Entre as mulheres brasileiras, a principal causa de mortalidade são as doenças cardiovasculares, seguida em freqüência pelo câncer, sendo o mais comum o de mama. É bastante conhecida a associação de câncer com eventos tromboembólicos, mas pouco estabelecida sua relação com os demais eventos cardiovasculares. Para estudar estes eventos desde suas alterações primordiais, como a lesão e disfunção endotelial e a formação da placa aterosclerótica, vários métodos têm sido utilizados. É clara a associação entre câncer, em especial o de mama, com lesão endotelial e risco cardiovascular. A terapia endócrina para tumores de mama com receptores hormonais positivos é amplamente usada tanto de forma paliativa no câncer de mama metastático, quanto na adjuvância, para tumores iniciais. O tamoxifeno (TMX) tem sido usado como droga de escolha com este propósito há cerca de 30 anos com boa eficácia e perfil razoavelmente seguro. O desenvolvimento do os inibidores de aromatase (IAs) de terceira geração promoveu estudos comparativos que têm demonstrado superioridade dos IAs em relação ao TMX na adjuvância, favorecendo seu uso tanto em substituição, quanto de forma seqüencial. Em geral, os IAs são tão bem tolerados quanto o TMX, preocupando ainda questões como aumento de risco cardiovascular, de osteoporose e alterações no perfil lipídico. Neste cenário temos alguns estudos demonstrando um menor número de eventos cardiovasculares em mulheres previamente tratadas de câncer de mama, o que indica um possível efeito protetor do tratamento com tamoxifeno. O efeito cardiovascular dos inibidores da aromatase permanece controverso. O objetivo deste estudo foi comparar alguns marcadores de risco cardiovascular entre mulheres sobreviventes do câncer de mama após tratamento com tamoxifeno, letrozol ou sem tratamento endócrino. Para isso, avaliamos o total de 103 sobreviventes de câncer de mama: 35 em uso de tamoxifeno (TMXg), 34 em uso de letrozol (LTZg) e 34 sem tratamento endócrino (STEg). Os parâmetros estudados foram: a dilatação da artéria braquial mediada por fluxo (DMF), a espessura da íntima-média (EIM) e o índice de rigidez (?) da artéria carótida, colesterol total, HDL e triglicérides. Observamos que os três grupos apresentaram valores semelhantes de HDL e EIM. No TMXg foi encontrado o menor valor de colesterol total (219,29±36,31mg/dL vs. 250,59±38,37mg/dL vs. 245,09±35,35mg/dL; TMXg vs. LTZg vs. STEg respectivamente; p<0,01 -ANOVA), o maior valor de triglicérides (139,34±41,82mg/dL vs. 111,35±28,22mg/dL vs. 122,09±33,42mg/dL; p<0,01), o maior valor de DMF (6,32±2,33% vs. 4,10±2,06% vs. 4,66±2,52%; p<0,01) e o valor mais baixo do índice de rigidez (?) (5,08±1,68 vs. 6,28±1,75 vs. 5,99±1,86; p=0,01). O LTZg não diferiu significantemente do STEg em nenhum dos parâmetros estudados. Nós não observamos nenhuma diferença entre o LTZg e o STEg em nenhum dos parâmetros de risco cardiovascular avaliados. Desta forma, a diferença observada nos valores dos lipídios séricos, no índice de rigidez (?) e na DMF entre as mulheres em tratamento com tamoxifeno e letrozol pode ser mais bem atribuída a um efeito benéfico do tamoxifeno do que a um efeito prejudicial do letrozol. / The main cause of death among Brazilian women is cardiovascular disease followed by cancer; breast cancer is the most incident in this population. The relationship between cancer and thrombosis is well known, although its association with other cardiovascular events is poorly understood. In order to study these events since its primordial findings, as endothelial injury and dysfunction and the evolving atherosclerotic plaque, many methods are currently being used. There is a clear association between cancer, meanly breast cancer with endothelial injury and cardiovascular risk. Endocrine therapy for breast cancer with positive receptors has been widely applied either for advanced metastatic cancer as for initial tumors. For more than 30 years tamoxifen (TMX) has been the first choice for this purpose with an acceptable safety profile. The emerging third generation aromatase inhibitors (IA) promoted comparative trials which have proved the IA to be superior to TMX in the adjuvant setting - what supported its use both in substitution and in a sequential manner. Broadly, the IA are as well tolerated as TMX, still concerning issues as cardiovascular risk and osteoporosis increase and lipid profile changes. In this scenario, studies have shown that women previously treated for breast cancer present fewer cardiovascular events, indicating a possible protective effect of tamoxifen treatment. The effects of the aromatase inhibitors on cardiovascular protection remain controversial. The aim of this study was to compare some cardiovascular risk markers among breast cancer survivors following treatment with tamoxifen, letrozole or no endocrine treatment. So a total of 103 breast cancer survivors: 35 using tamoxifen (TMXg), 34 using letrozole (LTZg) and 34 using no endocrine treatment (NETg) were evaluated. Ultrasonographic evaluation of brachial artery flow-mediated dilation (FMD), carotid intima-media thickness (IMT) and stiffness index (?); and blood total cholesterol, HDL and triglycerides were assessed. All three groups presented similar values of HDL and IMT. TMXg showed the lowest total cholesterol (219.29±36.31mg/dL vs. 250.59±38.37mg/dL vs. 245.09±35.35mg/dL; TMXg vs. LTZg vs. NETg respectively; p<0.01 - ANOVA), the highest triglycerides (139.34±41.82mg/dL vs. 111.35±28.22mg/dL vs. 122.0933±42mg/dL; p<0.01), the highest FMD (6.32±2.33% vs. 4.10±2.06% vs. 4.66±2.52%; p<0.01) and the lowest stiffness index (?) (5.08±1.68 vs. 6.28±1.75 vs. 5.99±1.86; p=0.01). LTZg did not differ significantly from NETg on any evaluated parameter. We did not observe any difference of LTZg on the evaluated cardiovascular risk parameters compared to NETg. As such, the observed difference on lipid values, stiffness index (?) and FMD between women receiving tamoxifen and letrozole might be best attributed to the beneficial effect of tamoxifen than to a detrimental effect of letrozole.

