BACKGROUND The potential problems associated with the use of formalin in histology, such as health hazards, degradation of RNA and cross-linking of proteins are well recognized. We describe the utilization of a formalin-free fixation and processing system for tissue detection of two important biopredictors in breast cancer - estrogen receptor and HER2 - at the RNA and protein levels. METHODS ...

Molecular classification of breast cancer (BC) and the evaluation of new biological markers such as estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PR), ErbB2 (HER2) and topoisomerase 2a (Topo2a) status are claimed to be important parameters in the management of BC therapy. In case of heterogeneity between primary BC and metastatic site, this implies profound limitations of efficient systemic th...

Aerosol exposure to ricin causes irreversible pathological changes of the respiratory tract resulting in epithelial necrosis, pulmonary edema and ultimately death. The pulmonary genomic profile of BALB/c mice inhalationally exposed to a lethal dose of ricin was examined using cDNA arrays. The expression profile of 1178 mRNA species was determined for ricin-exposed lung tissue, in which 34 genes...

AIM We have previously demonstrated the putative presence of two cancer stem cell (CSC) subpopulations within moderately differentiated oral tongue squamous cell carcinoma (MDOTSCC), which express components of the renin-angiotensin system (RAS). In this study, we investigated the expression and localization of cathepsins B, D, and G in relation to these CSC subpopulations within MDOTSCC. MET...

BACKGROUND Testing for HER2 amplification and/or overexpression is currently routine practice to guide Herceptin therapy in invasive breast cancer. At present, HER2 status is most commonly assessed by immunohistochemistry (IHC). Standardization of HER2 IHC assays is of utmost clinical and economical importance. At present, HER2 IHC is most commonly performed with the HercepTest which contains a...

Suppressors of cytokine signalling (SOCS) proteins are modulators of cytokine and growth factor signalling whose aberrant regulation has been linked to a variety of inflammatory and neoplastic diseases. SOCS proteins are able to act as substrate-recruiting component of E3-ubiquitin ligase complexes and target interacting proteins for degradation. At least some of the family members can also dir...

PURPOSE Uveal melanoma is the most common intraocular primary tumor, involving iris, ciliary body and choroid. More than 90% of the patients develop hepatic metastasis with an average survival time of 7 months. We have used formalin fixed paraffin embedded sections to validate the presence of monosomy 3, an accurate predictor of metastasis, chromosome 8 isochromosome (8q22), and 1p36 deletion. ...