Extreme Idiopathic gigantomastia

Gigantomastia is a rare mastopathy of unknown cause. Due to mechanical and psychological complications related to excessive breast weights and volume, effective surgical treatment is required. Most cases of gigantomastia in the literature are associated with pregnancy or puberty and very rare cases of spontaneous gigantomastia have been reported We report a 38 years old woman with an idiopathic gigantomastia treated successfully with Thorek technique

Clinicopathological and therapeutic features of metaplastic carcinoma of the breast: a study of 15 cases

Background: Metaplastic carcinoma of the breast is a rare entity containing a mixture of malignant epithelial and mesenchymal elements. The World Health Organization only recognized it as a distinct pathological entity since 2000. The aim of this study is to better characterize this rare disease.Methods: We reviewed retrospectively 15 cases of metaplastic carcinoma of the breast treated in our institute between 1994 and 2015. We analyzed clinical, histological, therapeutic and evolutive data.Results: All patients were females ranging from 29 to 75 years old (median, 50). Tumor size ranged from 20 to 150 mm (median, 72 mm). The Treatment consisted of radical mastectomy in 14 cases, often combined with post-operative radiation and/or chemotherapy. There were 8 cases of carcinosarcoma, 4 cases of spindle cell carcinoma and 3 cases of squamous cell carcinoma. Follow-up data were available on 12 patients. The median follow-up was 47 months (range, 10 to 146 months). Definitive nodal metastases were identified in 6 cases. One patient developed a local recurrence. Extranodal metastases occurred in 3 patients. Three patients died at median interval of 20 months (range, 13-30). Eight patients were alive with no evidence of recurrent or metastatic disease (median, 47 months) and one patient was alive with metastatic disease.Conclusions: Based on this series, metaplastic breast carcinoma is characterized by a large tumor size at presentation, a low frequency of nodal metastases and a high proportion of triple negativity. Our series is consistent with the literature

Clinicopathologic and Prognostic Significance of Gelatinase A in Tunisian Colorectal Cancer: A Case-Control Study.

International audienceMatrix metalloproteinase-2 (gelatinase A) is a well-known mediator of cancer metastasis, but it is also thought to be involved in several aspects of cancer development, including cell growth and inflammation. In the present study, we investigate whether MMP-2 SNP, MMP-2 mRNAs, and MMP-2 protein are associated with the susceptibility to colorectal cancer in the Tunisian population. The TaqMan allele discrimination assay and DNA sequencing techniques were used for genotyping; MMP-2 expression of each genotype was analyzed by semiquantitative RT-PCR, and MMP-2 protein expression was analyzed by immunohistochemistry staining. Our result showed that the levels of MMP-2 mRNA expression in patients containing the CC genotype were much higher compared with cells with the CT genotype. The frequency of the MMP-2 CC genotype was significantly higher in colorectal cancer patients when compared with controls (OR=1.94; 95% CI, 1.117-3.680). A higher intensity of staining of MMP-2 was observed in regions of invasion of the muscularis mucosa compared with superficial portions of the tumor. In addition, we found a significant progressive increase in total MMP-2 plasma levels with progression from adenomatous polyps through advancing Dukes stages (P=0.0001). Our data suggest that MMP-2 may be associated with colorectal cancer development and invasion in the Tunisian population; moreover, SNP and levels of MMP-2 could be a predictive value for colorectal cancer prevention and invasiveness

Extreme Idiopathic gigantomastia

Gigantomastia is a rare mastopathy of unknown cause. Due to mechanical and psychological complications related to excessive breast weights and volume, effective surgical treatment is required. Most cases of gigantomastia in the literature are associated with pregnancy or puberty and very rare cases of spontaneous gigantomastia have been reported We report a 38 years old woman with an idiopathic gigantomastia treated successfully with Thorek technique

Inferior vena cava leiomyosarcoma: vascular reconstruction is not always mandatory

Leiomyosarcoma (LMS) of inferior vena cava is a rare and aggressive tumor, arising from the smooth muscle cells in the vessel wall. A large complete surgical resection is the essential treatment. The need of vascular reconstruction is not always mandatory. It’s above all to understand the place of the reconstruction with artificial vascular patch prosthetics of vena cave after a large resection of the tumor. We rapport two cases of LMS of inferior vena cava in two women who underwent successful large resection of tumor and lower segment of inferior vena cava. In first case, reconstruction of the inferior vena cava was not performed because of the development of venous collaterals derivation. In the second case reconstruction was done using Dacron interposition graft. The necessity of a large resection in management of primary leiomyosarcoma of vena cave makes sometimes unavoidable the sacrifice of a portion of the vena. Indeed, a better comprehension of the development of venous derivation may render unnecessary the reconstruction.The Pan African Medical Journal. 2016;24

Tumor DNA hypomethylation of LINE-1 is associated with low tumor grade of breast cancer in Tunisian patients

International audienceDNA hypomethylation of long interspersed repetitive DNA retrotransposon (LINE‑1) and Alu repeats elements of short interspersed elements family (SINEs) is an early event in carcinogenesis that causes transcriptional activation and leads to chromosomal instability. In the current study, DNA methylation levels of LINE‑1 and Alu repeats were analyzed in tumoral tissues of invasive breast cancer in a Tunisian cohort and its association with the clinicopathological features of patients was defined. DNA methylation of LINE‑1 and Alu repeats were analyzed using pyrosequencing in 61 invasive breast cancers. Median values observed for DNA methylation of LINE‑1 and Alu repeats were considered as the cut‑off (59.81 and 18.49%, respectively). The results of the current study demonstrated a positive correlation between DNA methylation levels of LINE‑1 and Alu repeats (rho=0.284; P<0.03). DNA hypomethylation of LINE‑1 was also indicated to be associated with low grade (P=0.023). To the best of our knowledge, the current study is the first study regarding DNA methylation of LINE‑1 and Alu repeats element in breast cancer of the Tunisian population. The results of the current study suggest that, since hypomethylation of LINE‑1 is associated with low grade, it could be used as a biomarker for prognosis for patients with breast cancer