival on both univariate (P = 0.001 and P = 0.0024, respectively) and multivariate analysis [hazard ratio (HR) 3.491, P = 0.005 and HR 2.960, P = 0.036, respectively]. Conclusions:, The frequent expression and coexpression of Fas, FasL and c-FLIP in colorectal carcinoma implicates c-FLIP as an inhibitor of the Fas,FasL-induced death pathway in these tumours. Moreover, c-FLIP conveys independent prognostic information in the presence of classical prognosticators. [source]


Histomorphometry of brain tumours

NEUROPATHOLOGY & APPLIED NEUROBIOLOGY, Issue 4 2004
R. Nafe
In this review, the results of previous histomorphometric studies of brain tumours are summarized and discussed with respect to their potential value for diagnostic purposes and for tumour research. In the majority of these studies, human gliomas were investigated. In a few studies, human meningiomas and other human or experimental tumour types were investigated. A computerized image analysis system was used for the morphometric analyses in most studies. The three main histologic structures examined were tumour cell nuclei, nucleolar organizer regions and tumour vessels. The current state of knowledge provides evidence that a diagnostic benefit could be provided by histomorphometric investigations of brain tumours, especially for grading of gliomas and with respect to independent prognostic information. Additional studies are necessary to delineate the spectrum of histomorphometric parameters and the investigation of their prognostic significance for cases with the same tumour type and tumour grade. Together with many recently published observations in this field, this review shows that histomorphometry is an important approach towards the investigation of brain tumour biology. [source]


Estrogen receptor ,, an independent prognostic marker in estrogen receptor , and progesterone receptor-positive breast cancer?

APMIS, Issue 9 2009
BJØRN O. MÆHLE
Both subtypes of estrogen receptor (ER), ER, and ER,, are normally present in the mammary gland. The role of ER, as a prognostic marker in breast cancer is well established due to the beneficial effect of providing tamoxifen as adjuvant therapy. The role of ER,, however, is less clear. To gain insight into the importance of ER, in breast cancer, 145 primary breast cancers were examined by immunohistochemistry for ER,, and the expression level was compared with ER, and progesterone receptor (PR) status. Especially, we wanted to examine the significance of ER, in the contrasting ER,+/PR+ and ER,,/PR, subgroups. In the ER,+/PR+ subgroup (dual positive), the survival difference between patients with low, medium and high ER , level was statistically significant (p = 0.004), with more than 70% of patients with medium and high ER, levels surviving 100 months, compared with less than 30% in the group with low ER, level. Further, for ER,+/PR+ patients there was a reduced risk of fatal outcome by multivariate analysis with increasing ER, levels (p(trend) < 0.01 [univariate analysis]; p(trend) = 0.05 [multivariate analysis]). The risk was 31% and 27% for medium and high ER, levels, respectively, compared with low ER, level, adjusting for standard prognostic factors such as tumor diameter, nuclear tumor grade (quantified by mean nuclear area), lymph node status, and patient age at operation. For patients with ER,,/PR, tumors (dual negative), however, there was no association between ER, levels and patient outcome. Our findings indicate that ER, expression provides independent prognostic information for breast cancers with ER,/PR-positive status, a feature typical among screen-detected breast cancers. The role of ER, needs to be further evaluated especially in this group of breast cancers. [source]


HEREDITARY AND ENVIRONMENTAL INFLUENCES ON ARTERIAL FUNCTION

CLINICAL AND EXPERIMENTAL PHARMACOLOGY AND PHYSIOLOGY, Issue 7 2007
CS Hayward
SUMMARY 1With the ageing population and increasing heart failure, arterial function has been shown to contribute to cardiovascular risk because of its adverse effects on ventriculovascular coupling. Population studies have confirmed independent prognostic information of arterial stiffening on cardiovascular survival. 2The term ,arterial function' encompasses a range of phenotypes, including measures of arterial structure/remodelling, measures of arterial wall mechanics, surrogate measures of stiffness and of wave reflection. There exists significant interaction between these measures and none is truly independent of the others. Added to this complexity is the recognition that, although arterial function has a strong genetic component, quantification requires a range of techniques from twin to family and population studies. 3The contribution of heritability is often derived from statistical models with input from genomic scanning and candidate gene studies. Studies to date confirm a significant heritable component for the majority of phenotypes examined. However, it has also been recognized that the factors involved in blood pressure maintenance are likely to be separate to those in arterial structural degeneration with ageing. Candidate genes for arterial function go beyond those of the sympathetic and renin,angiotensin systems and include genes involved in signalling pathways and extracellular matrix modulation. 4The present review examines the evidence for heritability of the major arterial function phenotypes with environmental and ageing modulation. A brief overview of the impact of atherosclerotic risk factors on arterial function is included. [source]