Mesenchymal stem cells and alginate microcarriers for craniofacial bone tissue engineering: A review

Craniofacial bone is a complex structure with an intricate anatomical and physiological architecture. The defects that exist in this region therefore require a precise control of osteogenesis in their reconstruction. Unlike traditional surgical intervention, tissue engineering techniques mediate bone development with limited postoperative risk and cost. Alginate stands as the premier polymer in bone repair because of its mild ionotropic gelation and excellent biocompatibility, biodegradability, and injectability. Alginate microcarriers are candidates of choice to mediate cells and accommodate into 3-D environment. Several studies reported the use of alginate microcarriers for delivering cells, drugs, and growth factors. This review will explore the potential use of alginate microcarrier for stem cell systems and its application in craniofacial bone tissue engineering.

False-negative cytology rates in patients in whom invasive cervical cancer subsequently developed

The 3-year screening interval recommended by the American Cancer Society would appear to decrease the detection of premalignant and malignant disease. The authors have shown that 20% of study patients in whom subsequently invasive cervical cancer developed had at least 2 negative Papanicolaou smears within 3 years of the diagnosis of cancer. Moreover, the majority of false-negative results in the series could be attributed to sample error. The authors recommend yearly or at least biennial cervical cytologic screening.

Chemotherapeutic retroconversion of immature teratoma of the ovary

There has been a growing interest in treating malignant germ cell tumors of the ovary with adjuvant chemotherapy following appropriate surgery. This is a report of 3 patients treated in this manner. Of interest is the finding in all 3 patients of residual mature metastatic teratomatous tissue representing many tissue types. The concept of possible chemotherapeutic "retroconversion" or "in situ destruction" of immature tissue may be the mechanism for this result. All patients are alive and presumably well at the time of this report.

A comparison of the Papanicolaou smear and the cervigram: sensitivity, specificity, and cost analysis

A total of 3271 gynecology patients between the ages of 18-50 years were screened for cervical intraepithelial neoplasia and invasive cervical cancer by simultaneous Papanicolaou smears and cervigram, a noninvasive photographic method recently introduced for screening. The accuracy of each screening test, when positive or suspicious, was evaluated independently and the results compared with colposcopically directed biopsy results. The cervigram was significantly more sensitive than the Papanicolaou smear (P less than .001), whereas the Papanicolaou smear was significantly more specific than the cervigram in detecting cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (P less than .001). Cost analysis integrating sensitivity and specificity with cost per procedure indicated a greater yield of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia with the cervigram than with the Papanicolaou smear, by 3.7:1 case per dollar.

A temporary response of recurrent granulosa cell tumor to adriamycin

A case is reported of recurrent granulosa cell tumor of the ovary that had failed irradiation therapy and alkylating agent plus antimetabolite chematherapy. Of particular note is the dramatic complete response to single-agent therapy with Adriamycin.