Head and neck cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (HNcSCC) can present with cervical metastases without an obvious primary. Immunohistochemistry for p16 is established as a surrogate marker of human papillomavirus (HPV) in oropharyngeal cancer. p16 expression in HNcSCC needs to be elucidated to determine its utility in predicting the primary site. The aim of this study was to evaluate the rate of p16 expression in HNcSCC and its association with prognostic factors and survival. p16 immunohistochemistry was performed on 166 patients with high risk HNcSCC (2000-2013) following histopathology review. Chromogenic in situ hybridisation (CISH) for HPV was performed. Fifty-three (31.9%) cases showed strong, diffuse nuclear and cytoplasmic p16 expression including 14 (41%) non-metastatic and 39 (29.5%) metastatic tumours (p=0.21). HPV CISH was negative in all cases. p16 expression significantly increased with poorer differentiation (p=0.033), but was not associated with size (p=0.30), depth of invasion (p=0.94), lymphovascular invasion (p=0.31), perineural invasion (p=0.69), keratinisation (p=0.99), number of involved nodes (p=0.64), extranodal extension (p=0.59) or survival. Nearly 32% of HNcSCCs, particularly poorly differentiated HNcSCCs, show p16 expression. A primary HNcSCC should be considered in p16 positive neck node metastases in regions with high prevalence of HNcSCC. p16 expression is not associated with improved survival in HNcSCC.

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Over the recent decades, there has been a number of studies investigating the role of mucins in the pathogenesis of various cancers such as breast, lung, ovarian, gastrointestinal and pancreatic malignancies. Since then, it has been discovered that mucins play a critical role in tumorigenesis as they can mediate cell proliferation, metastasis and resistance to chemotherapy. Thus, mucins have been explored as a potential therapeutic target as well as a biomarker, as cancer cells often have an aberrant expression of mucins. MUC16 is a glycoprotein coded by one of the 21 mucin genes. CA125, the extracellular domain of MUC16, is a well-established biomarker for ovarian cancer, however there is no in depth literature review on MUC16 as a target for anti-cancer therapy. Thus, this review summarises the existing literature on MUC16, the current therapies targeting on MUC16 and highlights future avenues for targeting mucin-producing cancers.

Introduction: Laparoscopic Roux-en-Y gastric bypass is a bariatric operation that is effective for long-term weight loss. Although rare, one serious complication is an internal hernia through Petersen’s space, which may result in bowel strangulation. Although the incidence of internal hernia can be reduced through closing the Petersen’s defect, it does not eliminate the risk. This case describes a novel and reliable method to close Petersen’s defect. We report the case of a 30-year-old female who underwent a laparoscopic Roux-en-Y gastric bypass for the management of morbid obesity. Following her Roux-en-Y reconstruction, a prosthetic bioabsorbable mesh was placed in Petersen’s space and reinforced with fibrin glue to prevent internal herniation through Petersen’s defect. The use of a bioabsorbable mesh in Petersen’s space is a novel and easy technique that could be used to reduce the incidence of an internal hernia through Petersen’s defect.

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Background/Aim: Up to a third of patients undergoing cytoreductive surgery (CRS) and hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC) for peritoneal carcinomatosis (PC) of appendiceal or colorectal origin receive a stoma during primary surgery. Stoma reversal provides an opportunity for second-look surgery. Patients and Methods: We performed a retrospective analysis of prospectively collected data of patients with colorectal cancer (CRC) or high-grade appendiceal cancer (AC) from 2006 to 2021 from our database. A total of 34 consecutive stoma closure patients with no evidence of preoperative disease recurrence (tumor markers and CT scans) were compared with 141 consecutive re-do CRS/HIPEC patients with known recurrence. Results: Eleven patients (32.4%) were identified to have peritoneal recurrence at stoma closure. Time between first and second CRS was 12 months (4 to 64.2) in the stoma closure group vs. 24.6 months (5.8 to 119.8) in the re-do group, while median peritoneal cancer index (PCI) was 4 (3 to 6) vs. 8 (1 to 39), respectively (p=0.0143). Conclusion: Second-look laparotomy during stoma closure identified unexpected PC in 32.4% of our patients with significantly lower PCI than planned re-do operations.In recent decades, cytoreductive surgery (CRS) with hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC) for select patients with peritoneal carcinomatosis (PC) has shown improved survival rates compared to systemic chemotherapy with or without palliative surgery (1-5). One meta-analysis has shown that CRS with HIPEC offers a median survival of 29 months in patients with PC, which is significantly longer than the median survival of 17.9 months for standard chemotherapy alone (6).Despite advancements in CRS and HIPEC, peritoneal disease recurrence rates in colorectal cancer (CRC) or highgrade appendiceal cancer (AC) can be as high as 80% and 40%, respectively, within two years of surgery (7, 8). Currently, postoperative monitoring consists primarily of routine cross-sectional imaging by way of computed tomography (CT) scan, combined with serum biochemical markers to diagnose recurrence of disease (9). Patients with recurrent disease may then undergo a second CRS (hereafter, re-do CRS). However, recurrence is often difficult to detect by imaging and biochemistry alone as patients are often asymptomatic in the early stages of recurrence, and the sensitivity of CT scanning in detecting peritoneal recurrence approaches 60%, while also being influenced by factors such as size and extent of disease, location of spread, and radiologist expertise (10, 11). It has been established in the literature that the extent of peritoneal disease, as measured by the peritoneal cancer index (PCI), has a significant impact on the patient's prognosis, with a lower burden of peritoneal disease being associated with better CRS outcomes and improvements in morbidity (12). As earlier detection of disease is associated with a lower burden of peritoneal disease, better techniques should be devised to enable earlier 2350

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Purpose: This study examined thickness changes in abdominal muscles according to difficulty level of core stabilization exercise in healthy subjects. Methods: Thirty healthy subjects (age range: 21-30 years) volunteered under three conditions. In the first condition, the subjects performed an abdominal draw-in maneuver (ADIM). In the second condition, they performed the ADIM during quadruped exercise using a suspension device without extending their lower limbs. In the third condition, the subjects performed the ADIM during quadruped exercise using a suspension device while extending both lower limbs. The changes in thickness of transverse abdominis (TrA), internal oblique (IO), and external oblique (EO) muscles were measured by ultrasonography (US) imaging during the three experimental conditions, and US was used to measure the improvement ratio of muscle thickness at rest. The interventions were conducted over three trials in each condition, and measurements were performed on each subject by one examiner. Results: Our results showed a significantly greater increase in the muscle thickness of TrA and IO muscles after performance of quadruped exercise using a suspension device without knee extension (p< 0.05) compared to the other conditions. The results also showed a significantly greater increase in the thickness changes of EO muscle in those who performed the ADIM during quadruped exercise using a suspension device with knee extension (p< 0.05) compared with the ADIM only. Conclusion: These findings demonstrated positive evidence that a low-level core stabilization exercise could improve thickness of abdominal muscles.