Barrett's esophagus (BE) is established as a premalignant condition in the distal esophagus. Current surveillance guidelines recommend random biopsies every 1-2 cm at intervals of 3-5 years. Advanced endoscopic imaging of BE underwent several technical revolutions within the last decade including broad-field (red-flag) techniques (e.g., chromoendoscopy) and small-field techniques with confocal ...

This study evaluated changes in prostaglandin E(2) (PGE(2)) levels and related biomarkers in oral premalignant lesions (OPL) in response to celecoxib treatment. Twenty-two subjects were enrolled and treated with celecoxib. Pretreatment and 12-week biopsies were done. Subjects whose biopsy showed >or=30% decrease in PGE(2) remained on celecoxib for a total of 12 months when repeat biopsy was don...

All nascent neoplasms probably elicit at least a weak immune reaction. However, the initial effect of the weak immune reaction on a nascent tumor is always stimulatory rather than inhibitory to tumor growth, assuming only that exposure to the tumor antigens did not antedate the initiation of the neoplasm (as may occur in some virally induced tumors). This conclusion derives from the observation...

Hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) maintain homeostasis and regenerate the blood system throughout life. It has been postulated that HSCs may be uniquely capable of preserving their genomic integrity in order to ensure lifelong function. To directly test this, we quantified DNA damage in HSCs and downstream progenitors from young and old mice, revealing that strand breaks significantly accrue in H...

AIMS To determine the cellular and nuclear area of keratinocytes in smears obtained from the oral mucosa of tobacco users, those with oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC), and from normal healthy persons and resolve if any significant difference exists in these three groups. MATERIALS AND METHODS The study group comprised 100 subjects 20 controls, (40 OSCC patients-20 from lesional sites and 2...

BACKGROUND Cholecystectomy use varies moderately across regions and countries. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the appropriateness of the use of cholecystectomy in patients with nonmalignant diseases in different hospitals using explicit criteria developed by an expert panel. METHODS Patients on waiting lists to undergo a cholecystectomy for nonmalignant diseases in six public hospi...

Functional and molecular cell-to-cell variability is pivotal at the cellular, tissue and whole-organism levels. Yet, the ultimate goal of directly correlating the function of the individual cell with its biomolecular profile remains elusive. We present a platform for integrated analysis of functional and transcriptional phenotypes in the same single cells. We investigated changes in the cellula...

Definition Leukoplakia is the most common premalignant or "potentially malignant" lesion of the oral mucosa. Leukoplakia is a predominantly white lesion of the oral mucosa than cannot be clinicopathologically characterized as any other definable lesion. The term leukoplakia is a clinical descriptor only and should not be used once histological information is available. On the other hand, the te...

Neoplastic growth is frequently associated with genomic DNA methylation that causes transcriptional silencing of tumor suppressor genes. We used a collection of colorectal polyps and carcinomas in combination with bioinformatics analysis of large datasets to study the expression and methylation of Hypermethylated in cancer 1 (HIC1), a tumor suppressor gene inactivated in many neoplasms. In prem...

Serrated polyps are important contributors to the burden of colorectal cancers (CRC). These lesions were once considered to have no malignant potential, but currently up to 30% of all CRC are recognized to arise from the serrated neoplasia pathway. The primary premalignant lesions are sessile serrated adenomas/polyps (SSA/Ps), although traditional serrated adenomas are relatively uncommon. Comp...