Intestinal metaplasia (IM) have long been thought to play a role in the pathogenesis of gastric intestinal adenocarcinoma, but not in that of diffuse cancer. We studied 20 normal gastric mucosa, 90 IM, 39 atypia (dysplasia or adenoma), and 51 adenocarcinoma to evaluate the expression of p53, erb B2, and H-ras p21 proteins and to assess the correlation with IM (esp. type III IM, revealing positive HID-AB/PAS for sulfomucin). Positive rate of HID-AB staining revealed an increased trend in comparison between IM, atypia and adenocarcinoma. It was the highest in mucinous carcinoma, but it was not correlated with positive oncoprotein expressions. Positive rates of oncoproteins revealed increased trends in comparison between IM, dysplasia or adenoma and adenocarcinoma in c-erb B2 and p53 (P<0.01). The positive rates were highest in intestinal adenocarcinoma (50.0% and 54.2%, respectively). Rates were lowest in biopsy tissue of IM (4.4% and 8.7%, respectively). The expression of H-ras p21 was not significant in gastric carcinogenesis. There was no significant correlation between oncoproteins and other clinical parameters, such as depth of invasion, differentiation, size and nodal metastasis of the tumors. Therefore, we suggest that p53 and erb B2 may play a role in the carcinogenesis of gastric intestinal adenocarcinoma.
Adenocarcinoma ; Adenocarcinoma, Mucinous ; Adenoma ; Biopsy ; Carcinogenesis ; Gastric Mucosa ; Metaplasia* ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Oncogene Proteins

We have experienced a case of plexiform neurofibrorna of the right upper eyelid and orbit in a 12-year-old girl who had typical skin features of neurofibromatosis and no family history. The non-pulsating proptosis of the right eye and diffuse thickening with hypertrophy of the upper lid, had increased insiduciusly since the birth on. Biopsy taken from eyelirl lesion showed the features of plexiform neurofibroma. Skull X-ray and brain computerized tomogram showed that the right orbit was wider, with the enlarged mass and defects in orbital roof and lesser and greater wings of the sphenoid bone. The surgical excision of the right eyelid lesion was performed.
Biopsy ; Brain ; Child ; Exophthalmos ; Eyelids* ; Female ; Humans ; Hypertrophy ; Neurofibroma, Plexiform* ; Neurofibromatoses* ; Orbit* ; Parturition ; Skin ; Skull ; Sphenoid Bone

Angiogenesis is a crucial step in tumor growth and progression. Scarce data is available on angiogensis in gastrointestinal tumors. We studied 16 normal colon, 44 adenomas and 29 carcinomas to evaluate angiogenesis in colorectal tumors and to assess the correlation among p53 protein, proliferative activity and other clinical prognostic parameters. Endothelial cells were immunostained with an anti-Factor VIII mAb; in each case three microscopic fields(x 200) were counted: average number of the three fields was defined as microvessel density (MVD). p53 protein expression was 45.5%(20/44) in adenomas, and 79.3%(23/29) in carcinomas (p<0.01). p53 protein expression of carcinomas was 57.1%(4/7) in diploid tumors, 100%(8/8) in aneuploid tumors (p=0.07), 100%(8/8) in well differentiated tumors, and 50%(2/4) in poorly differentiated tumors (p=0.09). MIB-1 score was 2.3+/-0.7(38) in adenomas, 3.4+/-0.5(29) in carcinomas (p<0.01). There was no significant correlation between p53 protein and MIB-1 score. MVD was 10.4+/-4.1(16) in the normal mucosa, 21.5+/-7.9(39) in the adenomas, 35.3+/-9.7(26) in carcinomas (normal versus adenomas, p<0.01; adenomas versus carcinomas, p<0.01). MVD was 25.8+/-5.4(2) in carcinomas confined to mucosa, and 36.1+/-9.6(24) in carcinomas with transmural invasion. The higher MIB-1 score was in carcinomas the more MVD increased but there was no statistical significance (r=0.38, p=0.055). MVD of carcinomas was not associated with nodal metastasis, p53 expression, and DNA ploidy. p53 protein and MIB-1 expression are useful methods for the evaluation of malignancy, and tumor angiogenesis is an early event in a colorectal tumor but MVD does not correlate with prognostic parameters except for the tumor depth.
Adenoma* ; Aneuploidy ; Colon ; Colorectal Neoplasms ; Diploidy ; DNA ; Endothelial Cells ; Microvessels* ; Mucous Membrane ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Ploidies

