No abstract

Background To investigate the incidence and prognostication of ERG, PTEN and SPINK1 protein expressions in prostate cancer cohort of Middle Eastern descent in comparison to published data from Western populationMethods Immunohistochemistry for ERG, PTEN and SPINK1 was performed in cohort of localized PCa (n=340). Data correlated to pathological and clinical outcomes and compared to Western populations.Results ERG expression and PTEN loss noted in 123/288 (42.7%) and 91/297 (30.6%) of patients, respectively. SPINK1 expression assessed in subset of cases, noted in 6/150 (4%) of patients. Only ERG expression was associated with grade groups, being more common in lower grade groups (1-3 vs 4-5; p=0.04). In contrast to Western population, PTEN loss foci were more likely to be ERG negative, observed in 81% of tumor foci and patients with PTEN neg/ERG pos were more likely to exhibit biochemical recurrence (OR 2.831; 95% CI: 1.10-726, p=0.03). This association remained significant in multivariate analysis (OR 2.68; 95% CI: 0.98-7.33, p=0.05), after adjusting for GG, path stage and surgical margin.Conclusion This study documents significant differences in key molecular events in PCa in Middle Eastern population compared to Western populations that could explain differences in PCa incidence, progression and prognostication. ERG, PTEN and SPINK1 genomic alteration occur less frequently and the enrichment of ERG for PTEN loss is not observed.Additionally, patients with combined PTEN loss/ERG positive are at highest rate for BCR vs North American Caucasian population where PTEN loss alone seems to be associated with the worst clinical outcome. The data presented here further support differences in clonal evolution between Middle Eastern and Western population in relation to PCa and add further insight to understanding PCa molecular pathways.

The relationship between Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection and Portal hypertensive gastropathy (PHG) is still a debatable matter. The aim of this study is to find out how common H. pylori infection is in cirrhotic patients with PHG and to see if there’s a link between H. pylori infection and PHG severity. Out of 340 cirrhotic patients who had upper Gastrointestinal Tract (GIT) endoscopy for early varices screening, 160 cirrhotic patients were selected and divided into 2 groups; 80 cirrhotic patients with PHG (cases) and 80 cirrhotic patients without PHG (controls). Gastric biopsies were taken from all enrolled patients for histological evaluation for the presence or absence of H. pylori infection. H. pylori was found in 44 cirrhotic patients (55%) who had PHG (cases), compared to 22 cirrhotic patients (27.5%) who did not have PHG (controls). The prevalence of H. pylori infection was significantly higher in patients with PHG (p < 0.001). The severity of PHG was associated with H. pylori infection (p < 0.001). The response to eradication therapy of H. pylori infection was must better in patients without PHG (p = 0.045). By multi-variant analysis, H. pylori infection, splenic diameter, and portal vein diameter were independent predictors for PHG presence. After treating H. pylori infection in patients who tested positive for H. pylori, there was a significant reduction in PHG severity (p < 0.001). Patients with PHG have a greater prevalence of H. pylori infection. PHG is more severe in patients infected with H. pylori. To improve PHG severity, cirrhotic patients must have their H. pylori infection eradicated.