M Gorosito

New generic primer system targeting mucosal/genital and cutaneous human papillomaviruses leads to the characterization of HPV 115, a novel Beta-papillomavirus species 3

We explored the cutaneotropic HPV genetic diversity in 71 subjects from Argentina. New generic primers (CUT) targeting 88 mucosal/cutaneous HPV were designed and compared to FAP primers. Overall, 69 different HPV types/putative types were identified, being 17 of them novel putative types. Phylogenetic analysis of partial L1 sequences grouped 2 novel putative types in the Beta-PV, 14 in the Gamma-PV and 1 in the Mu-PV genera. CUT primers showed broader capacity than FAP primers in detecting different genera/species and novel putative types (p<0.01). Using overlapping PCR, the full-length genome of a Beta-PV putative type was amplified and cloned. The new virus, designated HPV 115, encodes five early genes and two late genes. Phylogenetic analysis indicated HPV 115 as the most divergent type within the genus Beta-PV species 3. This report is the first providing data on cutaneous HPVs circulating in South America and expands our knowledge of the Papillomaviridae family.

Thin melanoma and sentinel lymph node biopsy: A difficult relationship between them

Introduction: Cutaneous Melanoma (CM) is one of the few malignancies with increasing incidence and mortality rates. The most significant increase was observed in ‘thin’ melanomas (TM) (Breslow ≤1 mm). A low percentage of these patients may present a late recurrence, progression, and death. Purpose: Our primary objective was to show the relationship between patients who suffer from thin melanoma with the predictors of the illness. Our secondary objective was to note the survival according to lymph node biopsy results. Materials and methods: Histopathologically proved CMs with a Breslow thickness ≤ 1mm were retrospectively reviewed from January 2000 to December 2015. The CMs were classified using the AJCC Staging System (2010). In cases where CMs had a Breslow thickness ≤1 mm and were associated with ulceration, mitotic rate (MR) per mm2 >0, Clark level ≥IV, satellitosis, angiolymphatic or perineural invasion, it was suggested to biopsy the sentinel lymph node (SLN) status were compared and divided into two groups, according to the results and the survival analysis. Results: 265 of the 642 patients with CM (41.3%) had a Breslow thickness ≤1 mm, and 65 of them (24.5%) had also ulcerations or a MR >0 or Clark ≥IV. Furthermore, 10.8% had a positive SLN. Clark level ≥IV was associated with a positive SLN (p=0.035). There was a clear difference in the survival distributions according to the lymph node status (ρ=0,014). Conclusions: The sentinel lymph node status was important for the patient progress. Abbreviations: AJCC: American Joint Committee on Cancer, CM: Cutaneous Melanoma, GEMRO: Grupo de estudio de Melanoma Rosario (Rosario Melanoma Study Group), HE: Hematoxylin—Eosin, IHQ: Immunohistochemistry, MM: Malignant Melanoma, MR: Mitotic Rate, OS: Overall Survival, SD: Standard Deviation, SLN: Sentinel Lymph Node, SLNB: Sentinel Lymph Node Biopsy, SMU: Sydney Melanoma Unit, TM: Thin Melanoma Introduction Malignant melanoma is one of the tumors having an increasing annual incidence rate over the past 40 years. The significant increase was observed in thin melanomas, which represent 65%—80% of the total diagnosed melanomas [1,2]. Although the prognosis is very good, a 10% of these patients present a late recurrence, progression, and death. The sentinel node was defined by Morton et al. (1992) [3] as an intermediate—thickness melanoma, and this concept was a subject of controversy for clinical indications in thin melanoma group studies. Our primary objective was to show the relationship between patients who suffer from thin melanoma with the predictors of the illness. Furthermore, we studied the sentinel lymph node (SLN) in order to identify groups at higher risk of having lymph node deposits. Correspondence to: Prof. Stella Maris Pezzotto, Facultad de Ciencias Médicas, Universidad Nacional de Rosario (UNR), Santa Fe 3100, 2000 Rosario, Argentina, E-mail: spezzot@unr.edu.ar

Identificación de papilomavirus humanos en lesiones cutáneas benignas y malignas no melanoma por métodos moleculares

Los virus papiloma humano (PVH) estan presentes en la piel como flora normal, donde permanecen en forma latente, pudiendo desarrollar en ciertas oportunidades, lesiones cutaneas. Objetivo: Identificar los tipos de PVH con tropismo por epitelios cutaneos y analizar su posible asociacion con lesiones cutaneas benignas y carcinomas cutaneos no melanoma. Materiales y metodos: Estudio prospectivo realizado en el servicio de dermatologia del Hospital provincial del Centenario, desde Junio de 2007 a Noviembre de 2008. Se obtuvieron muestras mediante hisopados de regiones: fotoexpuesta (FE), no fotoexpuesta (NFE), perilesional (PL), superficie de lesion (SL) y biopsias de lesiones para estudio histopatologico. Se incluyeron pacientes derivados para estudio histopatologico de las lesiones antes referidas. Deteccion de PVH mediante PCR. Resultados: Participaron 67 pacientes, 41 hombres y 26 mujeres, edad promedio de 51 anos (rango: 19-89 anos). 300 muestras resultaron idoneas para la amplificacion por PCR. La frecuencia de ADN de PVH hallado fue del 58% (176/300) (Figura 1), encontrandose 75% en FE, 39% en NFE, 75% en PL, 66% en SL y 35% en las biopsias. Se identificaron 69 tipos diferentes de HPV, siendo mas frecuentes el 2, 21, 20 y 6. Se detecto un nuevo PVH, el 115. No se identifico PVH en muestras de carcinomas. En queratosis seborreicas se detecto en un 27%. Conclusiones: Se obtuvieron datos acerca de los PVH circulantes en los pacientes de nuestra region. Corroboramos la influencia de la radiacion ultravioleta sobre la infeccion por este virus, asi como su presencia en queratosis seborreicas. Identificamos un nuevo HPV en Sudamerica.