Clinicopathologic Features Of Tumors Research Articles

A nomogram model for predicting the risk of axillary lymph node metastasis in patients with early breast cancer and cN0 status.

Axillary staging is commonly performed via sentinel lymph node biopsy for patients with early breast cancer (EBC) presenting with clinically negative axillary lymph nodes (cN0). The present study aimed to investigate the association between axillary lymph node metastasis (ALNM), clinicopathological characteristics of tumors and results from axillary ultrasound (US) scanning. Moreover, a nomogram model was developed to predict the risk for ALNM based on relevant factors. Data from 998 patients who met the inclusion criteria were retrospectively reviewed. These patients were then randomly divided into a training and validation group in a 7:3 ratio. In the training group, receiver operating characteristic curve analysis was used to identify the cutoff values for continuous measurement data. R software was used to identify independent ALNM risk variables in the training group using univariate and multivariate logistic regression analysis. The selected independent risk factors were incorporated into a nomogram. The model differentiation was assessed using the area under the curve (AUC), while calibration was evaluated through calibration charts and the Hosmer-Lemeshow test. To assess clinical applicability, a decision curve analysis (DCA) was conducted. Internal verification was performed via 1000 rounds of bootstrap resampling. Among the 998 patients with EBC, 228 (22.84%) developed ALNM. Multivariate logistic analysis identified lymphovascular invasion, axillary US findings, maximum diameter and molecular subtype as independent risk factors for ALNM. The Akaike Information Criterion served as the basis for both nomogram development and model selection. Robust differentiation was shown by the AUC values of 0.855 (95% CI, 0.817-0.892) and 0.793 (95% CI, 0.725-0.857) for the training and validation groups, respectively. The Hosmer-Lemeshow test yielded P-values of 0.869 and 0.847 for the training and validation groups, respectively, and the calibration chart aligned closely with the ideal curve, affirming excellent calibration. DCA showed that the net benefit from the nomogram significantly outweighed both the 'no intervention' and the 'full intervention' approaches, falling within the threshold probability interval of 12-97% for the training group and 17-82% for the validation group. This underscores the robust clinical utility of the model. A nomogram model was successfully constructed and validated to predict the risk of ALNM in patients with EBC and cN0 status. The model demonstrated favorable differentiation, calibration and clinical applicability, offering valuable guidance for assessing axillary lymph node status in this population.

Malignant Leydig Cell Tumor of Testis: Case Report

Testicular tumors accounts for % of the tumors in men. 5% of which are the sex cord stromal tumors and the remaining are of germ cell origin. Leydig cell are the common subtype of Sex cord stromal tumors and accounts for 1%-2% of all the testicular tumors. Tumor arises from the leydig cells that normally reside in the interstitium of testicles and secrete testosterone in the presence of leutenizing hormone. They show a bimodal distribution with peaks in the prepubertal age group and between 30-60yrs of age. Leydig cell tumor being a hormonally active tumor often presents with precocious puberty, breast tenderness and gynaecomastia. Histopathology reveals a well circumscribed mass .Cut surface shows golden brown homogenous appearance. Microscopically, tumor cells are large to polygonal with round to oval nucleus with deeply granular cytoplasm. Cytoplasm shows characteristics rod sghaped crystals referred to as “ crystalloids of Reinke”. Leydig cell tumors are mostly follow a benign course but approximately 5-10% of these have malignant potential. Regional lymph nodes, lungs , liver and bones are the commonest sites of metastsis. Due to aggressive difficult to treat nature of metastatic disease it is essential to differentiate benign leydig cell tumor from its malignant counterpart in order to guide its initial surgical and radiological management. Assessment of the clinicopathological features of Leydig cell tumor allows for its optimal management.

BECN1 mRNA expression in breast cancer tissue; significant correlation to tumor grade

Breast cancer (BC) is a heterogenous disease with multiple pathways implicated in its development, progression, and drug resistance. Autophagy, a cellular process responsible for self-digestion of damaged organelles, had been recognized as eminent player in cancer progression and chemotherapeutic resistance. The haploinsufficiency of Beclin 1 (BECN1), autophagy protein, is believed to contribute to cancer pathogenesis and progression. In our study, we investigated the expression of BECN1 in a BC female Egyptian patient cohort, as well as its prognostic role through evaluating its association with disease free survival (DFS) after 2 years follow up and association of tumor clinicopathological features. Twenty frozen female BC tissue samples and 17 adjacent normal tissue were included and examined for the expression levels of BECN1. Although the tumor tissues showed lower expression 0.73 (0–8.95) than their corresponding normal tissues 1.02 (0.04–19.59), it was not statistically significant, p: 0.463. BECN1 expression was not associated with stage, nodal metastasis or tumor size, p:0.435, 0.541, 0.296, respectively. However, statistically significant negative correlation was found between grade and BECN1 mRNA expression in the studied cases, p:0.028. BECN1 expression had no statistically significant association with DFS, P = 0.944. However, we observed that triple negative (TNBC) cases had significantly lower DFS rate than luminal BC patients, p: 0.022, with mean DFS 19.0 months, while luminal BC patients had mean DFS of 23.41 months. Our study highlights the potential role of BECN1 in BC pathogenesis, showing that BECN1 expression correlates with poorer differentiation of BC, indicating its probable link with disease aggressiveness. DFS two years follow up showed that TNBC subtype remains associated with less favorable prognosis.

