A Diagnostic Dilemma: A Case of Angiosarcoma Presenting as Splenomegaly and Pathologic Fracture.

Background: Angiosarcomas are rare tumors that can be difficult to diagnose due to subtle changes in the vascular endothelium. When there is evidence to suggest malignancy, such as a pathologic fracture, further investigation is needed, and a high suspicion for angiosarcoma needs to be present so that appropriate immunohistochemical stains are utilized on biopsied tissue. In situations where such suspicion is high and prior biopsies have been negative, performance of splenectomy, can be both diagnostic and therapeutic when splenomegaly is present.

Classical Hodgkin lymphoma masquerading as chronic recurrent multifocal osteomyelitis: a case report.

Background: Hodgkin lymphoma is a hematologic malignancy usually confined to lymphatic structures and commonly associated with constitutional symptoms. Bony involvement and musculoskeletal symptoms are uncommon and typically seen in advanced disease. In this case, we report an unusual presentation of classical Hodgkin lymphoma and highlight diagnostic challenges leading to the misdiagnosis and treatment as chronic recurrent multifocal osteomyelitis.

Lapatinib-plus-pegylated liposomal doxorubicin in advanced HER2-positive breast cancer following trastuzumab: a phase II trial.

Background: Trastuzumab, one important treatment option for HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer (MBC) is limited by its cardiotoxic potential. Lapatinib and pegylated liposomal doxorubicin (PLD) represent a cardiosparing alternative that can cross the blood brain barrier. This is important, because one third of breast cancer patients develop brain metastases.

TGF-β induction of FGF-2 expression in stromal cells requires integrated smad3 and MAPK pathways.

Transforming Growth Factor-β (TGF-β) regulates the reactive stroma microenvironment associated with most carcinomas and mediates expression of many stromal derived factors important for tumor progression, including FGF-2 and CTGF. TGF-β is over-expressed in most carcinomas, and FGF-2 action is important in tumor-induced angiogenesis. The signaling mechanisms of how TGF-β regulates FGF-2 expression in the reactive stroma microenvironment are not understood.

RUNX1 is essential for mesenchymal stem cell proliferation and myofibroblast differentiation.

Myofibroblasts are a key cell type in wound repair, cardiovascular disease, and fibrosis and in the tumor-promoting microenvironment. The high accumulation of myofibroblasts in reactive stroma is predictive of the rate of cancer progression in many different tumors, yet the cell types of origin and the mechanisms that regulate proliferation and differentiation are unknown. We report here, for the first time to our knowledge, the characterization of normal human prostate-derived mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) and the TGF-β1-regulated pathways that modulate MSC proliferation and myofibroblast differentiation.