This Week in the Journal of Clinical Pathology

Researchers led by Isao Okayasu at Kitasato University School of Medicine in Kanagawa, Japan, report in the Journal of Clinical Pathology that overexpression of L-type amino acid transporter 1, or LAT1, in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinomas is predictive of poor prognosis. The researchers examined LAT1 expression in various pancreatic cancers and found that "AT1 overexpression was related to poor prognosis in each group divided by tumour differentiation, size and surgical margin status," they write. Further, the researchers "propose that elevated LAT1 expression in PDAC is a novel biomarker for high-grade malignancy independent of Ki-67 LI."

Also in the Journal of Clinical Pathology, researchers from Korea University and Korea University College of Medicine write that multi-photon microscopy can be used to determine the relative levels of copper and zinc ions in colon neoplasms. Cu(I) and Zn(II) ions are cofactors of superoxide dismutases. As such, changes in their concentrations may be linked to neoplasm and malignancies. "The Cu(I)/Zn(II) ratio increased 3.5-fold from normal to adenoma/adenocarcinoma tissue," the researchers write. "This result suggests that a high Cu(I)/Zn(II) ratio is indicative of colon adenocarcinoma."