Practical tools to facilitate the choice of adjuvant systemic therapy for resectable luminal HER2‑negative breast cancer

Luminal HER2‑negative breast cancer accounts for about 60–70 % of all cases of this disease. The choice of adjuvant systemic therapy for patients with operable luminal HER2‑negative breast cancer, especially the prescription of adjuvant chemotherapy and ovarian suppression, is one of the most complex and controversial issues. The reasons for this are the pronounced heterogeneity of luminal breast cancer, the absence of clear markers of chemosensitivity, as well as hormone resistance of the tumor in some patients. Genetic tests have become a great help in resolving this issue in a number of foreign countries, allowing in each specific case to assess the risk of relapse of the disease and the need to prescribe more aggressive adjuvant drug therapy, however, they are not yet available to Russian oncologists. However, even in the absence of the ability to use such tests, we have tools that can significantly facilitate decision‑making on the choice of adjuvant treatment for operable luminal HER2‑negative breast cancer. As alternative tools, the article discusses a calculator for estimating the risk of recurrence based on clinicopathological tumor characteristics, preoperative test hormonal therapy with aromatase inhibitors for postmenopausal patients, and the composite progression risk index for premenopausal patients. All of these tools are available and can be used to guide adjuvant systemic treatment.

The clinicopathological features of adult thyroid tumors with DICER1 mutation

A total of 37 cases of thyroid tumors with pathological features suggestive of DICER1 gene mutation were selected to detect the DICER1 gene and BRAF gene using Sanger sequencing. A total of 10 patients (27.0%) exhibited DICER1 gene mutation all of whom were female with an age of [M(Q1, Q3)] 38.0 (30.5, 47.5) years. All patients had wild-type BRAFV600E gene. The ultrasound examination showed high-low echogenic well-demarcated intra-thyroidal nodules with abundant peripheral and internal blood flow signals in the DICER1 mutated thyroid tumor. The tumor was confined within the thyroid gland, with a diameter of (3.68±1.31) cm. The pathological features are as follows: the majority of tumors are encapsulated, which mainly composed of large follicles rich in colloid and some are small and micro follicles. The nucleus is round and deeply stained or slightly light stained, small to medium-sized, with occasional nuclear grooves and a lack of nuclear pseudoinclusion bodies within the nucleus. Immunohistochemical staining shows that Ki67 proliferation index of approximately 2%-10%. All cases were followed up for 11 to 18 months, and there was no recurrences or distant metastase. This study confirmed that the DICER1 gene mutation is mutually exclusive with the BRAFV600E gene mutation. The thyroid tumor with DICER1 mutation are in big size and are more common in young females with a good prognosis. Cases with the wild-type DICER1 gene may exhibit similar morphological features, and molecular testing is recommended. If somatic DICER1 mutation is confirmed, patients should undergo germline mutation testing to rule out DICER1 syndrome in order to define whether genetic counseling is necessary.

The Impact of the Coexpression of MET and ESR Genes on Prognosticators and Clinical Outcomes of Breast Cancer: An Analysis for the METABRIC Dataset

