The application of a multidisciplinary approach in the diagnosis of Castleman disease and Castleman-like lymphadenopathies: A 20-year retrospective analysis of clinical and pathological features.

Background: Castleman disease (CD) comprises a group of rare and heterogeneous haematological disorders, including unicentric (UCD) and multicentric (MCD) forms, the latter further subdivided into HHV8-MCD, POEMS-MCD and idiopathic-MCD (iMCD). However, according to the Castleman Disease Collaborative Network guidelines, the diagnosis of CD can only be achieved through collaboration between clinicians and pathologists.

Methods: We applied these clinical and pathological criteria and implement with clonality testing to a retrospective cohort of 48 adult and paediatric Italian patients diagnosed with reactive lymphadenitis with CD-like histological features.

Intrapatient Molecular and Histologic Heterogeneity After First-generation or Second-generation TKI Therapy of NSCLC Patients: Potential Clinical Impact on Subsequent third-generation TKI Treatment.

Objectives: The discovery of tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKI) has remarkably improved the clinical course of patients with non-small cell lung cancer driven by Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor (EGFR) mutations. However, virtually in all cases, the disease resurfaces in a TKI-resistant form that is mainly linked to an acquired EGFR-T790M mutation, a MET amplification, or small cell lung cancer (SCLC) transformation. Third-generation TKIs are able to block tumor growth through an irreversible binding to the T790M-mutated receptor.

Misleading impaired liver function in a non-small-cell lung cancer patient treated with pembrolizumab: a case report.

In the last few years, immunotherapy has become part of everyday clinical practice for the treatment of many solid tumors including metastatic non-small-cell lung cancer. These drugs, however, can yield a specific toxicity profile that consists of immune-related adverse events (irAEs). Hepatotoxicity is one of irAEs and occurs in about 1-3% of cases and may be manifested by the presence of increate levels of liver enzymes (aspartate aminotransferase, alanine aminotransferase) and/or biliary stasis evidence; in these cases, a differential diagnosis with other hepatic diseases must be considered.

Prophylactic Dermatologic Treatment of Afatinib-Induced Skin Toxicities in Patients with Metastatic Lung Cancer: A Pilot Study.

Background: Severe skin rash is listed among important side effects of EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitors. Polydatin (PD), a glycosylated polyphenol, is endowed with anti-inflammatory activity in human epidermal keratinocytes.

Objective: This study evaluated the effect of topical application of a moisturizer containing PD to prevent skin rash in patients with mutated non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) treated with afatinib.

Thymic epithelial tumors express vascular endothelial growth factors and their receptors as potential targets of antiangiogenic therapy: a tissue micro array-based multicenter study.

Objectives: Tumor angiogenesis is an essential and complex process necessary for the growth of all tumors which represents a potential therapeutic target. Angiogenesis inhibitors targeting vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) or their receptor tyrosine kinases have been approved by the FDA. In thymic epithelial tumors (TET), targeted therapies have been sporadically applied due to their rarity.

Granulomatous peritonitis after laparoscopic cholecystectomy.

Background: Granulomatous peritonitis may indicate a number of infectious, malignant, and idiopathic inflammatory conditions. It is a very rare postoperative complication, which is thought to reflect a delayed cellmediated response to cornstarch from surgical glove powder in susceptible individuals. This mechanism, however, is much more likely to occur with open abdominal surgery when compared with the laparoscopic technique.

Hepatitis C virus-related B cell subtypes in non Hodgkin's lymphoma.

Aim: To evaluate if indolent B cell-non Hodgkin's lymphoma (B-NHL) and diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) in hepatitis C virus (HCV) positive patients could have different biological and clinical characteristics requiring different management strategies.

Methods: A group of 24 HCV related B-NHL patients (11 indolent, 13 DLBCL) in whom the biological and clinical characteristics were described and confronted. Patients with DLBCL were managed with the standard of care of treatment.

Promyelocytic sarcoma of the spine: a case report and review of the literature.

Myeloid sarcoma (MS, previously named granulocytic sarcoma or chloroma) is a rare extramedullary tumour of immature myeloid cells. It can be present before, concurrently with, or after the diagnosis of acute myeloid leukemia. MS is extremely uncommon in acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL).

Primary neuroendocrine tumours of the thymus: a clinicopathologic and prognostic study in 19 patients.

Background: We sought to evaluate factors influencing long-term survival in 19 patients with primary neuroendocrine tumours of the thymus.