Foram analisados 50 casos de osteossarcoma não metastáticos das extremidades tratados no Instituto de Ortopedia e Traumatologia do Hospital das Clínicas da Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de São Paulo entre 1986 e 2006 no que se refere à expressão de VEGF. Dezenove pacientes do sexo feminino e 31 do sexo masculino foram a casuística do trabalho. A idade variou de 5 a 28 anos (média de 16 anos) e o seguimento dos pacientes variou de 25 a 167 meses (média de 60,6 meses). As variáveis estudadas foram idade, sexo, localização anatômica, tipo de cirurgia, margens cirúrgicas, tamanho do tumor, necrose pós QT, recidiva local, metástase pulmonar e óbito. Trinta e seis pacientes apresentaram expressão de VEGF menor ou igual a 30% das células tumorais (baixa expressão), ao passo que os 14 restantes apresentaram expressão acima de 30% das células (alta expressão). Dos 36 pacientes com baixa expressão de VEGF, nove evoluíram com metástases pulmonares, dos quais quatro foram a óbito (11,1%). Dentre os 14 casos com alta expressão de VEGF, seis evoluíram com metástases pulmonares e três foram a óbito (21,4%). Porém, não houve correlação estatisticamente significante entre a expressão de VEGF e qualquer das variáveis estudadas / Fifty cases of nonmetastatic osteosarcoma of the extremities treated between 1986 and 2006 at the Instituto de Ortopedia e Traumatologia do Hospital das Clínicas da Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de São Paulo were evaluated regarding the expression of VEGF. There were 19 females and 31 males. The mean age was 16 years (528) and the mean followup was 60,6 months (25 167). The variables studied were age, gender, anatomic location, type of surgery, surgical margins, tumor size, post chemotherapy necrosis, local recurrence, pulmonary metastasis and death. Thirtysix patients showed VEGF expression equal or under 30% of the cells (low expression), as the remaining 14 cases had VEGF expression above 30% (high expression). Among the 36 patients with low VEGF expression, nine developed pulmonary metastasis and four died (11,1%). Among the 14 patients with high VEGF expression, six developed pulmonary metastasis and three died (21,4%). There was no statistical significant correlation between the VEGF expression and any of the variables studied

