N ratio is a simple and reproducible prognostic tool that can stratify patients with gastric cancer also in case of limited lymph node dissection. These data may represent the rational for improving the prognostic power of current UICC TNM staging system and ultimately the selection of patients who may most benefit from adjuvant treatments.

MSI in gastric cancer was associated with good overall survival, reflected in several favourable clinicopathological tumour characteristics.

Robot-assisted surgery fulfils oncologic criteria for D2 dissection and has an oncologic outcome comparable with that of OG. RGR resulted in shorter hospital stays, the loss of less blood and morbidity comparable with that of OG. Randomized clinical trials and longer follow-up are needed to evaluate whether RGR achieves long-term survival rates equivalent to that of open and laparoscopic surgery.

Radical surgery offers a low probability of cure in patients with diffuse-mixed type of gastric cancer and involvement of the serosa, due to a high risk of peritoneal recurrence. These patients might benefit from adjuvant therapies to prevent peritoneal carcinomatosis.

Purpose The prognosis of gastric cancer (GC) is poor, and the molecular pathogenesis players are vastly unknown. Surgery remains the primary option in GC treatment. The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of somatic CDH1 alterations in prognosis and survival of patients with GC. Patients and Methods A series of patients with sporadic and familial GC (diffuse and intestinal; n = 246) were analyzed for somatic CDH1 mutations, promoter hypermethylation, and loss of heterozygosity (LOH) by polymerase chain reaction sequencing. E-cadherin protein expression was determined by immunohistochemistry. Associations between molecular, clinicopathologic, and survival data were analyzed. Results CDH1 somatic alterations were found in approximately 30% of all patients with GC. Both histologic types of sporadic GC displayed LOH in 7.5%, mutations in 1.7%, and hypermethylation in 18.4% of patients. Primary tumors from hereditary diffuse GC, lacking germline CDH1 alterations, showed exclusively CDH1 promoter hypermethylation in 50% of patients. Familial intestinal GC (FIGC) tumors showed LOH in 9.4% and hypermethylation in 17.0%. CDH1 alterations did not associate with a particular pattern of E-cadherin expression. Importantly, the worst patient survival rate among all GCs analyzed was seen in patients with tumors carrying CDH1 structural alterations, preferentially those belonging to FIGC families. Conclusion CDH1 somatic alterations exist in all clinical settings and histotypes of GC and associate with different survival rates. Their screening at GC diagnosis may predict patient prognosis and is likely to improve management of patients with this disease.

No abstract

NELL‐1 (Nel‐like molecule‐1) is a secreted osteogenic growth factor first identified in human craniosynostosis (CS) patients. NELL‐1 protein has been observed to promote bone and cartilage differentiation and to suppress adipogenesis in both in vitro and in vivo models. Despite these findings, the cell surface receptors of NELL‐1 have remained unknown. In this study, we observed for the first time that NELL‐1 promotes cell adherence in multiple cell lines, including ST2, C3H10T1/2, M2‐10B4, ATDC5, and MC3T3 cells. Additionally, we found that NELL‐1 binds to extracellular Integrinβ1 and induces cell focal adhesion. By utilizing siRNA methods, we determined that NELL‐1 cell surface binding and enhanced cell attachment were dependent on Integrinβ1 expression. Finally, we observed that pre‐coating of culture dishes or PLGA (polylactic‐co‐glycolic acid) scaffold with NELL‐1 resulted in a significant increase in both cell attachment and osteogenic differentiation. Our results identify for the first time a cell surface target of NELL‐1, Integrinβ1, and elucidate new functions of NELL‐1 in promoting cell adherence and osteogenic differentiation. J. Cell. Biochem. 113: 3620–3628, 2012. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

The CIAO Study (“Complicated Intra-Abdominal infection Observational” Study) is a multicenter investigation performed in 68 medical institutions throughout Europe over the course of a 6-month observational period (January-June 2012).Patients with either community-acquired or healthcare-associated complicated intra-abdominal infections (IAIs) were included in the study.2,152 patients with a mean age of 53.8 years (range: 4–98 years) were enrolled in the study. 46.3% of the patients were women and 53.7% were men. Intraperitoneal specimens were collected from 62.2% of the enrolled patients, and from these samples, a variety of microorganisms were collectively identified.The overall mortality rate was 7.5% (163/2.152).According to multivariate analysis of the compiled data, several criteria were found to be independent variables predictive of patient mortality, including patient age, the presence of an intestinal non-appendicular source of infection (colonic non-diverticular perforation, complicated diverticulitis, small bowel perforation), a delayed initial intervention (a delay exceeding 24 hours), sepsis and septic shock in the immediate post-operative period, and ICU admission.Given the sweeping geographical distribution of the participating medical centers, the CIAO Study gives an accurate description of the epidemiological, clinical, microbiological, and treatment profiles of complicated intra-abdominal infections (IAIs) throughout Europe.