Head and neck squamous and thyroid carcinomas: multiplexed Luminex approaches for early detection

A Primary Squamous Cell Carcinoma of the Thyroid Presenting as the Anaplastic Thyroid Carcinoma: A Case Report

Background: Primary squamous cell carcinoma of the thyroid (PSCCT) is an uncommon malignancy that is difficult to diagnose and differentiate. There is no consensus for the early clinical, radiological, or ultrasonic identification of PSCCT before pathological changes are observed in patients. There is also no suitable treatment due to the absence of a definite diagnosis. Case Presentation: A 76-year-old female patient complained about a rapidly growing cervical mass, dyspnea, dysphagia, and a change in her voice. Based on the results of thyroid ultrasound, fine-needle aspiration, and plain and enhanced CT, the patient was initially diagnosed with anaplastic thyroid carcinoma (ATC). Thereafter, we removed the mass that was the patient's main complaint. The gross examination of the patient's symptoms also supported our previous diagnosis. However, her disease was finally diagnosed as PSCCT, according to the histopathology and immunohistochemistry findings of the mass. Conclusion: Our case highlights the need for a comprehensive framework in the management of PSCCT. The more auxiliary examinations (e.g., ultrasonographic, radiology, or biopsy examinations) we take, the more likely we are to identify this disease. Immunohistochemistry is currently the preferred examination for the diagnosis of PSCCT, while surgical resection combined with radio-sensitizing therapy and adjuvant chemotherapy is the main treatment method for PSCCT.

Variations in the quality of malaria-specific antibodies with transmission intensity in a seasonal malaria transmission area of Northern Ghana

Introduction

Plasmodium falciparum induced antibodies are key components of anti-malarial immunity in malaria endemic areas, but their antigen targets can be polymorphic. Induction of a high proportion of strain-specific antibodies will limit the recognition of a broad diversity of parasite strains by these responses. There are indications that circulating parasite diversity varies with malaria transmission intensity, and this may affect the specificity of elicited anti-malarial antibodies. This study therefore assessed the effect of varying malaria transmission patterns on the specificity of elicited antibody responses and to identify possible antibody correlates of naturally acquired immunity to malaria in children in an area of Ghana with seasonal malaria transmission.

Methods

This retrospective study utilized plasma samples collected longitudinally at six time points from children aged one to five years. Multiplex assays were used to measure antibody levels against four P. falciparum AMA 1 variants (from the 3D7, FVO, HB3 and CAMP parasite strains) and the 3D7 variant of the EBA 175 region II antigen and the levels compared between symptomatic and asymptomatic children. The relative proportions of cross-reactive and strain-specific antibodies against the four AMA 1 variants per sampling time point were assessed by Bland-Altman plots. The levels of antibodies against allelic AMA1 variants, measured by singleplex and multiplex luminex assays, were also compared.

Results

The data show that increased transmission intensity is associated with higher levels of cross-reactive antibody responses, most likely a result of a greater proportion of multiple parasite clone infections during the high transmission period. Anti-AMA1 antibodies were however associated with a history of infection rather than protection in this age group.

Conclusion

The data contribute to understanding the underlying mechanism of the acquisition of strain-transcending antibody immunity following repeated exposure to diverse parasite strains.

Use of glycan targeting antibodies to identify cancer-associated glycoproteins in plasma of breast cancer patients

Immunoaffinity chromatography (IAC) was used to isolate and identify potential cancer biomarker glycoproteins by targeting disease-associated glycans. Glycoproteins were selected from plasma of disease-free and breast cancer patients with an anti-Lewis x (Le(x)) IAC column. After extensive washing of the IAC column to remove abundant proteins, the selected proteins were eluted with an acidic mobile phase and identified in two ways. The protocol used in route A involved the steps of tryptic digestion, reversed-phase chromatographic fractionation of the digest, and identification of peptides in collected RPC fractions by MALDI-MS/MS. Route B differed in that IAC-selected proteins were further fractionated by reversed-phase chromatography before proteolysis of individual chromatographic fractions and identification by MALDI-MS/MS. Route A was the more efficacious of the two protocols in total number of proteins identified. Of the 26 proteins identified, 9 were found to be potential breast cancer marker candidates based on their elevation in breast cancer patients. The potential of these candidates as cancer markers remains to be validated in much larger, more diverse populations of breast cancer patients.