Molecular pathology of endometrial carcinoma and its histopathological correlations. Beyond a dualistic vision

Endometrial cancer (EC) accounts for about 4% of all female cancers and affects mainly postmenopausal women, representing a constantly growing disease especially in Western countries. Traditionally considered an indolent disease treated by surgery, it shows heterogeneous histological types, often presenting in advanced stages with greater biological aggressiveness. The dualistic classification proposed by Bokhman more than thirty years ago and confirmed by pivotal studies by Kurman et al. appears inadequate today, especially in light of numerous molecular studies. New perspectives on the pathogenesis and progression of EC appear to be have been supplied by recent genomic studies. Recently, TCGA (Cancer Genome Atlas Research Network) has divided ECs into 4 genomic classes: ultra-mutated POLE, microsatellite instability, low copy number, and serous \u201clike\u201d with a high number of copies. This classification seems to open up new opportunities in individualized therapeutic strategies. In this chapter, an extensive review of the main molecular markers involved in the pathogenesis and progression of EC is presented, including steroid hormone receptors, PTEN, PIK3CA, beta-catenin, E-cadherin, BCL-2, Cyclin D1, K- RAS, p53, p16, HER2/neu, Ki67, IMP3, ARID1A, C-myc, angiogenic factors, FGFR2, HGF, C-MET and MSI. Particular attention is given to the correlation between the different histological types and their possible implications for prognosis and individualized therap

Concurrent benign tertiary syphilis and asymptomatic neurosyphilis in an immunocompetent patient

syphilis is known to be "the great imitator": since the patient's history is often deceiving and the spectrum of clinical signs and symptoms is extremely broad, diagnosis may be particularly challenging1,2 . Tertiary syphilis is rarely seen nowadays but it should be taken into account when dealing with granulomatous disorders of unclear nature. Indeed, up to 25% of the patients with untreated primary syphilis develop symptoms of tertiary syphilis, usually occurring three to five years after primary infection and involving several organs, mainly skin, heart and central nervous system