Gastric and colonic metastases of malignant melanoma diagnosed during endoscopic evaluation of symptomatic anemia presenting as angina: a case report.

A 72-year-old man visited cardiology for exertional chest pain, lightheadedness, and fatigue. Six years prior, he was surgically treated for cutaneous malignant melanoma of the lower back. After a negative cardiac work-up, primary care diagnosed severe iron deficiency anemia.

Unusual Presentation of Cow's Milk Protein Allergy.

Cow's milk protein allergy (CMPA) is an abnormal immunologic response to bovine protein that can result in various gastrointestinal and cutaneous manifestations including diarrhea, failure to thrive, malabsorption, and even protein-losing enteropathy. We describe a case of a 7-month-old breastfed male who presented with severe atopic dermatitis, emesis, oily diarrhea, failure to thrive, electrolyte disturbance, and hemodynamic instability. Following stabilization, additional evaluation revealed concern for abetalipoproteinemia.

Locoregional Therapy Protocols With and Without Radioembolization for Hepatocellular Carcinoma as Bridge to Liver Transplantation.

Objective: The objective of this study was to compare posttransplant outcomes in patients undergoing bridging locoregional therapy (LRT) with Y-90 transarterial radioembolization (TARE) based protocol compared with transarterial chemoembolization based protocol for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) prior liver transplantation (LT).

Materials And Methods: Patients listed for LT with HCC within the Milan criteria at our center who had bridging LRT were treated according to transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) based protocol from May 2012 to April 2014 and a TARE based protocol from October 2014 to December 2017. Early posttransplant survival and tumor recurrence were compared between the groups.

A Novel Small Molecule Inhibits Intrahepatocellular Accumulation of Z-Variant Alpha 1-Antitrypsin In Vitro and In Vivo.

Alpha 1-antitrypsin deficiency (AATD) is the most common genetic cause of liver disease in children and is associated with early-onset chronic liver disease in adults. AATD associated liver injury is caused by hepatotoxic retention of polymerized mutant alpha 1-antitrypsin molecules within the endoplasmic reticulum. Currently, there is no curative therapy for AATD.

Desmoplasia and Detached Papillae in Early Esophageal Adenocarcinoma: A Histologic Study on Endoscopic Submucosal Dissection Specimens.

Background: Desmoplasia and detached papillae were only rarely mentioned in intramucosal adenocarcinoma of esophagus or stomach. This study aimed to examine these two features in early esophageal adenocarcinoma.

Methods: All endoscopic submucosal dissections specimens performed for Barrett's esophagus neoplasm during the year 2013 to 2016 were reviewed.

Steatohepatitic Variant of Hepatocellular Carcinoma: A Focused Review.

The incidence of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) has steadily increased over the past three decades and currently ranks as the fifth most common cancer worldwide. Likewise, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), a known risk factor for the development of HCC, has emerged as the most common liver disease in Western countries. The underlying pathogenesis of NAFLD-related HCC remains unclear.

Stroma-derived extracellular vesicles deliver tumor-suppressive miRNAs to pancreatic cancer cells.

The biology of tumor-associated stroma (TAS) in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is not well understood. The paradoxical observation that stroma-depletion strategies lead to progression of PDAC reinforced the need to critically evaluate the functional contribution of TAS in the initiation and progression of PDAC. PDAC and TAS cells are unique in their expression of specific miRNAs, and this specific miRNA expression pattern alters host to tumor microenvironment interactions.

Common Inflammatory Disorders and Neoplasia of the Ileal Pouch: A Review of Histopathology.

Ileal pouch-anal anastomosis (IPAA) is the standard restorative procedure after proctocolectomy in patients with ulcerative colitis (UC) who require colectomy. The ileal pouch is susceptible to a variety of insults including mechanical injury, ischemia, fecal stasis, and infectious agents. In addition, the development of recurrent and idiopathic inflammatory bowel disease and neoplasia may occur in the ileal pouch.

Clinical significance and management of Barrett's esophagus with epithelial changes indefinite for dysplasia.

Barrett's esophagus (BE) is defined as the extension of salmon-colored mucosa into the tubular esophagus ≥ 1 cm proximal to the gastroesophageal junction with biopsy confirmation of intestinal metaplasia. Patients with BE are at increased risk of esophageal adenocarcinoma (EAC), and undergo endoscopic surveillance biopsies to detect dysplasia or early EAC. Dysplasia in BE is classified as no dysplasia, indefinite for dysplasia (IND), low grade dysplasia (LGD) or high grade dysplasia (HGD).

The pancreatic tumor microenvironment drives changes in miRNA expression that promote cytokine production and inhibit migration by the tumor associated stroma.

The pancreatic adenocarcinoma (PDAC) microenvironment is largely comprised of fibrotic tumor associated stroma (TAS) that contributes to the lethal biology of PDAC. microRNA (miRNA) are small non-coding RNAs that regulate gene expression. We hypothesized that interactions between PDAC cells and TAS cells within the microenvironment modulate miRNA expression and thus, tumor biology.

