J\ < AijU-ASJ^ Âftlî ^0 V\ A]^ «Làl jUi^l oU b)) : c^Ulj s^USl AJC Jls^ / L-sljj " ÂaU lia ^ J^b ... more J\ < AijU-ASJ^ Âftlî ^0 V\ A]^ «Làl jUi^l oU b)) : c^Ulj s^USl AJC Jls^ / L-sljj " ÂaU lia ^ J^b j\ <r»iâiJl j-j*5l vi; f-y^ <&\ jLulà c/Ju*^ eljj (A] jf-Jo ^-U> JJJ y <. A; «àio Je JA jo Loj ceJ^-j 4jil jï t3s*y (j* j° ^J '^* •ÏP"^J ^-^ (3 (jWj^ A; «àjj jlj Ai^jl LalU-J*»)l Vj <& jJ-l jl b^co ^p-\j <«\j. Ai* AIJ-JJ-s&lj c jUa-JuSl j*j ^Ai jW**^ j^ Jb y j^ y ^a i * // is a pleasure to thank the many people who made this thesis possible. It is difficult to overstate my profound gratitude to my Ph.D. supervisor, Dr. Marc-André Sirard for these precious years spent in his lab. His enthusiasm, inspiration and winner attitude made him a source of inspiration and passion to scientific research. Above all and the most needed, he provided me unflinching confidence, encouragement and support in various ways especially when things did not go well. I have learned a lot from him. Briefly,I am indebted to him more than he knows. I gratefully acknowledge Dr. François Richard for first having accepted to be my co-supervisor while my thesis project was already running. I have appreciated his comments, discussions, and crucial advices especially in our road to and from Ottawa in the oocyte Health meetings. An enormous thank goes to Dr. Claude Robert for sharing his molecular biology expertise and for his precious advices and comments that were helpful during this thesis. Saving the valuable opportunity of lab meetings «ClubChip», I have learned much more from him than he can believe vu especially in terms of constructive analysis, objectivity and especially stringency when analyzing data or experimental designs. Thank you Claude! I would like to gratefully think Dr. François Pothierfor his advises and support whenever I have needed. I would like to think him especially for offering me a scientist model with an exceptional experience, charisma, competence and especially humility. I thank him for his special respect to my identity and values.
This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative... more This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY
Breast cancer (BC) in women is the second most commonly diagnosed type of cancer worldwide, and t... more Breast cancer (BC) in women is the second most commonly diagnosed type of cancer worldwide, and the leading cause of cancer-related mortality among women. To date, surgery is the main treatment option, often combined with other (neo)adjuvant therapeutic modalities to treat this malignancy and prevent relapse. Despite the invasive aspects of the majority of these therapeutic interventions and their associated side-effects, these treatments are still unable to effectively cure this disease and prevent relapse. Thus, there is an urgent need for the identification of more relevant biomarkers for more effective theranostics. Signaling lymphocytic activation molecule F7 (SLAMF7) is a glycosylated cell surface protein that plays a critical role in immune cell functions under both healthy conditions and in cancer. It is specifically targeted by elotuzumab for the treatment of multiple myeloma. The present retrospective study aimed to investigate the expression patterns of SLAMF7 and evaluate its associations with clinicopathological features, including the survival outcomes of patients with BC. The protein expression of SLAMF7 in BC was investigated in 278 lymph node-positive formalin-fixed and paraffin-embedded (FFPE) tissue blocks using tissue microarray and immunohistochemistry techniques. The results revealed a significant association between cytoplasmic SLAMF7 protein expression and several clinicopathological parameters, particularly age at diagnosis (P<0.007), tumor invasion (P<0.008) and vascular invasion (P= 0.05). Kaplan-Meier analysis revealed that the overexpression of SLAMF7 was a strong positive prognosticator of both disease-free and disease-specific survival in the patients with BC (log-rank P= 0.001 and P= 0.008, respectively). This suggests that patients with SLAMF7 protein expression have a higher survival rate and a lower recurrence rate. On the whole, the present study demonstrated that a weak or no SLAMF7 expression was a powerful prognosticator of poor survival outcomes associated with both tumor and vascular invasion. Therefore, elotuzumab (as SLAMF7monoclonal antibody therapy) may be a promising option for targeted therapy worthy of clinical testing in patients with BC.
