The goal of this study was to determine the sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy of transrectal ultrasound (TRUS) in comparison to magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in the evaluation of tumor volume, early parametrial infiltration, and identification of residual tumor in early-stage cervical cancer. Patients in whom an early-stage cervical cancer was diagnosed by clinical examination were enrolled in the study. Only those patients who were examined by both MRI and TRUS with following surgical treatment were included. Imaging results were compared with pathology findings. Altogether, 120 patients were consecutively enrolled from January 2004 to February 2006. Data from 95 patients were evaluated. Correlation coefficient for TRUS- and MRI-derived volumes versus volumes at pathology reached R = 0.996 and R = 0.980, respectively. The accuracy for detecting tumor in 95 patients was 93.7% for TRUS and 83.2% for MRI (P

Glioblastomas are deadly neoplasms resistant to current treatment modalities. Fibroblast activation protein (FAP) is a protease which is not expressed in most of the normal adult tissues but is characteristically present in the stroma of extracranial malignancies. FAP is considered a potential therapeutic target and is associated with a worse patient outcome in some cancers. The FAP localization in the glioma microenvironment and its relation to patient survival are unknown. By analyzing 56 gliomas and 15 non-tumorous brain samples, we demonstrate increased FAP expression in a subgroup of high-grade gliomas, in particular on the protein level. FAP expression was most elevated in the mesenchymal subtype of glioblastoma. It was neither associated with glioblastoma patient survival in our patient cohort nor in publicly available datasets. FAP was expressed in both transformed and stromal cells; the latter were frequently localized around dysplastic blood vessels and commonly expressed mesenchymal markers. In a mouse xenotransplantation model, FAP was expressed in glioma cells in a subgroup of tumors that typically did not express the astrocytic marker GFAP. Endogenous FAP was frequently upregulated and part of the FAP host cells coexpressed the CXCR4 chemokine receptor. In summary, FAP is expressed by several constituents of the glioblastoma microenvironment, including stromal non-malignant mesenchymal cells recruited to and/or activated in response to glioma growth. The limited expression of FAP in healthy tissues together with its presence in both transformed and stromal cells suggests that FAP may be a candidate target for specific delivery of therapeutic agents in glioblastoma.

Our finding of elevated serum levels of BAFF in patients with myositis with described phenotypes together with the correlations between levels of BAFF and CK and a negative correlation with dose of glucocorticoids, indicate that BAFF could be a potential therapeutic target in such cases.