Search

Uterine smooth muscle tumours are histologically categorised into benign leiomyoma, malignant leiomyosarcoma or smooth muscle tumours of uncertain malignant potentials (STUMPs).(1) Common symptoms of uterine tumours are hypermenorrhea, dysmenorrhea, lumbago or irregular genital bleeding. We experienced a case of uterine tumour with atypical clinical behaviour. A 40-year-old woman who had been diagnosed with leiomyoma presented with severe abdominal pain and intraperitoneal haemorrhage. By emergent surgery, we found that the uterine tumour had ruptured spontaneously. The pathological diagnosis was STUMPs. 14 months later, she underwent a second surgery for a tumour recurrence. Pathological diagnosis was leiomyosarcoma. 20 months later, she underwent a third surgery for a re-recurrent tumour. After the third surgery, massive fluid containing haemorrhage accumulated inside the tumour. Percutaneous drainage of intratumour fluid was successfully performed. Chemotherapy was also taken, but it ended without significant efficacy. 3 years after the first surgery, she died because of intestinal perforation and peritonitis.

There is strong evidence that the angiopoietin family is involved in the regulation of tumour progression, cellular growth and differentiation. Recently, it has been reported that angiopoietin-like 4 (ANGPTL4) in cancer cell promotes the metastatic process by increasing vascular permeability. To elucidate ANGPTL4 expression and its association with clinicopathological factors and prognosis in human gastric adenocarcinomas, we examined 103 cases of surgically-resected human gastric adenocarcinoma by immunohistochemistry. Among 103 cases of adenocarcinoma, 38 cases (36.9%) showed positive staining in the cytoplasm of the carcinoma cells for ANGPTL4. Histologically, papillary and mucinous adenocarcinomas showed relatively high expression of ANGPTL4 (60 and 60%, respectively). The expression of ANGPTL4 was correlated with the depth of tumour invasion (p, Oncology Reports, 24(3), pp.599-606; 2010

Cortactin is a ubiquitously expressed actin filament (F-actin)-binding protein that stabilizes F-actin networks and promotes actin polymerization by activating the actin-related protein 2/3 (Arp2/3) complex. Overexpression of cortactin in cancer cells stimulate cell migration, invasion, and experimental metastasis; however, the underlying mechanism in cortactin involvement in tumor progression is not fully understood. Recently, a direct interaction between zonula occludens-1 (ZO-1) and cortactin in epithelial cells was reported. The present study aimed to further clarify the significance of the interaction between cortactin and ZO-1 in cancer progression. Cortactin expression and localization in colorectal human cancer tissues were evaluated by immunohistochemistry and immunofluorescence. Co-immunoprecipitation and immunofluorescence analysis revealed cortactin and ZO-1 interaction and localization in cancer cells. In our study, the localization of cortactin is a crucial marker for lymph node metastasis in colorectal cancer. We show how the localization of cortactin effects cancer development. A molecular interaction between cortactin and ZO-1 in migrating or polarized cancer cells was revealed. This is the first report to show the interaction of cortactin and ZO-1 in colorectal cancer progression. We conclude that localization of cortactin in cancer cells and interaction between ZO-1 and cortactin are crucial for cancer progression., International journal of oncology, 35(6), pp.1271-1276; 2009

Glycogen synthase kinase 3beta (GSK-3beta) was subsequently shown to function in a wide range of cellular processes. GSK-3beta is a multifunctional serine/threonine kinase which performs a role in several signaling pathways including Wnt signal transduction. Recently, the activity of membrane-localized GSK-3beta has been shown to be crucial for initiation of Wnt cascade. In our study, the membrane localization of GSK-3beta was found on the apical membrane of normal epithelium, where co-localized and directly bound with MUC1. In colorectal cancer, depolarized cells showed the aberrant distribution of GSK-3beta on the cellular membrane with beta-catenin nuclear accumulation. The aberrant distribution of the membrane-localized GSK-3beta may contribute to the development of colorectal cancer., Cancer Letters, 275(1), pp.158-162; 2009