BACKGROUND: To clarify the clinical significance of CEA and CA19-9 in patients with gastric cancer, we evaluated the correlation between tissue expression, the peripheral and the portal levels of these tumor markers, and ten clinicopathological factors, as well as the prognosis. METHODS: Surgical specimens from 40 patients with gastric cancer were examined by using immunohistochemical staining with anti-CEA and anti-CA19-9 monoclonal antibodies. Serum levels of CEA and CA19-9 in the portal and the peripheral blood were measured by using immunoradiometric assays. RESULTS: Positive values of the portal venous CEA were more common in patients with lymph-node metastasis, distant metastasis, and lymphatic invasion than in those without these factors. Curative surgery was performed in 50.5% of the patients with high portal CEA levels and in 90.6% of the patients with low portal CEA levels. Positive values of the peripheral venous CEA were significantly higher in cases with lymph-node metastasis. The positive rate of CA19-9 immunohistochemistry was significantly higher in patients with distant metastasis and in non-curative surgery. The positive rate of peripheral venous CA19-9 was higher in cases with distant metastasis. The three-year survival rate of patients with negative tissue CEA was significantly higher than that of patients with a positive result. The peripheral venous levels of CEA and CA19-9 reflected the portal venous levels accurately. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that immunohistochemical examination of CEA in patients with gastric cancer is useful for the evaluation of the biological aggressiveness and progression of the disease and can be used for making a prognosis.
Antibodies, Monoclonal ; Biomarkers, Tumor ; Humans ; Immunohistochemistry ; Immunoradiometric Assay ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Prognosis ; Stomach Neoplasms* ; Survival Rate

No abstract available.
Humans* ; Polymerase Chain Reaction*

No abstract available.
Epidermolysis Bullosa* ; Epidermolysis Bullosa, Junctional*

It is often problematic to diagnose T-cell lymphoproliferative disorders of the skin because of the difficulty in establishing clonality in paraffin-embedded tissue. We used polymerase chain reaction single strand conformational polymorphism (PCR-SSCP) and heteroduplex analysis in paraffin embedded tissue to detect clonal rearrangement of T-cell receptor gamma (TCRgamma) gene in 17 T-cell lymphoproliferative disorders and 6 atypical lymphoproliferative diseases. We used polymerase chain reaction to detect TCR beta gene rearrangement in 8 of 17 cases which did not show TCRgamma gene rearrangement. Jurkat cell lines were used as monoclonal controls. DNA was extracted from 5 biopsies of T-cell lymphomas, 10 biopsies of mycosis fungoides, 2 biopsies of lymphomatoid papulosis, and 6 biopsies of atypical lymphoproliferative lesions. We detected monoclonality in 5 of 5 T-cell lymphoma cases, 2 of 2 lymphomatoid papulosis cases, 6 of 10 mycosis fungoides cases, and 2 of 6 atypical lymphoproliferative disease cases. We conclude that nonradioactive PCR-SSCP for TCR gene rearrangement analysis is a useful adjunct to routine histological and immunophenotypic methods in the diagnosis of cutaneous T cell lymphoproliferative disorders in paraffin embedded tissue.
Biopsy ; Diagnosis* ; DNA ; Gene Rearrangement ; Genes, T-Cell Receptor ; Genes, T-Cell Receptor beta ; Heteroduplex Analysis ; Humans ; Jurkat Cells ; Lymphoma, T-Cell ; Lymphomatoid Papulosis ; Lymphoproliferative Disorders ; Mycosis Fungoides ; Paraffin ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell ; Skin ; T-Lymphocytes

