To investigate the clinicopathological characteristics, diagnostic methods and prognosis of small pancreatic cancer.From May 2000 to January 2007, 89 patients with pancreatic cancer underwent surgery in our hospital. Of those, 14 had a tumor < or = 2 cm in diameter (small tumor group), and the other 75 had a tumor >2 cm in diameter (controlled group). The clinicopathological data of all the cases were retrospectively reviewed and analyzed.In the small pancreatic cancer group, CT and MRI detected 66.7% (8/12) and 77.8% (7/9) of the tumors, respectively. Serosal infiltration was found in 2 cases, lymph node involvement in 3 cases, and retroperitoneal infiltration in 3 cases. The follow-up duration of this group was 4-86 months. The overall 3- and 5-year survival rates were 42.8% and 31.7%, while in the control group, the overall 3- and 5-year survival rates were 29.7% and 22.5%, respectively. The multivariate analysis showed that the lymph node involvement, serosal infiltration and retroperitoneal infiltration were independent risk factors (P<0.05). However, the tumor size was not shown to be an independent risk factor (OR value = 1.45, P = 0.971).CT and MRI are valuable in detecting small pancreatic cancer. Small pancreatic cancers are likely to have a better prognosis when compared with larger ones. Lymph node metastasis and local infiltration are independent predictors of prognosis but not tumor size.
Ten-eleven translocation (TET) enzymes catalyze the oxidation of 5-methylcytosine (5-mC) to 5-hydroxymethylcytosine (5-hmC), 5-formylcytosine and 5-carboxylcytosine, which result in genomic DNA demethylation. It was reported that 5-hmC levels were decreased in a variety of cancers and could be regarded as an epigenetic hallmark of cancer. In the present study, 5-hmC levels were detected by immunohistochemistry (IHC) in 173 esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) tissues and 91 corresponding adjacent non-tumor tissues; DNA dot blot assays were used to detect the 5-hmC level in another 50 pairs of ESCC tissues and adjacent non-tumor tissues. In addition, the mRNA level of TET1, TET2 and TET3 in these 50 pairs of ESCC tissues was detected by real-time PCR. The IHC and DNA dot blot results showed that 5-hmC levels were significantly lower in ESCC tissues compared with corresponding adjacent non-tumor tissues (P = 0.029). TET2 and TET3 expression was also significantly decreased in tumor tissues compared with paired non-tumor tissues (TET2, P < 0.0001; TET3, P = 0.009), and the decrease in 5-hmC was significantly associated with the downregulation of TET2 expression (r = 0.405, P = 0.004). Moreover, the loss of 5-hmC in ESCC tissues was significantly associated with poor overall survival among patients with ESCC (P = 0.043); multivariate Cox regression analysis showed that the loss of 5-hmC in ESCC tissues was an independent unfavorable prognostic indicator for patients with ESCC (HR = 1.569, P = 0.029). In conclusion, 5-hmC levels were decreased in ESCC tissues, and the loss of 5-hmC in tumor tissues was an independent unfavorable prognostic factor for patients with ESCC.
