Fibrohistiocytic tumors are a diverse group of benign and malignant soft tissue lesions, including dermatofibroma, dermatofibrosarcomaprotuberans, and malignant fibrous histiocytoma. On the clinical point of view, the distinction between benign and malignant lesions and malignancy grading is far more important. Therefore, we investigated 23 fibrohistiocytic tumors, using PCNA (PC10) which was a useful marker of proliferating activity, to differentiate the benign lesions from the malignant and correlate with other prognostic factors including tumor necrosis. cellularity, histologic grade, and mitotic counts. The results obtained were as follows 1) Positive tumor cells were clearly identified by the characteristic diffuse or granular nuclear staining. 2) The number of PCNA-positive tumor cells were 2.16+/-2.39% in dermatofibroma, 16.12+/-7.38% in dermatofibrosacoma protuberans, and 28.02+/-17.47% in the malignant fibrous histiocytoma. The numbers of PCNA-positive tumor cells in the malignant lesions higher than in the benign (p<0.001). 3) Deep seated, large size (>5 cm) and recurred or metastatic cases of MFH were more the high PCNA index (more than 20%) than the low index (less than 20%) groups. 4) PCNA index in MFHs had positive correlation with the number of mitotic counts (r=0.7582, p<0.001), cellularity (r=0.5908, p<0.05) and histologic grade (r=0.4164, p<0.05). These results suggested that reactivity on PCNA might assist in the distinction between benign and malignant lesions in fibrohistiocytic tumors, and could be a useful prognostic factor in the patients with malignant fibrous histiocytoma.
Neoplasm Metastasis

A clinico-pathologic study with an immunohistochemical examination for c-erbB-2 expression in 54 cases of ductal carcinoma in situ and 16 cases of Paget's disease of the breast was performed. c-erbB-2 oncoprotein overexpression was observed in 45% (24/54) and 88% (14/16) of ductal carcinoma in situ and Paget's disease, respectively. The overexpression of c-erbB-2 oncoprotein was significantly correlated with the nuclear grade of tumors and inversely with the status of the estrogen receptor. c-erbB-2 was positive in 4 out of 5 patients with metastasis to axillary lymph nodes and 3 out of 4 patients who died of the disease. Prognostic significance of c-erbB-2 oncoprotein in ductal carcinoma in situ was highly suggested. The expression of c-erbB-2 oncoprotein in Paget's disease was well correlated with coexisting infiltrating or in situ ductal carcinoma. The high positive rate of c-erbB-2 oncoprotein in ductal carcinoma with Paget's disease could be understood with a recent hypothesis that c-erbB-2 oncoprotein is involved in promotion of cell motility and the spread of carcinoma cells.
Neoplasm Metastasis

Various clinical and pathologic parameters in order to determine the prognosis of gastric carcinoma have been proposed. Among them "carcinoma with lymphoid stroma" has been proven to show good prognosis. But the criteria of lymphoid stroma in this condition remain vague and not clear. A total of 7 cases of gastric carcinoma with heavy lymphoid stromal response out of 947 surgically resected gastric carcinomas was reviwed with histotopographic analysis. They were all advanced carcinoma, Borrmann type I and II. Histologically, the lymphoid stromal response could be divided into three patterns; nodular (3 cases), diffuse (3 cases) and mixed (1 case). The nodular pattern was characterized by massive lymphoid cell infiltration with many follicle formation and little desmoplastic reaction, while the diffuse pattern showed diffuse permeative type of inflammatory cell infiltration with scarce lymphoid follicle formation and mild desmoplasia. Regional lymph node metastasis was found in 2 cases; one in diffused and another one in mixed pattern. The stromal reaction was not directly related with the depth of tumor invasion. We propoose that the term GCLS should be used in the cases of nodular pattern with complete follicle formation of lymphoid stroma.
Neoplasm Metastasis

