High-grade PanIN presenting with localised stricture of the main pancreatic duct: A clinicopathological and molecular study of 10 cases suggests a clue for the early detection of pancreatic cancer.

Aims: This study aimed to identify the pathological features of high-grade PanIN that presents with imaging-detectable abnormalities.

Methods And Results: Ten cases of isolated, main-duct, high-grade PanIN as the primary clinical presentation were identified. All patients presented with stenosis of the main pancreatic duct, with two being associated with extensive upstream duct dilatation (>5 mm in diameter).

Idiopathic multicentric Castleman's disease: a clinicopathologic study in comparison with IgG4-related disease.

The present study aimed to compare clinicopathologic features between idiopathic multicentric Castleman's disease (n=22) and IgG4-related disease (n=26). Histology was analyzed using lymph node and lung biopsies. The expression of IL-6 mRNA in tissue was also examined by hybridization and real-time PCR.

SOX2-silenced squamous cell carcinoma: a highly malignant form of esophageal cancer with SOX2 promoter hypermethylation.

This study originally aimed to investigate whether the overexpression of SOX2 is associated with the poor prognosis of patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the esophagus. However, we unexpectedly found that esophageal squamous cell carcinomas completely lacking SOX2 expression showed distinct pathologic features and highly aggressive clinical courses. The study cohort consisted of 113 consecutive patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma who underwent surgical resection without neoadjuvant therapy.

IL-8 Expression in Granulocytic Epithelial Lesions of Idiopathic Duct-centric Pancreatitis (Type 2 Autoimmune Pancreatitis).

Type 2 autoimmune pancreatitis (type 2 AIP) develops in isolation or sometimes in association with ulcerative colitis. Its diagnosis requires the histologic confirmation of granulocytic epithelial lesions (GELs) with no diagnostic biomarker currently available. This study aimed to elucidate the tissue expression of cytokines and their diagnostic value in this condition.

Mucinous cystic neoplasms of the liver and pancreas: relationship between KRAS driver mutations and disease progression.

Aims: To compare the oncogenic mutation status among mucinous cystic neoplasms (MCNs) of different histological grades and between liver and pancreatic MCNs.

Methods And Results: KRAS, GNAS, RNF43 and PIK3CA were sequenced in 25 surgical cases of hepatopancreatic MCN. Molecular features were correlated with clinicopathological and immunohistochemical findings.

Role of microRNA-29b in myelodysplastic syndromes during transformation to overt leukaemia.

Chromosome 7q32 is a frequently deleted region in myelodysplastic syndromes (MDSs) and encodes the microRNAs (miRNAs) miR-29a/miR-29b. Both miR-29s down-regulate the anti-apoptotic protein myeloid cell leukaemia 1 (MCL-1) in acute myeloid leukaemia. Thus, to investigate the role of miR-29s in the transformation of MDS to overt leukaemia (OL), we analysed the relationship between miR-29 expression and MCL-1 expression.

Extramedullary hematopoiesis: Elucidating the function of the hematopoietic stem cell niche (Review).

Extramedullary hematopoiesis (EMH) occurs under various circumstances, including during embryonic/developmental periods, pathological status secondary to insufficient bone marrow function or ineffective hematopoiesis, in hematological disorders, for example malignancies, as well as stromal disorders of the bone. EMH is characterized by hematopoietic cell accumulations in multiple body locations. Common EMH locations observed in clinical and pathological practice include the spleen, liver, lymph nodes and para‑vertebral regions.

Targeting MCM2 function as a novel strategy for the treatment of highly malignant breast tumors.

Highly malignant tumors express high levels of the minichromosome maintenance 2 (MCM2) protein, which is associated with advanced tumor grade, advanced stage, and poor prognosis. In a previous study, we showed that Friend leukemia virus (FLV) envelope protein gp70 bound MCM2, impaired its nuclear translocation, and enhanced DNA-damage-induced apoptosis in FLV-infected hematopoietic cells when the cells expressed high levels of MCM2. Here, we show that MCM2 is highly expressed in clinical samples of invasive carcinoma of the breast, especially triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC), and in cancer stem cell (CSC) marker-positive breast cancer cells.

Expression of multidrug resistance 1 gene in association with CXCL12 in chronic myelogenous leukaemia.

Even though the BCR-ABL tyrosine kinase inhibitor imatinib significantly improves the prognosis of chronic myelogenous leukaemia (CML) patients, drug resistance is a major obstacle to better management. We examined the interaction of recently defined bone marrow microenvironment factors CXCL12 and ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporters in the bone marrow of CML patients in the chronic phase and blast crisis.Expression levels of mRNA extracted from frozen specimens of CML patients were measured by real-time polymerase chain reaction.

CXCL12+ stromal cells as bone marrow niche for CD34+ hematopoietic cells and their association with disease progression in myelodysplastic syndromes.

The bone marrow microenvironment, known as 'hematopoietic stem cell niche,' is essential for the survival and maintenance of hematopoietic stem cells. Myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) are a group of clonal hematopoietic stem cell diseases, which eventually result in leukemic transformation (acute myelogenous leukemia with myelodysplasia-related changes, AML-MRC). However, the precise components and functions of the MDS niche remain unclear.

Pre-operative risk stratification for cancer-specific survival in patients with renal cell carcinoma with venous involvement who underwent nephrectomy.

Objective: The aim of this study is to identify the pre-operative prognostic factors and create a risk stratification model for patients with renal cell carcinoma with extension into the renal vein or inferior vena cava.

Methods: The study cohort included 61 patients with renal cell carcinoma extending into the renal vein or inferior vena cava that underwent operations between 1993 and 2012. Cancer-specific survival rates were estimated, and univariate and multivariate analyses were carried out to determine the prognostic factors.

JC virus inclusions in progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy: scaffolding promyelocytic leukemia nuclear bodies grow with cell cycle transition through an S-to-G2-like state in enlarging oligodendrocyte nuclei.

In progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy, JC virus-infected oligodendroglia display 2 distinct patterns of intranuclear viral inclusions: full inclusions in which progeny virions are present throughout enlarged nuclei and dot-shaped inclusions in which virions are clustered in subnuclear domains termed "promyelocytic leukemia nuclear bodies" (PML-NBs). Promyelocytic leukemia nuclear bodies may serve a scaffolding role in viral progeny production. We analyzed the formation process of intranuclear viral inclusions by morphometry and assessed PML-NB alterations in the brains of 2 patients with progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy.

Over-expression of cancerous inhibitor of PP2A (CIP2A) in bone marrow cells from patients with a group of high-risk myelodysplastic syndromes.

Cancerous inhibitor of PP2A (protein phosphatase 2A) (CIP2A) is an inhibitor of PP2A, a phosphatase and tumor suppressor that regulates cell proliferation, differentiation, and survival. The aim of this study was to investigate whether CIP2A plays a role in the progression of myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS). Immunohistochemical analysis revealed that a fraction patients having refractory anemia with excess blasts (RAEB)-1 (4 out of 12) and RAEB-2 (10 out of 14) exhibited significant expression of CIP2A in bone marrow hematopoietic cells, while all patients with refractory cytopenia with unilineage or multilineage dysplasia (RCUD/RCMD) (0 out of 18) and the control group (0 out of 17) were negative.