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Background: Topoisomerase 2 alpha ( TOP2A), HER-2/ neu, and survivin are genes that lie on chromosome 17 and correlate with the prognosis and prediction of target-driven therapy against tumors. In a previous study, we showed that TOP2A transcripts levels were significantly higher in soft tissue sarcomas (STS) than in benign tumors and desmoid-type fibromatoses (FM). Because these genes have been insufficiently examined in STS, we aimed to identify alterations in TOP2A and HER-2 expression by fluorescent in situ hybridization and immunohistochemistry, as well as that of survivin, and correlate them with clinicopathologic findings to assess their prognostic value. Methods: Eighteen FM and 244 STS were included. Fluorescent in situ hybridization and immunohistochemistry were performed on a tissue microarray. Results: TOP2A and survivin were more highly expressed in sarcomas than in FM. TOP2A was an independent predictor of an unfavorable prognosis; it was combined with formerly established prognostic factors (primarily histologic grade and tumor size at diagnosis) to create a prognostic index that evaluated overall survival. Gene amplification/polysomy (13%) did not correlate with protein overexpression. Survivin and HER-2 expression were not associated with patient outcomes. Conclusions: These findings might become valuable in the management of patients with STS and possibly in the prospective evaluation of responses to new target-driven therapies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lynch syndrome (LS) is caused by inherited germline mutations in mismatch repair (MMR) genes. It is one of the commonest forms of inherited predisposition to colorectal cancer (CRC), accounting for 2-5% of all CRC. LS is characterized by early age of onset, with a tendency for multiplicity and an increased risk for extra-colonic tumors at particular sites. In this study we have evaluated the frequency of extra-colonic tumors in 60 unrelated LS families fulfilling the Amsterdam criteria (ACI. ACII) from the Oncotree database of the Hereditary Colorectal Cancer Registry of the AC Camargo Hospital. All families' pedigree was extensively analyzed, varying from 2 to 6 generations with a total of 2,095 individuals evaluated. As expected, colorectal cancer was the most frequent tumor in the families (334 cases). We found 200 extracolonic tumors among all individuals with a higher ratio in women (123 cases) than men (77 cases). By far, breast cancer (32 cases) was the most frequent extracolonic manifestation in women followed by endometrial (20 cases) and uterine cervix cancer (20 cases). For man, prostate (16 cases) and stomach (12 cases) cancer were the most frequent extracolonic tumors. It is well know that establishing the diagnosis is challenging and requires knowledge and surveillance. Thus, recognition of individuals and families with hereditary predisposition to cancer according to clinical and molecular features, combined with intensive surveillance and management programs, can contribute substantially to improve results related to the diagnosis and characterization of LS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: To evaluate the impact of the inclusion of computed tomographic colonography (CTC) involving faecal tagging and no laxatives on the computed tomography (CT) study routinely used in staging patients with colorectal cancer., Methods: CTC was performed on 25 patients who had a diagnosis of colorectal carcinoma, with pathological correlation. Researchers recorded the accuracy of the CTC for staging colorectal cancer, as well as any changes to the plans for surgery based on this exam. The patients' tolerance of the preparation required and the quality of the exams was also evaluated., Results: All exams were well-tolerated, and only one had unsatisfactory quality. CTC identified all the carcinomas and had an overall accuracy of 80%, 60.1% and 100% for the evaluation of tumour depth, lymph nodes and metastases respectively. CTC identified all polyps greater than 9 mm. Following CTC, changes to surgical plans were observed in 20.8% of the cases, all with incomplete optical colonoscopies., Conclusions: CTC proved useful for the pre-operative evaluation of patients with a diagnosis of colorectal carcinoma, affecting plans for surgery in a expressive number of patients with an incomplete colonoscopy., (Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.)