Research Profile - College of Medicine and Health Science - United ...

Department of Pathology
among United Arab Emirates nationals and their
correlation with the expression P53,Ki
67,bcl2,nm2, c-erb-B2, estrogen receptors and
progesterone receptors.
3. Role of Trefoil Factor Peptides in the
Development and Progression of Glioma.
Gliomas are the most common primary central
nervous system tumors. They are the second
most common cancer among children in UAE.
They are graded into four grades from grade 1
which is the most benign to grade 4 which is the
most malignant. They are characterized by
progression from low grade to high grade within
the same tumor. This progression is not well
understood. Furthermore, the pathogenesis of
glioma is obscure. Several studies have shown
the transforming potential of TFF peptides which
is illustrated in tissues involved in cancer
progression, while other studies have shown
tumor suppressor action of TFF peptides. How
can the apparent contradiction between the
tumor-promoting and tumor-suppressing
functions of TFF peptides be resolved We hope
that this project will answer some of these
queries. There is nearly no published data
concerning the expression of TFFs in human
gliomas. In addition there were no previous
reports concerning the role of trefoil factors in
the pathogenesis or progression of glioma. Our
preliminary study on few cases of gliomas using
immunohistochemical stains have shown
expression of TFF 3 in gliomas with difference
in the expression between low grade and high
grade gliomas.
4. Role of Galectin 1, 3, 4, 7 and 10 in the
development and progression of uterine
cervical carcinoma
Uterine cervical cancer is the second most
common cancer in women worldwide, and the
fifth most common cancer among females in
UAE. Although high-risk human
papillomaviruses (HPVs) are associated with
cervical carcinoma, HPV infection alone is
insufficient for the malignant transformation.
Hence other molecular alterations are required
for the development of cervical carcinoma and
galectins may play an important role in these
processes. The main purpose of this proposal is
to study the expression of galectin-1, 3, 4, 7 and
10 in the neoplastic cells of different types,
grades and stages of human uterine cervical
carcinomas. We expect that our suggested
studies will clarify and elucidate the role of
galectin 1, 3, 4, 7 and 10 in the pathogenesis and
progression of human uterine cervical
carcinoma. In this project, we will verify this
hypothesis by extending our experiments on
peritumoral stromal mononuclear cells as well
as non-neoplastic and dysplastic uterine cervical
tissues.
5. Expression of estrogen receptors alpha
and beta and progesterone receptors in
thyroid carcinoma among UAE Nationals
Thyroid carcinoma (TC) is the sixth most
common cancer among the United Arab
Emirates (UAE) nationals and the second among
UAE national females. The striking gender
differences in the incidence of differentiated
thyroid cancer, particularly for papillary thyroid
carcinoma (PTC), suggests a possible influence
of hormone related factors because the higher
overall incidence of female PTC is established
through a sharp increase during the fertile years
of life. We found a high preponderance of
differentiated thyroid carcinoma among UAE
female nationals during the child – bearing age,
which was much higher than expatriates and
other studies else where. We think that this
finding suggests a possible hormonal influence
and needs to be thoroughly investigated. We will
review the cases of thyroid carcinoma which
were diagnosed in the Pathology Department
at Tawam Hospital for the period 1988 through
2007 for histological classification and
demographic data. All cases diagnosed as
thyroid carcinoma will be examined for the
expression of estrogen receptors alpha and
beta, progesterone receptors, EGFR, c-erb-B2, c-
kit, cyclin D1, bcl- xL and p53 using
immunohistochemistry (IHC) as well as
fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) for EGFR,
c-erb-B2 and cyclin D1 to determine the
frequency of expression of estrogen and
progesterone receptors in relation to the
expression of EGFR, c-erb-B2, c-kit, cyclin D1, bclxL
and p53 in different types of thyroid
carcinoma among UAE nationals and in
comparison with their expression among
expatriates. This study will enable us to
understand the role of sex steroid hormones
and various growth factors in the development
of thyroid carcinoma among UAE nationals.
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