Purpose. Breast cancer is a heterogeneous disease. Exploring new prognostic and therapeutic targets in patients with breast cancer is essential. This study investigated the expression of MET, ESR1, and ESR2 genes and their association with clinicopathologic characteristics and clinical outcomes in patients with breast cancer. Methods. The METABRIC dataset for breast cancer was obtained from the cBioPortal public domain. Gene expression data for MET, ESR1, and ESR2, as well as the putative copy number alterations (CNAs) for MET were retrieved. Results. The MET mRNA expression levels correlated inversely with the expression levels of ESR1 and positively with the expression levels of ESR2 (r = −0.379, p<0.001 and r = 0.066, and p=0.004, respectively). The ESR1 mRNA expression was significantly different among MET CNAs groups p<0.001. Patients with high MET/ESR1 coexpression had favorable clinicopathologic tumor characteristics and prognosticators compared to low MET/ESR1 coexpression in terms of greater age at diagnosis, reduced Nottingham Prognostic Index, lower tumor grade, hormone receptor positivity, HER2-negative status, and luminal subtype p<0.001. In contrast, patients with high MET/ESR2 coexpression had unfavorable tumor features and advanced prognosticators compared to patients with low MET/ESR2 coexpression p<0.001. No significant difference in overall survival was observed based on the MET/ESR coexpression status. However, when data were stratified based on the treatment type (chemotherapy and hormonal therapy), survival was significantly different based on the coexpression status of MET/ESR. Conclusions. Findings from our study add to the growing evidence on the potential crosstalk between MET and estrogen receptors in breast cancer. The expression of the MET/ESR genes could be a novel prognosticator and calls for future studies to evaluate the impact of combinational treatment approaches with MET inhibitors and endocrine drugs in breast cancer.

Acidophil stem cell pituitary neuroendocrine tumors/adenoma: a clinicopathological analysis of five cases

Objective: To investigate the clinicopathological characteristics of acidophil stem cell pituitary neuroendocrine tumors (PitNET)/adenoma. Methods: Five cases of acidophil stem cell PitNET/adenoma were diagnosed between May 2022 and July 2023 at the Second Hospital of Hebei Medical University, Shijiazhuang, China. The clinicopathological features of the tumor were analyzed by using histology, immunohistochemistry, and electron microscopy. The relevant literature was reviewed. Results: There were 1 male and 4 females, aged from 23 to 69 years. Patient 3 was 55 years old at the time of diagnosis and first surgery, and relapsed 5 years later. The patients' median age was 32 years. Patients 1 and 5 showed elevated blood prolactin, with various degrees of hormonal symptoms except Patient 3, who showed only tumor compression symptoms. Imaging studies showed that all cases involved the sellar floor. The tumors of Patients 1, 2 and 5 were closely related to the cavernous sinus segment of the internal carotid artery. The tumors exhibited a diffuse growth pattern with chromophobic to slightly acidophilic cytoplasm. A few of tumor cells showed chromophobic cytoplasm. The nucleoli were conspicuous. Intranuclear inclusion bodies and variably-sized clear vacuoles were observed occasionally. Under electron microscope, marked mitochondrial abnormalities were observed, including increased mitochondria number, expanded hypertrophy, and absence of mitochondrial ridge fracture. Some mitochondrial matrices were dense, while some were vacuolated. Conclusions: Acidophil stem cell PitNET/adenoma is a rare type of pituitary adenomas/PitNETs. It often has a more clinically aggressive manner with immature cells, diffuse expression of PIT1, prolactin, and varying degrees of growth hormone expression. Because of the obvious diversity of their clinical hormone status and hormone immune expression, the diagnosis of this type tumor is still a challenge.

Abstract PO3-02-13: Breast Cancer in Very Young Adult Women At or Under the Age of 35 Years: Characteristics and Outcomes

Abstract Background: Breast cancer (BC) is the most common malignancy among women in Saudi Arabia. Noticeably, it shows a higher incidence in younger age groups than what is reported from Western countries. Age 35 years and less is an applied cut-off age for clinically defining BC in very young women (BCVY). This study describes characteristics, survival and risk of death associated factors in this rare subset of patients. Methods: A retrospective cohort study included females > 18 and < 35 years with histologically confirmed primary non-metastatic breast cancer from an academic hospital in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia between the years 2009-2019. Demographic data, tumor clinicopathological features, and outcomes were obtained. Survival and potential associated factors were examined. A p-value of less than 0.05 was regarded as statistically significant. Results: 204 female patients with a confirmed breast cancer diagnosis were included. The mean age at diagnosis was 31.43 ± 2.94 years. Fifty-three percent of the patients had a left-sided tumor with the majority being IDC (92%) and one-third with positive axillary lymph nodes (N+) and multifocal disease in 17%. One-quarter of the tumors showed LVI, 45% revealed associated DCIS and 26% showed tumor necrosis on histopathology examination. The presence of tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) was reported in 23% of TNBC cases. Tubular differentiation score 3 was reported in 79.4%, nuclear pleomorphism score 3 in 79% and mitosis activity score 3 in 19% while the most reported overall grade was II in 48.5% followed by grade III in 34%. HER2-positive in 33.8 %, HR-positive in 34.3 %, TNBC in 24% and unknown in 8% of the patients. Thirty percent had a distant recurrence and 15% were deceased. The mean survival time was 4.61 years with a maximum of 6.54 years and a minimum of 3.67 years. Table 1 shows the multivariate logistic regression analysis of factors influencing the risk of death in very young patients with breast cancer. Conclusions: The current study describes the clinicopathological characteristic, survival and related factors of breast cancer in very young patients < 35 years, which is considered an uncommon presentation. Large, high-grade tumors and a high frequency of HER2 and TNBC were observed in BCVY patients. Involvement of the regional lymph nodes and the development of distant recurrence were associated significantly with an increased risk of death. The presence or absence of TILs, LVI and tumor necrosis on histopathological examination did not influence the risk of recurrence or death in this cohort. Table 1. The multivariate logistic regression analysis of factors influencing the risk of death in very young patients with breast cancer. Citation Format: Atlal Abusanad, Rana Ajabnoor, Aydah Al-Awadhi, Omalkhair Abualkhair. Breast Cancer in Very Young Adult Women At or Under the Age of 35 Years: Characteristics and Outcomes [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 2023 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium; 2023 Dec 5-9; San Antonio, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2024;84(9 Suppl):Abstract nr PO3-02-13.

