Colorectal cancer in young adults: a retrospective study of 32 tunisian patients.

Young people under the age of 40 with colorectal cancer represent a distinct subgroup with a more aggressive disease behaviour compared to older patients. This study aim to provide an updated overview on clinicopathological features, treatment and outcome of colorectal cancer in young adults under the age of 40. In our retrospective study, we reviewed 32 cases of colorectal cancer in young adults aged less than 40 years that were diagnosed at the pathology department of Mongi Slim hospital over a fifteen-year period (April 2000 - November 2014).

Routine histopathological study of cholecystectomy specimens. Useful? A retrospective study of 1960 cases.

Background And Aims: Traditionally, a gallbladder removed for presumed benign disease is sent for histopathological examination, but this practice has been the subject of controversy.

Aim: The aim of this study was to assess the usefulness of routine histopathological examination of cholecystectomy specimens and its impact on the management of patients.

Patients And Methods: The histopathological reports of 1960 patients who underwent cholecystectomy from January 2011 to November 2016 were retrospectively reviewed.

Solid pseudopapillary neoplasm of the pancreas in two male patients: gender does not matter.

Solid pseudopapillary tumour (SPT) is an unusual pancreatic neoplasm which predominantly affects young women. Less than 10% of patients with SPT in the reported literature were male. In this paper, the authors report two new cases of SPT that occurred in two male patients aged respectively 25 and 20 years old.

Hepatocellular carcinoma: a clinicopathological study of 64 cases.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the most common of all liver cancers and is a major worldwide public health problem. The aim of this study was to provide an updated overview on clinicopathological features, treatment and outcome of HCC. In our retrospective study, we reviewed 64 cases of HCC that were diagnosed at the pathology department of Mongi Slim hospital over a fifteen-year period (2000- 2014).

Crohn's disease and schistosomiasis: a rare association.

Schistosomiasis is a chronic enteropathogenic disease caused by blood flukes of the genus Schistosoma. Coexistence of schistosomiasis with Crohn's disease is very rare. To the best of our knowledge, this association has been described in literature only once.

Unexpected Histopathological Findings in Appendectomy Specimens: a Retrospective Study of 1627 Cases.

Pathologic evaluation of the appendix after appendectomy is routine and can occasionally identify unexpected findings. The aim of the present study was to determine the incidence and type of pathologic diagnoses found in appendectomy specimens at our institution. The clinicopathological data of 1627 patients who underwent appendectomies for presumed acute appendicitis from January 2008 to October 2014 were reviewed retrospectively.

Fibrolamellar carcinoma versus scirrhous hepatocellular carcinoma : diagnostic usefulness of CD68.

Background: Fibrolamellar hepatocellular carcinoma (FL-HCC) is a rare variant of hepatocellular carcinoma that commonly affects young individuals without a prior history of liver disease. The principal differential diagnosis is conventional hepatocellular carcinoma especially the scirrhous variant. Despite their distinctive appearance, recent studies have demonstrated a lack of consistency in how FL-HCC are diagnosed by pathologists.

Primary hepatic vascular tumours. A clinicopathologic study of 10 cases.

Background: Primary hepatic vascular neoplasms constitute a heterogeneous group of neoplasms with characteristic histology and variable tumour biology.

Aim: To provide an updated overview on clinicopathological features, treatment and outcome of primary hepatic vascular tumours.

Patients And Methods: In our retrospective study, we reviewed 10 cases of primary hepatic vascular tumours that were diagnosed at the pathology department of Mongi Slim hospital over a thirteen-year period (2000-2012).

Pancreatic cystic neoplasms.

Background: Cystic neoplasms of the pancreas are rare and constitute approximately 0.5% of all pancreatic neoplasms.

Aims: The study was to describe clinicopathological features of pancreatic cystic tumors.

Relationship between SDF-1G801A polymorphism and its expression in Tunisian patients with colorectal cancer.

The aim was to evaluate the relationship between SDF-1G801A polymorphism and its immunohistochemical expression in colorectal cancer tissues in the Tunisian cohort. The molecular and immunohistochemical analysis showed that SDF-1G801A polymorphic variant was higher in CRC patients with TNM stage II and III, the SDF-1 expression was significantly increased from normal mucosa to primary tumor (p < 0.05).

Implication of K-ras and p53 in colorectal cancer carcinogenesis in Tunisian population cohort.

According to the multistep route of genetic alterations in the colorectal adenoma-carcinoma sequence, the complex K-ras/p53 mutation is one of the first alterations to occur and represent an important genetic event in colorectal cancer (CRC). An evaluation of the mutation spectra in K-ras and p53 gene was effected in 167 Tunisian patients with sporadic CRC to determine whether our populations have similar pattern of genetic alteration as in Maghrebin's population. Mutation patterns of codon 12-13 of K-ras and exon 5-8 of p53 were analyzed by immunohistochemistry and PCR-SSCP and confirmed by sequencing.

Co-existence of hepatocellular carcinoma and hepatic tuberculosis.

