Recent developments in diagnostic imaging herald a new approach to diagnosis and management of prostate cancer. Multimodality fusion that combines anatomic with functional imaging data has surpassed either of the two alone. This opens up the possibility to “find and fix” malignancy with greater accuracy than ever before. This is particularly important for prostate cancer because it is the most common male cancer in most developed countries. This article describes technical advances under investigation at our institution and others using multimodality image fusion of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), transrectal ultrasound (TRUS), and PSMA PET/CT (defined as the combination of prostate-specific membrane antigen [PSMA], positron emission tomography [PET], and computed tomography [CT]) for personalized medicine in the diagnosis and focal therapy of prostate cancer with high-intensity focused ultrasound (HiFUS).
Background: Studying the biological pathways involved in mammalian milk production during lactation could have many clinical implications. The mammary gland is unique in its requirement for transport of free glucose into the cell for the synthesis of lactose, the primary carbohydrate in milk.
Objective: To study GLUT1 trafficking and subcellular targeting in living mammary epithelial cells (MEC) in culture.
Methods: Immunocytochemistry was used to study GLUT1 hormonally regulated subcellular targeting in human MEC (HMEC). To study GLUT1 targeting and recycling in living mouse MEC (MMEC) in culture, we constructed fusion proteins of GLUT1 and green fluorescent protein (GFP) and expressed them in CIT3 MMEC. Cells were maintained in growth medium (GM), or exposed to secretion medium (SM), containing prolactin.
Results: GLUT1 in HMEC localized primarily to the plasma membrane in GM. After exposure to prolactin for 4 days, GLUT1 was targeted intracellularly and demonstrated a perinuclear distribution, co-localizing with lactose synthetase. The dynamic trafficking of GFP-GLUT1 fusion proteins in CIT3 MMEC suggested a basal constitutive GLUT1 recycling pathway between an intracellular pool and the cell surface that targets most GLUT1 to the plasma membrane in GM. Upon exposure to prolactin in SM, GLUT1 was specifically targeted intracellularly within 90–110 minutes.
Conclusions: Our studies suggest intracellular targeting of GLUT1 to the central vesicular transport system upon exposure to prolactin. The existence of a dynamic prolactin-induced sorting machinery for GLUT1 could be important for transport of free glucose into the Golgi for lactose synthesis during lactation.
Thyroid hormone replacement therapy in patients following thyroidectomy for thyroid cancer, although a potentially straightforward clinical problem, can present the clinician and patient with a variety of challenges. Most often the problems are related to the dose and preparation of thyroid hormone (TH) to use. Some patients feel less well following thyroidectomy and/or radioiodine ablation than they did before their diagnosis. We present evidence that levothyroxine (L-T4) is the preparation of choice, and keeping the thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) between detectable and 0.1 mU/L should be the standard of care in most cases. In unusual circumstances, when the patient remains clinically hypothyroid despite a suppressed TSH, we acknowledge there may be as yet unidentified factors influencing the body’s response to TH, and individualized therapy may be necessary in such patients.
Background: While medical cannabis has been used for thousands of years in the treatment of pain and other symptoms, evidence-based use is limited and practitioners face multiple areas of uncertainty regarding the rational use of these compounds. Nonetheless, an increasing public interest and advocacy in favor of medical cannabis is causing the issue to be encountered ever more frequently by physicians in different fields of medicine and particularly in rheumatology. In view of this situation, we have surveyed the attitudes of Israeli rheumatologists to the use of medical cannabis.
Objectives: As rheumatologists are specialized in caring for patients presenting with musculoskeletal complaints, the confidence of rheumatologists’ knowledge of cannabinoids was surveyed.
Methods: All members of the Israeli Society of Rheumatology were surveyed by e-mail for their confidence and knowledge of cannabinoids and their perceived competence to prescribe herbal cannabis.
Results: A total of 23 out of 119 (19.3%) Israeli rheumatologists approached returned the questionnaire. Three-quarters of responders were not confident about their knowledge of cannabinoid molecules or ability to write a prescription for herbal cannabis, and 78% were not confident to write a prescription for herbal cannabis; 74% of responders held the opinion that there was some role for cannabinoids in the management of rheumatic disease.
Conclusion: Israeli rheumatologists lack confidence in their knowledge of cannabinoids in general, yet are open to the possibility of introducing this treatment. Additional data and guidance are necessary in order to allow rational utilization of cannabinoids for management of rheumatic pain.
