41 research outputs found
Submerged goiter proven to be metastatic infiltration of a neuro-endocrine Merkel cell carcinoma
BACKGROUND: Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC) is an uncommon neuroendocrine cutaneous carcinoma. Metastases to the thyroid gland are rare and may present diagnostic difficulties. CASE PRESENTATION: A 73-year-old woman presented with a hard mass in the adipose tissue of the right inguinal area. This mass was surgically excised and the histology examination showed the existence of a MCC. CT scans revealed a sizable lesion with imaging features of a submerged goiter, invasive to the upper mediastinum. The patient received chemotherapy following by locoregional radiotherapy at the bed of the excised lesion. During the next 10Ā months the patient was asymptomatic, serum markers values were normal and CT scans findings were stable. However, afterwards NSE and chromogranin values raised and CT scans revealed an enlargement of the submerged goiter. The patient became symptomatic, mainly experiencing respiratory inconvenience. Surgical excision of the right lobe of the thyroid gland was decided and performed without any complications. The histopathology examination showed infiltration of the thyroid gland by a neuroendocrine carcinoma with characteristics compatible with MCC. CONCLUSIONS: The rare case of metastatic infiltration of the thyroid gland by a MCC based on histological and immunohistochemical findings was described. This case report is of clinical significance indicating that by any abnormal finding in the thyroid gland in patients with a malignant disease, the diagnostic approach should always contain consideration of metastasis from the primary tumor
Ephrin (Eph) receptor A1, A4, A5 and A7 expression in human non-small cell lung carcinoma: associations with clinicopathological parameters, tumor proliferative capacity and patientsā survival
BACKGROUND: Ephrin (Eph) receptors are frequently overexpressed in a wide variety of human malignant tumors, being associated with tumor growth, invasion, metastasis and angiogenesis. The present study aimed to evaluate the clinical significance of EphA1, A4, A5 and A7 protein expression in non-small cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC). METHODS: EphA1, A4, A5 and A7 protein expression was assessed immunohistochemically in tissue microarrays of 88 surgically resected NSCLC and was analyzed in relation with clinicopathological characteristics and patientsā survival. RESULTS: Elevated EphA4 expression was significantly associated with low histopathological stage and presence of inflammation (pā=ā0.047 and pā=ā0.026, respectively). Elevated EphA7 expression was significantly associated with older patientsā age, presence of fibrosis and smaller tumor size (pā=ā0.036, pā=ā0.029 and pā=ā0.018, respectively). EphA1, A5 and A7 expression were positively associated with tumor proliferative capacity (pā=ā0.047, pā=ā0.002 and pā=ā0.046, respectively). Elevated EphA4, A5 and A7 expression were identified as predictors of favourable patientsā survival at both univariate (Log-rank test, 0ā=ā0.019, pā=ā0.006 and pā=ā0.012, respectively) and multivariate levels (Cox-regression analysis, pā=ā0.029, pā=ā0.068 and pā=ā0.044, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: The present study supported evidence that Ephs may be involved in lung cancer progression, reinforcing their utility as clinical biomarkers for patientsā management and prognosis, as also as potential targets for future therapeutic interventions
OLAPARIB: A promising PARP Inhibitor for the treatment of ovarian cancer
Olaparib is a potent oral inhibitor of PARP 1 & 2 with biological activity in various solid tumours for patients with germline and/or sporadic BRCA mutations. The aim of this review is to present the results of the various studies which show Olaparibās efficacy in ovarian cance
Prognostic Significance of Gene Expression and DNA Methylation Markers in Circulating Tumor Cells and Paired Plasma Derived Exosomes in Metastatic Castration Resistant Prostate Cancer
