Stefania Panetta

Nerve Growth Factor Receptor Immunoreactivity in Breast Cancer Patients

Nerve growth factor receptor (NGF-R) has been shown to have antiproliferative, differentiative, or apoptotic effects on some types of tumor cells, whereas in others it may have mitogenic activity. The immunohistochemical distribution of NGF-R was analyzed in a series of tissue samples from breast cancer patients and its relationship with other clinical and pathological parameters was studied. The distribution of NGF-R was evaluated by immunohistochemistry in frozen tissue samples of 46 breast cancer patients (ME20-4 monoclonal anti-NGF-R). NGF-R immunoreactivity was localized in the plasma membrane of myoepithelial cells, differentiated ducts, neoplastic cells, blood vessels, and nerve fibers in 26 patients (57%). Less differentiated neoplastic tissues were usually NGF-R negative. NGF-R immunoreactivity was associated with estrogen receptor (ER) status (p = 0.02), small tumor dimension (pT) (p = 0.04), low histologic grade (G1–G2) (p < 0.05), old age(p = 0.02), menopause (p = 0.02), and long disease-free survival (DFS) (median follow up 86 months; p = 0.03; independently from ER, pT, age, menopause by multivariate analysis, p = 0.0078). The expression of NGF-R immunoreactivity by breast cancer patients with long DFS may represent a crucial step both in the differentiation status of neoplasia and in the host immune mechanism controlling tumor growth and metastasization.

Correlation between Helicobacter pylori infection and IL-18 mRNA expression in human gastric biopsy specimens.

Abstract: Our data indicate that H. pylori infection is associated with active interleukin‐18 production in patients with chronic gastritis. Different cell types appear to be involved in this activity and may play a role in the development of immunopathologic damage.