[The benign metastasizing leiomyoma: case collection and therapeutical options].

We report two patients with pulmonary nodules detected by chance. Histopathology of biopsies retrieved by surgical videothoracoscopy revealed benign metastasizing leiomyoma (BML). The origin of this disease as well as its dignity are not fully understood.

[Nocardiosis as a differential diagnosis of a PET-positive pulmonary nodule].

We describe the case of a 76-year-old immunocompetent man suspected to have lung cancer in the right upper lobe on the basis of radiographic and clinical findings. The tumour could not be confirmed histologically by transbronchial biopsy. In the fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (FDG-PET) we found a significantly elevated standard uptake value (SUV) of 13.

Microsatellite instability and loss of heterozygosity at the hMLH1 locus on chromosome 3p21 occur in a subset of nonsmall cell lung carcinomas.

Microsatellite alterations observed in tumor specimens may reflect genomic instability due to defective mismatch repair genes. To investigate whether this occurs in human nonsmall cell lung carcinomas we have analyzed microsatellite instability at 5 marker loci and loss of heterozygosity (LOH) at the hMLH1 locus on chromosome 3p21 using the polymerase chain reaction. Of a total of 49 nonsmall cell lung carcinomas examined, 43% (13 of 30 informative cases) showed LOH at 3p21 and 29% (14 of 49) exhibited microsatellite instability at one or multiple loci.

Differences of E-cadherin expression levels and patterns in human lung cancer.

Fifty-two lung carcinomas obtained at surgical resection were examined by immunofluorescence for their expression levels and patterns of the calcium-dependent intercellular adhesion molecule E-cadherin. In well-differentiated squamous cell and adenocarcinomas expression of E-cadherin was confined to the lateral cell border, similar to the expression level and pattern of normal lung tissue. The E-cadherin level was reduced and the expression pattern was spotty or diffuse in moderately and poorly differentiated squamous cell carcinomas and in small cell carcinomas of the lung.

Differences of E-cadherin expression levels and patterns in primary and metastatic human lung cancer.

Normal lung epithelium and 52 lung carcinomas obtained at surgical resection were examined by immunofluorescence for their expression levels and patterns of the calcium-dependent intercellular adhesion molecule E-cadherin. In dysplastic lung tissue and in well-differentiated squamous cell and adenocarcinomas, expression of E-cadherin was confined to the lateral cell border, similar to the expression level and pattern of normal lung tissue. The E-cadherin level was reduced and expression pattern was spotty or diffuse in moderately and poorly differentiated squamous cell and in small cell carcinomas of the lung.