Improved resolution of diagnostic problems in selected prostate needle biopsy specimens by using the ASAP workup: a prospective study of interval sections vs new recut sections.

This study assessed the value of an atypical small acinar proliferation (ASAP) workup consisting of preparing new recut sections from the paraffin block and performing H&E-stained sections and immunostains (using the antibody cocktail for p63, cytokeratins 5 and 14, and alpha-methylacyl coenzyme A racemase) on the slides. We compared the ASAP workup with the interval workup, the common practice of performing the same immunostains on the saved interval sections, in 105 cases because of focal glandular atypia on the original H&E-stained sections. There were no specimens in which only the interval workup showed a changed diagnosis, but there were 23 specimens (21.

"Indeterminate" cystic lesion of the kidney partially lined by small cells with clear cytoplasm--malignant or benign?

Complex renal cysts, which present radiographically as "indeterminate for malignancy" (Bosniak category III), can prove challenging both pathologically and clinically. We report a case of a renal cyst that, by standard radiographic and histologic criteria, should have been diagnosed as a malignant cystic renal cell carcinoma. However, the cytogenetic profile appeared more closely consistent with cystic renal adenoma or low-grade papillary renal cell carcinoma--tumors with limited metastatic potential.

Immunohistochemical localization of the retinoic Acid receptors in human prostate.

Retinoic acid receptors (RARs) are nuclear transcription factors that mediate the effects of retinoids. Aberrant expression and regulation of RARs have been linked to various malignancies, including steroid-related breast and cervical cancers. Our previous results also suggest that prostate cancer is associated with altered RAR signaling.