Liquid biopsy, based on the analysis of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) and circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA), provides non-invasive real-time monitoring of tumor evolution and therapeutic efficacy. We performed for the first time a direct comparison study on gene expression and DNA methylation markers in CTCs and paired plasma-derived exosomes and evaluated their prognostic significance in metastatic castration resistant prostate cancer. This prospective liquid biopsy (LB) study was based on a group of 62 metastatic castration resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) patients and 10 healthy donors (HD) as controls. Identical blood draws were used to: (a) enumerate CTC and tumor-derived extracellular vesicles (tdEVs) using CellSearch (CS) and (b) analyze CTCs and paired plasma-derived exosomes at the gene expression and DNA methylation level. CTCs were enumerated using CellSearch in 57/62 patients, with values ranging from 5 to 854 cells/7.5 mL PB. Our results revealed for the first time a significantly higher positivity of gene expression markers (CK-8, CK-18, TWIST1, PSMA, AR-FL, AR-V7, AR-567 and PD-L1 mRNA) in EpCAM-positive CTCs compared to plasma-derived exosomes. GSTP1, RASSF1A and SCHLAFEN were methylated both in CTC and exosomes. In CTCs, KaplanāMeier analysis revealed that CK-19 (p = 0.009), PSMA (p = 0.001), TWIST1 (p = 0.001) expression and GSTP1 (p = 0.001) methylation were correlated with OS, while in exosomes GSTP1 (p = 0.007) and RASSF1A (p = 0.001) methylation was correlated with OS. Our direct comparison study of CTCs and exosomes at gene expression and DNA methylation level, revealed for the first time a significantly higher positivity in EpCAM-positive CTCs compared to plasma-derived exosomes. Future perspective of this study should be the evaluation of clinical utility of molecular biomarkers in CTCs and exosomes on independent multicentric cohorts with mCRPC patients
Submerged goiter proven to be metastatic infiltration of a neuro-endocrine Merkel cell carcinoma
Background: Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC) is an uncommon neuroendocrine
cutaneous carcinoma. Metastases to the thyroid gland are rare and may
present diagnostic difficulties.
Case presentation: A 73-year-old woman presented with a hard mass in the
adipose tissue of the right inguinal area. This mass was surgically
excised and the histology examination showed the existence of a MCC. CT
scans revealed a sizable lesion with imaging features of a submerged
goiter, invasive to the upper mediastinum. The patient received
chemotherapy following by locoregional radiotherapy at the bed of the
excised lesion. During the next 10 months the patient was asymptomatic,
serum markers values were normal and CT scans findings were stable.
However, afterwards NSE and chromogranin values raised and CT scans
revealed an enlargement of the submerged goiter. The patient became
symptomatic, mainly experiencing respiratory inconvenience. Surgical
excision of the right lobe of the thyroid gland was decided and
performed without any complications. The histopathology examination
showed infiltration of the thyroid gland by a neuroendocrine carcinoma
with characteristics compatible with MCC.
Conclusions: The rare case of metastatic infiltration of the thyroid
gland by a MCC based on histological and immunohistochemical findings
was described. This case report is of clinical significance indicating
that by any abnormal finding in the thyroid gland in patients with a
malignant disease, the diagnostic approach should always contain
consideration of metastasis from the primary tumor
USP44 Promoter Methylation in Plasma Cell-Free DNA in Prostate Cancer
Liquid biopsy provides real-time monitoring of tumor evolution and response to therapy through analysis of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) and plasma-circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA). USP44 is a critical gene which plays an important role in cell proliferation; however, its accurate role in other cellular networks is under research. USP44 promoter methylation has been so far reported in colorectal neoplasia and metastatic breast cancer. In this study, we examined for the first time USP44 promoter methylation in plasma cell-free DNA (cfDNA) of patients with prostate cancer (early stage n = 32, metastatic n = 39) and 10 healthy donors (HD). USP44 promoter methylation was detected in plasma cell-free DNA by a newly developed highly specific and sensitive real-time MSP method. Our findings indicate that USP44 promoter is methylated in plasma cell-free DNA of metastatic prostate cancer patients and that detection of USP44 promoter methylation is significantly associated with overall survival (OS) (p = 0.008). We report for the first time that detection of USP44 promoter methylation in plasma cell free DNA provides significant prognostic information in metastatic prostate cancer