Abstract PO5-09-10: Inflammatory Breast Cancer Patient Profile in a Population of Puerto Rican Women

Abstract Background: Breast cancer (BC) is the most frequently diagnosed cancer type, as well as the leading cause of cancer death among women in Puerto Rico (PR). Moreover, inflammatory breast cancer (IBC) is a highly aggressive BC subtype. The current study aimed to describe the patient profile and the clinicopathological characteristics of IBC tumors in Hispanic women living in Puerto Rico. Methods: This is a retrospective, population-based study using the Puerto Rico Central Cancer Registry (PRCCR) database and the Health Insurance Linkage Database (PRCCR-HILD) to identify and describe the patient profile of Puerto Rican women diagnosed with IBC from 2008 to 2018. Variables such as age at diagnosis, staging variables, tumor receptor subtypes, treatment received, and overall survival (OS) were studied. Statistical analysis methods were employed to describe the population, estimate survival curves and examine the risk of dying. Results: We identified a total of 51 patients. The mean age at diagnosis of IBC in the current study was 59 years old, which is older than the mean age at diagnosis of IBC for women in the mainland US, but younger than the mean age of women that are diagnosed with BC in PR (63 years old). A total of 62.8% of patients had no metastases at diagnosis and 64.7% were diagnosed with stage III disease. Most tumors presented with ER+/PR+/Her2- (21.6%), or a triple-negative (ER-/PR-/Her2-, 15.7%) tumor concordance. The OS during the 12 months post-diagnosis was 66%, whereas at 36 months, OS decreased to 39%. The triple-negative subtype had the worst survival at 36 months (36%). Women with stage IV disease and those with ER-/PR- tumor subtype had a higher risk of dying. Conclusions: This is the first research to describe the patient profile and characteristics of women diagnosed with IBC in Puerto Rico. Our results suggest that the Puerto Rican IBC patient population presents unique characteristics. This research increases awareness about this lethal disease in PR. Citation Format: Luz Arroyo-Cruz, Michelle Martinez-Montemayor. Inflammatory Breast Cancer Patient Profile in a Population of Puerto Rican Women [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 2023 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium; 2023 Dec 5-9; San Antonio, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2024;84(9 Suppl):Abstract nr PO5-09-10.

Circular RNA PRKCI (hsa_circ_0067934): a potential target in the pathogenesis of human malignancies.

Circular RNAs (circRNAs) are a new type of endogenous non-coding RNA formed by a covalent closed loop. CircRNAs are characterized by specificity, universality, conservation, and stability. They are abundant in eukaryotic cells and have biological regulatory roles at various transcriptional and post-transcriptional levels. The upregulation of circPRKCI has been observed in a variety of tumors and is directly related to the clinicopathological characteristics of tumors and prognosis. More importantly, circPRKCI can participate in the tumorigenesis, progression, recurrence, and metastasis of various tumors through many functional mechanisms, including the activation of signaling pathways, such as the phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase (PI3K)/AKT pathway, and sponging of many microRNAs (miRNAs). This review summarizes the progress achieved in understanding the biological functions of circRNA PRKCI in various tumors. The goal is to inform the discovery of more functional mechanisms and new anticancer molecular targets.

ALYREF m5C RNA methylation reader predicts bladder cancer prognosis by regulating the tumor immune microenvironment.