Rare extra-mammary metastases of adenocarcinoma to the breast closely mimic primary invasive breast carcinoma (PBC), and specifically without an aware of clinical history, pose a difficult diagnostic issue.With the aim to improve differential diagnosis of lung adenocarcinoma metastasis and primary breast carcinoma in the breast, we retrieved 41 breast metastases from lung adenocarcinoma, seven of which were from the archived pathologic files of Cancer Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Science (CHCAMS) between 2001 and 2019, and the other 34 cases were collected from the published literatures. Clinicopathological features were collected and analyzed for differential diagnosis of primary lung malignancy, triple negative breast pathology and breast lesions without ipsilateral axillary lymphadenopathy or with contralateral axillary lymphadenopathy. Supplementary breast (GCDFP-15, or GATA-3) and lung-lineage (TTF-1) immunostaining plus genetic alternation analysis were also recorded and analyzed.Among the 41 cases, there were 37 females and four males, with a median age of 63 (range, 40-81) years at diagnosis of the breast lesion. Twenty-four cases (58.5%, 24/41) were detected metachronously to the counterpart of the lung. Strikingly, 13 cases (31.7%, 13/41) were initially misdiagnosed as primary breast cancer, and differential diagnostic factors were compared and analyzed between the correct and misdiagnosed cases, among which a documentation of lung cancer history showed significant difference. Pathologist initially misinterpreted six cases (46.2%, 6/13) as PBC on needle biopsy of breast mass with an unknown lung cancer history. The clinical diagnosis was considered two cases (15.4%, 2/13) to be either a primary breast tumor with lung and pleural metastasis or two synchronous primary tumors. Three cases (23.1%, 3/13) were initially misinterpreted as PBC by breast ultrasonography. TTF-1 immunostaining was found to be critical for a correct diagnosis of metastatic lesion (84.6%, 11/13) from the initially misdiagnosed cases as PBC.Metastatic lung adenocarcinoma to the breast, although rare, should be considered in the differential diagnosis of primary breast carcinoma, especially when the breast lesion exhibits as a "triple-negative invasive carcinoma". A documented lung cancer history combined with the clinicoradiological assessment and pathological evaluation are essential to make a correct differential diagnosis. TTF-1 immunostaining is crucial in approaching the diagnosis.
G1 and G2 colorectal neuroendocrine neoplasms (NENs) are a group of rare and indolent diseases. We aimed to delineate their genetic characteristics and explore their metastatic mechanisms.
Anastomotic leak is an important cause of morbidity and mortality after esophagectomy for esophageal cancer patients. Calcification of the arteries supplying the gastric tube has been found to be associated with leakage after esophagectomy with cervical anastomosis in Europeans. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the association between calcifications of the supplying arteries of the gastric tube and the occurrence of anastomotic leakage after esophagectomy with cervical anastomosis in Chinese patients with esophageal cancer.The demographic, clinical, and pathological features as well as the vascular calcification of arteries of 709 esophageal cancer patients who had undergone esophagectomies with cervical anastomosis were analyzed. Univariable and multivariable logistic regression were used to identify the association between the postoperative anastomotic leakage and calcifications of the arteries supplying the gastric tube.Among the 709 patients, 122 (17.2%) had developed anastomotic leakage. Thirty-day mortality and length of hospital stay were higher for patients with anastomotic leakage. Upper digestive tract ulcer, peripheral vascular disease, renal insufficiency, American society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) risk class, and calcifications of aorta and celiac axis were found to be independent risk factors for the anastomotic leakage.Calcification of the aorta and celiac axis that supply the gastric tube is an independent risk factor for cervical anastomotic leakage after esophagectomy in Chinese esophageal cancer patients.
<div>Abstract<p>Esophageal cancer is the sixth leading cause of death from cancer and one of the least studied cancers worldwide. The global microRNA expression profile of esophageal cancer has not been reported previously. Here, for the first time, we have investigated expressed microRNAs in cryopreserved esophageal cancer tissues using advanced microRNA microarray techniques. Our microarray analyses identified seven microRNAs that could distinguish malignant esophageal cancer lesions from adjacent normal tissues. Some microRNAs could be correlated with the different clinicopathologic classifications. High expression of hsa-miR-103/107 correlated with poor survival by univariate analysis as well as by multivariate analysis. These results indicate that microRNA expression profiles are important diagnostic and prognostic markers of esophageal cancer, which might be analyzed simply using economical approaches such as reverse transcription-PCR. [Cancer Res 2008;68(1):26–33]</p></div>
Many management strategies are available for pancreatic neuroendocrine neoplasms with liver metastases. However, a lack of biological, molecular, and genomic information and an absence of data from rigorous trials limit the validity of these strategies. This review presents the viewpoints from an international conference consisting of several expert working groups. The working groups reviewed a series of questions of particular interest to clinicians taking care of patients with pancreatic neuroendocrine neoplasms with liver metastases by reviewing the existing management strategies and literature, evaluating the evidence on which management decisions were based, developing internationally acceptable recommendations for clinical practice, and making recommendations for clinical and research endeavors. The review for each question will be followed by recommendations from the panel.