Colorectal cancer is classified among the most common cancers in the world (after breast cancer and prostate cancer) and it is the second digestive tract cancer in Morocco after stomach cancer. However, its incidence in our country is lower than that of western countries (2.5 to 3.3 / 100 000 ha) but it coincides with that of Maghreb countries where this cancer affects young subjects in 27% of cases. Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the best examples of multistep carcinogenesis. Knowing the anatomopathological characteristics of CRC will certainly affect our therapeutic approaches. We conducted a retrospective epidemiological and anatomopathological study in the Department of Visceral Surgery at the Military Hospital Moulay Ismail, Meknes over a period of 5 years from January 2012 to December 2016. The study involved 36 patients: 14 women and 22 men. The aim of this study was to analyze the epidemiological profile and the anatomopathological features of colorectal cancers. The analysis of our results shows a specific epidemiological profile which is characteristic of a type of colorectal cancer affecting younger subjects, mainly male patients. Sporadic carcers are largely predominant, occurring mainly in the rectosigmoid region. A low degree of differentiation of adenocarcinomas with mucinous features is correlated with advanced TNM and Aster Coller staging and with lymph node status with poor prognosis. This multidisciplinary approach will be a novelty at national level, thus making our structure of clinical practice and research one of the centres for multidisciplinary management of colorectal cancer in Morocco.

Hepatitis delta virus (HDV) is a mammalian defective virus. Its genome is a small single-stranded circular RNA of approximately 1,680 nucleotides. To spread, HDV relies on hepatitis B virus envelope proteins that are needed for viral particle assembly and egress. Severe clinical features of HBV-HDV infection include acute fulminant hepatitis and chronic liver fibrosis leading to cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. One uniqueness of HDV relies on its genome similarity to viroids, small plant infectious uncoated RNAs. Devoid of viral replicase activity, HDV has to use host DNA-dependant RNA Pol II to replicate its genomic RNA. Thus, one can ask how does this replication occur? We describe first here the major steps of the viral RNA transcription and replication and then we detail the role of the Small HD protein in these processes, especially with regard to the Pol II recruitment.

Liquid biopsy has emerged as a promising avenue for cancer screening. Several circulating biomarkers such as circulating DNA, circulating tumor cells, circulating microRNAs and others have shown promise for theragnostics and patient's monitoring. Early detection may help reduce cancer-related mortality and increase overall patient survival. Most cancer types lack specific biomarkers and despite intensive efforts in this area, the development of effective clinical screening techniques has been limited. The noninvasive nature of liquid biopsy represents an advantage over other approaches to define cancer biomarkers, particularly for the development of cancer screening tests. This review presents the various studies based on the analysis of liquid biopsy aiming to develop tests for cancer screening and early detection. So far, no test developed from liquid biopsy proves to be both specific and sensitive enough to be used as a universal screening test. However, the potential of this new approach appears more and more credible, given the recent developments of sophisticated multi-parametric methods.

Adenoid cystic carcinoma or cylindroma is a rare tumor of the trachea which arises from mucous secreting cells. Its evolution and growth are slow but it is often fatal in the absence of radical treatment. The latter relies on a surgical sleeve resection of the pathological area, with a tracheo-tracheal anastomosis. Therapeutic bronchoscopy plays a crucial role in the clinical improvement of patients before surgery which will be performed under better conditions. For inoperable patients, radiotherapy has proved its efficacy, unlike conventional chemotherapy. The finding of biomarkers expressed by tumor cells could lead to target therapies. This case report illustrates the efficient combination of therapeutic bronchoscopy and surgery for the treatment of adenoid cystic carcinoma affecting central airways.

The management of malignant brain metastases becomes a main issue for the treatment of patients, because of the survival extension related to the improvement in systemic treatments. Robotic stereotactic radiosurgery (RSR) is a new approach in this indication. The purpose of this analysis was to define the efficacy of RSR, in order to determine prognostic factors of survival and factors of response.

Microsatellite instability (MSI) is a predictive biomarker for the efficacy of immune checkpoint inhibitors, regardless of the tumor type. While clinical characteristics of MSI cancer patients have been largely described in tumor localizations frequently associated with this genetic phenotype (i.e. colorectal cancer, endometrial cancer), it remains poorly characterized in other neoplasms. Pan-tumor high-throughput genome sequence analyses have contributed to the broadening of knowledge about the landscape of MSI. This review aims at synthetizing the literature concerning the frequency of MSI status in solid cancers, according to the cancer stage and the hereditary or sporadic origin of the mismatch repair deficiency. We then check for other cancers frequently associated with MSI and describe the clinical and pathological characteristics that should suggest a MSI phenotype.

To study the epidemiology and histology of primary digestive cancers in semi-urban areas in Burkina Faso.

Lipomas are common benign mesenchymal tumors composed of mature fat cells that may or may not be surrounded by a thin fibrous capsule. Lipomas involving the fingers are extremely rare but must be taken into account in the differential diagnosis of benign soft tissue masses of unusual localization. We describe a case of digital periungual lipoma.

Gastrointestinal stromal tumors are uncommon mesenchymal tumors that very rarely occur in the rectum. They pose preoperative diagnostic and therapeutic problems. We report the case of retrorectal stromal tumor in order to highlight the clinical, radiological and therapeutic features of this rare entity.

NK/T-cell lymphoma is a severe and rare disorder in Africa and in Europe. Treatment is based on radiotherapy and chemotherapy. We here report two cases of elderly patients aged 55 years and 52 years, respectively, with bilateral nasal obstruction associated with purulent rhinorrhea. Clinical examination showed cleft palate. Diagnosis was made on the basis of immunohistochemical examination of biopsies. Both patients underwent CHOEP chemotherapy followed by radiotherapy. Nasal NK/T-cell lymphoma is an aggressive type of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma with specific clinicopathologic features. Combining chemotherapy with radiotherapy in patients with advanced stage of the disease does not seem to improve survival compared with radiotherapy alone, which is the treatment of choice especially for localized stages. Nasal NK/T-cell lymphoma is rare. Diagnosis is based on immunohistochemical examination. Treatment includes chemotherapy and radiotherapy. This lymphoma has a poor overall prognosis, even with appropriate therapy.

Angiokeratomas are vascular dilations (telangiectasic papules) with keratotic surface caused by capillary dilation in the dermal papilla due to venous hyperpression, vascular malformation or a capillary fragility. They most commonly are benign and just unsightly and they may sometimes reveal a dreaded overload disease known as Fabry Disease. Here we report the case of a 56-year old patient, with no notable medical history, presenting with nontraumatic, nonpruritic, bleeding on contact, grouped cluster erythematous papules without extracutaneous manifestations on the left malar region, that had occurred 4 months before. Diascopy revealed partially emptied papules with keratotic surface. Kaposi syndrome, melanoma, carcinoma or angiokeratoma were suspected. Histological examination revealed angiokeratoma. Treatment based on electrocoagulation was proposed to the patient.