5-Methylcytidine (m5C) methylation is a recently emerging epigenetic modification that is closely related to tumor proliferation, occurrence, and metastasis. This study aimed to investigate the clinicopathological characteristics and prognostic value of m5C regulators in bladder cancer (BLCA), and their correlation with the tumor immune microenvironment. Thirteen m5C RNA methylation regulators were analyzed using RNA-sequencing and corresponding clinical information obtained from the TCGA database. The Cluster Profiler package was used to analyze the gene ontology function of potential targets and enriched the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathway. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis was used to compare survival differences using the log-rank test and univariate Cox proportional hazards regression. The correlation between signature prognostic m5C regulators and various immune cells was analyzed. Univariate and multivariate Cox regression analyses identified independence of the ALYREF gene signature. Nine out of the 13 m5C RNA methylation regulators were differentially expressed in BLCA and normal samples and were co-expressed. These 9 regulators were associated with clinicopathological tumor characteristics, particularly high or low tumor risk, pT or pTNM stage, and migration. Consensus clustering analysis divides the BLCA samples into 4 clusters. Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway enrichment annotation and gene ontology function analysis identified 273 upregulated and 594 downregulated genes in BLCA. Notably, only ALYREF was significantly correlated with OS (P < .05). ALYREF exhibited significant infiltration levels in macrophage cells. Therefore, we constructed a nomogram for ALYREF as an independent prognostic factor. Additionally, we observed that both the mRNA and protein levels of ALYREF were upregulated, and immunofluorescence showed that ALYREF was mainly distributed in nuclear speckles. ALYREF overexpression was significantly associated with poor OS. Our findings demonstrated the potential of ALYREF to predict clinical prognostic risks in BLCA patients and regulate the tumor immune microenvironment. As such, ALYREF may serve as a novel prognostic indicator in BLCA patients.

EBV-Associated Gastric Cancer; An In Situ Hybridization Assay on Tissue Microarray: A Multi-Region Study from Four Major Provinces of Iran.

Gastric cancer is the fourth leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the world. The identification of gastric cancer subtypes related to recognizable microbial agents may play a pivotal role in the targeted prevention and treatment of this cancer. The current study is conducted to define the frequency of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infection in gastric cancers of four major provinces, with different incidence rates of gastric cancers, in Iran. Paraffin blocks of 682 cases of various types of gastric cancer from Tehran, South and North areas of Iran were collected. Twelve tissue microarray (TMA) blocks were constructed from these blocks. Localization of EBV in tumors was assessed by in situ hybridization (ISH) for EBV-encoded RNA (EBER). Chi-squared test was used to evaluate the statistical significance between EBV-associated gastric cancer (EBVaGC) and clinicopathologic tumor characteristics. Fourteen out of 682 cases (2.1%) of gastric adenocarcinoma were EBER-positive. EBER was positive in 8 out of 22 (36.4%) of medullary carcinomas and 6 out of 660 (0.9%) of non-medullary type, which was a statistically significant difference (P<0.001). The EBVaGCs were more frequent in younger age (P=0.009) and also showed a trend toward the lower stage of the tumor (P=0.075). EBV-associated gastric adenocarcinoma has a low prevalence in Iran. This finding can be due to epidemiologic differences in risk factors and exposures, and the low number of gastric medullary carcinomas in the population. It may also be related to gastric tumor heterogeneity not detected with the TMA technique.

Metastatic Gastric Tumors: Clinical and Endoscopic Features.

Stomach metastasis is rare, and there are few reports on its endoscopic features. Herein, we focused on the endoscopic features and discussed and reviewed the clinicopathological characteristics of metastatic gastric tumors. We conducted an analysis on the clinicopathological features of individuals with gastric metastases originating from solid organ tumors at the Department of Gastroenterology, Toranomon Hospital, Minato-ku, Tokyo, Japan.Thirty-one cases were identified and evaluated for histology, initial presentation, endoscopic findings, lesion locations, treatment courses, and overall survival of the patients. Endoscopic findings resembling submucosal tumors were present in five cases (16%), and those with a morphology similar to that of primary gastric cancer were present in 26 cases (84%). In addition, seven patients (22%) were diagnosed with gastric metastasis due to a suspected biopsy of early gastric cancer. Solitary metastasis (21 patients, 67.7%) was more common than multiple metastases (10 patients, 32.2%). The median time from primary tumor to diagnosis was 36 months, and survival after metastasis was 19 months. The overall survival (OS) after the diagnosis of the primary tumor was 22 months for esophageal cancer, 25 months for lung cancer, and 100 months for breast cancer, and the OS after the diagnosis of gastric metastasis was almost the same. The average time from the diagnosis of the primary tumor to the diagnosis of gastric metastasis (*timespan) was more than seven years for breast and kidney cancers. As the prognosis of patients with cancer gradually improves, they develop metastases more frequently. Understanding the endoscopic findings and information about a patient's clinical history is useful to correctly diagnose gastric metastases.

