Melanosis intestini: case report

The term melanosis in the gastrointestinal tract refers to the accumulation of pigment deposits in the mucosa. Melanosis of the colon is not uncommon and has been associated with certain conditions, however melanosis of the small intestine is extremely rare. Herein, we describe a case in which we observed melanosis not only in the colon, but in the terminal ileum as well, associated with the use of anthraceneline laxatives. The clinical significance of this condition is not clear, however Gastroenterologists and Pathologists should be aware of its existence

Application of a filtration- and isolation-by-size technique for the detection of circulating tumor cells in cutaneous melanoma

Analysis of circulating tumor cells (CTC) in the peripheral blood of cutaneous melanoma patients provides information on the metastatic process and potentially improves patient management. The isolation by size of epithelial tumor cells (ISET) is a direct method for CTC identification in which tumor cells are collected by filtration as a result of their large size. So far, ISET has been applied only to CTC detection from epithelial cancer patients, and the technique has never been applied to cutaneous melanoma patients. We herein investigated the presence of CTC by ISET in the peripheral blood of 140 subjects (87 with cutaneous melanomas, 10 subjects undergoing surgery for melanocytic nevi, 5 patients with non-melanoma skin tumors, and 38 healthy volunteers). The identification of the cells trapped in filters as CTC was supported by positivity for immunohistochemical markers and for tyrosinase mRNA by real-time RT-PCR. CTC were neither detected in the controls nor in the in situ melanoma group. In contrast, CTC were shown in 29% of patients with primary invasive melanoma and in 62.5% of metastatic melanoma patients (P<0.01). CTC detection correlated with the presence of mRNA tyrosinase in blood samples, assayed by real-time RT-PCR (P=0.001). CTC detection corroborated by suitable molecular characterization may assist in the identification and monitoring of more appropriate therapies in melanoma patients. © 2010 The Society for Investigative Dermatology

Primary capillary hemangioblastoma of bone: report of a case arising in the sacrum

Capillary hemangioblastoma (CHB) is a benign, highly vascularized tumor that generally occurs in the central nervous system either in the setting of von Hippel-Lindau (VHL) disease or, more often, as a solitary sporadic lesion that is increasingly recognized in extraneural sites. We present the case of a 72-year-old woman with low back pain and a well-demarcated lytic lesion of the sacrum, which at histological and ultrastructural examination was indistinguishable from central nervous system CHB. The patient had no signs of VHL disease and died of another cause with no evidence of disease 57 months after curettage of the lesion. To our knowledge, this is the second case of CHB reported to occur in bon

PEComa of the nasal septum

Neoplasms showing perrivascular epithelioid cell differentiation (PEComas). Report of a case occurring in the nasal cavity

Inducible nitric oxide synthase expression in melanoma: implications in lymphangiogenesis.

Cutaneous melanoma preferentially metastasizes via the lymphatic route. However, the mechanisms of lymphatic invasion and metastasis to regional lymph nodes are poorly understood. Nitric oxide is a free radical molecule synthesized from L-arginine by nitric oxide synthases that plays a critical role in various physiological and pathological processes, including tumor growth and angiogenesis. We have tested whether inducible nitric oxide synthase expression correlates with lymphatic vessel density identified with D2-40 antibody and/or blood microvessel density identified with CD105/endoglin in a series of melanocytic nevi (n=28) and cutaneous melanomas (n=38), representative of various pT. Inducible nitric oxide synthase expression was significantly lower in melanocytic nevi in comparison with primary and metastatic melanomas (P<0.001). Mean microvessel density was significantly higher in primary and metastatic melanomas in comparison with melanocytic nevi (P<0.001 for intratumoral and P=0.001 for peritumoral vessels). Vertical growth phase melanomas showed a higher intratumoral microvessel density in comparison with radial growth phase melanomas (P=0.02). The number of peritumoral lymphatics was significantly lower in nevi as compared with primary and metastatic melanomas (P=0.01). No correlation between microvessel or lymphatic vessel and clinical outcome was found in melanomas. A significant direct correlation was observed between inducible nitric oxide synthase immunostaining in melanocytic tumor cells and the density of lymphatic vessels (peritumoral: P=0.001; intratumoral: P=0.08), and the density of peritumoral blood microvessel (P=0.02). Our findings support the hypothesis that inducible nitric oxide synthase is implicated not only in blood, but also in lymphatic vascular neoformation in melanoma. Mechanistic studies are needed to address the possibility that inducible nitric oxide synthase controls lymphangiogenesis, dissemination and lymphatic borne metastases

Prognostic significance of the alterations of the G1-S checkpoint in localized leiomyosarcoma of the peripheral soft tissue.

The aim of this study was to investigate the expression of cell cycle regulators p53, p16, cyclin-D1, and retinoblastoma (Rb) gene protein in leiomyosarcoma of the peripheral soft in order to identify expression profiles potentially useful for clinical prognostic purposes