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ABSTRACT: Aim: The aim of this study was to assess both the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) protein expression by immunohistochemistry and the EGFR gene amplification by fluorescence in situ hybridization in meningiomas of different grade, in order to evaluate their possible role in the development of the disease. EGFR protein belongs to the family of tyrosine kinase growth factor receptors, which also includes HER2, HER3 and HER4. Elevated expression or activity of EGFR has been reported in several cancers, including brain tumours. EGFR activation can enhance the malignant potential of epithelial tissues. Methods: We investigated whether there was a difference in the EGFR protein expression and the EGFR gene amplification between the so called de novo malignant meningiomas and recurrent meningiomas with or without malignant progression from a previously lower grade tumor. Our goal was to evaluate if EGFR expression was a useful marker to select patients affected by meningioma with a major risk of recurrences. We also assessed the prognostic value of the EGFR expression on overall survival. Results: Progression from benign meningiomas to atypical or anaplastic meningiomas correlated with an increase in the expression of EGFR protein. Our study shows that EGFR immunostaining in meningiomas directly correlates to the tumor's grade. The EGFR expression did not correlate with the overall survival and the recurrence-free survival of the patients affected by meningioma (de novo, recurrent and progressed). Conclusion: We submit that the EGFR expression is not a useful prognostic element to identify patients with a major risk of meningioma recurrence.
Journal of neurosurgical sciences 03/2013; · 0.40 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: Osteoblastoma is a solitary, benign bone tumor that is rarely localized in the frontal sinus. It consists of hypocellular mineralized tissue that may form large masses or irregular trabeculae. A 31 year old man came to our attention with a 7 month history of diplopia, photophobia, frontal headhaches and progressive exophthalmos with proptosis of the left eye. The patient was submitted to computed tomography (CT) which allowed to appraise the extension of the lesion. The mass expanded inside the left frontal sinus and the upper ethmoidal cells invading the left orbital roof. Considering the extension of the tumor, the site and the connections with contiguous structures, a combination of endoscopic endonasal technique with intraorbital approach was performed. At histological examination typical features of benign osteoblastoma were observed. The sites of predilection for the tumor are the long bones, vertebral column, and small bones of hands and feet. Its occurrence in the skull and jaw bones is relatively rare and represents only 15% of all osteoblastomas. To our knowledge, only 5 cases of osteoblastoma of the frontal sinus have been previously reported in the English-language literature. This report describes a case of benign osteoblastoma in a rare site, namely, the frontal sinus with particular attention about the differential diagnosis and the treatment.
European review for medical and pharmacological sciences 11/2012; 16(13):1891-4. · 1.04 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: Gallbladder metastasis of breast cancer are rare, particularly linked to lobular histotype and synchronous just in 1/4 cases. A review of the literature has been performed aimed to evidence the patterns of gallbladder metastases of breast cancer finding 15 cases to whom we added a 48 years old post-menopausal woman. 3 weeks after surgery for mixed ductal-lobular breast carcinoma she showed at the abdominal ultrasound, performed for staging, diffuse thickening of the gallbladder wall , coherent with a chronic cholecystitis and with the mild right-upper-abdominal pain that the patient complained in the last months. After laparoscopic cholecystectomy, the pathology report showed a metastatic lobular carcinoma of the breast. Two years later she presented with SNC metastases and died four months later. Lobular histotype is the most frequent breast neoplasm associated with gallbladder metastases. Usually metachronous, these metastases are sinchronous in 28% of cases. Symptoms are usually linked to coexisting acute or cronic cholecystitis. Rarely massive invasions lead to acute abdomen or jaundice. Imaging is rarely diagnostic for neoplasm. Our experience and data from literature lead to careful evaluate every anomaly observed in breast cancer patients. A careful evaluation of abdominal symptoms and of routine imaging examinations performed for staging and for treatment planning, could consent to detect and radically treat the metastases and appropriately assign the chemotherapy. Such approach can lead to discrete survival even in these unfortunate patients. Surgeons and gastroenterologists should be aware of the risk hidden behind apparently benign, mild diseases in such patients.
La Clinica terapeutica 09/2011; 162(5):451-6. · 0.27 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: Osteocartilaginous metaplasia in lipomas is rare and mainly encountered in large-sized, long-standing lipomas. This entity can be found at almost any site of the body, particularly in the soft tissues of the skeletal system, breast, pharynx, and nasopharynx. We describe a case of lipoma with osteochondroid metaplasia in a 65-year-old woman with an indolent lesion, and discuss differential diagnoses.
Pathologica 02/2010; 102(1):28-9.