A diagnostic hysteroscopy is unreported in the literature as a cause of Abdominal Compartment Syn... more A diagnostic hysteroscopy is unreported in the literature as a cause of Abdominal Compartment Syndrome (ACS). We have reported a case of a 28-year old woman who developed abdominal compartment syndrome during diagnostic hysteroscopy. An excess of irrigation fluid moving through the fallopian tubes to the peritoneal cavity due to improper input/output balance has leaded to a fluid overload and a metabolic acidosis. This highlights the importance of incessant clinical awareness and permanent monitoring in operations affecting the Intra Abdominal Pressure (IAP).
In the present study, the Risk Malignancy Index (RMI) was calculated based on menopausal status, ... more In the present study, the Risk Malignancy Index (RMI) was calculated based on menopausal status, ultrasound (US) findings and serum biological cancer antigen 125 (CA-125) levels as a scoring system in Libyan females with ovarian masses (OMs) to differentiate between benign and malignant tumors. A total of 51 females with OMs referred to the Gynaecology Department of the National Cancer Institute in Misurata (Libya) between January 2019 and December 2020 were retrospectively reviewed for diagnostic testing. Clinicopathological and demographic data were obtained from patient records. A cutoff point of RMI=200 was used to differentiate between benign and malignant tumors. The mean age of the patients was 47 years (range, 19-90 years) and 60% of the patients were premenopausal. Examination of the four RMI indices and disease status indicated that the association with the US score (P<0.0001) and with CA-125 (P=0.017) was highly significant. However, the age at diagnosis and menopausal status did not have any significant association with the disease status. The RMI with a cutoff point of 200 had a sensitivity and specificity of 87.5 and 90.7%, respectively, and a positive and negative predictive value of 63.6 and 97.5%, respectively. The association between the RMI and disease status was highly significant (P<0.0001). In conclusion, the RMI appears to be a reliable, simple and cost-effective tool for clinical differentiation between benign and malignant OMs. This may help to improve the optimal diagnosis and planning of an individualized treatment strategy. However, given the small sample size of the cohort, further validation using larger cohorts in other settings is recommended.
Breast cancer (BC) in women is the second most commonly diagnosed type of cancer worldwide, and t... more Breast cancer (BC) in women is the second most commonly diagnosed type of cancer worldwide, and the leading cause of cancer-related mortality among women. To date, surgery is the main treatment option, often combined with other (neo)adjuvant therapeutic modalities to treat this malignancy and prevent relapse. Despite the invasive aspects of the majority of these therapeutic interventions and their associated side-effects, these treatments are still unable to effectively cure this disease and prevent relapse. Thus, there is an urgent need for the identification of more relevant biomarkers for more effective theranostics. Signaling lymphocytic activation molecule F7 (SLAMF7) is a glycosylated cell surface protein that plays a critical role in immune cell functions under both healthy conditions and in cancer. It is specifically targeted by elotuzumab for the treatment of multiple myeloma. The present retrospective study aimed to investigate the expression patterns of SLAMF7 and evaluate its associations with clinicopathological features, including the survival outcomes of patients with BC. The protein expression of SLAMF7 in BC was investigated in 278 lymph node-positive formalin-fixed and paraffin-embedded (FFPE) tissue blocks using tissue microarray and immunohistochemistry techniques. The results revealed a significant association between cytoplasmic SLAMF7 protein expression and several clinicopathological parameters, particularly age at diagnosis (P<0.007), tumor invasion (P<0.008) and vascular invasion (P= 0.05). Kaplan-Meier analysis revealed that the overexpression of SLAMF7 was a strong positive prognosticator of both disease-free and disease-specific survival in the patients with BC (log-rank P= 0.001 and P= 0.008, respectively). This suggests that patients with SLAMF7 protein expression have a higher survival rate and a lower recurrence rate. On the whole, the present study demonstrated that a weak or no SLAMF7 expression was a powerful prognosticator of poor survival outcomes associated with both tumor and vascular invasion. Therefore, elotuzumab (as SLAMF7monoclonal antibody therapy) may be a promising option for targeted therapy worthy of clinical testing in patients with BC.
Objective: The aim of the study was to study the correlations of demographical and clinicopatholo... more Objective: The aim of the study was to study the correlations of demographical and clinicopathological variables of patients with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) and evaluate the association of these variables with patients’ survival outcomes. Patients and Methods: A retrospective analysis of 123 patients with PDAC were diagnosed and treated at the National Cancer Institute, Misurata, Libya during the 2010–2108 period. Data for demographics, clinicopathological, biological variables, risk factors, presentation, treatment, and survival-related data were collected from the patients’ medical records. Results: The mean age of patient was 61.2 years (range: 19–90 years) and most of patients (80.5%) were aged >50 years. For gender distribution, PDAC was more frequent in males (59.3%). Abdominal pain was the most frequent presenting symptom (84.6%) and 78% (96 patients) among them had head tumors. Most patients (80.5%) presented with unresectable tumor at diagnosis. Disease-free...
