CASTLE Thyroid Tumor: A Case Report and Literature Review

Carcinoma showing thymus-like differentiation is a rare tumor of the thyroid gland, which is structurally similar to thymic tissue. Overall, it has a favorable prognosis. Radiotherapy has been shown to be an effective local treatment, but there have been reports of distant recurrence. It has been suggested that adding chemotherapy may decrease the risk of recurrence. Here, we present a case report of a patient with a large tumor and extrathyroidal extension. The patient was treated with surgery, radiotherapy, and cisplatin with acceptable toxicity. The patient is free of locally recurrent or distant disease at 3 years

Moderate (2%, v/v) Ethanol Feeding Alters Hepatic Wound Healing after Acute Carbon Tetrachloride Exposure in Mice

Wound healing consists of three overlapping phases: inflammation, proliferation, and matrix synthesis and remodeling. Prolonged alcohol abuse can cause liver fibrosis due to deregulated matrix remodeling. Previous studies demonstrated that moderate ethanol feeding enhances liver fibrogenic markers and frank fibrosis independent of differences in CCl4-induced liver injury. Our objective was to determine whether or not other phases of the hepatic wound healing response were affected by moderate ethanol after CCl4 exposure. Mice were fed moderate ethanol (2% v/v) for two days and then were exposed to CCl4 and euthanized 24–96 h later. Liver injury was not different between pair- and ethanol-fed mice; however, removal of necrotic tissue was delayed after CCl4-induced liver injury in ethanol-fed mice. Inflammation, measured by TNFα mRNA and protein and hepatic Ly6c transcript accumulation, was reduced and associated with enhanced hepatocyte apoptosis after ethanol feeding. Hepatocytes entered the cell cycle equivalently in pair- and ethanol-fed mice after CCl4 exposure, but hepatocyte proliferation was prolonged in livers from ethanol-fed mice. CCl4-induced hepatic stellate cell activation was increased and matrix remodeling was prolonged in ethanol-fed mice compared to controls. Taken together, moderate ethanol affected each phase of the wound healing response to CCl4. These data highlight previously unknown effects of moderate ethanol exposure on hepatic wound healing after acute hepatotoxicant exposure