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ABSTRACT: The mechanisms underlying duodenal ulcer (DU) recurrence after endoscopically confirmed healing are unclear. We sought to examine histologic differences in healing induced by omeprazole and nizatidine. This also entailed assessing interobserver variation in endoscopic diagnosis and the correlation between endoscopic and histomorphologic healing. We treated 31 DU patients for 4 weeks with either omeprazole (20 mg daily a.m.) or nizatidine (300 mg twice daily). The healing rates of both groups showed no significant differences (86.7% versus 81.2%; p = 0.5). Good mucosal repair rates did not differ significantly (38.5% versus 69.2% respectively; p = 0.5). Endoscopists' agreement over scar type was 0.80, with the chance of agreement 0.70 (k = 0.34 ± -0.08). The correlation between macroscopic and histologic appearance of scars was fair, but fully significant (r = 0.48; p < 0.05). We conclude that the study was too small to detect significant differences in healing patterns between the two drugs. The wide variation in endoscopic diagnosis suggests that mucosal repair is best assessed by histologic examination of biopsy samples.
Scandinavian journal of gastroenterology. Supplement 07/2009; 29(s206):20-24.
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ABSTRACT: We report a case of a 66-year-old man with a simultaneous leiomyoma and contralateral smooth muscle hyperplasia of the epididymis. The left nodule showed characteristics of a benign leiomyoma consisting in the homogeneous proliferation of smooth muscle with a typical pattern of interlacing fascicles of spindled smooth muscle cells showing no mitotic activity. The right nodule was made up of bundles of smooth muscle, growing in a perivascular and interstitial pattern, without the homogeneous aspect of contralateral leiomyomatous tumours. The latter finding suggested non-neoplastic hyperplasia of the smooth muscle fibres of the epididymis. At 6 months after surgery, ultrasound of the scrotum showed no evidence of recurrent lesions.
Pathologica 06/2009; 101(3):119-22.
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ABSTRACT: We describe the case of an 18-year-old girl with an oligodendroglioma arising in an immature ovarian teratoma. The oligodendroglioma, which closely involved the cystic teratoma, was moderately cellular, composed of monomorphic cells with uniform round nuclei and perinuclear halos with a characteristic "fried-egg" appearance. Rare microcalcifications and a dense network of branching capillaries with a chicken-wire appearance were also observed. By immunohistochemistry, tumour cells showed positivity for S-100, but were negative for GFAP, synaptophysin and neuro-specific enolase. The patient is free of disease on follow-up examination at 24 months.
Pathologica 11/2008; 100(5):420-3.
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ABSTRACT: We report a case of a 29-year-old male patient with a respiratory epithelial adenomatoid hamartoma (REAH) of the nasal cavity. REAH is a polypoid proliferation of glandular spaces lined by ciliated epithelium and goblet cells in the upper aerodigestive tract. Although REAHs are benign lesions, they may be confused with a variety of other pathologies such as inflammatory polyps, inverted Schneiderian papillomas and low-grade sinonasal adenocarcinomas. The recognition of this entity is important as complete excision is curative.
Pathologica 07/2008; 100(3):185-8.
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ABSTRACT: The thyroid-associated transcription factor-1 (TTF-1) is a nuclear tissue specific protein, found only in thyroid and thyroid tumors regardless of histologic type as well as in lung carcinomas. Most ectopic thyroid tissue are found along the thyroglossal duct tract and around the bilateral main lobes of thyroid glands. Ectopic thyroid tissue within a branchial cleft cyst is a rare abnormality and papillary carcinoma arising in this tissue is extremely rare. Thyroid tissue may also be found as one of the many components of teratoma, particularly those located in the ovary. The aim of this study is to evaluate, through immunohistochemistry, the expression of TTF-1 in branchial cleft cysts with ectopic normal thyroid tissue, in primary thyroid papillary carcinomas of branchial cleft cysts and thyroglossal duct cysts and in struma ovarii, in order to evaluate the expression of this antigen in extra thyroidal sites.
Pathologica 01/2007; 98(6):640-4.
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Histopathology 09/2006; 49(2):211-4. · 3.08 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: Malignant lateral cervical cysts can be related to metastatic tumors or rarely to primary thyroid carcinoma arising in branchial cleft cysts. This study evaluates the expression of thyroid-associated transcription factor-1 (TTF-1) and p63 in three branchial cleft cysts and in two primary thyroid papillary carcinoma of branchial cleft cysts. TTF-1 was negative in the nuclei of the lining epithelia of branchial cleft cysts, but positive in the adjacent normal thyroid tissue, while TTF-1 was positive in the nuclei of the lining epithelia and in the nuclei of the papillae and follicles in branchial cleft cysts with ectopic thyroid carcinoma. P63 was positive in the nuclei of the lining epithelia of branchial cleft cysts, but negative in the adjacent normal thyroid tissue. Papillary thyroid carcinoma of branchial cleft cysts displayed p63-positive foci. In conclusion, our results demonstrate that TTF-1 cannot distinguish between primary and metastatic tumors of branchial cleft cysts. The detection of p63 in papillary thyroid carcinomas of branchial cleft cysts could suggest that p63 contributes to the onset of this tumor. It is really important to evaluate if the case has a metastatic derivation or represents papillary thyroid carcinoma arising in ectopic thyroid tissue in a branchial cleft cyst.