BACKGROUND: The clinicopathologic features of thymic epithelial tumors are inadequate as predictors of the progression of these tumors because of their heterogeneous histology and varied biological behavior. We attempted to detect the expression of tyrosine kinase receptors and oncogenic markers to determine the correlation between these markers and the WHO classification of the tumors. METHODS: Forty-three surgically resected thymic epithelial tumors (37 thymomas and 6 thymic carcinomas) were immunohistochemically assessed on tissue arrays for c-KIT, her-2/neu, epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), p53. bcl-2 and Ki-67. RESULTS: The Ki-67 labeling index was significantly increased in thymic carcinoma (p<0.05). The overexpression of p53 protein was observed exclusively in type B3 thymoma (67%) and thymic carcinoma (83%). Bcl-2 was expressed in type A and AB thymomas as well as in thymic carcinoma. C-KIT was only present in thymic carcinoma (p<0.05), whereas the EGFR expression was significantly high in all types of thymomas, except for thymic carcinomas. Her-2/neu was not identified in any type of thymoma. CONCLUSION: This study suggests that the Ki-67 LI, bcl-2, p53, c-KIT, and EGFR protein expression may be useful markers for the subclassification of thymic epithelial tumors according to WHO schema and WHO classification correlated with the tumor staging. The overexpression of c-KIT in thymic carcinoma reveals that these patients would likely benefit from an anti-c-KIT treatment.
Neoplasm Staging

No abstract available.
Genes, Neoplasm*

Gastrointestinal stromal tumors are notorious for their unpredictable clinical behavior. To assess the cellular proliferating activities, four different methods were used: mitotic count, nucleolar organizer region(AgNOR) staining, immunostaining of proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) and DNA ploidy were used on 39 cases of gastrointestinal stromal tumors. Additionally, we analysed cellularity, cellular atypism and necrosis. Among 39 cases of gastrointestinal stromal tumors, 11 cases were diagnosed as benign lesions according to clinicopathologic findings. Malignant lesions were arbitrarily classified into low grade(n=ll) and high grade(n=17) on the basis of absence or presence of recurrence, metastasis or tumor-related death during the follow-up period. Numbers of mitosis, AgNORs, PCNA index and DNA ploidy were correlated with grades of tumor and prognosis. Among them, AgNORs counting appeared to be the most useful in predicting prognosis. Numbers of mitosis, PCNA index and DNA ploidy showed varying degrees of overlap among the 3 groups. Among the histological parameters, cellular atypia showed some relationship with the prognosis that others did not reveal.
Neoplasm Metastasis

No abstract available.
Neoplasm, Residual*

No abstract available.
Neoplasm Metastasis*

Tumor angiogenesis(TA) refers to the growth of new vessels toward and within a tumor. TA is necessary both at the beginning and at the end of the metastatic cascade of events. Recently, experimental evidence suggests that the growth of a tumor beyond a certain size requires angiogenesis. To investigate how tumor angiogenesis correlates with metastases in breast carcinoma, the microvessels were counted (per 200 / field) in the most active areas of neovas-cularization by two investigators. The microvessels within breast carcinoma were highlighted by in imunohistochemical staining for factor VIII-related antigen. Microvessel count(MVC) in node-positive carcinoma(59.66=35) was significantly higher than in node-negative carcinoma(44.76=17)(p=0.009). MVC was also statistically correlated with tumor size and stage, but not with histologic grading, DNA ploidy, or hormonal receptors(estro-gen and progesterone). MVC in invasive breast carcinoma may be one of many prognostic predictors of node-positive breast carcinoma. Assessment of tumor angiogenesis may therefore be valuable in selecting patients with early breast carcinoma for aggressive therapy.
Neoplasm Metastasis

Fine needle aspiration cytologic findings of four cases of chondrosarcoma were described. The cases consisted of one primary scapular tumor, two recurrent shoulder masses, and right upper quadrant mass which developed after an A-K amputation for an unknown tumor. The aspirates characteristically revealed cell-rich smears containing clusters and isolated cells having abundant cyanophilic cytoplasm and round to oval or elongated vesicular nuclei. The cytoplasm was occasionally foamy. The nuclei were usually small but prominent. Nuclear atypism and pleomorphism were frequently associated. The last case showed epithelioid sheets of polygonal cells, possibly representing chondroblasts, and a well differentiated chondroid element. The fine needle aspiration could be a good diagnostic tool for primary, recurrent, and metastatic chondrosarcomas.
Neoplasm Metastasis