Retroperitoneal lymph node lymphangioleiomyomatosis: tumor with an ambiguous clinical course

Lymphangioleiomyomatosis (LAM) belongs to the perivascular epithelioid cell tumor (PEComa) family. The relationship between LAM and tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC) is of particular concern in a subset of women with clinically occult LAM involving the pelvic lymph nodes. This study aimed to investigate the clinicopathological features of incidental nodal LAM detected during the surgical staging of gynecological tumors. During the study period of 10 years, we identified 17 patients with pelvic nodal LAM that was incidentally detected during surgery for gynecological neoplastic lesions. We conducted immunostaining to assess the diagnostic utility of a panel of PEComa markers. Two of the 17 patients (11.8%) were diagnosed with TSC before surgery without any pulmonary symptoms. During the follow-up, both patients developed pulmonary and extrapulmonary LAMs. All affected nodes were multiple and unilateral in the pelvic region. The mean nodal size was 5.4 mm, and the mean proportion of the area involved in the LAM was 34.1%. In two patients with TSC, the largest affected node measured 19.3 mm and 7.6 mm, respectively, and the proportion of the area replaced by LAM was 99% and 90%, respectively. The most frequently expressed markers were human melanoma black 45 and cathepsin K, which showed 100% positivity in all the examined cases. While most small nodal LAMs incidentally discovered during surgery have insignificant prognostic value, larger nodal LAMs occupying most of the nodal parenchyma at reproductive age should raise awareness of pulmonary and extrapulmonary LAMs as well as TSC.

The case of a 46-year-old woman with lymphangioleiomyomatosis (LAM) involving the supraclavicular, mediastinal, and pelvic lymph nodes in addition to the lungs is reported. Computed tomography incidentally revealed multiple thin-walled pulmonary cysts and low-attenuating masses in the supraclavicular, mediastinal, and retroperitoneal lymph nodes. A biopsy of the supraclavicular mass was performed and diagnosed as LAM histopathologically. The common sites of extrapulmonary LAM include retroperitoneal and mediastinal lymph nodes; however, supraclavicular lymph node involvement is extremely rare.

Lymphangioleiomyomatosis (LAM), a systemic disorder affecting almost exclusively young women, is characterized by the abnormal proliferation of smooth muscle-like cells (LAM cells). LAM can occur either in association with the tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC) (TSC-LAM) or without TSC (sporadic LAM). Recent studies have demonstrated that LAM is a neoplasm arising from constitutive activation of the mammalian target of rapamycin signaling pathway dysregulated by a functional loss of TSC genes, but the primary organ of origin remains unclear. Therefore, we performed histologic and immunohistologic analyses of gynecologic organs in 20 patients, half with and the other half without pulmonary LAM, to determine how often LAM involves the uterus. The results showed that 9 of 10 (90%) patients with pulmonary LAM had uterine LAM lesions. In contrast, no patients without pulmonary LAM had so. All uterine LAM lesions were accompanied by LAM lesions in retroperitoneal or pelvic lymph nodes and LAM cell clusters, each enveloped by a monolayer of vascular endothelial growth factor receptor-3-positive lymphatic endothelial cells. Furthermore, when we compared uterine lesions of TSC-LAM with those of sporadic LAM, proliferation of HMB45-positive epithelioid-shaped LAM cells and infiltrates with a tongue-like growth pattern was more prominent in the former, whereas the extent of lymphangiogenesis within the myometrium was greater in the latter. These results indicate that uterine involvement is a common manifestation of LAM, and, possibly, that the uterus or an adjacent locale in the retroperitoneum or pelvic cavity is the primary site of origin of LAM.

lymphangioleiomyomatosis (LAM) is a rare disease that affects females of reproductive age ([38][1]). Pathologically, it is characterized by the abnormal proliferation of immature smooth muscle-like cells that grow aberrantly in the lung. The relentless growth of LAM cells in the pulmonary airway,

