A growing body of evidence suggests that adiponectin presents anti-neoplastic effects via two mechanisms. First, adiponectin can act directly on tumor cells by enhancing receptor-mediated signaling pathways. Secondly, adiponectin may act indirectly by regulating inflammatory responses, influencing cancer angiogenesis and regulating insulin sensitivity at the target tissue site

BACKGROUND: Scalp psoriasis, one of the most common sites of psoriasis involvement, is often difficult to control with topical agents. There is a lack of substantial evidence-based data for the efficacy and safety of systemic therapies. METHODS: Two patients from our university-based psoriasis clinic with chronic plaque psoriasis and severe recalcitrant scalp involvement were assessed by Psoriasis Area and Severity Index and Psoriasis Scalp Severity Index scores, respectively, and quality of life by the Dermatology Life Quality Index. RESULTS: We report 2 psoriasis patients with very severe scalp psoriasis who developed a fast clinical response of scalp psoriasis to ustekinumab in 8 weeks with excellent patient adherence up to 28 weeks of follow-up and positive impact on quality of life due to rapid and long-term clearing. CONCLUSION: Ustekinumab produces a fast clinical response of recalcitrant scalp psoriasis with excellent patient adherence and a positive impact on quality of life due to rapid and long-term clearing in patients with very severe scalp involvement who failed conventional topical and systemic treatment.

BACKGROUND: Survivin is a novel antiapoptotic gene, which is a member of the inhibitor of apoptosis protein (IAP) family. Recently, 3 splice variants of this gene were cloned and characterized. This study aimed to validate a sensitive and specific method for the detection of survivin variants in breast cancer. METHODS: Real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) was performed on the cDNA with a reverse primer specific for each splice variant and a pair of common hybridization probes. RESULTS: The expression of wild-type survivin was significantly correlated with survivin-2b, survivin-ΔEx3, and the ratio of survivin-ΔEx3 to wild-type survivin (P < .001). The ratio of survivin-2b to wild-type survivin was strongly associated with the ratio of survivin-ΔEx3 to wild-type survivin (P < .001). There was a strong positive association between the grade of the tumor and survivin-2b mRNA, survivin-ΔEx3 mRNA, and the ratio of survivin-ΔEx3 to wild-type survivin mRNA (P < .05). The ratio of survivin-2b to wild-type survivin was significantly associated with the presence of estrogen receptors (P = .05). CONCLUSION: Our validated data suggest that survivin isoforms may be related to clinicopathological features and could be used as molecular prognostic tools or as new therapy targets.

Excess body weight is associated with various types of malignancies. Resistin, originally described as an adipocyte-specific hormone modulating insulin resistance in rodents, may exhibit proliferative, antiapoptotic, proinflammatory, proangiogenic and metastatic properties. Accumulating evidence supports a role of resistin as a risk factor and potential diagnostic and prognostic biomarker in cancer. In this report, the current knowledge about resistin's properties and pathophysiological implications in cancer in the context of dysregulated adipose tissue in obesity is summarized; clinical translations, preventive and therapeutic considerations, and future perspectives in the field of resistin research are discussed. At the same time, several enigmatic issues involving resistin receptor and signaling pathways remain to be clarified in order to unmask its ontological role in cancer pathophysiology.

CONTEXT: A proteomic analysis has proposed fetuin-A (alpha-2-HS-glycoprotein) as a new potential marker for pancreatic cancer (PC). OBJECTIVE: Circulating fetuin-A levels in patients with PC. METHODS: Serum fetuin-A was measured in 81 cases with PC and 81 matched controls before the initiation of any treatment. RESULTS: Serum fetuin-A was not independently associated with the presence of PC. Although there was a trend with higher fetuin-A levels across PC stages, comparisons of fetuin-A in patients within different PC prognostic stages revealed no differences. CONCLUSIONS: Circulating fetuin-A was similar between patients and controls and was not associated with the disease severity.

Breast cancer (BC) is the most frequent type of non skin cancer among women and a major leading cause of cancer-related deaths in Western countries. It is substantial to discover novel biomarkers with diagnostic, prognostic or predictive usefulness as well as therapeutic value for BC. Micro-RNAs (miRNAs) belong to a novel class of endogenous interfering RNAs that play a crucial role in post transcriptional gene silencing through mRNA targeting and, thus, are involved in many biological processes encompassing apoptosis, cell-cycle control, cell proliferation, DNA repair, immunity, metabolism, stress, aging, etc. MiRNAs exert their action mainly in a tumor suppressive or oncogenic manner. The specific aberrant expression patterns of miRNAs in BC that are detected with the use of high-throughput technologies reflect their key role in cancer initiation, progression, migration, invasion and metastasis. The detection of circulating extracellular miRNAs in plasma of BC patients may provide novel, non-invasive biomarkers in favor of BC diagnosis and prognosis and, at the same time, accumulating evidence has underscored the possible contribution of miRNAs as valuable biomarkers to predict response to chemotherapy or radiotherapy. Data from in vitro and in vivo studies on BC have revealed promising therapeutic approaches via miRNA delivery and miRNA inhibition. The purpose of this review is to explore the ontological role of miRNAs in BC etiopathogenesis as well as to highlight their potential, not only as non-invasive circulating biomarkers with diagnostic and prognostic significance, but also as treatment response predictors and therapeutic targets aiding BC management.

The effectiveness of radiotherapy in patients with basal cell carcinoma (BCC) has been already reported in the literature. However, there is little information about the irradiation of BCC in elderly patients, especially due to the low conformity of them to daily irradiation. Thirty-eight retrospectively selected elderly patients (78 years as median age) diagnosed with skin BCC of the head and neck area were treated with five weekly fractions of 600 cGy by three-dimensional conformal radiotherapy (3DCRT) as an adjuvant treatment. The primary endpoint was the relapse free survival. Acute toxicity, as secondary endpoint, was assessed according to EORTC/RTOG criteria. Among our patients, there were only three local recurrences at 15, 32 and 38 months post-3DCRT. There was no severe toxicity, while only 10 out of 38 patients presented grade II/III skin toxicity. Our proposed irradiation schedule seems effective in terms of local control and acute toxicity and could be an alternative scheme for elderly patients unfit for daily irradiation.