Identification of oestrogen, progesterone receptor and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 expression in mediastinal metastases of breast cancer obtained by endobronchial ultrasound-guided transbronchial needle aspiration.

Background: In breast cancer patients, the expression statuses of oestrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PR), and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) are crucial in the choice of treatment. Receptor expression in metastatic lesions can differ from the primary tumour. The aim of our study was to analyse the utility of endobronchial ultrasound-guided transbronchial needle aspiration (EBUS-TBNA) to obtain samples allowing the identification of ER, PR and HER2 expression in patients with mediastinal metastases of breast cancer.

Minimally invasive diagnosis of a pericardial mass by CT-guided fine-needle aspiration.

The preferred management of a cardiac mass remains controversial, but it often includes open-chest surgical excision to obtain an adequate tissue sample for histological workup. We herein report a less invasive approach in which an accurate and timely cytological diagnosis of pericardial angiosarcoma was reached by studying a CT-guided fine-needle aspiration cell block. The cell block showed proliferation of atypical cells with occasional mitotic figures, vasoformative features, and immunoreactivity to WT1, vimentin, CD31, CD34, ERG, and Ki67.

Aberrant gene methylation and bronchial dysplasia in high risk lung cancer patients.

Introduction: The risk for lung cancer is incremented in high degree dysplasia (HGD) and in subjects with hypermethylation of multiple genes. We sought to establish the association between them, as well as to analyze the DNA aberrant methylation in sputum and in bronchial washings (BW).

Methods: Cross sectional study of high risk patients for lung cancer in whom induced sputum and autofluorescence bronchoscopy were performed.

Assessment of methylation status of locoregional lymph nodes in lung cancer using EBUS-NA.

Hypermethylation of the promoter region of tumor suppressor genes is associated with carcinogenesis in lung cancer (LC). Endobronchial ultrasound with needle aspiration (EBUS-NA) is a semi-invasive method for obtaining cell blocks from lymph nodes, which can be used for epigenetic analyses. To establish the relationship between methylation status of p16, DAPK, RASSF1a, APC and CDH13 genes in lymph nodes sampled by EBUS-NA, tumor staging and prognosis.