Role of immunohistochemistry in the era of genetic testing in MYC-positive aggressive B-cell lymphomas: a study of 209 cases.

Aims: MYC rearrangements with or without BCL2 rearrangements have been shown to be associated with poor prognosis and inferior survival in diffuse large B-cell lymphomas (DLBCL). Most of these cases are still diagnosed by fluorescent in situ hybridisation (FISH) testing, which is expensive, requires expertise and is not routinely available in all laboratories. Immunohistochemistry (IHC) is widely available and has the potential to be used as a screening test to identify cases with increased protein expression and select cases that require confirmatory testing.

IDH1 mutation is associated with seizures and protoplasmic subtype in patients with low-grade gliomas.

Objective: The isocitrate dehydrogenase 1 (IDH1) R132H mutation is the most common mutation in World Health Organization (WHO) grade II gliomas, reported to be expressed in 70-80%, but only 5-10% of high grade gliomas. Low grade tumors, especially the protoplasmic subtype, have the highest incidence of tumor associated epilepsy (TAE). The IDH1 mutation leads to the accumulation of 2-hydroxyglutarate (2HG), a metabolite that bears a close structural similarity to glutamate, an excitatory neurotransmitter that has been implicated in the pathogenesis of TAE.

Sensitization of BCL-2-expressing breast tumors to chemotherapy by the BH3 mimetic ABT-737.

Overexpression of the prosurvival protein BCL-2 is common in breast cancer. Here we have explored its role as a potential therapeutic target in this disease. BCL-2, its anti-apoptotic relatives MCL-1 and BCL-XL, and the proapoptotic BH3-only ligand BIM were found to be coexpressed at relatively high levels in a substantial proportion of heterogeneous breast tumors, including clinically aggressive basal-like cancers.

Pulmonary ultrasonography in the follow-up of respiratory distress syndrome on preterm newborns. Reduction of X-ray exposure.

Purpose: Respiratory distress syndrome (RDS) is the most common cause of respiratory failure in preterm neonates, whose lungs are often immature. The diagnosis and follow-up are based on clinical and radiographic findings. Due to the problem of air artifacts, ultrasonography (US) is not used routinely in the diagnosis of lung diseases.

Aberrant luminal progenitors as the candidate target population for basal tumor development in BRCA1 mutation carriers.

Basal-like breast cancers arising in women carrying mutations in the BRCA1 gene, encoding the tumor suppressor protein BRCA1, are thought to develop from the mammary stem cell. To explore early cellular changes that occur in BRCA1 mutation carriers, we have prospectively isolated distinct epithelial subpopulations from normal mammary tissue and preneoplastic specimens from individuals heterozygous for a BRCA1 mutation. We describe three epithelial subsets including basal stem/progenitor, luminal progenitor and mature luminal cells.