Wnt signalling receptors, Frizzleds (FZDs), play a pivotal role in many cellular events during em... more Wnt signalling receptors, Frizzleds (FZDs), play a pivotal role in many cellular events during embryonic development and cancer. Female breast cancer (BC) is currently the worldwide leading incident cancer type that cause 1 in 6 cancer-related death. FZD receptors expression in cancer was shown to be associated with tumour development and patient outcomes including recurrence and survival. FZD6 received little attention for its role in BC and hence we analysed its expression pattern in a Saudi BC cohort to assess its prognostic potential and unravel the impacted signalling pathway. Paraffin blocks from approximately 405 randomly selected BC patients aged between 25 and 70 years old were processed for tissue microarray using an automated tissue arrayer and then subjected to FZD6 immunohistochemistry staining using the Ventana platform. Besides, Ingenuity Pathway Analysis (IPA) knowledgebase was used to decipher the upstream and downstream regulators of FZD6 in BC. TargetScan and miRa...
Virus groups of Negative Charge Clusters. % is (the number of Negative Charge Cluster present in ... more Virus groups of Negative Charge Clusters. % is (the number of Negative Charge Cluster present in each group/the total number of Negative Charge Clusters (N = 211))*100; N = 211. (TIFF 25 kb)
X-STR typing results for 140-year-old skeletal remains from Deadwood, South Dakota using the Illu... more X-STR typing results for 140-year-old skeletal remains from Deadwood, South Dakota using the Illumina® ForenSeq™ DNA Signature Prep Kit and MiSeq® MPS platform (E1 = elution #1; E2 = elution #2). (XLSX 11 kb)
Twenty-five to thirty percent of patients with node-negative breast cancer are expected to relaps... more Twenty-five to thirty percent of patients with node-negative breast cancer are expected to relapse following surgery, therefore great efforts have been made to identify new prognostic markers that could be useful in defining patients for additional therapy. The expression of MMP-2 and MMP-9 has been associated with high potential of metastasis in several human carcinomas including breast cancer. In the present study we examined the prognostic value of immunoreactive MMP-2/MMP-9 protein in 270 consecutive lymph node negative cases who received radical mastectomy or modified radical mastectomy. Among the patients, 211 cases received adjuvant endocrine therapy and/or adjuvant chemotherapy. Using immunohistochemical assay, we found that 56.7% of the resected tumors were positive for MMP-2 whereas 59.6% of the samples were positive for MMP-9. Chi2 test demonstrated a significant direct association between MMP-2 and MMP-9 (p &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt; 0.001); positive immunostaining of MMP-2 was significantly related to higher tumor grade (p &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt; 0.001) and larger tumor size (p = 0.012); positive immunostaining of MMP-9 was significantly related to higher tumor grade (p = 0.002). In univariate analysis, using Cox-proportional hazard model we found MMP-2, MMP-9 and the co-expression of MMPs (MMP2/MMP9) were significantly associated with patients&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;#39; relapse free survival (p = 0.016, 0.015 and 0.013 respectively) but not overall survival (p = 0.122, 0.320 and 0.091 respectively). Log-rank test also showed that MMP-2, MMP-9 or the co-expression of MMP2/MMP9 was unfavorable prognostic factor for relapse free survival but not overall survival. In subgroup analysis, we found MMPs were more prognostic for patients with no adjuvant treatment than for patients with adjuvant therapy. In multivariate analysis, using Cox-proportional hazard model we found co-expression of MMPs, larger tumor size and higher tumor grade were unfavorable for relapse free survival (p = 0.038, 0.007 and 0.015 for each). We concluded that MMP-2 and MMP-2 are unfavorable prognostic factors in breast cancer patients. They might be potential predictive factor for adjuvant systemic therapy. The co-expression of MMP-2 and MMP-9 has significantly prognostic value in node-negative patients.
Cumulus cells (CCs) are a highly specialized cell type that surround the mammalian oocyte from an... more Cumulus cells (CCs) are a highly specialized cell type that surround the mammalian oocyte from antrum formation to the early stages of embryo development in the oviduct. During this period of close vicinity, CCs maintain paracrine and cell-to-cell communications with the oocyte. The increasing use of CCs to predict oocyte quality requires a growing understanding of their involvement in oocyte developmental competence acquisition. This chapter highlights the current knowledge about CC differentiation and communications with the oocyte. Special focus is given to the molecular biomarkers differentially expressed in CCs that reflect higher oocyte quality and therefore are associated with successful embryo development and/or implantation. The biological, signaling, and molecular functions and/or pathways of CCs during oocyte maturation, ovulation, fertilization, and early embryo development are also discussed. Using recent findings in other tissues/species, some hypotheses about the processes whereby CCs exert their functions are suggested. Further characterization will be required to refine these biomarkers in order to improve both animal and human ART.