Background: Many case reports describe tuberculosis (TB) co-existent with a malignant neoplasm. However, the neoplasm in most of these reports is lung or breast cancer, with only two cases of liver cancer concomitant with TB reported in the literature. Although both TB and cancer are very common diseases, little attention has been given to the pathophysiologic and practical implications of their co-existence.

Biological significance of promoter hypermethylation of p14/ARF gene: relationships to p53 mutational status in Tunisian population with colorectal carcinoma.

One of the most important pathways which are frequently affected in colorectal cancer is p53/ (MDM2)/p14ARF pathway. We aim to determine the methylation pattern of p14/ARF in relation to mutation of p53. This correlation was studied to investigate whether their alterations could be considered as a predictor factor of prognosis in colorectal cancer and whether it can be useful in early-stage diagnosis.

Evaluation of microsatellite instability, MLH1 expression and hMLH1 promoter hypermethylation in colorectal carcinomas among Tunisians patients.

Background: About 10% to 15% of sporadic colorectal cancers demonstrate high level of microsatellite instability that is generally associated with aberrant methylation of hMLH1 promoter.

Aim: To investigate the association between MSI status, hMLH1 protein expression and methylation status of the hMLH1 promoter in a cohort of Tunisian sporadic colorectal cancer.

Methods: Expression of MLH1 and MSH2 was determined by immunohistochemistry and the MSI status was analysed by microfluid-based on-chip electrophoresis.

Relationship between MDM2 and p53 alterations in colorectal cancer and their involvement and prognostic value in the Tunisian population.

Background: The prevalence of p53 mutations in colorectal cancer could reach 90%. The most important regulator of this protein that was identified originally was the Murine Double Minute2 (MDM2) oncoprotein, by which the levels of p53 were fixed through an autoregulatory feedback loop. In cancer cases, the overexpression of MDM2 deregulates this feedback, and the signaling pathway between MDM2 and p53 is blocked.

Miliary osteoma cutis of the face.

Background: Miliary osteoma cutis (OC) of the face is a rare benign extra skeletal bone formation. For our knowledge, only 23 cases have been reported in the English literature. These lesions may be primary or secondary.

Impact of MDM2 polymorphism: increased risk of developing colorectal cancer and a poor prognosis in the Tunisian population.

Introduction: MDM2 was originally identified as an oncoprotein that binds to p53 and inhibits p53-mediated transactivation. Scientists have described functional single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) in the MDM2 gene. They showed that the genotype of SNP 309 induces an increase in the level of MDM2 protein, which causes attenuation of the p53 pathway.

Relationship between expression of ras p21 oncoprotein and mutation status of the K-ras gene in sporadic colorectal cancer patients in Tunisia.

Introduction: The K-ras proto-oncogene encodes a protein (p21-ras) belonging to the family of GTP/GDP-binding proteins with GTPase activity. The activation of ras family genes plays an important role in colorectal tumorigenesis. Frequency of K-ras mutations and overexpression of the protein in colorectal cancer (CRC) vary between 14% and 50% and between 29% and 76%, respectively.

Loss of galectin-3 expression in mucinous colorectal carcinomas is associated with 5'CpG island methylation in Tunisian patients.

The β-galactoside-binding protein galectin-3 (gal-3) has pleitropic biological functions and has been implicated in cell growth, differentiation, adhesion, RNA processing, apoptosis, and malignant transformation. To investigate the pattern of inactivation of the gal-3 gene (LGALS3) in colorectal cancers (CRC), we studied a series of Tunisian patients with CRC to identify abnormal methylation in LGALS3 promoter using a methylation-specific PCR. We also examined the gal-3 gene expression by reverse transcription-PCR and the expression of gal-3 protein by immunohistochemistry.

Association of a p73 exon 2 GC/AT polymorphism with colorectal cancer risk and survival in Tunisian patients.

We examined the association of one linked GC/AT polymorphism at p73 with the risk of colorectal cancer. In the present study, we investigated whether this polymorphism was related to the risk of colorectal cancer, and whether there were relationships between the polymorphism and LOH, protein expression or clinicopathological variables. The p73 genotypes were determined by PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism in 150 Tunisians patients with colorectal cancer and in 204 healthy control subjects.

The prognostic value of p73 overexpression in colorectal carcinoma: a clinicopathologic, immunohistochemical, and statistical study of 204 patients.

Introduction: The protein p73 is the first identified homolog of the tumor suppressor gene p53, but its function in tumor development has not been established. Indeed, the results regarding the p73 implication in colorectal cancers is still controversial.

Aim: We investigated whether the p73 is implicated in colorectal cancer, whether the p73 expression is related to prognosis and whether the p73 expression is correlated with p21-ras or p53.

[P73 gene expression in colorectal adenocarcinoma: a prognostic or etiopathogenetic factor?].

Background: The p73 gene encodes a nuclear protein that is highy homologous to p53. p73 also shares some common functions with p53 protein indicating that p73 gene is a p53-like tumor suppressor.

Aim: In this study, we examined by immunohistochemestry the p73 expression on 120 cases of colorectal carcinomas and evaluated its implication in carcinogenesis.