Human papillomavirus detection in paraffin-embedded colorectal cancer tissues

Human papillomavirus (HPV) has a well-recognized aetiological role in the development of cervical cancer and other anogenital tumours. Recently, an association between colorectal cancer and HPV infection has been suggested, although this is still controversial. This study aimed at detecting and characterizing HPV infection in 57 paired biopsies from colorectal cancers and adjacent intact tissues using a degenerate PCR approach. All amplified fragments were genotyped by means of sequencing. Overall, HPV prevalence was 12.3 %. In particular, 15.8% of tumour tissues and 8.8% of non-cancerous tissue samples were HPV DNA-positive. Of these samples, 85.7% were genotyped successfully, with 41.7% of sequences identifying four genotypes of the HR (high oncogenic risk) clade Group 1; the remaining 58.3% of HPVgenotyped specimens had an unclassified \u3b2-HPV. Examining additional cases and analysing whole genomes will help to outline the significance of these findings

The role of embryopathology in the study of first trimester spontaneous miscarriage

The study of first trimester spontaneous miscarriage is the object of increasing attention not only for clinicians but also for patients and their family. Embryopathology concerns the study of pathologic conditions and malformations like early development failure, development alterations and true malformative lesions. It is well known that the most severe genetic abnormalities emerge as an interruption in embryogenesis and that the most complex developmental abnormalities caused by external factors - like infections, toxic and environmental agents - have their onset in the early stages of embryo formation and are often also the cause of pregnancy loss. In order to improve the monitoring of at risk couples we have expanded the study of basic research with those of research applied to human pathology. The role of embryopathology is fundamental to understand the timing at which the embryo development failure and its subsequent death actually occur and the main defect in embryo formation underlying development abnormalities. From 1994 to 2010 we examined 256 early spontaneous abortions in which an intact gestational sac was present. The introduction of acrylic resin embedding technique in 1995 added many advantages such as the possibility of obtaining semi-thin and uniformly thick sections with better histological and cytostructural details, assuring the almost total absence of coartation, and the preservation of antigenic properties. This technique therefore permits improvement in morphological obervation in order to reinterpret the classification of spontaneous aborted embryo. This enables a better definition of the real stage and time when development was interrupted. That is the basis to understand the role of external factor as a cause of pregnancy loss

Supplementary Material for: Grade Increases in Gastroenteropancreatic Neuroendocrine Tumor Metastases Compared to the Primary Tumor

<b><i>Background/Aim:</i></b> The neuroendocrine tumor (NET) proliferation-based grading system (ENETS/WHO) for gastroenteropancreatic (GEP) tumors has proved reliable for prognostic stratification. To date, concerns exist regarding Ki-67 heterogeneity within the tumor and little is known on whether grade varies between primary and secondary sites. As tumor heterogeneity may have a significant impact on clinical management, our aim was to retrospectively evaluate Ki-67 on a series of GEP NETs in order to establish whether there is variability in different samples of the same lesion or between primary and metastatic disease (local/distant, synchronous/metachronous). <b><i>Methods:</i></b> Sixty patients with multiple samples of tumor were accrued from a total of 338 GEP NETs; 44 of them also had tissue from local/distant metastases and a further 5 had multiple metastatic foci from unknown primary tumors. Immunohistochemistry for Ki-67 was performed on all paraffin blocks from both primary and metastatic tumors. <b><i>Results:</i></b> Intratumor Ki-67 heterogeneity sufficient to change grade at first diagnosis was seen in 3/60 cases (5%). Out of 49 patients with primary NETs and/or multiple metastases, discrepancy in grade between sites was identified in 19 (39%) cases and in particular in 11/47 (23%) and in 10/12 (83%) patients with synchronous and metachronous metastases, respectively (p = 0.0002). Change in grade was more frequent in distant compared to locoregional metastases (p = 0.024) and in particular in distant sites other than the liver (p = 0.006). <b><i>Conclusions:</i></b> NETs show frequent differences in grade between primary sites and their synchronous/metachronous metastases; assessment of Ki-67 at all sites may prove to be significant for patient management