DESIGN: A prospective three-group randomized controlled trial was performed with three assessment... more DESIGN: A prospective three-group randomized controlled trial was performed with three assessment points. Participants (n ¼265) were randomly allocated to the intervention group (IG, fertility awareness video), control group 1 (CG1, no intervention) and control group 2 (CG2, work-family conflict video). All participants were assessed before the intervention (T0), immediately after (T1) and one week after (T2). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Data were collected Oct-Dec 2014 from Portuguese University students. After excluding participants who were married, had children or disclosed a fertility problem, the final sample had 254 participants (96 IG, 76 CG1, and 82 CG2). The questionnaire included sociodemographic and fertility knowledge questions. The video gave information about women's fertility decline, infertility definition and risk factors, probability of getting pregnant according to women's age. Mixed Anovas for repeated measures tested interaction, time and group effects on fertility knowledge variables. RESULTS: The large majority (83%) of participants (84% female, Mage ¼ 19.7) expressed a desire to have children. There were no pretest differences among groups concerning sociodemograhic characteristics. A significant interaction was found between assessment time and group regarding knowledge variables (infertility definition, women's fertility decline, probability of pregnancy depending on age, risk factors). Medium effect sizes of 0.33 were found between IG and CG2 and 0.39 between IG and CG1. The IG had significantly higher knowledge than both control groups in all variables between T0 and T1 and T0 and T2, but not between T1 and T2, indicating that knowledge remains a week later. There were no significant differences over time within each one of control groups, excepting for women's most fertile age, women's fertility decline, and risk factors. However, these differences were smaller (higher eta for IG) and in some cases indicated a decrease in knowledge. CONCLUSIONS: Results Supported the efficacy of a low-cost intervention in increasing fertility knowledge. Given the increasing childbearing postponement and the reduced fertility knowledge of young adults who desire to have children, this intervention can be of great use in western countries to enable an informed and conscious decision-making process. Future research should focus on wider longitudinal studies.
in H 2 (H 2 +A) (n¼42); with rotenone (200mM) in C (C+R) or in H 2 (H 2 +R) (n¼45); and with pent... more in H 2 (H 2 +A) (n¼42); with rotenone (200mM) in C (C+R) or in H 2 (H 2 +R) (n¼45); and with pentoxifylline (2 mg/ml) in C (Px) (n¼85). ATP content was measured with an luminometer. Sperm concentration and motility were measured with Makler chamber and Sperm Class Analyser (SCA). RESULTS: In terms of sperm ATP amount, Sperm treated in the 75% H 2saturated medium showed increased amount compared with in the medium only with antimycin A (H 2 +A vs.
Glypicans (GPC) are involved in the developmental morphogenesis and regulatory processes of cell ... more Glypicans (GPC) are involved in the developmental morphogenesis and regulatory processes of cell signalling. Abnormal expression has been observed in different cancer types. One hundred and thirty-seven colorectal carcinoma (CRC) and 44 nodal metastases were used to create tissue microarrays. Immunohistochemistry was done to detect and evaluate the impact of immunostaining patterns of GPC-3 protein in CRC. GPC-3 immunostaining is increased in CRC and nodal metastasis (p < 0.001) and was not association with clinicopathological parameters. GPC-3 immunostaining was associated with longer disease-free survival (p = 0.021) and overall survival (p = 0.05). For the first time, we show GPC-3 immunostaining association with survival outcomes in CRC. GPC-3 may be used as an independent prognostic factor for survival in CRC.
This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative... more This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY
Significant advances have been recently made in the development of the genetic and genomic platfo... more Significant advances have been recently made in the development of the genetic and genomic platforms. This has greatly contributed to a better understanding of gene expression and regulation machinery. Consequently, this led to considerable progress in unraveling evidence of the genotype-phenotype correlation between normal/abnormal embryonic development and human disease complexity. For example, advanced genomic tools such as next-generation sequencing, and microarray-based CGH have substantially helped in the identification of gene and copy number variants associated with diseases as well as in the discovery of causal gene mutations. In addition, bioinformatic analysis tools of genome annotation and comparison have greatly aided in data analysis for the interpretation of the genetic variants at the individual level. This has unlocked potential possibilities for real advances toward new therapies in personalized medicine for the targeted treatment of human diseases. However, each o...