Molecular and clinicopathologic characteristics of CNS embryonal tumors with BRD4::LEUTX fusion.

Central nervous system (CNS) embryonal tumors are a heterogeneous group of high-grade malignancies, and the increasing clinical use of methylation profiling and next-generation sequencing has led to the identification of molecularly distinct subtypes. One proposed tumor type, CNS tumor with BRD4::LEUTX fusion, has been described. As only a few CNS tumors with BRD4::LEUTX fusions have been described, we herein characterize a cohort of 9 such cases (4 new, 5 previously published) to further describe their clinicopathologic and molecular features. We demonstrate that CNS embryonal tumor with BRD4::LEUTX fusion comprises a well-defined methylation class/cluster. We find that patients are young (4years or younger), with large tumors at variable locations, and frequently with evidence of leptomeningeal/cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) dissemination. Histologically, tumors were highly cellular with high-grade embryonal features. Immunohistochemically, 5/5 cases showed synaptophysin and 4/5 showed OLIG2 expression, thus overlapping with CNS neuroblastoma, FOXR2-activated. DNA copy number profiles were generally flat; however, two tumors had chromosome 1q gains. No recurring genomic changes, besides the presence of the fusion, were found. The LEUTX portion of the fusion transcript was constant in all cases assessed, while the BRD4 portion varied but included a domain with proto-oncogenic activity in all cases. Two patients with clinical follow up available had tumors with excellent response to chemotherapy. Two of our patients were alive without evidence of recurrence or progression after gross total resection and chemotherapy at 16 and 33months. One patient relapsed, and the last of our four patients died of disease one month after diagnosis. Overall, this case series provides additional evidence for this as a distinct tumor type defined by the presence of a specific fusion as well as a distinct DNA methylation signature. Studies on larger series are required to further characterize these tumors.

Nomogram Based on US and Clinicopathologic Characteristics: Axillary Nodal Evaluation Following Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy in Patients With Node-Positive Breast Cancer

BackgroundTo develop a convenient modality to predict axillary response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) in breast cancer patients. Materials and MethodsIn this multi-center study, a total of 1019 breast cancer patients with biopsy-proven positive lymph node (LN) receiving NAC were randomly assigned to the training and validation groups at a ratio of 7:3. Clinicopathologic and ultrasound (US) characteristics of both primary tumors and LNs were used to develop corresponding prediction models, and a nomogram integrating clinicopathologic and US predictors was generated to predict the axillary response to NAC. ResultsAxillary pathological complete response (pCR) was achieved in 47.79% of the patients. The expression of estrogen receptor, human epidermal growth factor receptor -2, Ki-67 score, and clinical nodal stage were independent predictors for nodal response to NAC. Location and radiological response of primary tumors, cortical thickness and shape of LNs on US were also significantly associated with nodal pCR. In the validation cohort, the discrimination of US model (area under the curve [AUC], 0.76) was superior to clinicopathologic model (AUC, 0.68); the combined model (AUC, 0.85) demonstrates strong discriminatory power in predicting nodal pCR. Calibration curves of the nomogram based on the combined model demonstrated that substantial agreement can be observed between the predictions and observations. This nomogram showed a false-negative rates of 16.67% in all patients and 10.53% in patients with triple negative breast cancer. ConclusionNomogram incorporating routine clinicopathologic and US characteristics can predict nodal pCR and represents a tool to aid in treatment decisions for the axilla after NAC in breast cancer patients.

Gastrointestinal tumors with SWI/SNF complex deficiency: a clinicopathological analysis of 36 cases

