OBJECTIVE. Radiofrequency thermal ablation is a minimally invasive treatment widely used for treatment of liver neoplasms and has also been tested on other types of tumor. Few studies have been published regarding the use of radiofrequency thermal ablation in the treatment of lung neoplasms. This study was performed to evaluate the technical feasibility, the safety, and the efficacy of lung radiofrequency thermal ablation.SUBJECTS AND METHODS. Between February 2002 and March 2003, 18 subjects with unresectable lung neoplasms, four of whom had primary neoplasms and 14 of whom had metastatic neoplasms, underwent lung radiofrequency ablation. The technique was performed percutaneously using a monopolar cooled-tip electrode needle under CT guidance with the patient under general anesthesia. Patients had no more than three nodules with a total diameter of 10 cm and no evidence of extrathoracic disease. A total of 40 nodules were treated in 24 therapeutic sessions. After treatment, patients underwent follow-up ...

Angiogenesis is a complex process finely regulated by the balance between angiogenesis stimulators and inhibitors. As a result of proangiogenic factors overexpression, it plays a crucial role in cancer development. Although initially mast cells (MCs) role has been defined in hypersensitivity reactions and in immunity, it has been discovered that MCs have a crucial interplay on the regulatory function between inflammatory and tumor cells through the release of classical proangiogenic factors (e.g., vascular endothelial growth factor) and nonclassical proangiogenic mediators granule-associated (mainly tryptase). In fact, in several animal and human malignancies, MCs density is highly correlated with tumor angiogenesis. In particular, tryptase, an agonist of the proteinase-activated receptor-2 (PAR-2), represents one of the most powerful angiogenic mediators released by human MCs after c-Kit receptor activation. This protease, acting on PAR-2 by its proteolytic activity, has angiogenic activity stimulating both human vascular endothelial and tumor cell proliferation in paracrine manner, helping tumor cell invasion and metastasis. Based on literature data it is shown that tryptase may represent a promising target in cancer treatment due to its proangiogenic activity. Here we focused on molecular mechanisms of three tryptase inhibitors (gabexate mesylate, nafamostat mesylate, and tranilast) in order to consider their prospective role in cancer therapy.

Tryptase is a serine protease released from mast cells that plays a role in tumor angiogenesis. In this study we aimed to evaluate serum tryptase levels in 105 female early breast cancer patients before (STLBS) and after (STLAS) radical surgical resection, mast cell density positive to tryptase (MCDPT) and microvascular density (MVD). STLBS and STLAS were assessed using the UniCAP Tryptase Fluoroenzyme immunoassay. Tumor sections were immunostained with a primary anti-tryptase antibody and an anti-CD-34 antibody by means of immunohistochemistry. The mean ± 1 standard deviation STLBS and STLAS was 7.18 ± 2.63 μg/L, and 5.13 ± 2.21 respectively and a significant difference between mean levels was found (p = 0.0001) by student t-test. A strong correlation between STLBS and MVD (r = 0.81, p = 0.0001); STLBS and MCDPT (r = 0.69, p = 0.003); and MCDPT and MVD (r = 0.77; p = 0.0001) was found. Results demonstrated higher STLBS in breast cancer patients, indicating an involvement of MC tryptase in breast cancer angiogenesis. Therefore, serum tryptase levels may play a role as a novel surrogate angiogenic marker predictive of response to radical surgery in breast cancer patients. In this patients setting, it’s intriguing to hypothesize that tryptase inhibitors might be evaluated in clinical trials.