J\ < AijU-ASJ^ Âftlî ^0 V\ A]^ «Làl jUi^l oU b)) : c^Ulj s^USl AJC Jls^ / L-sljj " ÂaU lia ^ J^b ... more J\ < AijU-ASJ^ Âftlî ^0 V\ A]^ «Làl jUi^l oU b)) : c^Ulj s^USl AJC Jls^ / L-sljj " ÂaU lia ^ J^b j\ <r»iâiJl j-j*5l vi; f-y^ <&\ jLulà c/Ju*^ eljj (A] jf-Jo ^-U> JJJ y <. A; «àio Je JA jo Loj ceJ^-j 4jil jï t3s*y (j* j° ^J '^* •ÏP"^J ^-^ (3 (jWj^ A; «àjj jlj Ai^jl LalU-J*»)l Vj <& jJ-l jl b^co ^p-\j <«\j. Ai* AIJ-JJ-s&lj c jUa-JuSl j*j ^Ai jW**^ j^ Jb y j^ y ^a i * // is a pleasure to thank the many people who made this thesis possible. It is difficult to overstate my profound gratitude to my Ph.D. supervisor, Dr. Marc-André Sirard for these precious years spent in his lab. His enthusiasm, inspiration and winner attitude made him a source of inspiration and passion to scientific research. Above all and the most needed, he provided me unflinching confidence, encouragement and support in various ways especially when things did not go well. I have learned a lot from him. Briefly,I am indebted to him more than he knows. I gratefully acknowledge Dr. François Richard for first having accepted to be my co-supervisor while my thesis project was already running. I have appreciated his comments, discussions, and crucial advices especially in our road to and from Ottawa in the oocyte Health meetings. An enormous thank goes to Dr. Claude Robert for sharing his molecular biology expertise and for his precious advices and comments that were helpful during this thesis. Saving the valuable opportunity of lab meetings «ClubChip», I have learned much more from him than he can believe vu especially in terms of constructive analysis, objectivity and especially stringency when analyzing data or experimental designs. Thank you Claude! I would like to gratefully think Dr. François Pothierfor his advises and support whenever I have needed. I would like to think him especially for offering me a scientist model with an exceptional experience, charisma, competence and especially humility. I thank him for his special respect to my identity and values.
This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative... more This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY
Breast cancer (BC) in women is the second most commonly diagnosed type of cancer worldwide, and t... more Breast cancer (BC) in women is the second most commonly diagnosed type of cancer worldwide, and the leading cause of cancer-related mortality among women. To date, surgery is the main treatment option, often combined with other (neo)adjuvant therapeutic modalities to treat this malignancy and prevent relapse. Despite the invasive aspects of the majority of these therapeutic interventions and their associated side-effects, these treatments are still unable to effectively cure this disease and prevent relapse. Thus, there is an urgent need for the identification of more relevant biomarkers for more effective theranostics. Signaling lymphocytic activation molecule F7 (SLAMF7) is a glycosylated cell surface protein that plays a critical role in immune cell functions under both healthy conditions and in cancer. It is specifically targeted by elotuzumab for the treatment of multiple myeloma. The present retrospective study aimed to investigate the expression patterns of SLAMF7 and evaluate its associations with clinicopathological features, including the survival outcomes of patients with BC. The protein expression of SLAMF7 in BC was investigated in 278 lymph node-positive formalin-fixed and paraffin-embedded (FFPE) tissue blocks using tissue microarray and immunohistochemistry techniques. The results revealed a significant association between cytoplasmic SLAMF7 protein expression and several clinicopathological parameters, particularly age at diagnosis (P<0.007), tumor invasion (P<0.008) and vascular invasion (P= 0.05). Kaplan-Meier analysis revealed that the overexpression of SLAMF7 was a strong positive prognosticator of both disease-free and disease-specific survival in the patients with BC (log-rank P= 0.001 and P= 0.008, respectively). This suggests that patients with SLAMF7 protein expression have a higher survival rate and a lower recurrence rate. On the whole, the present study demonstrated that a weak or no SLAMF7 expression was a powerful prognosticator of poor survival outcomes associated with both tumor and vascular invasion. Therefore, elotuzumab (as SLAMF7monoclonal antibody therapy) may be a promising option for targeted therapy worthy of clinical testing in patients with BC.