Objective: To investigate the clinicopathological characteristics of gastrointestinal tumors with SWI/SNF complex deficiency and to perform a prognostic analysis of the patients. Methods: Gastrointestinal tumor cases with SWI/SNF complex deficiency expression diagnosed at the Department of Pathology, Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, China from August 2021 to May 2023 were collected. Hematoxylin and eosin (HE) stained slides were reviewed, and immunohistochemical results were analyzed. Clinical and pathological information was recorded, and relevant literature was reviewed. Results: A total of 36 cases of gastrointestinal tumor with loss of SWI/SNF complex expression were identified, including 28 males (77.8%) and 8 females (22.2%). The average age at diagnosis was 70 years (range 48-85 years). Clinical staging showed 3 cases in stage Ⅰ (8.3%), 12 cases in stage Ⅱ (33.3%), 19 cases in stage Ⅲ (52.8%), and 2 cases in stage Ⅳ (5.6%). Complete or partial loss of ARID1A expression was observed in 20 cases (55.6%); complete or partial loss of SMARCA2 expression was observed in 24 cases (66.7%). SMARCA4 exhibited complete loss of expression in 4 cases (11.1%). Eleven cases (30.6%) showed concurrent complete or partial losses of both ARID1A and SMARCA2 expression. Twelve cases (33.3%) had mismatch repair protein deficiency, all of which were characterized by MLH1/PMS2 absence. Mismatch repair protein deficiency was associated with loss of ARID1A expression (P<0.01). Patients with mismatch repair protein deficiency were also associated with earlier clinical stage and a lower risk of lymph node metastasis compared to the ones with intact mismatch repair proteins (P<0.05). Conclusions: SWI/SNF complex deficiency in gastrointestinal tumors is associated with dedifferentiation and often accompanied by mismatch repair protein deficiency. Compared to the cases with intact mismatch repair proteins, the cases with defective mismatch repair protein have an earlier clinical stage and a lower risk of lymph node metastasis.

Clinicopathologic and Endosonographic Characteristics of Colon Subepithelial Tumors Discovered Incidentally.

Colonoscopy is commonly used for colorectal cancer screening; therefore, the detection of colon subepithelial tumors (SETs) has also increased. Several research studies have been undertaken to diagnose and treat stomach and rectal SETs. The purpose of this study was to determine a diagnostic point for colon SETs by comparing histological findings with the endoscopic characteristics of colon SETs discovered by chance. A total 194 patients underwent an endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) for suspicious colon SETs during a colonoscopy from May 2014 to December 2021. A total of 105 colon SETs, which were histologically diagnosed, were finally included. Fisher's exact test was used to determine the factors associated with malignant SETs. Colon SETs were predominantly present in the right colon (n = 73, 69.5%), particularly in the transverse colon (n = 32, 30.5%). The majority were smaller than 10 mm (n = 88, 83.8%), and they had hard consistencies (n = 84, 80%) and exhibited no surface changes (n = 96, 91.4%). Most of them were found in the submucosal layers (n = 54, 51.4%) and had a hypoechoic pattern (n = 56, 53.3%) in the EUS. Of the histologically confirmed cases, only three (3/105, 2.9%) were malignant. Most benign lesions were lipomas, suspected parasitic infections, or lesions caused by various inflammatory reactions, including fibrous/fibrocalcific lesions and necrotic nodules. All soft lesions were benign. Two of the three malignant lesions were adenocarcinomas, and the other was lymphoma. For the malignant SETs, there was a statistically significant alteration in the surface of the tumors (p < 0.001), and they were located where the muscularis mucosa layer was included (p = 0.008). The potential malignant SETs, granular cell tumors, and neuroendocrine tumors (NETs) had similar features, such as yellowish hypoechoic masses. Colon NETs were only found in the rectosigmoid junction. Parasitic infections and lesions, resulting in various inflammatory reactions, were observed as pale and hard SETs and mostly revealed as mixed echogenic masses located in the muscularis mucosa, submucosa, or multi-layers in the EUS. This study showed that small colon SETs were mostly benign lesions. Despite its rarity, pathological confirmation is crucial in cases where the SET has surface changes and has been located in a position where the muscularis mucosa layer was included on the EUS, due to the risk of malignancy.

Cytopathological characteristics of SMARCA4-deficient thoracic undifferentiated tumors in serous effusion

