Clinical outcome and predictive factors for docetaxel and epirubicin neoadjuvant chemotherapy of locally advanced breast cancer.

Background/aims: We evaluated the efficacy of docetaxel and epirubicin as neoadjuvant chemotherapy in locally advanced breast cancer and assessed the predictive factors for response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy and prognostic factors related to relapse-free survival.

Methods: Forty patients who received docetaxel and epirubicinas neoadjuvant chemotherapy for locally advanced breast cancer were evaluated retrospectively. Neoadjuvant chemotherapy consisted of intravenous injection of 75 mg/m2 docetaxel and 60 mg/m2 epirubucin on day 1, every 21 days, and two to six cycles.

PTEN Mutation Identified in Patient Diagnosed with Simultaneous Multiple Cancers.

PTEN hamartoma tumor syndrome is a spectrum of disorders characterized by unique phenotypic features including multiple hamartomas caused by mutations of the tumor suppressor gene PTEN. Cowden syndrome and Bannayan-Riley-Ruvalcaba syndrome are representative diseases, and both have several common clinical features and differences. Because PTEN mutations are associated with an increased risk of malignancy including breast, thyroid, endometrial, and renal cancers, cancer surveillance is an important element of disease management.

Thymic carcinoma initially presented with geographic destruction of scapula in a child.

As the conventional histopathologic examination of thymic carcinoma (TC) is nonspecific, immunohistochemical studies along with correlative radiographic investigations are needed for its correct diagnosis. TC commonly occurs in the late 5th to early 6th decades of life but is extremely rare in childhood. It may be incidentally detected from chest radiographs taken as routine or for other reasons.

Sonography of Invasive Apocrine Carcinoma of the Breast in Five Cases.

Objective: To evaluate the sonographic features of invasive apocrine carcinoma (IAC) of the breast.

Materials And Methods: This study included five pathologically proven cases of IAC, and their sonographic features were retrospectively analyzed according to the Breast Imaging Reporting and Data System (BI-RADS) lexicon.

Results: All five lesions involved the left breast and were seen as irregularly shaped masses.

Pseudocirrhosis of breast cancer metastases to the liver treated by chemotherapy.

Pseudocirrhosis refers to a condition that shows changes in hepatic contour that mimic cirrhosis radiographically in the absence of the typical histopathological findings of cirrhosis. This condition has been observed in patients with cancer metastatic to the liver, both in those who have undergone prior systemic chemotherapy and those who have not. Pseudocirrhosis may cause difficulty in interpretation of the response to chemotherapy and hepatic decompression and complication of portal hypertension have a negative effect on the prognosis.

Colonic lipoma covered by hyperplastic epithelium: Case report.

Colonic lipomas are submucosal nonepithelial tumors covered by intact or eroded mucosa. In rare cases, alterations in the mucosa covering a lipoma include hyperplasia, adenoma, atrophy, ulceration, and necrosis. Here, we report a case of a colonic lipoma covered by hyperplastic epithelium in a 68-year-old woman.

Huge tophaceous pseudogout associated with tenosynovial chondromatosis arising from flexor digitorum tendon sheaths of the foot: a case report.

Synovial chondromatosis (SC) is a benign proliferative process of synovial tissue creating multiple cartilaginous nodules in joints. It most commonly occurs in the large joints of the knee, hip, and shoulder, uncommonly in the small joints of the hand and foot, and only rarely in the tenosynovial membrane of tendon sheath, termed tenosynovial chondromatosis (TC). Unlike SC, TC predisposes to the foot or hand.

Primary neuroendocrine tumor of the breast: imaging features.

Focal neuroendocrine differentiation can be found in diverse histological types of breast tumors. However, the term, neuroendocrine breast tumor, indicates the diffuse expression of neuroendocrine markers in more than 50% of the tumor cell population. The imaging features of neuroendocrine breast tumor have not been accurately described due to extreme rarity of this tumor type.

Clear cell carcinomas of the ovary: a multi-institutional study of 129 cases in Korea with prognostic significance of Emi1 and Galectin-3.

Accurate diagnosis of ovarian clear cell carcinoma (CCC) is important because of its poor prognosis with chemoresistance and a high recurrent rate. The clinicopathologic characteristics and prognostic significance of the cell cycle regulator [early mitotic inhibitor-1 (Emi1)] and galactoside-binding protein (Galectin-3) were evaluated. Among 155 CCCs from 18 hospitals in Korea between 1995 and 2006, 129 pure CCCs were selected with consensus using immunohistochemical stains for hepatocyte nuclear factor-1β, Wilms' tumor protein, and estrogen receptor.

Cystic hypersecretory ductal carcinoma of the breast: a rare cause of cystic breast mass.

We present the case of a surgically confirmed, invasive, cystic hypersecretory ductal carcinoma (CHDC) of the breast in a 43-year-old woman. The initial sonography showed a complex cyst, which required a core biopsy; however, the diagnosis was delayed as the patient refused to undergo the biopsy and the cyst decreased in size, as seen on follow-up sonography. Excision biopsy was performed, and invasive CHDC was diagnosed after regrowth of the cystic lesion.

