Professor Sol Silverman Jr, Passes Away

"Longtime UCSF School of Dentistry faculty member Sol "Bud" Silverman, Jr., MA, DDS, Professor of Oral Medicine in the Department of Orofacial Sciences, UCSF School of Dentistry, passed away on August 13 following a brief illness."UCSF Announcement

Professor Silverman known globally for his extensive contributions to the field of oral medicine passed away on the 13th of August. His contributions ensure that his loss will be felt right across the world of dentistry and special oral medicine and pathology.
We in India were provided the chance to meet him and interact with him in March this year at Bangalore.
During a two day program he shared his knowledge and vast experience  with us and left  us with pleasant memories of a knowledgeable, kind senior who was so full of life it almost seems impossible that he is no longer with us.

Moments from a short  association  that  will always  be cherished..

BLOGGER'S NOTES

Introduction to Epigenetics In Cancer:

Cancer development depends on the survival and multiplication of genetically transformed /altered cells. Genetic transformation alone does not lead to cancer since the epigenetic or external controls on the expression of the genome also need to be lost or modified for the development of cancer.  This second line of control consists of a set of chemicals outside the DNA that control the expression of various parts of the DNA by acting like on-off switches. Epigenetic factors and processes are thus additional points at which the regulatory function may fail, leading to cancer development. Consequently they also provide additional opportunities in oncology for treatment by targeting processes that lead to cancer development.

Various epigenetic changes have been found in cancer cells. Most common are DNA methylation and histone modification, which alter the expression of specific parts of the genome by inactivating the cancer suppressor genes and activating oncogenes.  Chromatin remodeling and MicroRNA variations lead to faulty and excessive coding of oncogenes and noncoding of tumor suppressor genes.

The current knowledge on the role of the epigenome on cancer development can be used in screening, diagnosis, treatment planning and prognostication of cancers. Changes linked with specific tumor types can be used for screening. Epigenetic changes known to occur early in the disease course can be used for early diagnosis of the primary tumor and identification of tumor recurrence. More specific typing of cancers by finding the different subtypes can lead to targeted therapies with   reduced side- effects. On the other hand, some treatment modalities may be unified across various cancer types which show the same epigenetic changes thus reducing development costs and approval time.  

References:

•   Brait M, Sidransky D. cancer epigenetics: above and beyond. Toxicol Mech Methods. 2011 May;21(4):275-88. doi: 10.3109/15376516.2011.56267

·        J Lopez, M Percharde, HM Coley, A Webb and T Crook. The context and potential of epigenetics in oncology. British Journal of Cancer. 2009, 100(4), 571 – 577

 ·         http://learn.genetics.utah.edu/content/epigenetics/intro

Genetic variation and cancer risk | Cancer Research UK

CHEMOTHERAPY IN THE ERA OF TARGETED THERAPIES

Chemotherapy has  been an important component of oncotherapy, limited only by the extensive damage that it caused on the normal cells.
More recently there has been an increase in the use of chemotherapy with the development of targeted therapies that reduce or prevent collateral damage of normal cells.




National Cancer of Institute videos on targeted therapies is a valuable resource available at
http://www.cancer.gov/flash/targetedtherapies/flex/main.html#app=931b&121b-id=M01-S01-A0

COLOR CODED SURGERY

Surgical excision is still the most used treatment in the treatment of malignant tumors. Yet, the level of success of the treatment depends  on extension of the excision beyond the margins of the tumor or establishing clear margins.

Decision on the clearance achieved can be made by intraoperative examination of the margin by the use of methods such as frozen sections and more recently imprint cytology.

The process however requires time that can extend up to an hour for the pathological evaluation of sections. During this time the surgical team has to stand by and the patient maintained under anesthesia. This delay further lengthens an often long surgical procedure and adds to the surgical risk. Additionally the finding of actual clearance is limited to the sites and  number of sections taken.

A technique that can color code the tumor affected tissue  and nerves healthy or otherwise has been developed and is under trial.  

Watch the video to find out more about the same by the surgeon  Queyn Nguyeninvolved in the development of the technique..

 

http://www.ted.com/talks/quyen_nguyen_color_coded_surgery

ANIMATION ON CHEMOTHERAPY - CANCER TREATMENT CENTER OF AMERICA

watch an informative and short animation on chemotherapy at:




http://www.cancercenter.com/video/cancer-types/medanim/chemotherapy/






There are also videos on biopsy, cancer diagnosis and recent advances at the site

COLONY COUNTERS- MANUAL TO FULLY AUTOIMATIC BY ANNA LEWCOCK

"See spots but in a good way"
 , makes worthwhile reading and information update for all those working in microbiology, or setting up a laboratory..
Read the Biocompare editorial at :


http://www.biocompare.com/Editorial-Articles/161464-See-Spots-But-in-a-Good-Way-with-Automated-Colony-Counters/

NEW - JOURNAL OF CRANIOMAXILLOFACIAL RESEARCH

This Quarterly free access journal is now available online.. at

http://jcr.tums.ac.ir/index.php/jcr/index
 

MASTER CLASS SERIES IS BACK

For details and registration contact
Dr. Shankargouda Patil - +91 8050798169
Dr. Sanketh D.S - +91 9742075011

A BOOKLET FOR SMOKERS WHO WANT TO QUIT SMOKING FROM CANADIAN CANCER SOCIETY

A booklet to help smokers give up smoking ....
Down load the pdf at ....................
http://www.cancer.ca/~/media/cancer.ca/CW/publications/OSAAT%20for%20smokers%20who%20want%20to%20quit/OSAAT-Smokers-who-want-to-quit-2013-EN.pdf

 

DIFFICULT BLOCKS AND REPROCESSING FROM LEICA MICROSYSTEMS

A good online book to read for histotechniques

http://issuu.com/leicamicrosystems/docs/95.9890_rev_a_difficult_blocks?e=0