The DNA-instability test as a specific marker of malignancy and its application to detect cancer clones in borderline malignancy

Histochemistry for nucleic acid research: 60 years in the European Journal of Histochemistry

Since the discovery of DNA structure in 1953, the deoxyribonucleic acid has always been playing a central role in biological research. As physical and ordered nucleotides sequence, it stands at the base of genes existence. Furthermore, beside this 2-dimensional sequence, DNA is characterized by a 3D structural and functional organization, which is of interest for the scientific community due to multiple levels of expression regulation, of interaction with other biomolecules, and much more. Analogously, the nucleic acid counterpart of DNA, RNA, represents a central issue in research, because of its fundamental role in gene expression and regulation, and for the DNA-RNA interplay. Because of their importance, DNA and RNA have always been mentioned and studied in several publications, and the European Journal of Histochemistry is no exception. Here, we review and discuss the papers published in the last 60 years of this Journal, focusing on its contribution in deepening the knowledge about this topic and analysing papers that reflect the interest this Journal always granted to the world of DNA and RNA.

Comparative study of Western and Japanese criteria for biopsy-based diagnosis of gastric epithelial neoplasia

BACKGROUND

In Western countries, gastric cancer (GC) is diagnosed when there is histological evidence of invasion into the lamina propria or beyond the submucosa. In Japan and some other countries, however, diagnosis of GC is based on the degree of structural and cytological abnormality of tumor glands. The aim of the present study was to compare the accuracy of the Western and Japanese criteria for diagnosis of GC.

METHODS

The study included 233 consecutive patients with a postoperative diagnosis of submucosal invasive GC who underwent gastrectomy or endoscopic submucosal dissection. All pretreatment biopsy specimens were independently reviewed by two experts in gastrointestinal pathology employing both the Western and Japanese diagnostic criteria. Diagnostic agreement between pretreatment biopsy specimens and the corresponding resected specimens was evaluated, together with the interobserver agreement for each of the criteria.

RESULTS

On the basis of the Western and Japanese criteria, the pretreatment biopsy diagnosis was noncancerous (including dysplasia) in 44 lesions and 1 lesion, respectively. Diagnostic accuracy based on biopsy was 81.1% for the Western criteria and 99.5% for the Japanese criteria (P < 0.001). Interobserver agreement based on the Western and Japanese criteria was 73.8% and 96.5%, respectively (P < 0.001). Invasion into the submucosa was detected by biopsy in only 25 cases.

CONCLUSIONS

The Japanese criteria are significantly more accurate for pretreatment biopsy diagnosis of GC. The Western criteria could lead to underdiagnosis of a lesion as high-grade dysplasia, even if submucosal invasive cancer is present.

Histochemistry through the years, browsing a long-established journal: novelties in traditional subjects

Histochemical journals represent a traditional forum where methodological and technological improvements can be presented and validated in view of their applications to investigate not only cytology and histology in normal and diseased conditions but to test as well hypotheses on more basic issues for life sciences, such as comparative and evolutionary biology. The earliest scientific journals on histochemistry began their publication in the first half of the ‘50s of the last century, and their readership did not probably change over the years; rather, the authors’ interests may have progressively been changing as well as the main topics of their articles. This hypothesis is discussed, based on the subjects of the article published in the first and last ten years in the European Journal of Histochemistry, as an example of old journal which started publication in 1954, being since then the official organ of the Italian Society of Histochemistry. This survey confirmed that histochemistry has provided and still offers unique opportunities for studying the structure, chemical composition and function of cells and tissues in a wide variety of living organisms, especially when the topological distribution of specific molecular components has diagnostic or predictive significance, as it occurs in human and veterinary biology and pathology. Some subjects (e.g. histochemistry applied to muscle cells or to mineralized tissues) have recently become rather popular, whereas a wider application of the histochemical approach may be envisaged for plant cells and tissues.

Terahertz radiation increases genomic instability in human lymphocytes

Terahertz radiation is increasingly being applied in new and evolving technologies applied in areas such as homeland security and medical imaging. Thus a timely assessment of the potential hazards and health effects of occupational and general population exposure to THz radiation is required. We applied continuous-wave (CW) 0.1 THz radiation (0.031 mW/ cm(2)) to dividing lymphocytes for 1, 2 and 24 h and examined the changes in chromosome number of chromosomes 1, 10, 11 and 17 and changes in the replication timing of their centromeres using interphase fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH). Chromosomes 11 and 17 were most vulnerable (about 30% increase in aneuploidy after 2 and 24 h of exposure), while chromosomes 1 and 10 were not affected. We observed changes in the asynchronous mode of replication of centromeres 11, 17 and 1 (by 40%) after 2 h of exposure and of all four centromeres after 24 h of exposure (by 50%). It is speculated that these effects are caused by radiation-induced low-frequency collective vibrational modes of proteins and DNA. Our results demonstrate that exposure of lymphocytes in vitro to a low power density of 0.1 THz radiation induces genomic instability. These findings, if verified, may suggest that such exposure may result in an increased risk of cancer.