Are there specific cytologic features that can predict BRAF mutational status of papillary thyroid carcinoma in fine-needle aspiration specimens?

Background: BRAF mutation is the most common molecular alteration found in papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) and has been linked to recurrent disease or possibly more aggressive behavior. Some studies have reported sickle-shaped nuclei (SSN) and plump pink cells (PPC) to be predictive markers of BRAF mutation in FNA cytology. We aimed to evaluate the reproducibility of the aforementioned cytologic features.

Urine cytology findings in patients with biopsy-confirmed urothelial carcinoma in situ with plasmacytoid features.

Background: Urine cytology is an important screening tool in the diagnosis of high-grade urothelial carcinoma. Diagnosis in urine samples follows criteria outlined by The Paris System for Reporting Urinary Cytology (TPS). However, cytologic characteristics of the recently described urothelial carcinoma in situ with plasmacytoid features (P-CIS) have not been described, and it is unknown whether they conform to TPS criteria for high-grade urothelial carcinoma.

Neuroendocrine neoplasms of the genitourinary tract in adults: cross-sectional imaging spectrum.

Neuroendocrine (NE) neoplasms of the genitourinary (GU) tract in adults are rare tumors with distinct histopathology and variable biological behavior and imaging findings. They may be primary or metastatic in origin. The spectrum of primary GU tract NE neoplasms includes carcinoid, small cell carcinoma, large cell NE carcinoma, and paraganglioma.

Outcomes of Active Surveillance for Clinically Localized Prostate Cancer in the Prospective, Multi-Institutional Canary PASS Cohort.

Purpose: Active surveillance represents a strategy to address the overtreatment of prostate cancer, yet uncertainty regarding individual patient outcomes remains a concern. We evaluated outcomes in a prospective multicenter study of active surveillance.

Materials And Methods: We studied 905 men in the prospective Canary PASS enrolled between 2008 and 2013.

Sarcomatoid urothelial carcinoma with chondrosarcomatous differentiation of the ureter: a case report.

Background: Sarcomatoid urothelial cell carcinoma of the urinary tract has a poor prognosis. Most of the reported cases of sarcomatoid urothelial cell carcinomas are those from the urinary bladder. A limited number of these tumors originate from the ureter.

Genomic characterization of testis cancer: association of alterations with outcome of clinical stage 1 mixed germ cell nonseminomatous germ cell tumor of the testis.

Objective: To identify genomic markers that are reliable in predicting lymph node metastases in clinical stage 1 non-seminomatous germ cell tumors (NSGCTs).

Methods: Comparative genomic array technology was used to identify regions of genomic amplification or deletion in clinical stage 1 NSGCTs. Twelve stage 1 mixed germ cell testicular tumors were analyzed, which were obtained from 8 patients who had no evidence of nodal metastasis when retroperitoneal lymph node dissection (RPLND) had been performed (ie, were RPLND negative) and 4 patients who had nodal metastases (ie, were RPLND positive).

Micropapillary carcinoma of the urinary bladder: report of a case and review of its cytologic features.

Micropapillary carcinoma (MPC) is an aggressive variant of urothelial carcinoma. MPC has a propensity to invade lymphovascular spaces and detrusor muscle early in the disease that often leads to upstaging and/or lymph node metastasis in many cases at cystectomy. Its association with the usual high-grade urothelial carcinoma provides an easy recognition of malignancy in cytology specimens without attempt at separating or identifying the MPC component.

The potential impact of reproducibility of Gleason grading in men with early stage prostate cancer managed by active surveillance: a multi-institutional study.

Purpose: We evaluated the reproducibility of Gleason grading as relevant to the clinical treatment of men on active surveillance.

Materials And Methods: Three sets of digital images of prostatic adenocarcinoma in biopsies were reviewed and assigned Gleason scores by a total of 11 pathologists from 7 institutions. Interobserver and intra-observer reproducibility were assessed for assignment of the highest Gleason pattern (3 vs 4 or higher).

Intraductal carcinoma of the prostate in the ejaculatory duct.

Intraductal carcinoma of the prostate (IDCP) involving prostatic ducts and acini is a well-known phenomenon typically seen in a background of high-grade invasive prostatic adenocarcinoma. The current case of prostatic adenocarcinoma with Gleason score of 9 (4 + 5) invades the ejaculatory ducts, left seminal vesicle, and extraprostatic tissue. The tumor involving the left ejaculatory duct spans the lumen with preservation of native duct architecture, including basal cells, similar features described in IDCP involving prostatic ducts and acini.

