Decrease of telomeres and increase of interstitial telomeric sites in chromosomes of short-term cultured gastric carcinoma cells detected by fluorescence in situ hybridization.

Background: Deletion or shortening of chromosomal telomeres is associated with cellular aging and carcinogenesis. Telomeric sites are interstitially located in chromosomes. To clarify the frequency of telomerase abnormalities in cancer and their relationship with any characteristics of gastric carcinomas, telomeric aberrations in eleven cultured specimens of human gastric cancer were investigated by cytogenetic analysis.

Metastatic low-grade endometrial stromal sarcoma of the sigmoid colon three years after hysterectomy.

A 49-year-old woman, who had undergone hysterectomy for low-grade endometrial stromal sarcoma (ESS) 3 years ago, presented with a 2-wk history of lower abdominal pain. Barium enema and sigmoidoscopy disclosed a polypoid submucosal tumor. Histopathologic features of biopsy specimens from the lesion were similar to those of the resected uterine ESS.

Hepatic mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue lymphoma and hepatocellular carcinoma in a patient with hepatitis B virus infection.

Primary hepatic mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT) lymphoma is an extremely rare disease. A 65-year-old female patient with chronic hepatitis B presented with multiple solid masses in segment (S) 4, S5, and S6 of the liver. The nodule in S5 was diagnosed preoperatively as hepatocellular carcinoma by computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging, and angiography.

Small nonfunctioning islet cell tumor in the body of the pancreas: report of a case.

Islet cell tumors of the pancreas are uncommon, and nonfunctioning tumors are even rarer than functioning ones. We report the case of a 67-year-old woman with a small nonfunctioning islet cell tumor, 6 x 5 mm in diameter, which was detected incidentally by ultrasonography, and subsequently confirmed by double-helical computed tomography. Diagnosis was established by histopathological examination after 80% distal pancreatectomy with splenectomy, and by various laboratory tests.

Anorectal melanoma: successful treatment by surgical excision and combination chemoimmunotherapy.

Anorectal melanoma is an extremely rare malignancy, and has a poor prognosis mainly due to delays in diagnosis and lack of effective systemic therapy. We report the case of a 63-year-old female patient with anorectal melanoma. Diagnosis was established after surgery by histology and immunohistochemistry.