Granular cell tumors of the breast: A report of two cases

Granular cell tumors (GCT) are rare neoplasms, and only 173 cases of benign GCT of the breast have been documented. We report herein the cases of two patients with this tumor and discuss the methods of diagnosis and treatment. The first patient was a 60-year-old woman who presented with a firm ill-defined mass in her left breast. Mammography showed a dense shadow with spicula and skin thickness, and ultrasonography revealed a hypoechoic mass with an irregular border. Radical mastectomy was performed under the wrong preoperative diagnosis of breast cancer. The second patient was a 31-year-old woman who presented with an elastic-hard mass in her left breast. Mammography showed a well-demarcated dense mass, and ultrasonography revealed a well-defined hypoechoic mass with a large depth-width ratio. Fine-needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) showed a large number of histiocytic cells with abundant granular cytoplasm. An excisional biopsy was performed, and histological examination confirmed a diagnosis of GCT. GCT is benign, but often misdiagnosed as breast cancer both clinically and radiologically. Therefore, histological examination is essential for making a correct diagnosis, while FNAC is also useful. Local resection is still the treatment of choice, and surgeons should do their utmost to avoid performing needless radical mastectomy.     

胃肠癌患者血清及癌组织癌胚抗原的检测意义

应用放射免疫测定法,对20例胃肠癌患者进行了血清癌胚抗原(CEA)测定,并应用免疫组化法对其中16例癌组织中的CEA进行了检测.检测结果,血清CEA阳性6例,癌组织CEA阳性9例.低分化癌的血清CEA显著高于高分化癌(P<0.05).血清CEA与癌灶部位、癌组织CEA与分化程度及血清CEA均无关(P>0.05).提示血清CEA的含量与癌组织的分化程度有关,血清CEA与癌组织内的CEA无平行关系.作者并对其机制及检测CEA的意义进行讨论.     

The neu-oncogene product in serum and tissue of patients with breast carcinoma

BACKGROUND:: A soluble 105 kD neu-related protein is detectable in conditionedmedium from breast cancer cells expressing the neu-oncogeneproduct and in serum of nude mice bearing tumors that overexpressneu-oncogene PATIENTS AND METHODS:: In 100 patients with primary (n - 33) relapse-free (n - 6) andmetastatic (n - 61) breast carcinoma the serum levels of thesoluble new-related protein were investigated by ELISA techniques.Median age was 57 years, range 26–89 years. RESULTS:: The neu-protein serum levels were below 40 HNU/ml (human neu-antigenunit) in 72 patients and 40 or more HNU/ml in 28 patients. In30 patients with primary breast carcinoma, tested before mastectomy,all serum- neu-protein samples were negative. However, 26 of61 metastazised patients (43%) were serum-neu-protein-positive.In disseminated disease (n – 61), serum-neu-protein-positivitywas more likely to be seen in patients with visceral metastases(18/33 – 54%), than in patients with nonvisceral metastases(8/28 – 28%). Furthermore, monitoring of the serum-neu-proteinlevels reflected clinical course. For 53 patients original paraffin-embeddedtumor material was available for studying immunohistochemicalneu-protein expression. In 39/53 (73%) patients immunohistochemicaland ELISA data showed corresponding results. In 27/30 (90%)patients, from whom sera and tissue could be obtained at thesame time at primary mastectomy, results of immunohistochemistryin primary tumor and serum ELISA were negative and mutuallyconfirmatory. However, the other three patients were positivefor immunohistochemical neu-protein expression in primary tumorbut negative for serum-neu-protein expression. CONCLUSIONS:: Our results suggest that patients with advanced breast cancerand an elevated serum-neu-protein level may have a poor clinicaloutcome. This test might be a useful tool for monitoring patientswith advanced breast carcinoma, but not those with early disease.Further prospective studies are warranted to elucidate the questionof whether this test can contribute to determining prognosisand treatment strategies. breast carcinoma, c-erb-B2, HER-2, neu, oncogene, pl85     

Immunoglobulin Gene Rearrangement in Plasma Cell Dyscrasias: Detection of Small Clonal Cell Populations in Peripheral Blood and Bone Marrow

The bone marrow (BM) and peripheral blood (PB) samples of 71 patients with plasma cell dyscrasias were analysed by the Southern blot technique for the presence of clonal immunoglobulin (Ig) gene rearrangements. 53% of BM samples examined were archival material such as air dried BM slides or frozen trephine biopsies. The results were related to bone marrow plasmacytosis as determined by cytology and flow cytometry, and other clinical parameters. Clonal Ig gene rearrangements were found in BM samples of 45 (83%) of 54 MM patients and in 3 of 6 patients with monoclonal gammopathy of unknown significance (MGUS). Clonal cell populations in the PB were detected in 11 (30%) of 37 examined MM patients, but in none of the patients with MGUS or solitary plasmacytoma of bone. PB involvement was associated with progressive disease. Circulating monoclonal cells were significantly associated with higher M-protein levels (p 0.05). Thus, circulating clonal precursor cells are encountered more frequently in active MM.     