Extrapulmonary lymphangioleiomyomatosis (LAM) is a rare neoplasm of spindle cells exhibiting melanocytic and myoid differentiation that arises as a mass in the mediastinum, retroperitoneum, uterine wall, and/or intraperitoneal lymph nodes. Many patients also have pulmonary LAM, tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC), and/or other neoplasms of the perivascular epithelioid cell tumor family. This study reports 26 patients with clinically occult LAM involving pelvic/para-aortic lymph nodes removed from women undergoing surgical staging of a uterine (17), ovarian (5), cervical (3), or urinary bladder (1) neoplasm. None of the patients exhibited symptoms of pulmonary LAM, and the median patient age (56 y) was older than what would be expected for patients presenting with pulmonary LAM. Only 2/26 patients had TSC. Four patients also had uterine LAM. One of these 4 had uterine perivascular epithelioid cell tumor, and 1 had vaginal angiomyolipoma. In all 26 patients the lymph node LAM was grossly occult, measured 3.5 mm on average (1 to 19 mm), and involved either a single lymph node (12/26) or multiple lymph nodes (14/26). HMB45 was positive in 24/25 cases, mostly in a focal or patchy distribution. Other melanocytic markers included MiTF (12/14) and MelanA (2/12). Myoid markers included smooth muscle actin (23/23) and desmin (15/16), mostly in a diffuse distribution. Estrogen receptor was positive in all cases tested, as was D240 expression in the lymphatic endothelium lining the spindle cell bundles. Concurrent findings in the involved lymph nodes included metastatic carcinoma (3/26), endosalpingiosis (3/26), and reactive lymphoid hyperplasia (13/26). This study demonstrates that clinically occult lymph node LAM can be detected during surgical staging of pelvic cancer and is not commonly associated with pulmonary LAM or TSC, although these patients should still be formally evaluated for both of these diseases.

Extrapulmonary Lymphangioleiomyomatosis and Lymphangiomatous Cysts in Tuberous Sclerosis Complex

Lymphangioleiomyomatosis (LAM) is a systemic, progressive, and fatal condition affecting almost exclusively women in their reproductive years. LAM most often occurs as a sporadic disease, but also occurs in women with tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC) (syndromic LAM). There are no pathologic differences between sporadic and syndromic LAM. Sporadic LAM is a rare disease with prevalence of approximately 1 to 2 cases per million women in the United States and among populations of white descent, and is even rarer among Asian and African individuals. Syndromic LAM affects 4% to 5% of women with TSC. Sporadic LAM is often found also in association with renal angiomyolipoma, the most common sign of TSC, but LAM associated with angiomyolipoma does not define TSC. Although LAM is not diagnostic for TSC either in isolation or in association with angiomyolipoma, still it is considered by some researchers as an incomplete expression (forme fruste) of TSC. LAM may involve the lungs and the axial lymphatics and lymph nodes of the thorax and retroperitoneum. In sporadic LAM, thoracic, intraabdominal, and cervical lymph nodes can be involved with or without lung involvement. The diagnosis of LAM is often delayed. A case of LAM in a young lady, which was complicated with pleural and peritoneal chylous effusions, is presented. The diagnosis was first made on a retroperitoneal lymph node biopsy. The patient had a prolonged prior history of respiratory problems owing to lung involvement, and eventually died 2 years after diagnosis. Focus on the clinicopathologic diagnosis of TSC is also made.

Pulmonary lymphangioleiomyomatosis (PLAM) is a rare disease, characterized by an abnormal proliferation of smooth muscle throughout the lung; it occurs exclusively in women, generally of reproductive age [1]. The muscle cells proliferating in PLAM show little or no atypia at histological level. Therefore, PLAM has been considered to be a hamartomatous lesion rather than a true neoplastic process. However, in spite of the bland cytological features, the disease causes a progressive structural remodelling of the lung, leading to serious impairment of pulmonary function. Whilst survival curves now seem better than previously believed and hormonal treatment has been introduced with encouraging results [2], some patients progress to a condition necessitating lung transplantation. A disease with overlapping morphological features is occasionally encountered within the neurological syndrome of tuberous sclerosis (TS), also called Bourneville's disease. Indeed, the first description of PLAM, in 1918, was by LAUTENBACHER [3], in a female patient with the stigmata of TS. Subsequently, various authors have reported examples of PLAM, in patients without clinical evidence of TS. The question of whether PLAM is a forme fruste of tuberous sclerosis or a distinct disease has since been debated. In 1975, CORRIN et al. [1] reviewed 34 cases in the literature at that time and added 23 previously unpublished cases. In this work, the authors discussed the possibility of a relationship between tuberous sclerosis and PLAM, concluding that the question must be considered to be unresolved. When we consider the clinical settings of PLAM and TS, important differences emerge. Notably, PLAM develops exclusively in females, whilst TS affects both sexes (but lung lesions in TS develop almost exclusively in females), and familial history is common in TS patients, whilst it is absent in PLAM. These findings led STOVIN et al. [4] to conclude that lymphangiomyomatosis and tuberous sclerosis are probably not different aspects of the same disease process but seem to be two different disorders. Other authors have expressed an opposite view, as in a recent paper by CASTRO et al. [5] reporting the clinical features of nine TS patients with pulmonary involvement. The authors concluded that ... TS is similar to PLAM in terms of its natural history, clinical features and response to treatment. The key to addressing this unresolved question seems to be the definition of the diagnostic criteria of TS. The classical Vogt triad (seizures, mental retardation and facial angiofibroma) was the first important attempt to clinically define the syndrome. This diagnostic triad was universally accepted and was, for a long time, considered the hallmark of the disease. Whilst useful for clinicians, this approach led to a delay in the recognition of other diagnostic signs of TS, particularly the presence and classification of visceral lesions, such as angiomyolipoma, so characteristic in this hereditary disease of autosomal dominant transmission. With the accumulation of knowledge on TS and the introduction of new diagnostic techniques, the Vogt triad has lost much of its importance. The Vogt's diagnostic triad is now considered obsolete and too strict to encompass all cases of TS. GOMEZ [6] revised the criteria for diagnosis of TS, showing that TS is much more common than previously estimated, and that only 29% of cases had the complete Vogt's triad. A detailed analysis of the hierarchy of clinical and imaging features necessary for a definitive, presumptive or suspect diagnosis of TS can be found in the work of GOMEZ [6]. In this revised classification of diagnostic criteria, PLAM is considered sufficient for a presumptive diagnosis of TS, when alone; and sufficient for a definitive diagnosis when in combination with at least one other feature of the same hierarchical diagnostic level (such as renal angiomyolipoma).