Objective: To investigate the clinicopathological characteristics of SMARCA4-deficient thoracic undifferentiated tumors, and the diagnostic value of the cells in serous effusion. Methods: Eleven cases of SMARCA4-deficient tumor were collected from the Affiliated Hospital of Hebei University, China from January 2018 to July 2023, which were diagnosed using cell block of serous effusion. The clinical, histopathological, immunohistochemical and molecular genetic features were reviewed, along with related literature. Results: All the 11 patients were males with ages ranging from 54 to 77 years (median 64 years). Nine patients were smokers and two had an unknown smoking history. Most of them complained of cough and dyspnea with pleural effusion. The primary tumor sites included lung (9 cases), thoracic wall (1 case), and mediastinum (1 case), while 3 patients had a history of lung surgery. Histologically, tumor cells were large and pleomorphic, with increased nuclear-cytoplasmic ratio. They also showed round nuclei, conspicuous nucleoli, and basophilic cytoplasm in serous effusion. Immunohistochemically, tumor cells in all cases were negative for SMARCA4/BRG1, CKpan and CK7, but positive for SMARCB1/INI1. Some of the cases were positive for CD34 (7/11), synaptophysin (4/11) and SALL4 (2/11). Histologically, monotonous tumor cells formed solid sheets or anastomosing islands with poor cell adhesion and rhabdoid morphology. Brisk mitotic figures were accompanied by large areas of necrosis. Some cases focally exhibited syncytia, and some had bright cytoplasm and vesicular chromatin. The immunohistochemical profiles in the tumor tissues were consistent with those of cytology. Six cases were negative for PD-L1 (22c3). Among the 6 cases analyzed by targeted next generation sequencing, concurrent SMARCA4 and TP53 mutations were detected in all 6 cases. Some of the 6 tumors showed mutations of STK11, CDKN2A, and MET, and amplification of ERBB2, exon deletion of BRCA2, etc. Follow-up information was available in all cases and ranged from 2 to 24 months. The patients showed metastases to various sites, including lymph node, liver, kidney, adrenal gland, brain, bone and other sites. Four patients died of the tumor. The survival time of 4 patients who underwent radical resection or radiofrequency ablation was more than 13 months. Conclusions: SMARCA4-deficient thoracic sarcoma is a rare but highly aggressive tumor with dismal prognosis and rhabdomyoid features. It is difficult to diagnose this disease using only serous effusion samples. This tumor thus warrants careful consideration. Accurate diagnosis can greatly improve early diagnosis and treatment of these tumors.

Predicting prostate cancer progression with a Multi-lncRNA expression-based risk score and nomogram integrating ISUP grading

Prostate cancer is a highly heterogeneous disease; therefore, estimating patient prognosis accurately is challenging due to the lack of biomarkers with sufficient specificity and sensitivity. One of the current challenges lies in integrating genomic and transcriptomic data with clinico-pathological features and in incorporating their application in everyday clinical practice. Therefore, we aimed to model a risk score and nomogram containing long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) expression and clinico-pathological data to better predict the probability of prostate cancer progression. We performed bioinformatics analyses to identify lncRNAs differentially expressed across various prostate cancer stages and associated with progression-free survival. This information was further integrated into a prognostic risk score and nomogram containing transcriptomic and clinico-pathological features to estimate the risk of disease progression. We used RNA-seq data from 5 datasets from public repositories (total n = 178) comprising different stages of prostate cancer: pre-treatment primary prostate adenocarcinomas, post-treatment tumors and metastatic castration resistant prostate cancer. We found 30 lncRNAs with consistent differential expression in all comparisons made using two R-based packages. Multivariate progression-free survival analysis including the ISUP group as covariate, revealed that 7/30 lncRNAs were significantly associated with time-to-progression. Next, we combined the expression of these 7 lncRNAs into a multi-lncRNA score and dichotomized the patients into low- or high-score. Patients with a high-score showed a 4-fold risk of disease progression (HR = 4.30, 95 %CI = 2.66–6.97, p = 3.1e-9). Furthermore, we modelled a combined risk-score containing information on the multi-lncRNA score and ISUP group. We found that patients with a high-risk score had nearly 8-fold risk of progression (HR = 7.65, 95 %CI = 4.05–14.44, p = 3.4e-10). Finally, we created and validated a nomogram to help uro-oncologists to better predict patient's risk of progression at 3- and 5-years post-diagnosis. In conclusion, the integration of lncRNA expression data and clinico-pathological features of prostate tumors into predictive models might aid in tailored disease risk assessment and treatment for patients with prostate cancer.

MALIGNANT SWEAT GLAND TUMOURS: A CASE SERIES

Objectives: Malignant sweat gland tumor is a very rare skin cancer with variable presentations. The objectives of this study are to examine the clinicopathological and immunohistochemical features of malignant sweat gland tumors and to discuss the treatment and follow-up for postsurgical recurrence rates. Methods: Six patients diagnosed with sweat gland carcinoma at the National Hospital of Dermatology and Venereology between 2018 and 2023 were carefully reviewed. Results: The cases occurred in four men and two women, ranging in age from 31 to 78 years (mean 59.3). Four of the lesions were from the scalp, one from the nose, and one from the right arm. There were three cases of Eccrine Porocarcinoma, two cases of Hidradenocarcinoma, and one case of Syringoid Eccrine Carcinoma. All of them were treated with surgery, five cases with wide local excision, and one case with Mohs micrographic surgery. Only one case had a recurrence. Conclusion: Malignant sweat gland tumors demonstrate significant variability in clinicopathology and immunohistopathology. Surgery is the mainstay of treatment. Received 28 June 2023Revised 26 September 2023Accepted 29 November 2023