No abstract

Impairment of natural cytotoxicity mediated by natural killer (NK) cells may play a role in the pathogenesis of penile carcinoma. The aim of this study was to examine the NK activity profile and its prognostic significance in patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the penis. The NK activity was measured in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from 39 patients diagnosed histologically as having invasive squamous cell penile carcinoma and 4 patients with verrucous carcinoma of the penis. Of 39 patients with invasive squamous cell carcinoma, 4 had undergone previous penile amputation. According to the prognosis, the patients with invasive squamous cell carcinoma were divided into two groups: with metastasis and without metastasis. The patients were evaluated in relation to clinicopathologic variables using univariate analyses. NK cell activity was significantly decreased in all patients with penile carcinoma when compared with the control groups (p < 0.0001). There was no statistically significant difference between the groups with and without metastasis. We conclude that there is a decrease in NK activity in PBMCs from patients with penile carcinoma and that the presence of advanced disease or metastatic involvement is not responsible for this reduction.

Natural killer (NK) cell activity in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from patients with Hodgkin's disease was studied using 4 h 51Cr release assay and K562 cells as sensitive targets. PBMCs were obtained from 15 previously untreated patients at different stages of their disease. PBMCs were also obtained from 46 patients treated by radiation therapy or combined chemotherapy and radiation therapy. Twenty healthy age-matched volunteer donors were used as controls to the treated patients. For these normal donors the mean cytotoxicity was 24.8 +/- 5.67% at a 100:1 effector-target cell ratio; and 43.7 +/- 12.1% for the treated cancer patients. Fifteen healthy age-matched volunteer donors were used as controls to the untreated patients. The mean cytotoxicity for these normal donors was 20.8 +/- 3.61% at a 100:1 effector-target cell ratio; and 37.6 +/- 6.65% for the previously untreated cancer patients. The mean cytotoxicity for all 35 normal donors was 23.1 +/- 5.22% at a 100:1 effector-target cell ratio. Most treated patients (93.5%) had a complete response to therapy and a significant difference was found between the mean cytotoxicity of the whole group (46 treated patients), compared with controls (P < 0.001). A significant difference (P < 0.05) was also observed when the same 11 patients were studied before and after treatment.

Introdução: A caracterização das alterações moleculares em lesões mamárias suspeitas para malignidade ainda não são bem definidas. Sabe-se que a detecção precoce do câncer de mama aumenta consideravelmente as chances de cura. Com isso, a busca por marcadores tumorais, a fim de auxiliar no diagnóstico precoce e predizer com confiança se essas lesões são benignas ou malignas, se faz necessária. No processo de carcinogênese, diversas são as alterações de expressão gênica, na qual envolve vários genes-chave que controlam o ciclo celular. Entre os genes, o TP53 tem sido amplamente pesquisado por apresentar mutações e variantes que podem estar envolvidas na carcinogênese mamaria. Relato de caso: Paciente do sexo feminino, 45 anos, branca, casada, residente do Estado do Rio de Janeiro com carcinoma ductal in situ grau 2, multifocal. Lesão positiva para os receptores hormonais de estrogênio e progesterona, com ausência de mutação somática e com presença dos variantes 213A→G e 13494G→A no éxon 6 e intron 6 do gene TP53. Conclusão: Embora tenham sido considerados individualmente neutros, não existem estudos que tenham avaliado o efeito sinérgico dos variantes 213A→G e 13494G→A.