A diagnostic hysteroscopy is unreported in the literature as a cause of Abdominal Compartment Syn... more A diagnostic hysteroscopy is unreported in the literature as a cause of Abdominal Compartment Syndrome (ACS). We have reported a case of a 28-year old woman who developed abdominal compartment syndrome during diagnostic hysteroscopy. An excess of irrigation fluid moving through the fallopian tubes to the peritoneal cavity due to improper input/output balance has leaded to a fluid overload and a metabolic acidosis. This highlights the importance of incessant clinical awareness and permanent monitoring in operations affecting the Intra Abdominal Pressure (IAP).
In the present study, the Risk Malignancy Index (RMI) was calculated based on menopausal status, ... more In the present study, the Risk Malignancy Index (RMI) was calculated based on menopausal status, ultrasound (US) findings and serum biological cancer antigen 125 (CA-125) levels as a scoring system in Libyan females with ovarian masses (OMs) to differentiate between benign and malignant tumors. A total of 51 females with OMs referred to the Gynaecology Department of the National Cancer Institute in Misurata (Libya) between January 2019 and December 2020 were retrospectively reviewed for diagnostic testing. Clinicopathological and demographic data were obtained from patient records. A cutoff point of RMI=200 was used to differentiate between benign and malignant tumors. The mean age of the patients was 47 years (range, 19-90 years) and 60% of the patients were premenopausal. Examination of the four RMI indices and disease status indicated that the association with the US score (P<0.0001) and with CA-125 (P=0.017) was highly significant. However, the age at diagnosis and menopausal status did not have any significant association with the disease status. The RMI with a cutoff point of 200 had a sensitivity and specificity of 87.5 and 90.7%, respectively, and a positive and negative predictive value of 63.6 and 97.5%, respectively. The association between the RMI and disease status was highly significant (P<0.0001). In conclusion, the RMI appears to be a reliable, simple and cost-effective tool for clinical differentiation between benign and malignant OMs. This may help to improve the optimal diagnosis and planning of an individualized treatment strategy. However, given the small sample size of the cohort, further validation using larger cohorts in other settings is recommended.
Breast cancer (BC) in women is the second most commonly diagnosed type of cancer worldwide, and t... more Breast cancer (BC) in women is the second most commonly diagnosed type of cancer worldwide, and the leading cause of cancer-related mortality among women. To date, surgery is the main treatment option, often combined with other (neo)adjuvant therapeutic modalities to treat this malignancy and prevent relapse. Despite the invasive aspects of the majority of these therapeutic interventions and their associated side-effects, these treatments are still unable to effectively cure this disease and prevent relapse. Thus, there is an urgent need for the identification of more relevant biomarkers for more effective theranostics. Signaling lymphocytic activation molecule F7 (SLAMF7) is a glycosylated cell surface protein that plays a critical role in immune cell functions under both healthy conditions and in cancer. It is specifically targeted by elotuzumab for the treatment of multiple myeloma. The present retrospective study aimed to investigate the expression patterns of SLAMF7 and evaluate its associations with clinicopathological features, including the survival outcomes of patients with BC. The protein expression of SLAMF7 in BC was investigated in 278 lymph node-positive formalin-fixed and paraffin-embedded (FFPE) tissue blocks using tissue microarray and immunohistochemistry techniques. The results revealed a significant association between cytoplasmic SLAMF7 protein expression and several clinicopathological parameters, particularly age at diagnosis (P<0.007), tumor invasion (P<0.008) and vascular invasion (P= 0.05). Kaplan-Meier analysis revealed that the overexpression of SLAMF7 was a strong positive prognosticator of both disease-free and disease-specific survival in the patients with BC (log-rank P= 0.001 and P= 0.008, respectively). This suggests that patients with SLAMF7 protein expression have a higher survival rate and a lower recurrence rate. On the whole, the present study demonstrated that a weak or no SLAMF7 expression was a powerful prognosticator of poor survival outcomes associated with both tumor and vascular invasion. Therefore, elotuzumab (as SLAMF7monoclonal antibody therapy) may be a promising option for targeted therapy worthy of clinical testing in patients with BC.
Objective: The aim of the study was to study the correlations of demographical and clinicopatholo... more Objective: The aim of the study was to study the correlations of demographical and clinicopathological variables of patients with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) and evaluate the association of these variables with patients’ survival outcomes. Patients and Methods: A retrospective analysis of 123 patients with PDAC were diagnosed and treated at the National Cancer Institute, Misurata, Libya during the 2010–2108 period. Data for demographics, clinicopathological, biological variables, risk factors, presentation, treatment, and survival-related data were collected from the patients’ medical records. Results: The mean age of patient was 61.2 years (range: 19–90 years) and most of patients (80.5%) were aged >50 years. For gender distribution, PDAC was more frequent in males (59.3%). Abdominal pain was the most frequent presenting symptom (84.6%) and 78% (96 patients) among them had head tumors. Most patients (80.5%) presented with unresectable tumor at diagnosis. Disease-free...
