The mean LIs for MCM7 were 29.2% for normal epithelia, 32.2% for dysplasias, and 51.1% for OSCCs; the value was significantly higher in the last than in the former two (P < 0.01). The mean LIs for geminin were 6.8% for normal epithelia, 9.2% for dysplasias, and 21.3% for OSCCs; the value was significantly higher in the OSCCs (P < 0.01). The MCM7 LIs were correlated with the histological grade of OSCCs, in which the highest LIs were noted in the poorly differentiated type (P < 0.01). The survival rate was significantly lower in patients with a higher MCM7 LI (>49.5%) than in those with a lower LI (P < 0.05) at stage III-IV. However, the survival rate in the patients with a higher geminin LI (>19.5%) was significantly higher than in those with a lower LI (P < 0.05) at stage IV.

Study Design Multicenter, prospective study. Purpose To investigate the effects of diabetes mellitus (DM) on surgical outcomes in patients with cervical myelopathy. Overview of Literature To date, few studies have investigated the influence of postoperative blood glucose or glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) levels on surgical outcomes. Methods The participants were patients who underwent surgery for the treatment of cervical spondylotic myelopathy and ossification of the posterior longitudinal ligament. The 61 cases were evaluated preoperatively and 1 year postoperatively using the Japanese Orthopaedic Association (JOA) scores and the JOA Cervical Myelopathy Evaluation Questionnaire (JOACMEQ). The study variables included fasting blood glucose and HbA1c levels measured preoperatively and at 1 week, 4 weeks, and 1 year postoperatively; the F-wave conduction velocity, latency, rate of occurrence, and M-wave latency in the ulnar and tibial nerves were measured preoperatively and at 1 year postoperatively. The patients were divided into a group without diabetes (N group, 42 patients) and a group with diabetes (DM group, 19 patients). We then assessed the associations between the surgical outcomes and each of the study variables. Results JOA scores significantly improved in both groups; however, no significant between-group differences were found. There was no significant improvement in the JOACMEQ scores, which assessed cervical function, upper and lower limb function, and bladder function in both groups. We then subdivided the DM group into those with a good control of HbA1c after 1 year (DMG group, 12 patients) and those with HbA1c deterioration after 1 year (DMB group, seven patients), prior to comparing the surgical outcomes. The JOACMEQ scores for upper and lower limb function significantly improved in the DMG group ( p <0.01). Compared with the DMB group, there were no significant increases in upper or lower limb function scores in the DMG group. Conclusions Poor glycemic control might prevent postoperative functional recovery of the spinal cord.

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Geminin is an important molecule which plays a role in cell cycle regulation, and this has been considered to be a useful biomarker of cell proliferation. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the pathological and prognostic significance of geminin expression in small lung adenocarcinoma (AC). We performed Western blot analysis of five human lung AC cell lines and immunohistochemistry on 100 surgically resected specimens of lung AC with a diameter less than 3 cm. We counted the number of positively stained tumor cells, and calculated the labeling indices (LIs). Geminin proteins were variably detected in all five cell lines examined on Western blotting. The mean LIs for geminin, Ki-67, and MCM7 were 7.5%, 12.3%, and 18.5%, respectively. The geminin LIs were associated with some clinicopathological profiles including gender, histological grade, subtypes, N-status, p-factor, and tumor stage. A significantly worse prognosis was noted in the higher geminin LIs group than in the lower group (p < 0.01). Multivariate Cox regression analysis also confirmed that geminin LIs was an independent prognostic marker in stage IA lung AC patients. These results suggest that geminin is overexpressed in small lung ACs, and geminin LIs might be a useful prognostic indicator in patients with lung AC.

Abstract. Minichromosome maintenance complex (MCM2-7)and Geminin are important in the prevention of DNA re-replication in the cell cycle, and are also prognostic markers for numerous human malignancies. The present study examined Minichromosome maintenance protein 7 (MCM7) and Geminin expression in human soft tissue sarcomas (STSs) to clarify their correlation to the clinicopathological factors. Immunohistochemistry was performed to detect the expression of MCM7, Geminin and Ki-67 on paraffin-embedded sections of 109 STSs. Labeling indices (LIs) of the molecules were evaluated in the tumors. Higher LIs of MCM7, Geminin and Ki-67 were significantly correlated with distant metastasis (P<0.01), histological grade (P<0.01) and poor prognosis (P<0.01), respectively. LIs of MCM7 and Geminin were significantly correlated with Ki-67 LIs, (MCM7/Ki-67: rs=0.745, P<0.01 and Geminin/Ki-67: rs=0.604, P<0.01). Multivariate analyses showed that the higher LIs of Geminin, but not MCM7 and Ki-67, were shown to be an independent factor of poorer prognosis (relative risk 2.72, P=0.013). The immunohistochemical expression of MCM7 and Geminin may be novel and useful markers for evaluating the prognosis in patients with human STS.