Diss. (sammanfattning) Stockholm : Karolinska institutet, 2010. / Härtill 5 uppsatser.

Uveal Melanoma (UM) is the most common malignant intra-ocular tumor in adults. Despite the high accuracy of clinical diagnosis and advances in local treatment, more than 50% of UM patients develop metastasis within ten years of initial diagnosis. NM23 is a human metastasis suppressor gene. Reduced Nm23-H1 expression is correlated with high metastatic potential in a variety of different cancers including melanoma. C-Met is a receptor tyrosine kinase (RTK) that has been known to stimulate the invasive growth and increase the metastatic potential of cancer cells. Expression of c-Met is correlated with high mortality rate in UM patients. Treatment with CQX-2 inhibitors showed promise as an adjuvant therapy in adenocarcinoma of the colon. A previous report from our laboratory showed that topical treatment with Nepafenac (a CQX-2 inhibitor) delayed the progression of the primary tumor and the formation of metastasis in the experimental rabbit model of UM. / The purpose of this thesis is to investigate the expression levels ofNm23-H1 in UM cell lines with different metastatic potentials, in paraffin embedded tissues from primary tumors of UM patients, and in an experimental rabbit model. In addition, the aim of this thesis is to determine whether treating human uveal melanoma cell lines with Nepafenac would increase the expression levels of Nm23-H1 and decrease the expression levels of c-Met in vitro (UM cell lines) and in vivo (experimental rabbit model). / To achieve our goal, we used several types of assays in our UM cell lines and paraffin embedded tissues from patient samples and experimental rabbit model, including quantitative immunostaining, quantitative Real-time PCR, and small interference RNA (siRNA). / The Real-time PCR results of five human uveal melanoma cell lines showed that expression of Nm23-HI is higher in cell lines with low metastatic potential compared to those with high metastatic potential. The invasive ability of the uveal melanoma cell lines increased after silencing Nm23-H1 expression with siRNA. The increased immunostaining intensity of Nm23-H1 in patient samples is associated with better survival rate. Moreover, treatment with Nepafenac resulted in increase of Nm23-H1 levels and decrease of c-Met levels in both the UM cell lines and the experimental rabbit model. / In conclusion, Nm23-H1 is a potent prognostic marker to predict the survival rate of UM patients and it has the potential to identify high-risk patients. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to show that treatment with COX-2 inhibitor causes an upregulation of Nm23-H1 and downregulation of c-Met in UM. Therefore, treatment with COX-2 inhibitors may be a useful strategy as an adjuvant therapy for UM patients.

Diss. (sammanfattning) Stockholm : Karol. inst., 2005. / Härtill 5 uppsatser.

Diss. (sammanfattning) Uppsala : Univ., 2002. / Härtill 5 uppsatser.

Diss. (sammanfattning) Stockholm : Karolinska institutet, 2002. / Härtill 5 uppsatser.

Diss. (sammanfattning) Linköping : Univ., 2002. / Härtill 6 uppsatser.

Diss. (sammanfattning) Stockholm : Karol. inst., 2004. / Härtill 4 uppsatser.

Diss. (sammanfattning) Stockholm : Karol. inst., 2004. / Härtill 4 uppsatser.