Isolation of Pancreatic Cancer Cells from a Patient-Derived Xenograft Model Allows for Practical Expansion and Preserved Heterogeneity in Culture.

Commercially available, highly passaged pancreatic cancer (PC) cell lines are of limited translational value. Attempts to overcome this limitation have primarily consisted of cancer cell isolation and culture directly from human PC specimens. However, these techniques are associated with exceedingly low success rates.

Downstream mediators of the intratumoral interferon response suppress antitumor immunity, induce gemcitabine resistance and associate with poor survival in human pancreatic cancer.

The cancer microenvironment allows tumor cells to evade immune surveillance through a variety of mechanisms. While interferon-γ (IFNγ) is central to effective antitumor immunity, its effects on the microenvironment are not as clear and have in some cancers been shown to induce immune checkpoint ligands. The heterogeneity of these responses to IFNγ remains poorly characterized in desmoplastic malignancies with minimal inflammatory cell infiltration, such as pancreatic cancer (PC).

An atypical case of chronic diarrhoea: olmesartan-induced sprue-like enteropathy.

Olmesartan use has been associated with chronic diarrhoea and weight loss due to severe sprue-like enteropathy, yet this is still not well known among clinicians. We present the unique case of an 84-year-old Filipino woman diagnosed with olmesartan-induced sprue-like enteropathy after an extensive work up for chronic diarrhoea, and without improvement despite multiple empiric treatments for nearly 15 months. Withdrawal of olmesartan resulted in clinical and histological improvement.

Duodenal gangliocytic paraganglioma: A case report and literature review.

Introduction: Gangliocytic paraganglioma is a rare tumor that is most commonly located in the duodenum. At presentation, it may be confused with a gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST), but distinguishing between these tumors is critical because the natural history and treatment of these two tumors differs markedly. Duodenal gangliocytic paraganglioma typically exhibits benign behavior with occasional regional lymph node metastasis and no reports of tumor associated deaths.

IgG4-related cholecystitis presenting as biliary malignancy: report of three cases.

An increased awareness of IgG4-related diseases has led to an escalation in the number of sites known to be involved by this fibroinflammatory disease. We report three cases of IgG4-related cholecystitis which were thought to represent biliary malignancies both clinically and radiographically. All three cases underwent surgery tailored towards presumed malignant neoplasms.

Immunohistochemistry for annexin A10 can distinguish sporadic from Lynch syndrome-associated microsatellite-unstable colorectal carcinoma.

Differentiating sporadic microsatellite-unstable colorectal carcinoma due to MLH1 promoter hypermethylation from Lynch syndrome (LS)-associated tumors due to mutations in mismatch-repair proteins is time consuming, cost intensive, and requires advanced laboratory testing. A mutation in BRAF has been shown to be highly specific for sporadic tumors; however, a significant proportion of sporadic microsatellite-unstable tumors lack BRAF mutations. MLH1 promoter methylation analysis is subsequently used to differentiate LS and sporadic tumors, but both tests require specialized laboratories and are costly.

Serrated lesions of the appendix frequently harbor KRAS mutations and not BRAF mutations indicating a distinctly different serrated neoplastic pathway in the appendix.

Appendiceal serrated polyps often morphologically resemble their colorectal counterparts and most pathologists employ colorectal diagnostic terminology when evaluating appendiceal serrated lesions. We analyzed 132 appendiceal lesions for mutations in the RAS/RAF/MAPK pathway in an attempt to (1) determine the frequency of these mutations in appendiceal serrated lesions and (2) correlate the histopathologic features with molecular alterations. The study group of appendiceal serrated lesions (n = 46) was divided into a non-dysplastic group (28/46, subclassified as 7 hyperplastic polyps and 21 sessile serrated adenoma/polyps (SSA/P) using colorectal diagnostic terminology) and dysplastic group (18/46, subclassified as 9 SSA/Ps with cytological dysplasia, 7 traditional serrated adenomas, and 2 adenomas with prominent serrations).

Hirschsprung disease and use of calretinin in inadequate rectal suction biopsies.

Context: Up to 17% of all rectal suction biopsies performed in the evaluation of Hirschsprung disease are considered inadequate. In most instances, inadequate biopsies contain too little submucosa or are taken within the anal transition zone.

Objectives: To examine the utility of calretinin stain in the workup of inadequate biopsies for patients with clinical suspicion of Hirschsprung disease.

[Acute knee pain in pregnancy. Case report of Regional Transient Osteoporosis].

The article presents the case of a patient who after her first pregnacy, during the immediate postpartum period, suffered a femoral supracondylar fracture complicated by bone marrow edema syndrome (BMES), also known as regional temporary osteoporosis (RTO). The fracture of the distal femur was treated with an open reduction and internal fixation of the distal femur by means of a minimally invasive procedure.