Naso-Maxillary extramedullary plasmacytoma: A case report

We report an early case of extramedullary, right maxillary sinus and nasal, plasmacytoma. The patient was a 27 years old female who presented with nasal bleeding and a nasal mass. Imaging studies showed opacities in the nasal cavity and the maxillary sinus but there was no bone involvement.  A biopsy from the nasal mass showed a plasmacytoma. She was investigated to rule out systemic disease. The investigations included; serum electrophoresis, urine analysis for Bence Jones proteins, bone marrow aspirates study and radiological skeletal survey. The results of all investigations were negative. After complete excision of the tumour endoscopically the patient was treated with adjuvant radiotherapy. She remained well, without recurrence or spread of the tumour at 4 years follow up. CTscans pre and postoperatively as well as H&E and Immunohistochemistry slides are presented. To our knowledge, this is the first case to be reported in Sudan.                                                                   &nbsp

Association of Epstein - Barr virus and breast cancer in Eritrea

Abstract Background The oncogenic potential of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) in breast cancer is being increasingly recognized. Despite some controversies regarding such role, new evidence is suggesting a culpability of EBV in breast cancer, particularly in Africa where the virus has been originally associated with causation of several solid and hematological malignancies. One example is a report from Sudan implicating EBV as a prime etiologic agent for an aggressive type of breast cancer, where nearly 100% of tumor tissues were shown to carry viral signatures. To get a broader view on such association, other nearby countries should be investigated. The present study aims to determine the prevalence and possible associations of the virus in Eritrean breast cancer patients. Methods Detection of EBV genome using primers that target Epstein Barr Encoded RNA (EBER) gene and Latent Membrane Protein-1 (LMP-1) gene sequences was performed by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) on DNA samples extracted from 144 formalin fixed paraffin embedded breast cancer tissues and 63 non-cancerous breast tissue as control group. A subset of PCR positive samples was evaluated for EBER gene expression by in situ hybridization (ISH). Expression of Latent Membrane Protein-2a (LMP2a) was also assessed by immunohistochemistry in a subset of 45 samples. Results Based on PCR results, EBV genome signals were detected in a total of 40 samples (27.77%) as compared to controls (p-value = 0. 0031) with a higher sensitivity when using the EBER primers. Five out of the 14 samples stained by EBER-ISH 35.71% were positive for the virus indicating the presence of the viral genome within the tumor cells. Of those stained for IHC 7 (15.55%) were positive for LMP2a showing low viral protein frequency. Conclusions Based on these findings it can be concluded that EBV in Eritrea is associated with a smaller subset of tumors, unlike neighboring Sudan, thus pointing to possible differences in population predisposition and diseases epidemiology