Lymphangiomyomatosis (LAM) is a rare disease that does not generally affect the female genital tract. We report two cases of uterine involvement by LAM in young women with tuberous sclerosis and renal angiomyolipomas. In both, the uterine lesions were grossly inapparent and were discovered during microscopic examination of hysterectomy specimens removed during surgical treatment for a primary ovarian adenocarcinoma with peritoneal and lymph node metastases in one case and a retroperitoneal lymphangiomyoma in the other. In one case, an area of uterine LAM with atypical features was interpreted as focal sarcomatous transformation. This patient also had pelvic and paraaortic lymph node involvement by typical lymphangiomyomas, a small uterine angiomyoma, and an occult primary endometrial adenocarcinoma. Immunostains for HMB-45 were strongly positive in the uterine LAM in both cases, the retroperitoneal and lymph node lymphangiomyomatous lesions, the uterine angiomyoma, and a resected renal angiomyolipoma. Although LAM is a rare uterine lesion, it must be distinguished from a variety of uterine smooth-muscle tumors.

Loss of Heterozygosity for Tuberous Sclerosis Complex and Mammalian Target of Rapamycin Signaling: The Keys to Understanding the Pathogenesis of Diffuse Cystic Lung Diseases?

Lymphangioleiomyomatosis and Tuberous Sclerosis Complex in Quebec: Prevalence and Health-care Utilization

Should Chemotherapy Replace Retroperitoneal Lymphadenectomy for Clinical Stage II Testicular Tumors?

Should chemotherapy replace retroperitoneal lymphadenectomy for clinical stage II testicular tumors?

Lymphangioleiomyomatosis (LAM) is a female-predominant cystic lung disease that can lead to respiratory failure. LAM cells typically have inactivating tuberous sclerosis complex 2 (TSC2) mutations and mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) complex (mTORC) 1 activation. Clinical response to the mTORC1 inhibitors has been limited, prompting a search for additional therapy for LAM. In this study, we investigated the impact of TSC2 on the expression of poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP)-1 that initiates the DNA repair pathway, and tested the efficacy of PARP1 inhibitors in the survival of TSC2-deficient (TSC2(-)) cells. We analyzed publicly available expression arrays of TSC2(-) cells and validated the findings using real-time RT-PCR, immunoblotting, and immunohistochemistry. We examined the impact of rapamycin and Torin 1 on PARP1 expression. We also tested the effect of PARP1 inhibitors, 8-hydroxy-2-methylquinazoline-4-one and 3,4-dihydro-5[4-(1-piperindinyl)butoxy]-1(2H)-isoquinoline, on the survival of TSC2(-) cells. We identified the up-regulation of PARP1 in TSC2(-) cells relative to cells in which wild-type TSC2 has been reintroduced (TSC2-addback [TSC2(+)] cells). The transcript levels of PARP1 in TSC2(-) cells were not affected by rapamycin. PARP1 levels were increased in TSC2(-) cells, xenograft tumors of rat-derived TSC2(-) cells, renal cystadenomas from Tsc2(+/-) mice, and human LAM nodules. RNA interference of mTOR failed to reduce PARP1 levels. Proliferation and survival of TSC2(-) cells was reduced in response to PARP1 inhibitor treatment, more so than TSC2(+) cells. TSC2(-) cells exhibit higher levels of PARP1 relative to TSC2(+) cells in an mTOR-insensitive manner. PARP1 inhibitors selectively suppress the growth and induce apoptosis of TSC2(-) cells from patients with LAM. Targeting PARP1 may be beneficial in the treatment of LAM and other neoplasm with mTORC1 activation.

The role of vascular endothelial growth factor-D in diagnosis of lymphangioleiomyomatosis (LAM)