Wnt signalling receptors, Frizzleds (FZDs), play a pivotal role in many cellular events during em... more Wnt signalling receptors, Frizzleds (FZDs), play a pivotal role in many cellular events during embryonic development and cancer. Female breast cancer (BC) is currently the worldwide leading incident cancer type that cause 1 in 6 cancer-related death. FZD receptors expression in cancer was shown to be associated with tumour development and patient outcomes including recurrence and survival. FZD6 received little attention for its role in BC and hence we analysed its expression pattern in a Saudi BC cohort to assess its prognostic potential and unravel the impacted signalling pathway. Paraffin blocks from approximately 405 randomly selected BC patients aged between 25 and 70 years old were processed for tissue microarray using an automated tissue arrayer and then subjected to FZD6 immunohistochemistry staining using the Ventana platform. Besides, Ingenuity Pathway Analysis (IPA) knowledgebase was used to decipher the upstream and downstream regulators of FZD6 in BC. TargetScan and miRa...
Virus groups of Negative Charge Clusters. % is (the number of Negative Charge Cluster present in ... more Virus groups of Negative Charge Clusters. % is (the number of Negative Charge Cluster present in each group/the total number of Negative Charge Clusters (N = 211))*100; N = 211. (TIFF 25 kb)
X-STR typing results for 140-year-old skeletal remains from Deadwood, South Dakota using the Illu... more X-STR typing results for 140-year-old skeletal remains from Deadwood, South Dakota using the Illumina® ForenSeq™ DNA Signature Prep Kit and MiSeq® MPS platform (E1 = elution #1; E2 = elution #2). (XLSX 11 kb)
Twenty-five to thirty percent of patients with node-negative breast cancer are expected to relaps... more Twenty-five to thirty percent of patients with node-negative breast cancer are expected to relapse following surgery, therefore great efforts have been made to identify new prognostic markers that could be useful in defining patients for additional therapy. The expression of MMP-2 and MMP-9 has been associated with high potential of metastasis in several human carcinomas including breast cancer. In the present study we examined the prognostic value of immunoreactive MMP-2/MMP-9 protein in 270 consecutive lymph node negative cases who received radical mastectomy or modified radical mastectomy. Among the patients, 211 cases received adjuvant endocrine therapy and/or adjuvant chemotherapy. Using immunohistochemical assay, we found that 56.7% of the resected tumors were positive for MMP-2 whereas 59.6% of the samples were positive for MMP-9. Chi2 test demonstrated a significant direct association between MMP-2 and MMP-9 (p &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt; 0.001); positive immunostaining of MMP-2 was significantly related to higher tumor grade (p &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt; 0.001) and larger tumor size (p = 0.012); positive immunostaining of MMP-9 was significantly related to higher tumor grade (p = 0.002). In univariate analysis, using Cox-proportional hazard model we found MMP-2, MMP-9 and the co-expression of MMPs (MMP2/MMP9) were significantly associated with patients&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;#39; relapse free survival (p = 0.016, 0.015 and 0.013 respectively) but not overall survival (p = 0.122, 0.320 and 0.091 respectively). Log-rank test also showed that MMP-2, MMP-9 or the co-expression of MMP2/MMP9 was unfavorable prognostic factor for relapse free survival but not overall survival. In subgroup analysis, we found MMPs were more prognostic for patients with no adjuvant treatment than for patients with adjuvant therapy. In multivariate analysis, using Cox-proportional hazard model we found co-expression of MMPs, larger tumor size and higher tumor grade were unfavorable for relapse free survival (p = 0.038, 0.007 and 0.015 for each). We concluded that MMP-2 and MMP-2 are unfavorable prognostic factors in breast cancer patients. They might be potential predictive factor for adjuvant systemic therapy. The co-expression of MMP-2 and MMP-9 has significantly prognostic value in node-negative patients.
Cumulus cells (CCs) are a highly specialized cell type that surround the mammalian oocyte from an... more Cumulus cells (CCs) are a highly specialized cell type that surround the mammalian oocyte from antrum formation to the early stages of embryo development in the oviduct. During this period of close vicinity, CCs maintain paracrine and cell-to-cell communications with the oocyte. The increasing use of CCs to predict oocyte quality requires a growing understanding of their involvement in oocyte developmental competence acquisition. This chapter highlights the current knowledge about CC differentiation and communications with the oocyte. Special focus is given to the molecular biomarkers differentially expressed in CCs that reflect higher oocyte quality and therefore are associated with successful embryo development and/or implantation. The biological, signaling, and molecular functions and/or pathways of CCs during oocyte maturation, ovulation, fertilization, and early embryo development are also discussed. Using recent findings in other tissues/species, some hypotheses about the processes whereby CCs exert their functions are suggested. Further characterization will be required to refine these biomarkers in order to improve both animal and human ART.
