Lingual Squamous Cell Carcinoma Surrounded by Granular Cell Tumor

The granular cell tumor (GCT) is an uncommon, benign lesion with a preference for subcutaneous sites. In the head and neck, the tongue is the most common site, followed by the larynx. We experienced a case of a 27-year-old woman with lingual squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) surrounded by GCT. The pathological findings established that the lesion was SCC covered by GCT in the midline of the tongue. The size of the mass was very small, however, so we excised it in a diamond shape. There is an interesting association between GCTs and other malignant neoplasms. However, no causal relationship between GCT and these other carcinomas has been established. Here we report on an SCC coexisting with GCT at the same site as a median tongue lesion and review the literature

The Expression of Thymidine Phosphorylase in Cancer-infiltrating Inflammatory Cells in Stomach Cancer

Thymidine phosphorylase (TP) has shown to be up-regulated in several cancers and to play a role in angiogenesis and invasion. Most studies regarding TP have focused on cancer cells. Recently, evidences suggest that TP in cancer-infiltrating inflammatory cells (CIICs) also affect the cancer cell behavior. To evaluate the significance of TP expression of CIICs in gastric cancer, we assessed TP expression of cancer cells and CIICs separately using immunohistochemical assay on 116 paraffin-embedded tissue samples from stomach cancer patients and investigated their clinical significance. When subjects were divided into 4 groups according to the TP expression: cancer/matrix (+/+), C/M (+/-), C/M (-/+), and C/M (-/-), intratumoral microvessel density scores were higher in the C/M (+/-) group than in the C/M (-/-) group (p=0.02). For lymph node metastasis and survival, there were no significant differences among the 4 groups. However, there were significant differences in survival (p=0.035) and LN metastasis (p=0.023) between the two groups divided by TP expression of CIICs alone irrespective of TP expression of cancer cells. Taken together, this study suggested the TP expression in CIICs could affect lymph node metastasis and patients' survival in gastric cancer

Benign Schwannoma of the Liver: A Case Report

A primary benign schwannoma of the liver is extremely rare. Only nine cases have been reported in the medical literature worldwide and no case has been reported in Korea previously. A 36-yr-old woman was admitted to our hospital with vague epigastric pain. The ultrasound and computed tomography scan revealed a multi-septated cystic mass in the right lobe of the liver. The mass was resected; it was found to be a 5 × 4 × 2 cm mass filled with reddish yellow fluid. The histological examination confirmed the diagnosis of a benign schwannoma, proven by positive immunoreaction with the neurogenic marker S-100 protein and a negative response to CD34, CD117 and smooth muscle actin. This is the first report of a benign schwannoma of the liver parenchyma in a Korean patient

Cyclin D1 Serves as a Poor Prognostic Biomarker in Stage I Gastric Cancer

TNM stage still serves as the best prognostic marker in gastric cancer (GC). The next step is to find prognostic biomarkers that detect subgroups with different prognoses in the same TNM stage. In this study, the expression levels of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) and cyclin D1 were assessed in 96 tissue samples, including non-tumorous tissue, adenoma, and carcinoma. Then, the prognostic impact of EGFR and cyclin D1 was retrospectively investigated in 316 patients who underwent R0 resection for GC. EGFR positivity increased as gastric tissue became malignant, and cyclin D1 positivity was increased in all the tumorous tissues. However, there was no survival difference caused by the EGFR positivity, while the cyclin D1-postive group had worse overall survival (OS) than the cyclin D1-negative group in stage I GC (10-year survival rate (10-YSR): 62.8% vs. 86.5%, p = 0.010). In subgroup analyses for the propensity score-matched (PSM) cohort, there were also significant differences in the OS according to the cyclin D1 positivity in stage I GC but not in stage II and III GC. Upon multivariate analysis, cyclin D1 positivity was an independent prognostic factor in stage I GC. In conclusion, cyclin D1 may be a useful biomarker for predicting prognosis in stage I GC

Development of autoimmune hepatitis in a psoriasis patient without immunosuppressive therapy

We present a case of a 65-year-old man with psoriasis who developed autoimmune hepatitis (AIH) without receiving immunosuppressive therapy with either anti-tumor necrosis factor-α or methotrexate. The AIH had completely resolved at 2 months after prednisolone and azathioprine therapy. This case confirms the need to consider AIH in psoriasis patients who experience new elevations in liver enzymes. To our knowledge, this is first description of the development of AIH in an immunosuppressant-naïve patient with psoriasis

Myoferlin Expression and Its Correlation with FIGO Histologic Grading in Early-Stage Endometrioid Carcinoma

Background For endometrioid carcinoma patients, International Federation of Gynecologists and Obstetricians (FIGO) histologic grading is very important for identifying the appropriate treatment method. However, the interobserver discrepancy with this three-tiered grading system is a serious potential problem. In this study, we used immunohistochemistry to analyze the relationship between FIGO histologic grading score and myoferlin expression. Methods We studied the endometrioid carcinoma tissues of 60 patients from Gyeongsang National University Hospital between January 2002 and December 2009. Immunohistochemical analysis of myoferlin was performed on tissue microarray blocks from surgical specimens. Results Myoferlin expression was observed in 58 of 60 patients. Moderate and strong myoferlin expression was observed in low-grade endometrioid carcinoma, while there was a tendency toward loss of myoferlin expression in high-grade endometrioid carcinoma (p<.001). Conclusions Our study revealed that myoferlin loss is significantly correlated with high FIGO grade of endometrioid carcinoma