Coexpression of Kit ligand and c-kit has been reported in some gynecologic tumors. To determine whether imatinib mesylate is useful in ovarian epithelial tumors, we performed immunohistochemical and mutational analysis. The cases consisted of 33 cases, which included 13 serous cystadenocarcinomas, 1 borderline serous tumor, 8 mucinous cystadenocarcinomas, 6 borderline mucinous tumors and 5 clear cell carcinomas. Five cases of serous cystadenoma and 5 cases of mucinous cystadenoma were also included. In the immunohistochemical study, 3 cases (3/6, 50%) of borderline mucinous cystic tumor and two cases (2/8, 25%) of mucinous cystadenocarcinoma show positive staining for KIT protein. Only one case (1/13, 7.7%) of serous cystadenocarcinoma had positive staining. On mutational analysis, no mutation was identified at exon 11. However, two cases of borderline mucinous tumors and one case of mucinous cystadenocarcinoma had mutations at exon 17. In these cases, the immunohistochemistry also shows focal positive staining at epithelial component. Although, KIT protein expression showed higher incidence in mucinous tumors than serous tumors, they lack KIT-activating mutations in exon 11. Thus, ovarian surface epithelial tumors are unlikely to respond to imatinib mesylate.
Adult ; Aged ; Cystadenocarcinoma, Mucinous/genetics/metabolism/pathology ; Cystadenoma, Mucinous/genetics/metabolism/pathology ; Cystadenoma, Serous/genetics/metabolism/pathology ; DNA Mutational Analysis ; DNA, Neoplasm/chemistry/genetics ; Epithelial Cells/chemistry/metabolism/pathology ; Female ; Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic ; Humans ; Immunohistochemistry ; Middle Aged ; Mutation ; Ovarian Neoplasms/genetics/metabolism/*pathology ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Polymorphism, Single-Stranded Conformational ; Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-kit/biosynthesis/*genetics

Pathology specimen has been collected for purposes of education and research, particularly with respect to basic, developmental and translational studies in many areas of cancer research including molecular biology, immunology, and genetics. Even though no policy or ethical guideline drafted to regulate research tissue bank in Korea, advanced countries has been concerned ethical issues in the collections, storages, specimen transports and informatics for pathology specimen bank. Informed consent and confidentiality for protection of personal data records, which can be directly or indirectly associated with linked data from the donors' point of view, are the key to banking all over the world. The institutional review board (IRB) is important to ensure the scientific and ethical quality of pathologic specimen research. Increasing molecular genetic testing is also resulting in an increased demand of quality control for high quality nucleic acids. Most recently, the use of stored human tissue for education and research has become an object of increased ethical concern in Korea. Korean Association of Pathologists (KAP) has in urgent need of the policies and a standardized operating procedure, regulating a good collection practice of pathology specimen bank.
Allergy and Immunology ; Confidentiality ; Education ; Ethics ; Ethics Committees, Research ; Genetics ; Humans ; Informatics ; Informed Consent ; Korea ; Molecular Biology ; Nucleic Acids ; Pathology* ; Quality Control ; Tissue Banks

Sclerosing mesenteritis is a rare disease presenting as chronic inflammation and fibrosis of mesentery around the small and large intestine. And in most cases, it shows indolent and benign clinical course resulting in favorable prognosis. It is often diagnosed through characterized radiologic finding in abdominal examinations including computed tomography scan. However, it is important to rule out other conditions involving mesentery when diagnosing sclerosing mesenteritis. In the case of malignancy, the method of treatment and prognosis can be completely different therefore thorough examinations are essential. We herein report a 75-year-old male who suffered from frequent diarrhea and weight loss. Initially, he was diagnosed with sclerosing mesenteritis through abdominal computed tomography scan showing "misty" soft-tissue attenuation around the mesenteric vessel. However, follow up positron emission tomography scan and biopsy finding confirmed the common bile duct cancer with lymph node metastasis.
Aged ; Biopsy ; Cholangiocarcinoma* ; Common Bile Duct ; Diarrhea ; Fibrosis ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Inflammation ; Intestine, Large ; Lymph Nodes* ; Male ; Mesentery ; Methods ; Neoplasm Metastasis* ; Panniculitis ; Panniculitis, Peritoneal* ; Positron-Emission Tomography ; Prognosis ; Rare Diseases ; Weight Loss