DESIGN: A prospective three-group randomized controlled trial was performed with three assessment... more DESIGN: A prospective three-group randomized controlled trial was performed with three assessment points. Participants (n ¼265) were randomly allocated to the intervention group (IG, fertility awareness video), control group 1 (CG1, no intervention) and control group 2 (CG2, work-family conflict video). All participants were assessed before the intervention (T0), immediately after (T1) and one week after (T2). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Data were collected Oct-Dec 2014 from Portuguese University students. After excluding participants who were married, had children or disclosed a fertility problem, the final sample had 254 participants (96 IG, 76 CG1, and 82 CG2). The questionnaire included sociodemographic and fertility knowledge questions. The video gave information about women's fertility decline, infertility definition and risk factors, probability of getting pregnant according to women's age. Mixed Anovas for repeated measures tested interaction, time and group effects on fertility knowledge variables. RESULTS: The large majority (83%) of participants (84% female, Mage ¼ 19.7) expressed a desire to have children. There were no pretest differences among groups concerning sociodemograhic characteristics. A significant interaction was found between assessment time and group regarding knowledge variables (infertility definition, women's fertility decline, probability of pregnancy depending on age, risk factors). Medium effect sizes of 0.33 were found between IG and CG2 and 0.39 between IG and CG1. The IG had significantly higher knowledge than both control groups in all variables between T0 and T1 and T0 and T2, but not between T1 and T2, indicating that knowledge remains a week later. There were no significant differences over time within each one of control groups, excepting for women's most fertile age, women's fertility decline, and risk factors. However, these differences were smaller (higher eta for IG) and in some cases indicated a decrease in knowledge. CONCLUSIONS: Results Supported the efficacy of a low-cost intervention in increasing fertility knowledge. Given the increasing childbearing postponement and the reduced fertility knowledge of young adults who desire to have children, this intervention can be of great use in western countries to enable an informed and conscious decision-making process. Future research should focus on wider longitudinal studies.
in H 2 (H 2 +A) (n¼42); with rotenone (200mM) in C (C+R) or in H 2 (H 2 +R) (n¼45); and with pent... more in H 2 (H 2 +A) (n¼42); with rotenone (200mM) in C (C+R) or in H 2 (H 2 +R) (n¼45); and with pentoxifylline (2 mg/ml) in C (Px) (n¼85). ATP content was measured with an luminometer. Sperm concentration and motility were measured with Makler chamber and Sperm Class Analyser (SCA). RESULTS: In terms of sperm ATP amount, Sperm treated in the 75% H 2saturated medium showed increased amount compared with in the medium only with antimycin A (H 2 +A vs.
Glypicans (GPC) are involved in the developmental morphogenesis and regulatory processes of cell ... more Glypicans (GPC) are involved in the developmental morphogenesis and regulatory processes of cell signalling. Abnormal expression has been observed in different cancer types. One hundred and thirty-seven colorectal carcinoma (CRC) and 44 nodal metastases were used to create tissue microarrays. Immunohistochemistry was done to detect and evaluate the impact of immunostaining patterns of GPC-3 protein in CRC. GPC-3 immunostaining is increased in CRC and nodal metastasis (p < 0.001) and was not association with clinicopathological parameters. GPC-3 immunostaining was associated with longer disease-free survival (p = 0.021) and overall survival (p = 0.05). For the first time, we show GPC-3 immunostaining association with survival outcomes in CRC. GPC-3 may be used as an independent prognostic factor for survival in CRC.
This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative... more This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY
Significant advances have been recently made in the development of the genetic and genomic platfo... more Significant advances have been recently made in the development of the genetic and genomic platforms. This has greatly contributed to a better understanding of gene expression and regulation machinery. Consequently, this led to considerable progress in unraveling evidence of the genotype-phenotype correlation between normal/abnormal embryonic development and human disease complexity. For example, advanced genomic tools such as next-generation sequencing, and microarray-based CGH have substantially helped in the identification of gene and copy number variants associated with diseases as well as in the discovery of causal gene mutations. In addition, bioinformatic analysis tools of genome annotation and comparison have greatly aided in data analysis for the interpretation of the genetic variants at the individual level. This has unlocked potential possibilities for real advances toward new therapies in personalized medicine for the targeted treatment of human diseases. However, each o...
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