Interruption of pulmonary arterial flow with inadequate ventilation leads to pulmonary infarction

We examined the effect of interruption of pulmonary arterial flow and inadequate ventilation on the development of pulmonary infarction in rats. Pulmonary arterial flow was blocked by the injection of agar into the inferior vena cava and inadequate ventilation was produced by obstructing the left main bronchus with a polypropylene tip. Histological and angiographic examination of the lung demonstrated that: pulmonary artery embolism alone does not induce pulmonary infarction; obstruction of a bronchus does not induce significant changes, but that pulmonary infarction develops when pulmonary artery embolism and obstruction of a bronchus occur simultaneously. It has been thought that pulmonary infarction is caused by acute obstruction of a pulmonary artery, however, the alveolar walls are supplied with oxygen by both the pulmonary circulation and by ventilation. Interruption of pulmonary arterial flow alone is probably not sufficient to induce pulmonary infarction, which is probably caused by deficiency of oxygen supply to the alveolar walls by a synergy between interruption of pulmonary arterial flow and inadequate ventilation.     

人心房肌细胞特殊颗粒的电镜酶细胞化学和免疫电镜研究

本研究应用电镜CMP酶细胞化学和心钠素免疫电镜胶体金,分别标记人心房肌细胞中初级溶酶体和心钠素,进行鉴别定位观察和定量分析。心钠素颗粒数量居多,占78.7～79.3％,大小均一,直径0.20±0.05μm(x±s),分布于整个细胞质内,多成簇,尤以肌膜下,核极区多见。而溶酶体大小不一,直径0.30±0.19μm(x±s),显著大于心钠素颗粒(P<0.001),一般在核极区成簇分布,也见肌原纤维之间和肌膜下单个散在分布。     

The Istituto Rizzoli-Beretta experience with osteosarcoma of the jaw

Twenty-eight osteosarcomas (OS) of the jaw were reported. There were 15 male and 13 female patients (age range, 9 to 68 years; mean, 36.9 years); 57.1% of the patients were older than 30 years of age. Swelling was the most frequent symptom; it was reported on an average of 6 months before diagnosis. Most of the tumors of the maxilla (eight patients) occurred in the alveolar ridge (six of eight). In the mandible (20 patients), the body was the preferred site (11 of 20). Radiographically most of the lesions were either lytic and sclerotic or only lytic. Histologically, 12 cases (42.9%) were osteoblastic osteosarcoma, ten (35.8%) were chondroblastic, four (14.3%) were fibroblastic, and two (7%) were round cell OS. Of the 28 cases, three (10.7%) were low grade, and 25 (89.3%) were high grade. Thirteen patients had intralesional surgery, and 13 had marginal surgery as their initial treatment. Recurrence was the rule in the first group, and it was 69% in the second group. Twenty patients (71%) died, and eight are alive. Of these, two are alive with disease. In the six patients who are alive and disease-free, all but one had marginal to wide surgical margins at the time of the first procedure or wide margins at the time of the recurrences along with chemotherapy or radiation therapy. In the patient in which the surgical margins were marginal, the lesion was small 2.5 X 2 cm. This patient was alive without evidence of disease after 9 years of follow-up.     

Representativity of endomyocardial biopsies: a theoretical approach based on quantitative light microscopy

To create a model for studying the regional variation in the histologic structure of left ventricular myocardium and the representativity of samples from endomyocardium in predicting the state of myocardium as a whole, 12 human hearts (3 normal and 9 pathological) were investigated with histoquantitative methods. Ten small endomyocardial areas representing biopsy sites (mean area on section 0.94 mm2) were delineated from each heart. The volume fractions of myocardial fibers (VVMY), interstitial space (VVINT) and connective tissue (VVCT) were determined with a point counting method on these areas. Also the mean fiber diameter was measured. The results were compared with the results from three full thickness samples (mean area 3 cm2) from each heart. The values for fiber diameter estimates were almost identical in endomyocardial samples and full thickness samples. On the other hand, VVCT was significantly higher and VVMY lower in endomyocardial samples. The coefficient of variation (10 endomyocardial areas) was 8.3% for fiber diameter, 17.8% for VVMY and 77.5% for VVCT. When estimates of the regional variation within the heart area are available, it is possible to create a model for the prediction of the number of endomyocardial biopsies needed to reach a given accuracy and probability of measurements. The representativity and clinical value of endomyocardial biopsies are discussed on the basis of this statistical approach.