SUMMARY All transforming growth factors beta (TGFß) are cytokines that regulate several cellular functions such as cell growth, differentiation and motility. They may also have a role in immunosuppression. Their role is important for normal prostate development. TGFß is active in the regulation of balance between epithelial cell proliferation and apoptosis through stromal epithelia via the androgen receptor action. TGFß protects and maintains prostate stem cells, an important population necessary for prostate tissue regeneration. However, TGFß is shown to have a contrasting role in prostate tumor genesis. In the early stages of tumor development, TGFß acts as a tumor suppressor, whereas in the later stages, TGFß becomes a tumor promoter by inducing proliferation, invasion and metastasis. In this review, we outline complex interactions that TGFß-mediated signaling has on prostate tumor genesis, focusing on the role of these interactions during the course of prostate cancer and, in particular, during disease progression.

True upper extremity peripheral artery aneurysms are a rarely encountered arterial disorder. Following computer-tomography angiographic (CT-a) imaging examination, true saccular aneurysm, originating from the left brachial artery was diagnosed in the 77-year-old female without history of trauma. The aneurysm was resected by surgical intervention, and primary repair of the brachial artery was performed by interposition of a part of great saphenous vein harvested from the left groin and creation of two end-to-end anastomoses between interposition graft and previously resected part of brachial artery. No complication was observed during the follow-up. Surgical intervention for upper extremity aneurysms should be initiated without delay. Factors combined with minimal morbidity associated with repair suggest that surgical repair should be performed routinely for true upper extremity arterial aneurysms.

Published data suggest that the regional anesthetic technique used for carotid endarterectomy (CEA) increases the systolic arterial blood pressure and heart rate. At the same time local anesthesia reduced the shunt insertion rate. This study aimed to analyze risk factors and ischemic symptomatology in patients with postoperative internal carotid artery restenosis. The current retrospective study was undertaken to assess the results of CEA in 8000 patients who were operated during a five-year period in six regional cardiovascular centers. Carotid color coded flow imaging, medical history, clinical findings and atherosclerotic risk factors were analyzed. Among them, there were 33 patients (0.4%) with postoperative re-occlusion after CEA. The patients with restenosis were re-examined with carotid color coded flow imaging and data were compared with 33 consecutive patients with satisfactory postoperative findings to serve as a control group. In the restenosis group eight risk factors were analyzed (hypertension, smoking, hyperlipidemia, diabetes mellitus, history of stroke, transitory ischemic attack, heart attack and coronary disease), and compared with risk factors in control group. Study results suggested that early postoperative internal carotid artery restenosis was not caused by atherosclerosis risk factors but by intraoperative shunt usage.

(2006) The role of preoperative lymphoscintigraphy in surgery planning for sentinel lymph node biopsy in malignant melanoma. Wiener klinische Wochenschrift, was performed four to six hours prior to operation of the patient. Sentinel lymph node biopsy using intraoperative hand-held gamma probe was performed in all patients, as well as wide local excision of biopsy wound or primary lesion (N=56). Immediate complete basin dissection was performed in patients with sentinel node metastases. In four patients delayed complete lymph node dissection was performed due to definitive histopathologic examination of sentinel node. The accuracy of sentinel node biopsy was determined by comparing the intraoperative rates of sentinel node identification and the subsequent development of nodal metastases in regional nodal basins of patients with tumor negative sentinel node and in those with tumor positive sentinel node.Results. By preoperative lymphoscintigraphy we identify sentinel node in all but one patient (99.0%). In 248 nodal basins (1.2/patient) 372 sentinel nodes (1.52 sentinel/basin; 1.8 sentinel/patient) were observed. The highest number of sentinel nodes was noticed in the groin of patients with melanoma on lower extremities (1.5/patient), followed by axilla with 1.3 per patient. Anomalous lymphatic drainage patterns were observed in 15.0% of all patients. Sentinel node identification rate was 99.0% overall; 100% for the groin basins, and 98.0% for the axilla and head and neck basin. Forty-two patients (20.8%) had tumor positive sentinel nodes. Local or distant recurrences had 10 (5.0%) patients during median follow up of 23.1 months (range 2-46 months). The rate of false-negative lymphatic mapping and 3 sentinel node biopsy as measured by nodal recurrence in a tumor-negative SN patients was 1.3%. During the follow-up period three of 201 patients died due to the other diseases and three patients died due to the melanoma metastases, with median follow up of 13.5 months (range 12 to 22). Conclusion.Preoperative lymphoscintigraphy is sensitive, inexpensive and essential method for the identification of drainage basins, determination of number and position of sentinel node and its location outside the usual nodal basins. Scintigraphic findings may lead to changes in surgical management due to the unpredictability of lymphatic drainage. Low incidence of regional disease recurrence in patients with tumor negative sentinel node supports the use of preoperative lymphoscintigraphy and sentinel node biopsy as a safe and accurate procedure for staging the regional nodal basin in patients with malignant melanoma.

Melanoma inhibitory activity (MIA) protein was identified in significant quantities in primary and metastatic malignant melanomas, where it has an important role in promoting tumor development and progression. Our hypothesis was that MIA serum level will be elevated in patients with metastases or local spreading of the disease before any symptom of such progression is clinically apparent. We compared MIA serum levels in two groups of patients with primary melanoma; those with positive as opposed to those with negative sentinel lymph nodes. In addition, MIA serum levels were studied in two control groups; patients with dysplastic nevi and patients with basal cell carcinoma. A blood sample was obtained from each patient included in the study and MIA levels were assessed using standard enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay method. Patients with histologically positive sentinel lymph nodes, meaning that tumor cells were found in the lymph nodes, had much higher mean MIA values than any other patient group considered in this study. With mean value of 14.53 ng/ml, it was almost twice as high as mean MIA value in patients with histologically negative sentinel lymph nodes (7.32 ng/ml) and more than twice as high than any of the two control groups (P<0.001). However, neither the classification by Clarke nor the classification by Breslow could be used to distinguish patients with positive sentinel lymph nodes from those with negative sentinel lymph nodes. In our opinion, MIA serum level is the ideal test for screening the tumor spread to sentinel lymph nodes.