Primary acinic cell carcinoma of the breast: a case report with an immunohistochemical and ultrastructural studies.

Acinic cell carcinoma (ACC) of the breast is extremely rare and is characterized by widespread acinar cell-like differentiation. We report of a 39-year-old woman presented with a palpable breast mass with significant morphological, immunohistochemical and ultrastructural findings. Histologically, ACC showed a diffuse glandular infiltrative pattern, with small acinar or glandular structures mixed with solid nests.

Rapidly growing bilateral pseudoangiomatous stromal hyperplasia of the breast.

A tumoral pseudoangiomatous stromal hyperplasia (PASH) that causes huge breast enlargement is very rare. Only two cases of huge tumoral PASHs have been reported in the English medical literature. We report here on a surgically confirmed case of bilateral huge tumoral PASH in a 47-year-old woman, and we present the imaging and histopathology findings.

Primary cutaneous Ewing's sarcoma/primitive neuroectodermal tumor manifesting numerous small and huge ulcerated masses: its complete remission by chemotherapy and magnetic resonance imaging findings.

Extraskeletal Ewing's sarcoma (ES) and primitive neuroectodermal tumor (PNET) are widely regarded as clinically and histologically identical tumors which consist of small blue round cells. Extraskeletal ESs/PNETs usually occur in the deep soft tissues of the paraspinal region, chest wall, or lower extremities. However, superficially located cases, so-called cutaneous ESs/PNETs, are exceedingly rare, and the vast majority of the reported cases present as a single small mass.

The increased expression of matrix metalloproteinases associated with elastin degradation and fibrosis of the ligamentum flavum in patients with lumbar spinal stenosis.

Background: One of the characteristics of spinal stenosis is elastin degradation and fibrosis of the extracellular matrix of the ligamentum flavum. However, there have been no investigations to determine which biochemical factors cause these histologic changes. So we performed the current study to investigate the hypothesis that matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs), which possess the ability to cause extracellular matrix remodeling, may play a role as a mediator for this malady in the ligamentum flavum.

Small bowel volvulus induced by mesenteric lymphangioma in an adult: a case report.

Mesenteric lymphangiomas are rare abdominal masses that are seldom associated with small bowel volvulus, and especially in adult patients. We report here on an unusual case of small bowel volvulus that was induced by a mesenteric lymphangioma in a 43-year-old man who suffered from repeated bouts of abdominal pain. At multidetector CT, we noticed whirling of the cystic mesenteric mass and the adjacent small bowel around the superior mesenteric artery.

A case of blue rubber bleb nevus syndrome.

Blue rubber bleb nevus syndrome is a rare disorder that is characterized by multiple recurrent vascular malformations, such as hemangioma, and these primarily involve the skin and the gastrointestinal tract. It may also involve the brain, liver, lungs, and skeletal muscles. A 14-year-old female visited our hospital with a chief complaint of dizziness; upon examination, we found multiple recurrent hemangiomas on the skin and gastrointestinal tract.

Chromomycosis presenting as soft-tissue mass: report of a case with MRI features.

Chromomycosis is primarily a skin disease that superficially presents as slowly growing, verrucous lesions, often warty or cauliflower-like in appearance. It may occasionally create a flat, plaque-like lesion in the skin but deep-seated tumorous presentation has not previously been reported. As the lesion is limited to the cutaneous and superficial subcutaneous tissues, hitherto reported cases have been described from the view point of dermatology and, so, without MRI study.

Comparison of the 13C-urea breath test and the endoscopic phenol red mucosal pH test in the quantification of Helicobacter pylori infection loading.

Background/aims: The (13)C-urea breath test (UBT) is a semiquantitative test for measuring Helicobacter pylori infection loading. H. pylori produces ammonia, which elevates the pH of the gastric mucosa and is detectable via endoscopy using a phenol red indicator.

Primary papillary serous carcinoma of the peritoneum diagnosed by video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery: report of a case.

A 53-year-old woman who had end-stage renal disease and hypertension presented with back pain. Chest radiographs and chest computed tomography (CT) showed right pleural effusion with bilateral pleural masses. The patient underwent video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) for a biopsy of the right pleural mass and for an evaluation of pleural effusion.

Lipoma arborescens of the glenohumeral joint: a possible cause of osteoarthritis.

Lipoma arborescens is a very rare intra-articular lesion characterized by villous lipomatous proliferation of the synovium, usually involving the knee joint. To date, in the literature, there has been only one reported case of lipoma arborescens in the glenohumeral joint. But, the authors treated the patient conservatively and reported only the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) findings.

Parenchymal neurocutaneous melanosis in association with intraventricular dermoid and Dandy-Walker variant: a case report.

Neurocutaneous melanosis (NCM) is a rare congenital disease that is characterized by the presence of large or multiple congenital melanocytic nevi and melanotic lesions of the central nervous system. We report here on the CT and MR imaging findings of an unusual case of NCM that was associated with intraventricular dermoid and Dandy-Walker malformation.