Human Merkel cells (MCs) were first described by Friedrich S. Merkel in 1875 and named "Tastzellen" (touch cells). Merkel cells are primarily localized in the basal layer of the epidermis and concentrated in touch-sensitive areas. In our previous work, we reported on the distribution of MCs in the human esophagus, so therefore we chose other parts of the human body to study them. We selected th...

Urinary bladder carcinoma is a common cancer in the Indian population in increasing incidence over the past few decades. Most of the tumours of the urinary bladder are urothelial carcinomas, comprising approximately 90% of all primary tumours of this organ. Urothelial carcinoma is one of the major causes of morbidity and mortality throughout the world and also in India. The objective is to asse...

A 60-year-old man presented with dysuria and elevated PSA (6.95 ng/ml). Needle biopsies of the prostate revealed well differentiated adenocarcinoma of Gleason's score 6. Prostatectomy and bilateral seminal vesiculotomy were performed. The material was totally cut into 16 preparations. The prostate showed well differentiated adenocarcinoma. The left seminal vesicle showed intraluminal monstrous ...

BACKGROUND We previously reported that the one-step nucleic acid amplification assay is effective for lymph node metastasis detection in breast cancer patients. This paper describes the identification of CK19 mRNA as an optimal marker and its cut-off value for use in the detection of one-step nucleic acid amplification-based lymph node metastasis in colorectal cancer patients. METHODS Candida...

The clinical significance of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) including cancer stem cells (CSCs) (CTC/CSC) in the tumor drainage vein blood of patients with colorectal cancer (CRC) is unclear. In this study, we investigated the prognostic value of CTC/CSC that express carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) cytokeratin 19 (CK19), CK20 and/or CD133 (CEA/CK/CD...

BACKGROUND Due to concern that mucinous malignant or borderline ovarian neoplasms (MON) may represent metastatic deposits from appendiceal primaries, gynecologic oncologists routinely perform appendectomy in these cases. However, a multidisciplinary critique of this practice is lacking. METHODS The New England Case-Control study database was utilized to compare the effect of prior appendectom...

BACKGROUND Tissue microarray allows rapid and efficient evaluation of gene expression at the protein level and of immunochemical markers. To our knowledge, there has been no report of constructing cytology microarray using effusion cell blocks and testing its utility in immunochemical marker validation. METHODS A total of 23 malignant effusions (primary tumor of breast [5], GI tract [5], lung...

PURPOSE A sentinel node is defined as the initial lymph node, to which cancer cells metastasize from a primary tumor. Recently, sentinel node navigation surgery has been done using the dye-guided method. However, no study has shown that a lymph node detected by the dye-guided method is the true sentinel node from the viewpoint of micrometastasis. Micrometastases of lymph nodes, in which no meta...

AIM To efficiently replicate the biology and pathogenesis of human esophageal adenocarcinoma (EAC) using the modified Levrat model of end-to-side esophagojejunostomy. METHODS End-to-side esophagojejunostomy was performed on rats to induce gastroduodenoesophageal reflux to develop EAC. Animals were randomly selected and serially euthanized at 10 (n = 6), 17 (n = 8), 24 (n = 9), 31 (n = 6), 38 ...

OBJECTIVE To investigate outcome and prognostic factors in patients with pesudomyxoma peritonei (PMP) treated by complete cytoreduction and hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy. BACKGROUND After comprehensive treatment, prognosis of PMP is predominantly dependent on the completeness of cytoreduction. Once complete cytoreduction is achieved, additional factors predicting long-term outcome...