Archiv für Pathologische Anatomie und Physiologie und für Klinische Medicin 08/2006; 449(1):129-33. · 2.49 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: The coexistence of gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs) and pregnancy is very rare. We are the first to add to the literature a case report of GIST occurring during pregnancy with immunohistochemical staining for epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) and progesterone receptor (PgR). A role of PgR and EGFR in tumor growth should not be excluded, and these findings indicate that the expression of these receptors could provide pertinent biological information required to determine adequate therapeutic regimens. In conclusion, considering that GIST occurring during pregnancy is a rare event, with frequent delay in diagnosis, it is important to consider this diagnosis for early recognition, correct diagnosis, and a better outcome.
Pathology - Research and Practice 02/2006; 202(2):119-23. · 1.21 Impact Factor
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L Lo Muzio,
A Santarelli,
R Caltabiano,
C Rubini,
T Pieramici,
A Fior,
L Trevisiol,
F Carinci,
R Leonardi,
P Bufo, S Lanzafame,
A Piattelli
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ABSTRACT: A total of 123 cases of odontogenic cysts, distributed as follows: 30 follicular (FC), 35 radicular (RC), 53 keratocysts, 1 glandular odontogenic and 4 calcifying odontogenic cysts, were analysed by immunohistochemistry for expression of p63, a component of p53 protein family. In RCs p63 positivity was not only in basal and parabasal layers but also in the intermediate layer and about 1/3 of cases displayed a percentage of stained cells comprised between 0 and <5%, and about 2/3 between >5% and <50%. In FCs positivity was confined to basal and parabasal layers of the epithelium and in the majority of FCs the stained cells were comprised between 0 and <5%. OKCs displayed the most intense and diffuse p63 labeling. In conclusion, these data suggest that p63 expression may be useful to identify cysts type with more aggressive and invasive phenotype supporting the hypothesis of a suprabasal proliferative compartment in OKCs.
International Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery 10/2005; 34(6):668-73. · 1.51 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: Ganglioneuromas may occur in the small and large intestine as either solitary lesions or, more commonly, as multiple lesions (ganglioneuromatosis). The former are very rare, whereas ganglioneuromatosis may be associated with von Recklinghausen's disease and multiple endocrine neoplasia (MEN) type II B. We described the clinicopathologic features of a case of solitary polypoid ganglioneuroma of the ileocecal valve. The lesion was endoscopically diagnosed in a 27 year old man, with a history of abdominal pain. No association with von Reckling-hausen's disease or MEN was identified. Mutational analysis for RET was negative. Microscopically, the tumor consisted of a proliferation of well differentiated Schwann cells and ganglion cells in the lamina propria. The solitary polipoid ganglioneuroma is invariably benign. It shows no evidence of recurrence after total excision.
Pathologica 08/2003; 95(4):192-5.
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ABSTRACT: A case of T12-L2 intraspinal extradural meningeal mesenchymal chondrosarcoma is described in a patient presenting with a clinical history of low-back pain and weakness of the lower limbs. Magnetic resonance T1-weighted Gadolinium enhanced imaging, showed an intraspinal extradural mass, extending from T12 to L2, located anterolaterally into the spinal canal and pushing posteriorly the conus medullaris. The mass was completely removed and postoperative histological diagnosis was of mesenchymal chondrosarcoma. The patient was completely symptoms-free after surgery. Intraspinal meningeal mesenchymal chondrosarcoma and treatment options are reviewed.
Journal of neurosurgical sciences 07/2003; 47(2):107-10. · 0.40 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: We describe the clinical, radiological and pathological features of a series of six cases of primary fibromatosis of the breast. Most patients (5 of 6) were women of 22-58 years of age; one case occurred in a 47-year-old man. The fibromatosis of the breast in all cases presented as a monolateral solid nodule, clinically suspicious for malignancy and in three cases was also associated with cutaneous and/or nipple retraction. None of the patients was affected by any genetic disorder characterized by fibromatoses involving multiple sites, including breast. Both echographic and mammographic examinations revealed solid masses with irregular margins but without calcifications, mimicking scirrhous carcinoma. All cases were surgically treated by lumpectomy (4 of 6) or quadrantectomy (2 of 6), and after a follow-up period ranging from 5 months to 13 years all patients are well and disease-free. Histological examination revealed finger-like infiltrating margins entrapping adjacent breast parenchyma and adipose tissue in all cases. The hallmark of the lesion was the presence of bland-looking spindle cells, with a low mitotic index, organized in long sweeping and intersecting fascicles. Three different morphological phases (i.e. proliferative, involutional and residual), identical to those observed in Dupuytren's superficial fibromatosis, variably coexisted in each case. At immunohistochemistry the cells which comprised the lesion exhibited a diffuse expression of vimentin and a heterogeneous immunoreactivity to a-smooth muscle actin, thus confirming their fibro-myofibroblastic nature. No expression of estrogen, progesterone or androgen receptors or of pS2 correlated-estrogen protein was observed. We discuss both the pathogenesis of the mammary fibromatosis, pointing to the fibroblastic cells of the mammary stroma as the putative precursors, and the differential diagnosis versus the bland-looking, monomorphic spindle cell tumor-like or tumorous lesions of the breast.
