Annals of surgical oncology
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p125FAK, pp60C-src, and pp62c-yes are protein tyrosine kinases that function in signaling pathways regulating cell adhesion, migration, and growth. The expression and tyrosine kinase activities of pp60c-src and pp62c-yes, and the expression of p125FAK are increased in colorectal tumor metastases relative to normal mucosa. This study investigates whether differences in the activation of pp60c-src and pp62c-yes in colorectal liver metastases correlated with differences in p125FAK expression and whether prognostic significance could be demonstrated from the extent of expression of p125FAK in metastases. ⋯ p125FAK overexpression appears to be a marker present in colorectal cancer cells with a metastatic phenotype. Furthermore, p125FAK overexpression is independent of pp60c-src or pp62c-yes activation in human colorectal carcinoma liver metastases.
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Breast cancer survival has been shown to be significantly less among black women than white women. The reason for this difference in survival is unclear. ⋯ Black women experience shorter survival times than do white women, including a shorter survival time after disease recurrence. Breast cancer in black women is associated with younger age, higher stage at presentation, and low hormone receptor levels. After adjustment for known prognostic factors, race remains a significant independent predictor of breast cancer survival.
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Local recurrence remains the main site of failure after pelvic exenteration for locally advanced primary rectal adenocarcinoma. This is a report on the patterns of recurrence in a group of such patients treated with pelvic exenteration and radiotherapy. ⋯ Local control of locally advanced primary rectal adenocarcinoma requiring a pelvic exenteration is improved by the addition of radiotherapy. When recurrences do occur they are predominantly at extrapelvic sites.
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The survival in neuroblastoma is influenced by patient age, disease stage, tumor site, and several biologic factors. This study was undertaken to determine if primary pelvic lesions are associated with an unusually favorable outcome. ⋯ The pelvis is an unusual primary site for neuroblastoma but represents a more favorable prognostic subgroup, which is most evident in advanced-stage disease.
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Nonpalpable breast lesions are being detected with increasing frequency with the advent of improved mammographic techniques. Although only 20-30% of these lesions are malignant, definitive diagnosis has usually required a needle-localization excisional biopsy, which is costly and increases the psychological stress on the patient. The purpose of this retrospective study was to determine the sensitivity of ultrasound-guided fine-needle aspiration (FNA) biopsy of nonpalpable breast masses and the incidence of axillary nodal metastases in these subclinical lesions. ⋯ These results indicate that ultrasound-guided FNA cytologic analysis is an accurate diagnostic technique even in small (< 1 cm), mammographically detected breast masses. In addition, the incidence of axillary nodal metastases indicates that an axillary lymph node dissection should be performed in invasive lesions, even those < 1 cm in diameter.