Common Type Of Sarcoma Research Articles

Primary pleomorphic liposarcoma of the parotid gland: A case report and review of the literature

Although liposarcomas are the most common type of sarcoma in adults, they are rare in the head and neck region. Pleomorphic liposarcoma is the least common histologic subtype in all locations. To our knowledge, there have been only 11 reported cases of primary liposarcomas of the major salivary glands, and the pleomorphic variant arising in the parotid gland has been reported only once before. Only 2 of the 11 reported cases of liposarcoma of the major salivary glands in the literature have died of disease, and both cases were of the pleomorphic subtype. We report a case of pleomorphic liposarcoma arising in the left parotid gland of an 80-year-old woman. This case report highlights that, despite conservative surgery followed by 2 local recurrences, our patient is doing well with minimal local morbidity and no demonstrable metastases 30 months after the initial diagnosis. We also present a review of the literature on the subject. (Am J Otolaryngol 2004;25:432-437.)

Primitive Neuroectodermal Tumor of the Kidney-Another Enigma: a Pathologic, Immunohistochemical, and Molecular Diagnostic Study

Primitive neuroectodermal tumor (PNET), the second most common type of sarcoma in the first two decades of life, rarely presents as an organ-based neoplasm. Rather, it is seen typically in the soft tissues of the chest wall and paraspinal region. We report a case of primary PNET of the kidney in a 17-year-old girl who presented with abdominal pain, hematuria, and an abdominal mass. Nodules and sheets of monotonous-appearing primitive round cells and the formation of rosettes focally were the principal microscopic features. The tumor cells were uniformly immunoreactive for vimentin, cytokeratin, neuron-specific enolase, and 013 (CD99). In addition, the characteristic translocation of PNET and Ewing sarcoma, t(11;22)(q24;q12), was detected by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Eight previous examples of renal PNET have been reported in the literature in the past 2 years, but only three of these cases have had complete immunohistochemical evaluation with the demonstration of 013 positivity. To our knowledge the present case is the only one to date demonstrating the recurrent translocation t(11;22)(q24;q12) by PCR. Assuming that the previous cases in the literature are bona fide examples of PNET, the kidney may be another site of predilection for this usual soft-tissue neoplasm. We are once again confronted with the dilemma about the nature of the progenitor cell.