Pleomorphic and dedifferentiated leiomyosarcoma: clinicopathologic and immunohistochemical study of 41 cases.

In this article, we supplement the few published articles by describing the clinical and pathologic features of pleomorphic and dedifferentiated leiomyosarcoma from 41 patients (27 women and 14 men) with an age range of 25 to 75 years (mean, 56.5 years), representing the largest cohort reported to date. The typical leiomyosarcoma component accounted for <5% to 60% (mean, 15%) of the tumor.

Even low-level HER2 expression may be associated with worse outcome in node-positive breast cancer.

HER2 is an important predictive marker for response to trastuzumab and lapatinib in breast cancer. It is also a powerful prognostic marker in node-positive patients. Although standardized assays are used to help select patients for anti-HER2 therapy, there are no standardized criteria for assessing HER2 as a prognostic marker.

Coexpression of alpha6beta4 integrin and guanine nucleotide exchange factor Net1 identifies node-positive breast cancer patients at high risk for distant metastasis.

Preclinical data indicate that alpha6beta4 integrin signaling through Ras homolog gene family, member A, plays an important role in tumor cell motility. The objective of this study was to determine whether the combined expression of alpha6beta4 integrin and neuroepithelioma transforming gene 1 (Net1), a guanine nucleotide exchange factor specific for Ras homolog gene family member A, is associated with adverse clinical outcome in breast cancer patients. Immunohistochemical expression of each protein was evaluated in a tumor tissue microarray prepared from the primary tumors of 94 node-positive patients with invasive breast carcinoma treated with total mastectomy and doxorubicin-based chemotherapy without radiation with a median follow-up of 12.

Extradural spinal meningioma as a source of plasmacytoid cells. A case report.

Background: Meningiomas, tumors that often affect middle-aged and elderly people, occasionally arise in the spine, typically at the thoracic level. The cytologic findings in meningiomas include whorls and syncytial clusters of bland-looking cells with scattered, psammomatous calcifications and intranudclear cytoplasmic inclusions. However, in many cases, not all these findings are seen, and in rare cases, unusual cytomorphologic features are observed.

Pulmonary metastasis of a postradiation breast epithelioid angiosarcoma mimicking adenocarcinoma. A case report.

Background: Epithelioid angiosarcoma (EAS) is a mesenchymal neoplasm that may appear indistinguishable from carcinoma, melanoma and other tumors with epithelioid/epithelial differentiation. We report a case of metastatic postradiation EAS to the lungs that was mistaken for adenocarcinoma.

Case: A 45-year-old woman who received radiotherapy for ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) 5 years previously had a local recurrence a year earlier and recent development of bilateral small pulmonary nodules.

Mesothelial cyst of the pancreas.

Cystic lesions of the pancreas are increasingly identified because of advances in imaging techniques. The cystic lesions are of different types and are classified as neoplastic, nonneoplastic, and developmental types. Identification of the nature of these cystic lesions is very important because the course and treatment of disparate types of cysts are different.

Postradiation angiosarcoma of the small intestine: a case report and review of literature.

Postradiation angiosarcoma is typically a high-grade sarcoma that presents mainly in the skin and superficial tissues. Postradiation angiosarcoma arising in the small intestine is rare with only 11 cases documented in the English-language literature. Herein, we report a postradiation angiosarcoma of the small intestine 9 years after radiotherapy for uterine cervical adenocarcinoma.

Mediastinal rhabdomyoma: a case report and review of the literature.

An incidental anterior-superior mediastinal rhabdomyoma is reported in a 68-year-old man who died of hypovolemic shock as a result of massive blood loss due to transection of aorta after being hit by a moving motor vehicle. This is the third reported case of mediastinal rhabdomyoma in the literature. The immunohistochemical evidence of expression of muscle-specific markers supports the rhabdomyomatous nature of this neoplasm, and electron microscopic demonstration of haphazardly arranged myofilaments with prominent Z bands, "jack-straws" in the mitochondria, and the absence of desmosomes is supportive of extracardiac origin of this rhabdomyoma.