Sentinel Node Biopsy Examination for Breast Cancer in a Routine Laboratory Practice: Results of a Pilot Study

Khoo, Joon-Joon,Ng, Chen-Siew,Sabaratnam, Subathra,Arulanantham, Sarojah Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2016 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.17 No.3

Background: Examination of sentinel lymph node (SLN) biopsies provides accurate nodal staging for breast cancer and plays a key role in patient management. Procurement of SLNs and the methods used to process specimens are equally important. Increasing the level of detail in histopathological examination of SLNs increases detection of metastatic tumours but will also increase the burden of busy laboratories and thus may not be carried out routinely. Recommendation of a reasonable standard in SLN examination is required to ensure high sensitivity of results while maintaining a manageable practice workload. Materials and Methods: Twenty-four patients with clinically node-negative breast cancer were recruited. Combined radiotracer and blue dye methods were used for identification of SLNs. The nodes were thinly sliced and embedded. Serial sectioning and immunohistochemical (IHC) staining against AE1/AE3 were performed if initial H&E sections of the blocks were negative. Results: SLNs were successfully identified in all patients. Ten cases had nodal metastases with 7 detected in SLNs and 3 detected only in axillary nodes (false negative rate, FNR=30%). Some 5 out of 7 metastatic lesions in the SLNs (71.4%) were detected in initial sections of the thinly sliced tissue. Serial sectioning detected the remaining two cases with either micrometastases or isolated tumour cells (ITC). Conclusions: Thin slicing of tissue to 3-5mm thickness and serial sectioning improved the detection of micro and macro-metastases but the additional burden of serial sectioning gave low yield of micrometastases or ITC and may not be cost effective. IHC validation did not further increase sensitivity of detection. Therefore its use should only be limited to confirmation of suspicious lesions. False negative cases where SLNs were not involved could be due to skipped metastases to non-sentinel nodes or poor technique during procurement, resulting in missed detection of actual SLNs.

Edible and Medicinal Mushrooms: Emerging Brain Food for the Mitigation of Neurodegenerative Diseases

Chia-Wei Phan,Pamela David,Vikineswary Sabaratnam 한국식품영양과학회 2017 Journal of medicinal food Vol.20 No.1

There is an exponential increase in dementia in old age at a global level because of increasing life expectancy. The prevalence of neurodegenerative diseases such as dementia and Alzheimer’s disease (AD) will continue to rise steadily, and is expected to reach 42 million cases worldwide in 2020. Despite the advancement of medication, the management of these diseases remains largely ineffective. Therefore, it is vital to explore novel nature-based nutraceuticals to mitigate AD and other age-related neurodegenerative disorders. Mushrooms and their extracts appear to hold many health benefits, including immune-modulating effects. A number of edible mushrooms have been shown to contain rare and exotic compounds that exhibit positive effects on brain cells both in vitro and in vivo. In this review, we summarize the scientific information on edible and culinary mushrooms with regard to their antidementia/AD active compounds and/or pharmacological test results. The bioactive components in these mushrooms and the underlying mechanism of their activities are discussed. In short, these mushrooms may be regarded as functional foods for the mitigation of neurodegenerative diseases.

Upcycling the Spent Mushroom Substrate of the Grey Oyster Mushroom Pleurotus pulmonarius as a Source of Lignocellulolytic Enzymes for Palm Oil Mill Effluent Hydrolysis

( Nurul Anisa Mat Yunan ),( Tan Yee Shin ),( Vikineswary Sabaratnam ) 한국미생물생명공학회(구 한국산업미생물학회) 2021 Journal of microbiology and biotechnology Vol.31 No.6

Mushroom cultivation along with the palm oil industry in Malaysia have contributed to large volumes of accumulated lignocellulosic residues that cause serious environmental pollution when these agroresidues are burned. In this study, we illustrated the utilization of lignocellulolytic enzymes from the spent mushroom substrate of Pleurotus pulmonarius for the hydrolysis of palm oil mill effluent (POME). The hydrolysate was used for the production of biohydrogen gas and enzyme assays were carried out to determine the productivities/activities of lignin peroxidase, laccase, xylanase, endoglucanase and β-glucosidase in spent mushroom substrate. Further, the enzyme cocktails were concentrated for the hydrolysis of POME. Central composite design of response surface methodology was performed to examine the effects of enzyme loading, incubation time and pH on the reducing sugar yield. Productivities of the enzymes for xylanase, laccase, endoglucanase, lignin peroxidase and β-glucosidase were 2.3, 4.1, 14.6, 214.1, and 915.4 U g^-1, respectively. A maximum of 3.75 g/l of reducing sugar was obtained under optimized conditions of 15 h incubation time with 10% enzyme loading (v/v) at a pH of 4.8, which was consistent with the predicted reducing sugar concentration (3.76 g/l). The biohydrogen cumulative volume (302.78 ml H₂.L^-1 POME) and 83.52% biohydrogen gas were recorded using batch fermentation which indicated that the enzymes of spent mushroom substrate can be utilized for hydrolysis of POME.

