BackgroundHuman Papillomavirus (HPV) is considered as a necessary, but not sufficient, cause of cervical cancer. In this study, we aimed to assess the prevalence of HPV in a series of pre-malignant and malignant cervical lesion cases, to identify the virus genotypes, and to assess their distribution pattern according to lesion type, age range, and other considered variables. The samples were submitted to histopathological revision examination and analysed by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for the presence of HPV DNA, followed by HPV typing by dot blot hybridisation.FindingsOf the analysed samples, 53.7% showed pre-malignant cervical lesions, and 46.3% presented with cervical cancer. Most cancer samples (84.1%) were classified as invasive carcinoma. The mean age of these cancer patients was 47.3 years. The overall HPV prevalence was 82.4% in patients with pre-malignant lesions and 92.0% in the cancer patients. HPV 16 was the most prevalent type, followed by HPV 18 and 58, including both single and double infections. Double infection was detected in 11.6% of the samples, and the most common combination was HPV 16+18.ConclusionsCervical cancer appears to occur in women in a lower age range in the studied area, compared to the situation in other Brazilian regions. Furthermore, among the patients with CIN 3 and those with cancer, we observed a higher proportion of married women, women with more than one sexual partner, smokers, and individuals with less than an elementary education, relative to their counterparts.FindingsThe overall HPV prevalence was 82.4% in patients with pre-malignant lesions and 92.0% in the cervical cancer patients from Northeast Brazil. HPV 16 was the most prevalent type, followed by HPV 18 and 58. The most common double infection was HPV 16+18. Cervical cancer appears to occur in women in a lower age range in the Northeast Brazil. Among the patients with CIN 3 and those with cancer, we observed a higher proportion of married women, women with more than one sexual partner, smokers, and individuals with less than an elementary education, relative to their counterparts.

A strategy for treating cancer is to surgically remove the tumor together with a portion of apparently healthy tissue surrounding it, the so-called "resection margin", to minimize recurrence. Here, we investigate whether the proteomic profiles from biopsies of gastric cancer resection margins are indeed more similar to those from healthy tissue than from cancer biopsies. To this end, we analyzed biopsies using an offline MudPIT shotgun proteomic approach and performed label-free quantitation through a distributed normalized spectral abundance factor approach adapted for extracted ion chromatograms (XICs). A multidimensional scaling analysis revealed that each of those tissue-types is very distinct from each other. The resection margin presented several proteins previously correlated with cancer, but also other overexpressed proteins that may be related to tumor nourishment and metastasis, such as collagen alpha-1, ceruloplasmin, calpastatin, and E-cadherin. We argue that the resection margin plays a key role in Paget's "soil to seed" hypothesis, that is, that cancer cells require a special microenvironment to nourish and that understanding it could ultimately lead to more effective treatments.

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Introduction: Circulating nucleic acids can be obtainedby minimally invasive procedures based on liquid biopsy,which has emerged as a promising area of investigation forscreening and monitoring cancer treatment. Currently, testsbased on circulating nucleic acid analysis, specifically cellfreeDNA (cfDNA), are commercially available for diagnosticand prognostic investigation of a number of neoplasms. Objective:To describe the research on circulating nucleic acidmarkers for cancer prospecting in Brazil, since this area hasadvanced rapidly in recent years. Methods: In this systematicreview, we surveyed Brazilian publications in cancer researchfocused on cfDNA and cfRNA present in different fluids. BothMEDLINE-PUBMED and EMBASE databases were inspectedusing terms such as “circulating nucleic acids”, “cancer”, and“Brazil”. Results: The search returned 326 articles, in which28 Brazilian translational studies were eligible. Differentmethodologies were reported for different types of cancer,in which cfDNA from plasma was the most investigatedbiological material. Molecular investigations included quantification,somatic mutation, RNA expression, genotyping,microsatellites, blood protein interaction, and methylation.Discrepancies in the regional distribution of the studies werealso observed. Conclusion: Studies on circulating nucleic acidmarkers have advanced significantly in the oncology field,but many others are needed to better address the clinicalpractice in Brazil.