Primary cutaneous apocrine carcinoma of sweat glands: a rare case report

Cutaneous apocrine gland carcinoma, a subtype of sweat gland carcinoma, is a very rare malignancy, and only few cases have been reported in the literature. Many of these carcinomas are indolent and slowly developing, but some are rapidly progressive. The treatment of choice is wide local excision with clear margins, with or without lymph node dissection. We report a case of a 67-year-old man who came to our hospital with an ulcerated nodule in the right axilla measuring 1 × 0.8 cm. Histological evaluation showed features of an apocrine gland carcinoma arising in an area of high apocrine gland density.     

Bilateral primary breast lymphoma--case report

Primary lymphoma of the breast is an uncommon malignant breast tumor which is seldom distinguished preoperatively from other more common forms of breast cancer. Bilateral breast lymphoma affects younger women especially during pregnancy or postpartum. We report a case of a 55-year-old woman who was admitted to our hospital with painless bilateral breast enlargement. A bilateral radical mastectomy with bilateral axillary lymph node dissection was performed. The histology of the surgical specimen was non-Hodgkin's malignant lymphoma of the diffused large B cell type. Most of the neoplastic cells resembled large centrocytes and sometimes blast cells showing some degree of plasmacytoid differentiation. Foci with a sufficient number of immunoblasts were also noted. The patient was also found to have a bilateral axillary lymph node metastasis. After additional clinical and laboratory screening, there was no other evidence of lymphatic disease at other sites. The patient was submitted to the anticancer hospital for further treatment. She was free of recurrence two years after surgery. The rarity of the disease, lack of uniform classification and variable treatment modalities make prognostic predictions of breast lymphoma difficult.     

Synchronous Primary Adenocarcinoma and Ancient Schwannoma in the Colon: An Unusual Case Report

Gastrointestinal schwannomas are uncommon stromal tumors of the intestinal tract and colon schwannomas are extremely rare. We report a rare case of ascending colon schwannoma with associated synchronous adenocarcinoma of the sigmoid colon. A 68-year-old man presented with a 20-day history of bleeding per rectum. Colonoscopy revealed a mass of 4.2 cm in diameter with endoluminal protrusion in the sigmoid colon and a second submucosal tumor in the ascending colon. Surgical intervention was suggested and ileo-hemicolectomy was done. Microscopically, the submucosal tumor of 4 cm in diameter showed features of schwannoma with degenerative change (ancient schwannoma). Lesional cells were positive for S100p and negative for actin, desmin, CD34, CD117, and pankeratin. The mass showed features of an invasive moderately differentiated adenocarcinoma. Colon schwannoma is a rare submucosal tumor, and the incidental occurrence with adenocarcinoma has not been well described in the literature.Key words: Schwannoma, Ancient schwannoma, Gastrointestinal tract, Adenocarcinoma     

Chondrosarcoma of the Proximal Phalanx of the Fourth Digit: A Rare Location

Introduction

Cartilaginous tumors involving the small bones of the hands and feet are usually benign such as enchondroma, chondromyxoid fibroma and chondroblastoma. The small bones of the hands and feet are rarely involved by primary chondrosarcoma. Proximal phalanges are the most common sites in the hands, but the fourth digit is the least common site.

Case Presentation

We report a case of a 76-year-old Greek female who presented to our hospital with a painful swollen mass measuring 4.5 × 2.6 cm on the fourth digit of the left hand. The radiograph showed a destructive, permeative lytic tumor of the proximal phalanx with extension into soft tissue. The patient underwent curettage, and the microscopic examination of the specimen revealed grade 2 chondrosarcoma.

Conclusion

Cartilaginous tumors involving the small bones of the hands and feet are usually benign such as enchondroma, chondromyxoid fibroma and chondroblastoma. Primary chondrosarcoma is the third most common malignancy of bone after myeloma and osteosarcoma, but the small bones of the hands and feet are very rarely involved by chondrosarcoma (1% of all chondrosarcoma). However, in these cases differentiation between a benign lesion and chondrosarcoma may be difficult. Occasionally chondrosarcoma of the hands and feet is associated with multiple recurrences or distal metastasis.Key Words: Chondrosarcomas, Small bones of the hands and feet, Secondary chondrosarcoma of the small bones     

Fibromatosis presenting as acute mastoiditis: a case report

We describe the case of a middle-aged man who presented with manifestations of acute mastoiditis caused by fibromatosis of the mastoid region. A lesion of the right mastoid bone had eroded its wall and extended toward the middle and posterior cranial fossae. The macroscopic and microscopic appearance of an excised portion of the lesion established the diagnosis of mastoid fibromatosis. After a more detailed work-up, a second procedure involving extensive removal of the tumor was performed, and the diagnosis was confirmed. The patient's postoperative period was uneventful, and he showed no evidence of recurrence during 3 years of follow-up.     

An unusual case of unilateral malignant leydig cell tumour of the testis

Leydig cell tumour is a benign testicular non-germ cell tumour, and malignant transformation is rare. We report a case of a 35-year-old man who came to our hospital with a painless left testicular mass measuring 1.2 × 1 cm. Histological evaluation of the tumour showed features of a malignant Leydig cell tumour but no infiltration beyond the capsule or metastasis. The small size of the tumour was remarkable.     

Solitary colonic neurofibroma in a patient with transient segmental colitis： Case report

Neurofibromas of the large bowel are very rare and usually are part of the colonic involvement in neurofibromatosis type 1 (Nfl, von Recklinghausen's disease). Solitary neurofibromas of the colon are extremely rare. We describe a case of an isolated neurofibroma that was found in the large bowel of a patient who suffered from segmental colitis and presented with bloody diarrhea. A review of the literature is also included, concerning the disclosure of isolated neurofibromas in the gut and other body parts and the type of gastrointestinal involvement in von Recklinghausen's disease.     

Proliferative Activity in Colonic Adenomas as a Predictor of Metachronous Adenomas as Assessed by Proliferating Cell Nuclear Antigen Immunohistochemistry

Objectives : The aim of this study was to determine whether cell proliferation in colonic adenomas, as estimated by proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA), predicts the development of metachronous colonic adenomas. Methods : Forty patients who underwent prior endoscopic polypectomy for colonic adenomas were reevaluated by colonoscopy 2 yr later. The expression of PCNA was studied in all adenomas that were removed. A five-point semiquantitative scale of 1–5 was used to estimate the PCNA score by the percentage of positively stained cells. Results : Among the 40 patients studied, 16 developed recurrent adenomas (group A) and 24 were free of adenomas (group B). At initial colonoscopy, a total number of 51 adenomas (25 in group A and 26 in group B), were found. The median PCNA score in group A and group B index adenomas was 4 (interquartile range, 3–5) and 2 (interquartile range, 1–3), respectively ( p < 0.01, Mann-Whitney U-test). A stepwise logistic regression analysis showed that PCNA score is a significant risk factor ( p = 0.007, odds ratio 15.8, 95% confidence interval 2.2–112.4) in predicting adenoma recurrence. The median PCNA score in metachronous adenomas was 2 (interquartile range, 1–3). The difference in the PCNA score between group A index and metachronous adenomas was again statistically significant ( p < 0.01, Mann-Whitney U-test). Conclusions : We conclude that the increased expression of PCNA in colonic adenomas may be a predictor for metachronous adenomas.