Giant cell tumor of soft tissue on the thigh of a 40-year-old woman.

We report a case of giant cell tumor of soft tissue (GCTST) in a 40-year-old woman who presented with a painful fibrous nodule on the thigh. The histological examination revealed multinucleated histiocytes admixed with eosinophils, lymphocytes, and scattered spindle-shaped cells. The clinical presentations, histological features, differential diagnosis, treatment options, and a literature review are presented.

Pathologic features and clinical significance of "backwash" ileitis in ulcerative colitis.

Patients with ulcerative colitis (UC) may develop inflammation in the distal ileum thought to be due to "backwash" of cecal contents ("backwash ileitis"). However, a systematic analysis of ileal changes in UC has never been performed, and the prevalence and criteria for "backwash" ileitis have not been defined. The aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence and spectrum of inflammatory changes in the ileum in patients with UC and to correlate ileal changes with outcome after total proctocolectomy and ileal pouch-anal anastomosis.

Pleomorphic adenoma with extensive lipometaplasia: report of three cases.

We report a series of three cases of pleomorphic adenoma with extensive lipometaplasia, a recently described subtype of pleomorphic adenoma of salivary gland origin. Two patients were female and one male, ranging in age from 30 to 45 years. Two occurred in the minor salivary glands of the lip and palate, respectively, and one in the parotid.

Basal cell carcinoma with matrical differentiation: a case study with analysis of beta-catenin.

Matrical differentiation in basal cell carcinoma (BCC) is rare. Only nine cases have been described that showed typical diagnostic features of BCC, in addition to shadow cells indicating hair-matrix differentiation. These cases often present a diagnostic challenge due to confusion with pilomatrixoma or pilomatrix carcinoma.

Focal adhesion kinase is expressed in the angiogenic blood vessels of malignant astrocytic tumors in vivo and promotes capillary tube formation of brain microvascular endothelial cells.

Purpose: Focal adhesion kinase (FAK) is a cytoplasmic tyrosine kinase that has been shown to promote proliferation, migration, and invasion of several cell types in vitro, and we have shown recently that FAK promotes proliferation of malignant astrocytoma cells in vivo. To determine the role of FAK in angiogenesis in malignant astrocytic tumors, we investigated the expression and function of FAK in brain endothelial cells.

Experimental Design: We characterized the expression of FAK and activated FAK in endothelial cells by immunohistochemistry.