Methods: From January 1990 to December 2004, 19 patients (14 males, 5 females; mean age 48.6 years) were surgically treated for a primary neuroendocrine tumour of the thymus.

CXCL13 is highly produced by Sézary cells and enhances their migratory ability via a synergistic mechanism involving CCL19 and CCL21 chemokines.

Chemokine and chemokine receptors expressed by normal and neoplastic lymphocytes play a key role in cell recruitment into skin and lymph nodes. The aim of this study was to get further insights into the role of chemokines in pathogenesis and progression of cutaneous T-cell lymphoma (CTCL) with particular regard to Sézary Syndrome (SS), a CTCL variant with blood involvement. Here, we show that functional CXCL13 homeostatic chemokine is strongly up-regulated in SS cells, well-detectable in skin lesions and lymph nodes, and measurable at high concentration in plasma of SS patients, at different levels during disease progression.

Syndromic true hermaphroditism due to an R-spondin1 (RSPO1) homozygous mutation.

XX true hermaphroditism, also know as ovotesticular disorder of sexual development (DSD), is a disorder of gonadal development characterized by the presence of both ovarian and testicular tissue in a 46,XX individual. The genetic basis for XX true hermaphroditism and sex reversal syndromes unrelated to SRY translocation is still mostly unclear. We report mutational analysis of the RSPO1 gene in a 46,XX woman with true hermaphroditism, palmoplantar keratoderma, congenital bilateral corneal opacities, onychodystrophy, and hearing impairment.

Skin homing of Sézary cells involves SDF-1-CXCR4 signaling and down-regulation of CD26/dipeptidylpeptidase IV.

Sézary syndrome (SS) is a rare form of cutaneous T-cell lymphoma (CTCL) characterized by a distinct metastatic pattern mainly involving blood and skin. Chemokines and their receptors play a critical role in cellular recruitment and homing to tissues and in the metastatic process of several tumors including non-Hodgkin T-cell lymphomas (NHLs). Here we report that SS cells express a functionally active CXCR4 and that its ligand SDF-1 is abundantly produced in the skin, which represents the main destination of SS cell spreading.

Bioptic ultrasound-guided prostate remapping (fan shape) using grid software for brachytherapy.

A new transperineal ultrasound-guided prostate rebiopsy method is described. The method is performed using a fixed grid approach similar to the method that has been in use for some time for brachytherapy i n prostate cancer. The method adopts special cylindrical cutting needles to take cores of varying lengths and was found to be more time consuming (this is the main reason it is mostly used for rebiopsies).

Primary cardiac lymphoma: report of two cases occurring in immunocompetent subjects.

Primary cardiac lymphomas (PCLs), involving solely heart and/or pericardium at presentation, are rare events. They are frequently recognized at autopsy and generally carry a poor prognosis due either to a delay in the diagnosis or to infiltration of heart structures. We report here on two patients with large B-cell PCL.

Nodal and extranodal tumor-forming accumulation of plasmacytoid monocytes/interferon-producing cells associated with myeloid disorders.

Nodal tumor-forming accumulations of plasmacytoid monocytes/interferon-producing cells (PMs/IPCs) have been described in patients with myeloproliferative disorders. Here we report a series of 9 additional cases of such association. The patients were predominantly adult (median, 62 years), males (male/female ratio, 7:2), who presented with chronic myelomonocytic leukemia (4 cases), acute myeloid leukemia (1), acute monocytic leukemia (2), unclassifiable chronic myeloproliferative (1), or myeloproliferative/myelodysplastic disease (1).

Testicular plasmacytoma: report of a case and review of the literature.

Plasmacytomas of the testis are rare neoplasias; they may occur as isolated tumors or in concomitance with generalized multiple myeloma. We report the case of a 77-year-old man with previous clinical evidence of multiple myeloma involving skin, ribs, and lungs, and initially treated with surgery, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy attaining partial response. Fourteen months after the onset, the patient presented with left testicular enlargement due to plasmacytoma.

TCL1 participates in early embryonic development and is overexpressed in human seminomas.

Overexpression of the TCL1 oncogene has been shown to play a causative role in T cell leukemias of humans and mice. The characterization of Tcl1-deficient mice in these studies indicates an important developmental role for Tcl1 in early embryogenesis. In wild-type embryos, Tcl1 is abundant in the first three mitotic cycles, during which it shuttles between nuclei and the embryo cortical regions in a cell-cycle-dependent fashion.