The last 10 years have seen a renewed interest in a risk-adapted approach to the management of differentiated thyroid cancer. This review outlines a state-of-the-art approach to individualized management in which the original follow-up plan that was developed based on initial risk stratification is modified over time as new data become available. This risk-adapted follow-up approach allows clinicians to determine the intensity of follow-up and management recommendations in response to real-time dynamic risk assessments which may change over time.
Objectives: Thyroid cancer incidence is increasing worldwide, while mortality from thyroid cancer is stable or decreasing. Consequently, survival rates are rising. We describe time trends in the incidence, mortality, and 5-year survival of thyroid cancer in Israel in 1980–2012, in light of the global trends.
Methods: Israel National Cancer Registry database provided information regarding thyroid cancer incidence and vital status, which enabled computation of survival rates. The Central Bureau of Statistics database provided information on thyroid cancer mortality. Incidence and mortality rates were age-adjusted and presented by population group (Jews/Arabs) and gender. Relative 5-year survival rates which account for the general population survival in the corresponding time period were presented by population group and gender. Joinpoint analyses were used to assess incidence trends over time.
Results: In 1980–2012 significant increases in the incidence of thyroid cancer were observed, with an annual percent change (APC) range of 3.98–6.93, driven almost entirely by papillary carcinoma (APCs 5.75–8.86), while rates of other types of thyroid cancer remained stable or decreased. Furthermore, higher rates of early detection were noted. In 1980–2012, a modest reduction in thyroid cancer mortality was observed in Jewish women (APC –1.07) with no substantial change in Jewish men. The 5-year relative survival after thyroid cancer diagnosis has increased to ≥90% in both population groups and both genders.
Conclusions: The Israeli secular trends of thyroid cancer incidence (increasing), mortality (mostly stable), and survival (modestly increasing) closely follow reported global trends.
Acrolein is a highly reactive unsaturated aldehyde widely present in the environment, particularly as a product of tobacco smoke. Our previous studies indicated the adverse consequences of even short-term acrolein exposure and proposed a molecular mechanism of its potential harmful effect on oral cavity keratinocytic cells. In this paper we chose to review the broad spectrum of acrolein sources such as pollution, food, and smoking. Consequently, in this paper we consider a high level of oral exposure to acrolein through these sources and discuss the noxious effects it has on the oral cavity including on salivary quality and contents, oral resistance to oxidative stress, and stress mechanism activation in a variety of oral cells.
In recent years, cannabis has been gaining increasing interest in both the medical research and clinical fields, with regard to its therapeutic effects in various disorders. One of the major fields of interest is its role as an anticonvulsant for refractory epilepsy, especially in the pediatric population. This paper presents and discusses the current accumulated knowledge regarding artisanal cannabis and Epidiolex®, a United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved pure cannabidiol (CBD), in epilepsy management in pediatrics, by reviewing the literature and raising debate regarding further research directions.
The practice of medicine forces medical practitioners to make difficult and challenging choices on a daily basis. On the one hand we are obligated to cure with every resource available, while on the other hand we put the patient at risk because our treatments are flawed. To understand the ethics of error in medicine, its moral value, and the effects, error must first be defined. However, definition of error remains elusive, and its incidence has been extraordinarily difficult to quantify. Yet, a health care system that acknowledges error as a consequence of normative ethical practice must create systems to minimize error. Error reduction, in turn, should attempt to decrease patient harm and improve the entire health care system. We discuss a number of ethical and moral considerations that arise from practicing medicine despite anticipated error.
Intravitreal injection of anti-vascular endothelial growth factor is currently the preferred treatment for several posterior segment diseases, including age-related macular degeneration and diabetic retinopathy, as well as macular edema and retinal vein occlusion. As an invasive procedure it involves risks. The most sig¬nificant risk is infectious endophthalmitis, a sight-threatening and even a globe-threatening acute fulminant condition. Most common pathogens include Streptococcus and Staphylococcus species, surprisingly origi¬nating from the patient’s, surgeon’s, or nurse’s mouth. Infectious endophthalmitis may have devastating and irreversible effect, with Streptococcus-induced cases having the worst visual outcome. It is therefore crucial for clinicians to promptly recognize and treat such conditions, and, far more important, to put in place protective and preventive measures against this rare, but sight-threatening complication. To that end, this paper describes the most common pathogens causing endophthalmitis after IVI of anti-VEGF, and defines their source, to aid the physician in developing strategies to prevent this catastrophic infection.
