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Purpose: Akt, also known as protein kinase B (PKB), is an intracellular signal transduction protein activated by growth hormones. PKB/Akt is frequently activated in a variety of cancer types, but its role in the development and progression of lung cancer has not been completely elucidated yet. The aim of the present study was to determine the prognostic value of PKB/Akt in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC)., Methods: A total of 32 tumor samples from NSCLL patients were examined before treatment. The staining characteristics of the cases were evaluated in terms of age, stage (T and N), response to therapy, histological type, tumor size, and ECOG performance status (PS)., Results: No statistical correlation was found between PKB/ Akt expression and gender, ECOG PS and stage (T and N), while significant correlation between cytoplasmic PKB/akt expression and age was detected (p<0.05). In addition, squamous cell carcinoma histology was significantly associated with both nuclear and cytoplasmic staining (p=0.033), and tumor size ( <5 cm) was correlated with nuclear PKB/Akt expression (p=0.03). Both overall survival (OS) and progression- free survival (PFS) were similar in patients with and without both nuclear and cytoplasmic PKB/Akt expression., Conclusion: Our results showed that although PKB/Akt was not associated with survival in NSCLC patients, it may be a potential therapeutic target for NSCLC; more studies with higher numbers of patients are needed to verify this hypothesis.

Aim: The aim of this experimental study was to examine the effects of mycophenolate mofetil (MMF) on liver regeneration in a partial hepatectomy model., Methods: Rats were divided into 3 groups immediately following partial liver resection: saline, controls intraperitoneally (MMF; Group 1); MMF (15 mg/kg/d; Group II), and MMF (30 mg/kg/d; Group III). On days 3 and 7 following liver resection we humanely killed half of the rats in each group to measure alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) levels and to evaluate Ki-67 using immunohistochemistry. We calculated liver regeneration rates., Results: The difference between ALT levels on days 3 and 7 was not significantly different among the groups (P = .157; P = .292; P > .05, respectively). The AST levels were significantly different at 3 days (P = .018) but not 7 days (P = .385). The Ki-67 level were different among groups at day 3 (P = .002) but not at day 7 (P = .290). Liver regeneration rates were not different among the groups either at 3 or at 7 days (P = .264 and P = .925, respectively)., Conclusion: MMF stimulates mitosis but its effect on regeneration is not clear. MMF appeared to show no adverse effects on liver regeneration., (Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Viruses are known to be associated with human malignancies, e.g., Epstein-Barr virus, human papillomavirus (HPV) and human T-cell leukemia virus type I. We conducted a prospective study to define the role of HPV in breast cancer. The malignant and normal breast tissue samples of 50 consecutive breast cancer patients were obtained postoperatively. DNA extracted from all tissues was amplified with the polymerase chain reaction using HPV primers. HPV 11, 16, 18, 33 subtypes were searched in HPV-DNA positive samples. Thirty-seven samples (74%) of tumoral breast tissue expressed HPV-DNA, 16 normal breast tissue samples (32%) were positive as well. There was a significant difference in HPV-DNA positivity between normal and tumoral breast tissue samples. HPV 18 was detected in 20 of the HPV-DNA positive tumoral tissue (54.4%) and in 9 of the HPV-DNA positive normal tissue (56.3%). HPV-33 also was detected in 35 (94.6 %) of the HPV-DNA positive tumoral tissue and in 14 (87.5 %) of the HPV-DNA positive normal tissue samples. HPV DNA was significantly associated with breast tumor tissue compared to normal breast tissue. Additional studies looking at HPV and HPV subtypes are needed to clarify the etiological role of the HPV in breast cancer.