Salivary gland-type lung cancers are a group of low-aggressive entities with higher tendency to recurrence/metastasis. Intensive clinical, radiological, and pathological examinations are essential to estimation of the risk stratification and management.

Background: Tumors are largely unable to metabolize ketone bodies for energy due to various deficiencies in one or both of the key mitochondrial enzymes, which may provide a rationale for therapeutic strategies that inhibit tumor growth by administration of a ketogenic diet with average protein but low in carbohydrates and high in fat. Materials and Methods: Thirty-six male BALB/C nude mice were injected subcutaneously with tumor cells of the colon cancer cell line HCT116. The animals were then randomly split into three feeding groups and fed either a ketogenic diet rich in omega-3 fatty acids and MCT (MKD group; n=12) or lard only (LKD group; n=12) or a standard diet (SD group; n=12) ad libitum. Experiments were ended upon attainment of the target tumor volume of 600 mm 3 to 700 mm 3 . The three diets were compared for tumor growth and survival time (interval between tumor cell injection and attainment of target tumor volume). Results: The tumor growth in the MKD and LKD groups was significantly delayed compared to that in the SD group. Conclusions: Application of an unrestricted ketogenic diet delayed tumor growth in a mouse xenograft model. Further studies are needed to address the mechanism of this diet intervention and the impact on other tumor-relevant parameters such as invasion and metastasis.

Background: Endometriosis is a frequently occurring disease in women, which seriously affects their quality of life. However, its etiology and pathogenesis are still unclear. Methods: To identify key genes/ pathways involved in the pathogenesis of endometriosis, we recruited 3 raw microarray datasets (GSE11691, GSE7305, and GSE12768) from Gene Expression Omnibus database (GEO), which contain endometriosis tissues and normal endometrial tissues. We then performed in-depth bioinformatic analysis to determine differentially expressed genes (DEGs), followed by gene ontology (GO), Hallmark pathway enrichment and protein-protein interaction (PPI) network analysis. The findings were further validated by immunohistochemistry (IHC) staining in endometrial tissues from endometriosis or control patients. Results: We identified 186 DEGs, of which 118 were up-regulated and 68 were down-regulated. The most enriched DEGs in GO functional analysis were mainly associated with cell adhesion, inflammatory response, and extracellular exosome. We found that epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) ranked first in the Hallmark pathway enrichment. EMT may potentially be induced by inflammatory cytokines such as CXCL12. IHC confirmed the down-regulation of E-cadherin (CDH1) and up-regulation of CXCL12 in endometriosis tissues. Conclusions: Utilizing bioinformatics and patient samples, we provide evidence of EMT in endometriosis. Elucidating the role of EMT will improve the understanding of the molecular mechanisms involved in the development of endometriosis. Endometriosis is a frequently occurring gynaecological disease characterised by chronic pelvic pain, dysmenorrhea and infertility 1. Its prevalence is estimated to be 10-15% of reproductive age females 2 and around to 20-48% in infertile women 3. Despite a number of theories being suggested to describe the molecular mechanisms underlying the development of endometriosis such as: Sampson's theory of retrograde menstruation 4 , ectopic implantation, epigenetic factors 5 , immune and inflammatory factors 6,7 , eutopic endometrial determinism 8 , and stem cell factors 9 ; disease pathogenesis is still not fully understood. At present, there have been several studies on the gene expression profiles of endometriosis 10-13 , which have identified various differentially expressed genes (DEGs) involved in the development of endometriosis. However, due to heterogeneity between each independent experiment as a result of variations in tissue or specimens and/ or different data processing methods, the identification of these DEGs is inconsistent. In this study, we integrated different studies using a non-biased approach, which may resolve these problems and enable the discovery of effective and reliable molecular markers. We downloaded 3 microarray datasets GSE11691 11 , GSE7305 12 , GSE12768 13 , from Gene Expression Omnibus database (GEO), which contain gene expression data from endometriosis tissues and normal endometrial tissues. We then performed deep bioinformatic analysis, including ident...

BackgroundTissue microarray (TMA) is a high throughput research tool, which has greatly facilitated and accelerated in situ tissue analyses. However, its productivity has been restricted due to the confined thickness of traditional donor block. Here, we introduce an improved high output TMA method that is applicable to a broader range of tissue samples.MethodsIn this method, a 3.6 cm long and 2.7 cm wide recipient block with 88 square lattices (3 mm in width) was first prepared using several commercial instruments. A 2 mm wide and 6 mm long tissue rod was then prepared using a self-made blade-shaped knife from each paraffin embedded donor block of gastrointestinal stromal tumors. These rods were manually arrayed one by one into the corresponding lattices of the 60°C pre-softened recipient block with the guide of holes drilled with a steel needle. A 70-rod TMA was made to testify this method.ResultsThe prepared TMA had well defined array configurations, good tissue morphology and fully preserved proteins and DNA. A total of 500–1000 TMA sections could be easily obtained from a TMA block.ConclusionThis low-cost and time-saving method provides an alternative sampling tool for high output TMA.Virtual SlidesThe virtual slide(s) for this article can be found here: http://www.diagnosticpathology.diagnomx.eu/vs/1979605867857990