Biomedical subjects

G Dalbagni

Publications and source records attributed to G Dalbagni.

41 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

PubMed1988

Experience with potency preservation during radical prostatectomy. Significance of learning curve.

Potency preservation after radical prostatectomy is relatively new. The efficacy of this procedure has not been widely documented. Twenty-four patients with full potency underwent nerve-sparing radical prostatectomy. A total of 12 patients retained potency after surgery. Analysis of data reveals there is a learning curve in doing this procedure, and once the initial learning phase is over good results can be obtained in a select group of patients.

Aged↗

PubMed1985

Carcinoma of the pancreas in nonjaundiced patients. A silent disease.

This report deals with the study of 25 patients with carcinoma of the pancreas without jaundice. Carcinoma of the pancreas is the fourth most common cause of death among men who suffer from cancer. The extremely high mortality associated with pancreatic cancer is due to failure of early diagnosis. Those cases associated with obstructive jaundice can be diagnosed much earlier than those in which jaundice is absent. In the absence of jaundice, symptoms and signs of pancreatic cancer are so vague that they may be confused with those of other conditions. Routine laboratory tests aid little in the definitive diagnosis of the disease. Sophisticated new modalities of diagnosis such as ultrasonography, endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP), and CT-scanning frequently will lead to a correct diagnosis, but these tests are seldom performed unless there is a strong suspicion that carcinoma of the body of the pancreas exists. When pancreatic carcinoma without jaundice is ultimately diagnosed, it is found to be less amenable to surgery than lesions located in the head where early jaundice is more often encountered. Most patients with cancer of the body of the pancreas suffer from persistent unexplained abdominal pain, marked anorexia, and weight loss. Such patients must be subjected to sophisticated diagnostic tests in order to arrive at an early diagnosis.

Adenocarcinoma↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Genetic studies and molecular markers of bladder cancer.

Target genes implicated in cellular transformation and tumor progression have been divided into two categories: proto-oncogenes which, when activated, become dominant events characterized by the gain of function, and tumor suppressor genes which become recessive events characterized by the loss of function. Alterations in proto-oncogenes and tumor suppressor genes seem equally prevalent among human cancers. Multiple mutations appear to be required to conform the malignant phenotype. Proto-oncogenes are activated mainly by point mutations; however, amplification and translocation events are also common. Tumor suppressor genes are inactivated by an allelic loss followed by a point mutation of the remaining allele. The prototype suppressor genes are the retinoblastoma (RB) gene and the TP53 (also known as p53) genes. Recent studies have shown that inactivation of TP53 and RB occur in bladder tumors that have a more aggressive clinical outcome and poor prognosis. We will review the molecular abnormalities associated with both oncogenes and tumor suppressor genes in bladder tumors, and also discuss the potential clinical use of their detection. The implementation of objective predictive assays to identify these alterations in clinical material will enhance our ability to assess tumor biological activities and to design effective treatment regimes.

Alleles↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Cell surface differentiation antigens of normal urothelium and bladder tumors.

Bladder cancer ranks as the third most common malignancy among men and tenth among women. Superficial transitional cell carcinomas (stage Ta, Tis, and T1) account for approximately 70-80% of these tumors, while the remaining 20-30% are invasive (T2, T3, and T4). Approximately 70% of superficial tumors will have one or more recurrences, with 25% of these expressing a higher histologic grade and 10-15% subsequently developing invasive and/or metastatic disease. The detection and prediction of tumor recurrence and/or tumor progression is crucially important if timely and appropriate therapy is to be instituted. Conventional histopathologic evaluation usually provides definitive diagnosis upon which therapeutic planning is based. However, at present there are no more reliable morphologic indicator to identify which individuals will have recurrent disease or who will progress to invasive and/or metastatic cancer. Recent advances in tumor biology have identified markers that are good candidates for clinical applications in early tumor detection, as well as for the stratification of patients with like-appearing morphological lesions with different biological and clinical behavior. The ultimate goal is to develop predictive assays that would segregate patients with high probability of failures versus patients who would be cured by localized modes of therapy.

Antibodies, Monoclonal↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Tobacco smoking, occupation, and p53 nuclear overexpression in early stage bladder cancer.

Epidemiological studies show an increased risk of bladder cancer associated with tobacco smoking and occupational exposures. Certain carcinogens in tobacco and occupational exposures cause DNA damage and may produce specific mutations. TP53 is considered a common target for carcinogenic agents, and mutations of this gene are reported to be the most frequent nuclear abnormalities in human cancer. In order to investigate the relationship between tobacco smoking, occupations, and altered patterns of p53 expression, we have analyzed a group of 109 incident patients with superficial transitional cell carcinoma of the bladder. We assessed p53 nuclear overexpression by the use of anti-p53 antibody PAb1801 and immunohistochemistry, and identified 45 of 109 patients (41%) displaying p53-positive phenotype. We observed a significant association between the number of cigarettes smoked per day and p53 nuclear overexpression (p = 0.02). The odds ratios were 2.3 for those smoking 1-2 packs per day and 8.4 for smoking more than 2 packs per day. Similar estimates were obtained after controlling for age, sex, and race. Elevated odds ratios were also observed for dye-/ink-related (odds ratio = 2.0; 95% CI, 0.4-9.4) and cooking-related occupations (1.8, 0.6-5.0), although those were not statistically significant. These data support the hypothesis that certain carcinogens derived from cigarette smoking and occupations may induce TP53 mutations, which in turn are involved in early steps of bladder carcinogenesis.

Aged↗