Fine Needle Aspiration versus Fine Needle Biopsy of Biliopancreatic Lesions: Are They Really Opposing Techniques or Can They Be Complementary? Our Experience in a Large Cohort of Cases from a Single Institution.

Introduction: Nowadays, endoscopic ultrasound (EUS)-guided fine needle aspiration (FNA), and fine needle biopsy (FNB) are considered the best procedures for the diagnosis of biliopancreatic lesions. These methods represent a milestone since they proved to be both safe for the patient and useful to achieve diagnostic material useful to plan the best treatment strategy.

Objective: Since in the literature, a debate between cytology and histology supporters is still ongoing and the trend is changing in favor of FNB, we would like to present our experience about the diagnostic yield of FNA and FNB.

Potential Difficulties in Cytological Approach of Basal Cell Adenoma of Salivary Glands: The Experience of a Single Institution.

Objective: Basal cell adenoma (BCA) is an uncommon benign epithelial neoplasm of salivary glands, which was first described by Kleinsasser and Klein in 1967 and which derives its name from the monomorphic basaloid appearance of tumor cells. This tumor represents 1-2% of all salivary gland epithelial tumors; the most common site of occurrence is the parotid gland. It usually arises in adults over 50 years of age with slight female prevalence.

Glial choristoma of the ventral part of the tongue: first report in an elderly patient.

Introduction: The aims of this report are to illustrate the first case of glial and adipose tissue choristoma at the ventral part of the tongue in an elderly patient, to discuss the possible differential diagnoses and to speculate about its pathogenesis.

Case Report: A 65-year-old female was admitted to our hospital with a swelling at the base of the tongue. MRI revealed an oval lesion with indistinct borders without contrast enhancement.

A solitary polypoid gastric metastasis 20 years after renal cell carcinoma: an event to be considered, and a brief review of the literature.

Background: The incidence of gastric metastasis is 2.6%. Although all primary neoplasms can metastasize to the stomach, most originate from melanoma or breast and lung cancer.

Role of biopsy in low-grade laryngeal chondrosarcoma: report of two cases.

Laryngeal chondrosarcomas are rare tumours that account for less than 1% of all sarcomas and originate principally from the crycoid cartilage. We report two cases: the former arising from thyroid cartilage in an 85-year-old male presenting with a palpable neck mass and hoarseness, dyspnoea and dysphagia; the other in a 54-year-old male with a mass growing from crycoid cartilage, who underwent biopsy followed by total laryngectomy. We discuss the peculiarity of the site of origin and the role of biopsy, the clinical presentation of the former case and the diagnostic and therapeutic procedures of the latter.

Anoxia induces macrophage inhibitory cytokine-1 (MIC-1) in glioblastoma cells independently of p53 and HIF-1.

Human astrocytic brain tumors select for mutations in the p53 tumor suppressor gene early in malignant progression. p53 is activated upon various kinds of cellular stress leading to apoptosis or cell cycle arrest, but is also implicated in complex biological processes such as inhibition of angiogenesis and metastasis. In an effort to shed light on consequences mediated by p53 inactivation in gliomas, we established the Tet-On system for p53 in the LN-Z308 glioblastoma cell line.

Thrombospondin-1 is downregulated by anoxia and suppresses tumorigenicity of human glioblastoma cells.

Angiogenesis, the sprouting of new capillaries from preexisting blood vessels, results from a disruption of the balance between stimulatory and inhibitory factors. Here, we show that anoxia reduces expression of thrombospondin-1 (TSP-1), a natural inhibitor of angiogenesis, in glioblastoma cells. This suggests that reduced oxygen tension can promote angiogenesis not only by stimulating the production of inducers, such as vascular endothelial growth factor, but also by reducing the production of inhibitors.

Identification of the putative brain tumor antigen BF7/GE2 as the (de)toxifying enzyme microsomal epoxide hydrolase.

Malignant gliomas are the main cause of death from primary brain tumors. Despite surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy, patients have a median survival of less than a few years; therefore, it is clearly imperative to investigate new ways of treatment. The development of new therapeutic strategies for brain tumors is dependent on a better understanding of the differences between normal and tumoral brain cells.

Evaluation of nucleolar organizer region-associated proteins in endometrial pathology.

In the current study the argyrophil staining technique for NOR proteins (Ag-NORs) has been performed on cases of different endometrial lesions, trying to find an aid in differentiating atypical hyperplasia from well differentiated carcinoma in biopsy specimens. We conclude that the Ag-NOR count, even though in endometrial carcinoma is significantly exceeding that of atypical hyperplastic endometrium, could be a misleading discriminator, because of a wide overlap of values in individual cases.

[An in vitro test procedure for evaluating dental restoration systems. 1. A computer-controlled mastication simulator].

This article describes the development and testing of a computer-controlled chewing simulator which is able to simulate the wear mechanisms and temperature changes that can occur in the mouth. It was further evaluated if the opposing cusps used in this chewing simulator should be metallic or if natural enamel was preferential. The results indicated that the machine fulfilled the parameters concerning chewing motion and thermal changes reported in the literature.

[An in-vitro test procedure for evaluating dental restoration systems. 2. Toothbrush/toothpaste abrasion and chemical degradation].

The development of an in-vitro test for evaluation of dental restorative systems comprised primarily the construction of a chewing simulator, which was able to produce occlusal mechanical load and thermal cycling. This machine was described in a previous publication. Additionally, chemical disintegration and toothbrush/toothpaste abrasion have to be included in the cycle.