Resistance to apoptosis should not be taken as a hallmark of cancer

In the research community, resistance to apoptosis is often considered a hallmark of cancer. However, pathologists who diagnose cancer via microscope often see the opposite. Indeed, increased apoptosis and mitosis are usually observed simultaneously in cancerous lesions. Studies have shown that increased apoptosis is associated with cancer aggressiveness and poor clinical outcome. Furthermore, overexpression of Bcl-2, an antiapoptotic protein, is linked with better survival of cancer patients. Conversely, Bax, CD95, Caspase-3, and other apoptosis-inducing proteins have been found to promote carcinogenesis. This notion of the role of apoptosis in cancer is not new; cancer cells were found to be short-lived 88 years ago. Given these observations, resistance to apoptosis should not be considered a hallmark of cancer.

Helicobacter pylori infection in the pharynx of patients with chronic pharyngitis detected with TDI-FP and modified Giemsa stain

AIM:To detect whether there is Helicobacter pylori(Hpylori)colonization in the pharynx mucous membraneof healthy people and whether chronic pharyngitis is re-lated to Hpylori infection.METHODS:Fifty cases of chronic pharyngitis refrac-tory over three months were prospectively studied fromMarch 2004 to August 2004 in the otolaryngology outpa-tient department of the Second Hospital of Xi'an JiaotongUniversity.Template-directed dye-terminator incorporat-ed with fluorescence polarization detection(TDI-FP)andmodified Giemsa stain were used to examine pharynxmucous membrane tissue for Hpylori colonization in thepatients with chronic pharyngitis and the healthy peopleas a control group.RESULTS:In the control group,no people were de-tected to have Hpylori in the pharynx.In contrast,in 50cases with chronic pharyngitis,19(38.0%)cases wereH pyIori positive with a TDI-FP assay and 4(8%)caseswere TDI-FP positive with Giemsa staining in the phar-ynx.Sixteen of the 50 pharyngitis cases had stomachailment history,11 cases(68.8%)of these 16 patientswere determined to be H pylori positive in the pharynxwith the TDI-FP assay.x^2 test showed that this infectionrate was remarkably higher(P=0.0007)than that in thecases without stomach ailment history.Giemsa stainingshowed that 3 cases(18.8%)of the patients with stom-ach ailment history were infected with H pylori in the pharynx,which was remarkably higher(P=0.042)thanthat in the patients without stomach ailment history(1case,which was 2.9%).CONCLUSION:H pylori may not be detected in thepharynx of healthy people.Chronic pharyngitis maybe related to H pylori infection.The infection rate withHpylori in the pharynx is higher in patients with stomachailment histories than in patients without stomach ail-ment histories,suggesting that chronic pharyngitis maybe related to stomach ailment history.

Serum Hormone and Cellular Proliferation Changes of Testis in Rats with Experimental Orchitis Induced by Lipopolysaccharide

Objective To explore the changes of serum male hormone, androgen binding protein （ABP） expression as well as the proliferation of testicular cells in rats with experimental orchitis induced by bacterial lipoplysaccharide （LPS） in vivo and to elucidate the putative mechanism of LPS on spermatogenesis of testis. Methods The serum testosterone （T）, luteinizing hormone （LH） levels were detected with magnetic enzyme immunoassay. The expression of proliferating cell nuclear antigen （PCNA） and ABP expression at mRNA level of testis were studied with immunohistochemical staining and in situ hybrydization respectively. Results The serum T level in rats with experimental orchitis was significantly higher than that in the rats of control （P〈0.05） and ABP mRNA expression in Sertoli cells of testis was significantly increased （P〈0.05） while PCNA expression in seminiferous epithelium in experimental rats significantly was decreased as compared with that of the control （P〈0.05）. No significant change in serum LH level was seen between experimental orchitis and control groups （P〉0. 05）. Conclusion The serum level of T and ABP expression significantly increased in rats with experimental aspecific orchitis induced by LPS, and at the same time inhibition of cellular proliferation of seminiferous epithelium can be detected, which may be the possible mechanism of male infertility in inflammatory process.