Pathologica 11/2002; 94(5):238-46.
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ABSTRACT: Riassunto. Vengono descritti gli aspetti clinici,radiologici e patologici di sei casi di fibromatosi primitiva della mammella (FM). La maggior parte dei pazienti (5/6) era rappresentata da donne di et compresa tra i 22 ed i 58 anni, mentre soltanto un caso si riferiva ad un paziente di sesso maschile di 47 anni. Clinicamente i soggetti colpiti presentavano un nodulo solido, monolaterale, di consistenza dura, a margini mal definiti. In tre casi, si associava anche retrazione cutanea e/o del capezzolo. Nessun caso osservato rientrava in un contesto di patologia sindromica, in cui prevista l'insorgenza di fibromatosi a localizzazione multipla. All'esame ecografico e mammografico i noduli simulavano un carcinoma scirroso, presentandosi come masse solide a margini irregolari, ma senza calcificazioni. Tutti i casi sono stati trattati chirurgicamente con nodulectomia (4/6) o quadrantectomia (2/6). Al follow-up variabile da 5 mesi a 13 anni non si osservata sinora nessuna recidiva. Istologicamente tutti i casi mostravano margini infiltrativi di aspetto stellato, che si estendevano al parenchima mammario e al tessuto adiposo circostante. Gli aspetti pi caratteristici erano la presenza di cellule fusate di aspetto blando, con basso indice mitotico, organizzate in lunghi fasci intersecantesi tra loro. In tutti i casi, si osserv una variabile coesistenza delle tre fasi morfologiche gi individuate nelle fibromatosi superficiali tipo Dupuytren: fase proliferativa, involutiva e residua. La natura fibro-miofibroblastica delle cellule fu confermata da una diffusa espressione di vimentina e da una eterogenea espressione di -actina muscolare liscia. Non si evidenzi espressione dei recettori per gli estrogeni, per il progesterone e per gli androgeni, n della proteina estrogeno-correlata pS2. In questo articolo discutiamo la patogenesi della fibromatosi mammaria, indicando come presunti precursori morfologici le cellule stromali inter- e intra-lobulari, ed affrontiamo le problematiche di diagnostica differenziale con le lesioni mammarie similtumorali e tumorali, benigne e maligne, a cellule fusate di aspetto blando e monomorfo con cui la fibromatosi pu essere facilmente confusa.
Pathologica 09/2002; 94(5):238-246.
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ABSTRACT: The authors report the case of a 26-year-old female patient affected by Lhermitte Duclos disease and Cowden disease. Preoperative MRI allowed a correct diagnosis which was confirmed by pathological examination. The authors stress the possibility that Lhermitte Duclos and Cowden disease be a single phakomatosis; for this reason all the patients affected by Lhermitte-Duclos should be screened for the presence of multiple hamartomas or malignant neoplastic lesions typical of Cowden disease.
Journal of neurosurgical sciences 01/2001; 44(4):234-7. · 0.40 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: We report a rare case of a localized fibrosis of the corpus cavernosum (CC) presenting as a nodular mass in the dorsal region of the penis without abnormal curvature of the organ. Histological and immunohistochemical examination revealed a fibrotic process, involving CC but not tunica albuginea, arising from the smooth muscle cells of the vascular channels. Two different morphological phases were identified in these vascular lesions: proliferative and residual phase. The proliferative phase was characterized by hyperplasia and moderate fibrous thickness of the smooth muscle layer of the vascular channels of CC, resulting with the formation of concentric perivascular cuffs and nodules. The residual phase was characterized by a progressive nodular fibrotic transformation with narrowing of the original vascular channels and replacement of the normal CC structures. The cells of this phase exhibited an immunophenotype of both fibroblasts (vimentin+; alpha-smooth muscle actin-) and myofibroblasts (vimentin+; alpha-smooth muscle actin+). The clinicopathological features of the lesion and histogenetic considerations are discussed.
Urologia Internationalis 02/2000; 64(3):173-7. · 0.99 Impact Factor