12(S)-Hydroxyheptadeca-5Z,8E,10E-trienoic acid suppresses UV-induced IL-6 synthesis in keratinocytes, exerting an anti-inflammatory activity

Jin-Wook Lee,Ho-Cheol Ryu,Yee Ching Ng,Cheolmin Kim,Jun-Dong Wei,Vikineswary Sabaratnam,김재홍 생화학분자생물학회 2012 Experimental and molecular medicine Vol.44 No.6

12(S)-Hydroxyheptadeca-5Z,8E,10E-trienoic acid (12-HHT) is an enzymatic product of prostaglandin H2(PGH2) derived from cyclooxygenase (COX)-mediated arachidonic acid metabolism. Despite the high level of 12-HHT present in tissues and bodily fluids, its precise function remains largely unknown. In this study, we found that 12-HHT treatment in HaCaT cells remarkably down-regulated the ultraviolet B (UVB) irradiation-induced synthesis of interleukin-6 (IL-6), a pro-inflammatory cytokine associated with cutaneous inflammation. In an approach to identify the down-stream signaling mechanism by which 12-HHT down-regulates UVB-induced IL-6 synthesis in keratinocytes,we observed that 12-HHT inhibits the UVB-stimulated activation of p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) and nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB). In addition, we found that 12-HHT markedly up-regulates MAPK phosphatase-1 (MKP-1), a critical negative regulator of p38 MAPK. When MKP-1 was suppressed by siRNA knock-down, the 12-HHT-mediated inhibitory effects on the UVB-stimulated activation of p38 MAPK and NF-κB, as well as the production of IL-6,were attenuated in HaCaT cells. Taken together, our results suggest that 12-HHT exerts anti-inflammatory effect via up-regulation of MKP-1, which negatively regulates p38 MAPK and NF-κB, thus attenuating IL-6 production in UVB-irradiated HaCaT cells. Considering the critical role of IL-6 in cutaneous inflammation, our findings provide the basis for the application of 12-HHT as a potential anti-inflammatory therapeutic agent in UV-induced skin diseases.

Distinguishing benign from malignant pelvic mass utilizing an algorithm with HE4, menopausal status, and ultrasound findings

Sarikapan Wilailak,Karen KL Chan,Chi-An Chen,남주현,Kazunori Ochiai,Tar-Choon Aw,Subathra Sabaratnam,Sudarshan Hebbar,Jaganathan Sickan,Beth A Schodin,Chuenkamon Charakorn,Walfrido W Sumpaico 대한부인종양학회 2015 Journal of Gynecologic Oncology Vol.26 No.1

Results: A total of 414 women with a pelvic mass were enrolled in the study, of which 328 had documented ultrasound findings. The risk prediction model that contained HE4, menopausal status, and ultrasound findings exhibited the best performance compared to models with CA-125 alone, or a combination of CA-125 and HE4. This model classified 77.2% of women with ovarian cancer as medium or high risk, and 86% of women with benign disease as very-low, low, or medium-low risk. This model exhibited better sensitivity than ROMA, but ROMA exhibited better specificity. Both models performed better than CA-125 alone. Objective: The purpose of this study was to develop a risk prediction score for distinguishing benign ovarian mass from malignant tumors using CA-125, human epididymis protein 4 (HE4), ultrasound findings, and menopausal status. The risk prediction score was compared to the risk of malignancy index and risk of ovarian malignancy algorithm (ROMA). Methods: This was a prospective, multicenter (n=6) study with patients from six Asian countries. Patients had a pelvic mass upon imaging and were scheduled to undergo surgery. Serum CA-125 and HE4 were measured on preoperative samples, and ultrasound findings were recorded. Regression analysis was performed and a risk prediction model was developed based on the significant factors. A bootstrap technique was applied to assess the validity of the HE4 model. Results: A total of 414 women with a pelvic mass were enrolled in the study, of which 328 had documented ultrasound findings. The risk prediction model that contained HE4, menopausal status, and ultrasound findings exhibited the best performance compared to models with CA-125 alone, or a combination of CA-125 and HE4. This model classified 77.2% of women with ovarian cancer as medium or high risk, and 86% of women with benign disease as very-low, low, or medium-low risk. This model exhibited better sensitivity than ROMA, but ROMA exhibited better specificity. Both models performed better than CA-125 alone. Conclusion: Combining ultrasound with HE4 can improve the sensitivity for detecting ovarian cancer compared to other algorithms.