Stanko Jukić

Prognostic Parameters for Survival of Patients with Malignant Mesenchymal Tumors of the Uterus

Malignant mesenchymal uterine neoplasms are the most aggressive type of primary uterine tumors, with most patients dying within a few years of diagnosis. Thus, it would be very important to define prognostic factors for predicting the malignancy potential of at least some of their subtypes.

Prenatal and perinatal development of the somatostatin-immunoreactive neurons in the human prefrontal cortex

The earliest somatostatin-immunoreactive (SS-Ir) perikarya of the human fetal frontal cortex appear in the transient subplate zone at 22 weeks of gestation. Around 32 weeks of gestation there is an increase in the number of SS-Ir neurons at the interface between the subplate zone and the cortical plate. The newborn-cortex shows decline in the overall number of SS-Ir neurons parallel to the appearance of SS-Ir neurons in the superficial layers. In conclusion, the subplate neurons are the source of the earliest peptidergic activity in the cortex. Furthermore, the distribution and density of peptidergic neurons undergo significant reorganization during the perinatal development.

Adenocarcinoma of the uterine cervix: prognostic significance of clinicopathologic parameters, flow cytometry analysis and HPV infection

Background. This study was designed to determine the possible impact of status of human papillomavirus (HPV) infection (no infection, single, multiple infections) on the survival of patients with cervical adenocarcinoma, to correlate the HPV status with other clinicopathologic parameters, and to examine clinical, histological and flow cytometric parameters as predictors of survival in cervical adenocarcinoma. Methods. The clinical data of 51 patients with adenocarcinoma of the cervix who were treated at the Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, Zagreb University School of Medicine, from 1978 to 2004 were analysed: age at presentation, menstrual status, clinical stage, relapse, survival. Exact histologic subtype, architectural grade and nuclear grade were determined. DNA flow cytometry was performed to determine DNA ploidy and proliferative index. Polymerase chain reaction (SPF primers), followed by reverse hybridisation for genotyping, was used to determine the HPV status. Results. The status of HPV infection had no impact on patient survival, and could not be correlated with any of the analysed clinicopathologic parameters. Univariate analysis showed significant association between patient survival and clinical stage (p = 0.002) and architectural grade (p = 0.033). Multivariate analysis confirmed both parameters as significantly associated with survival. Menstrual status, nuclear grade, DNA ploidy and proliferative activity had no impact on patient survival. Conclusion. Clinical stage and architectural grade are significant predictors for survival of patients with cervical adenocarcinoma. Status of HPV infection, flow cytometric parameters, nuclear grade and menstrual status do not predict patient survival.

DNA ploidy analysis and cell proliferation in congenital sacrococcygeal teratomas

Congenital sacrococcygeal teratoma is the most common germ cell tumor in infants and children. It usually is diagnosed at birth, is benign, and consists of fully differentiated mature tissues. Congenital sacrococcygeal teratomas (SCTs) also may contain immature tissues, most commonly of neural origin. The proportion of malignant teratomas increases with advancing age, but the relation between mature and immature SCTs is not well understood. Thus, it is very important to determine proliferative activity, DNA ploidy, and DNA index to predict biologic behavior of these tumors.

Correlation of the HPV detection, protein expression and DNA content in cutaneous pre-invasive and invasive carcinoma among Croatian patients

Development of cutaneous carcinomas has been associated with HPV infection. There have been various reports on p16, p53 and pRb expression in cutaneous carcinomas and on its linkage to HPV status. Association of protein expression and HPV infection with DNA content is not clear. The aim of this study was to determine a possible correlation between HPV type, protein expression and DNA content in both pre-invasive and invasive squamous cell carcinoma, as well as differences between studied groups in these parameters. Sections of formalin fixed paraffin-embedded tumor tissue from 54 cases of Morbus Bowen (preinvasive cutaneous carcinoma) and 41 cases of invasive squamous cell carcinoma of the skin were subjected to HPV genotyping using Lipa (Line imuno probe assay), immunohistochemical staining for p16(INK4A), p53, pRb and prepared for flow cytometry DNA content analysis. Obtained data were analyzed in SPSS using Chi square test. Only p16 expression showed statistically significant differences in studied groups. Statistically significant correlations were found only in MB between parameters HPV-p53, p53-pRb and p53-p16. Our results suggest different virus-induced pathobiology pathways for different cutaneous carcinoma groups.