A Case of a Ruptured Sclerosing Liver Hemangioma

Hemangiomas are the most common benign tumors found in the liver, typically asymptomatic, solitary, and incidentally discovered. Although vascular in nature, they rarely bleed. We report a case of a 52-year-old woman with a previously stable hemangioma who presented to our hospital with signs and symptoms indicative of spontaneous rupture. We review the literature, focusing on diagnosis and management of liver hemangiomas

Pulmonary Empty Spaces: Silicone Embolism—A Decade of Increased Incidence and Its Histological Diagnosis

Pulmonary embolism (PE) is a critical complication related to multiple disorders and different medical or cosmetic procedures. This case report presents two patients who were admitted for respiratory symptoms in the setting of previously receiving silicone injections for cosmetic purposes and were diagnosed with silicone pulmonary embolism. The relevance of including questions about all cosmetic procedures as a part of a medical history is highlighted, in particular about silicone injections. The diagnosis is confirmed by histological means. Additionally, our review showed the change of most common sites of silicone injections and a significant increase in cosmetic procedures causing silicone embolism during the past twelve years

Gastric dysplasia and adenomas: how it all MAPS out

Gastric polyps can be truly neoplastic but most polypoid dysplastic lesions are manifestations of gastritis-associated dysplasia that happens to form a polypoid lesion rather than true adenomas arising in normal background mucosa as is typically observed in the colon. However, the term adenoma has been used over the years to describe polyps with intestinal and pyloric gland differentiation, and this terminology is entrenched in our lexicon. In this review, we briefly discuss the issue of terminology, gastritis, and the following polyp types: intestinal type adenoma, pyloric gland adenoma, foveolar adenoma, and oxyntic gland adenoma (also termed oxyntic gland neoplasm and adenocarcinoma of fundic gland type

Benign hepatocellular lesions and neoplasms: a comprehensive review

The prevalence of benign mass-forming liver lesions has significantly increased in recent years due to advances in diagnostic imaging. In general, these lesions can be either neoplastic or nonneoplastic and carry a different prognosis and management. Among benign mass-forming lesions of the liver, hemangiomas are the most common, followed by focal nodular hyperplasia, which is encountered ten times more frequently than adenomas. Hepatocellular adenomas are the third most common benign tumor of the liver. Their classification was revised in 2016 based on histomorphology and molecular signatures and includes hepatocyte nuclear factor-1 alpha (HNF1A)-mutated hepatocellular adenomas, beta-catenin 1 (CTNNB1) gene–mutated hepatocellular adenomas, interleukin-6 signal transducer gene–mutated or inflammatory/telangiectatic hepatocellular adenomas, and unclassified hepatocellular adenomas. Since then, a new subtype has been discovered, decreasing the proportion of unclassified cases. Hepatocellular adenomas have different molecular characteristics, behavior, and management, depending on the subtype. The telangiectatic subtype tends to bleed and may cause hemoperitoneum whereas the beta-catenin mutated subtype can progress to malignancy and is surgically resected independent of the size or symptoms. Other hepatic lesions include nodular regenerative hyperplasia, which occurs in the setting of blood flow alterations; and focal fatty change or benign steatotic nodules. Lastly, epithelioid angiomyolipomas are very uncommon benign mesenchymal liver tumors that belong to a family of tumor arising from perivascular epithelioid cells (PEComas) either sporadically or in the setting of tuberous sclerosis. Herein, we review these benign hepatic lesions and neoplasms and discuss the histomorphology and immunohistochemistry that allow us to render a specific diagnosis

Unexpected Malignant Diagnosis in Colonic Biopsies: Malignant Transformation of Ovarian Mature Teratomas—Two Case Reports and Review of the Literature

Colorectal adenocarcinoma is the second cause of cancer-related deaths in the United States. The occurrence of squamous cell carcinoma in the colorectum is extremely unusual. Malignant transformation from mature cystic teratoma of the ovary is a rare event. The most common transformation is squamous cell carcinoma, followed by adenocarcinoma. It occurs more often in elderly patients, who usually present with advance disease. We report two unusual cases of postmenopausal women diagnosed with squamous cell carcinoma in colon biopsies. After surgical resections, the carcinoma was proven to be the result of malignant transformation of ovarian mature cystic teratomas. Since squamous cell carcinoma of the colorectum is extremely rare, the presence of squamous cell carcinoma in a colonic biopsy in a female patient should alert the clinicians to other possible primary sites, as seen in these cases

Surviving metastatic breast cancer for 18 years: a case report and review of the literature

We report a case of a 93-year-old woman who was diagnosed with estrogen receptor (ER)-positive, progesterone receptor-positive, T2N0M0 (stage I) breast cancer (BC) at the age of 45. Twenty-two years later, she was diagnosed with metastatic lesions to the lungs consistent with the breast primary. Her disease was stable on tamoxifen, anastrozole, and exemestane for 14 years. Subsequently, she was found to have metastatic lesions to thoracic spine as well as progressively increasing bilateral pleural effusions. At that time, she was deemed not to be a good candidate for chemotherapy and therapy was changed to fulvestrant. Two years later (38 years after initial diagnosis of BC), she was diagnosed with new metastatic liver lesions; although her pulmonary and bone metastases remained stable. Therefore, she was started on palliative chemotherapy with single-agent capecitabine. The treatment was discontinued after the second cycle upon the patient's request owing to grade 2 hand and foot syndrome. She expired 2 years later after fighting BC for four decades. She survived for 18 years after the diagnosis of metastatic breast cancer (MBC) while maintaining a good quality of life. To the authors' knowledge, this is the first reported case in the literature with the longest overall survival in a patient with MBC. We provide a detailed clinical analysis in conjunction with a brief literature review

Unexpected Malignant Diagnosis in Colonic Biopsies: Malignant Transformation of Ovarian Mature Teratomas—Two Case Reports and Review of the Literature

Colorectal adenocarcinoma is the second cause of cancer-related deaths in the United States. The occurrence of squamous cell carcinoma in the colorectum is extremely unusual. Malignant transformation from mature cystic teratoma of the ovary is a rare event. The most common transformation is squamous cell carcinoma, followed by adenocarcinoma. It occurs more often in elderly patients, who usually present with advance disease. We report two unusual cases of postmenopausal women diagnosed with squamous cell carcinoma in colon biopsies. After surgical resections, the carcinoma was proven to be the result of malignant transformation of ovarian mature cystic teratomas. Since squamous cell carcinoma of the colorectum is extremely rare, the presence of squamous cell carcinoma in a colonic biopsy in a female patient should alert the clinicians to other possible primary sites, as seen in these cases

From genetics to signaling pathways: molecular pathogenesis of esophageal adenocarcinoma

Esophageal adenocarcinoma (EAC) has one of the fastest rising incidence rates in the U.S. and many other Western countries. One of the unique risk factors for EAC is gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), a chronic digestive condition in which acidic contents from the stomach, frequently mixed with duodenal bile, enter the esophagus resulting in esophageal tissue injury. At the cellular level, progression to EAC is underlined by continuous DNA damage caused by reflux and chronic inflammatory factors that increase the mutation rate and promote genomic instability. Despite recent successes in cancer diagnostics and treatment, EAC remains a poorly treatable disease. Recent research has shed new light on molecular alterations underlying progression to EAC and revealed novel treatment options. This review focuses on the genetic and molecular studies of EAC. The molecular changes that occur during the transformation of normal Barrett’s esophagus to esophageal adenocarcinoma are also discussed