Tumor-infiltrating immune cell subpopulations and programmed death ligand 1 (PD-L1) expression associated with clinicopathological and prognostic parameters in ependymoma.

Ependymomas are biologically and clinically heterogeneous tumors of the central nervous system that have variable clinical outcomes. The status of the tumor immune microenvironment in ependymoma remains unclear. Immune cell subsets and programmed death ligand 1 (PD-L1) expression were measured in 178 classical ependymoma cases by immunohistochemistry using monoclonal antibodies that recognized tumor-infiltrating lymphocyte subsets (TILs; CD3, CD4, CD8, FOXP3, and CD20), tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs; CD68, CD163, AIF1), indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase (IDO)+ cells and PD-L1-expressing tumor cells.

Postoperative Neurologic Outcome in Patients with Pituitary Apoplexy After Transsphenoidal Surgery.

Objective: Pituitary apoplexy can cause severe neuro-ophthalmologic or endocrinologic sequelae, requiring timely treatment. The present study was performed to evaluate postoperative neurologic outcomes and to identify their risk factors in patients who underwent transsphenoidal surgery for pituitary apoplexy.

Methods: Forty-one consecutive patients with pituitary apoplexy who underwent transsphenoidal surgery were reviewed retrospectively.

Protein Phosphatase Magnesium-Dependent 1δ (PPM1D) Expression as a Prognostic Marker in Adult Supratentorial Diffuse Astrocytic and Oligodendroglial Tumors.

Background: Protein phosphatase magnesium-dependent 1δ (PPM1D) is a p53-induced serine/threonine phosphatase, which is overexpressed in various human cancers. A recent study reported that a mutation in the gene is associated with poor prognosis in brainstem gliomas. In this study, we evaluated the utility of PPM1D as a prognostic biomarker of adult supratentorial diffuse astrocytic and oligodendroglial tumors.

High prevalence of TP53 mutations is associated with poor survival and an EMT signature in gliosarcoma patients.

Gliosarcoma (GS) is a rare variant (2%) of glioblastoma (GBM) that poses clinical genomic challenges because of its poor prognosis and limited genomic information. To gain a comprehensive view of the genomic alterations in GS and to understand the molecular etiology of GS, we applied whole-exome sequencing analyses for 28 GS cases (6 blood-matched fresh-frozen tissues for the discovery set, 22 formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissues for the validation set) and copy-number variation microarrays for 5 blood-matched fresh-frozen tissues. TP53 mutations were more prevalent in the GS cases (20/28, 70%) compared to the GBM cases (29/90, 32%), and the GS patients with TP53 mutations showed a significantly shorter survival (multivariate Cox analysis, hazard ratio=23.

Diagnostic Significance of Cellular Neuroglial Tissue in Ovarian Immature Teratoma.

Background: Immature teratoma (IT) is a tumor containing immature neuroectodermal tissue, primarily in the form of neuroepithelial tubules. However, the diagnosis of tumors containing only cellular neuroglial tissue (CNT) without distinct neuroepithelial tubules is often difficult, since the histological characteristics of immature neuroectodermal tissues remain unclear. Here, we examined the significance of CNT and tried to define immature neuroectodermal tissues by comparing the histological features of neuroglial tissues between mature teratoma (MT) and IT.

Hemangiopericytomas in the Central Nervous System: A Multicenter Study of Korean Cases with Validation of the Usage of STAT6 Immunohistochemistry for Diagnosis of Disease.

Background: Hemangiopericytoma (HPC) in the central nervous system (CNS) is a rare disease with distinctive biological/clinical characteristics compared with meningioma.

Methods: Cases of HPCs of the CNS were collected, and clinicopathological records were retrospectively reviewed and analyzed. Immunohistochemistry (IHC) for proliferative markers (Ki-67, PHH3) and STAT6 were performed.

Giant hypothalamic hamartoma associated with an intracranial cyst in a newborn.

We report the case of a giant hypothalamic hamartoma with a large intracranial cyst in a neonate. On ultrasonography, the lesion presented as a lobulated, mass-like lesion with similar echogenicity to the adjacent brain parenchyma, located anterior to the underdeveloped and compressed left temporal lobe, and presenting as an intracranial cyst in the left cerebral convexity without definite internal echogenicity or septa. The presence of a hypothalamic hamartoma and intracranial neurenteric cyst were confirmed by surgical biopsy.

Association between the CpG island methylator phenotype and its prognostic significance in primary pulmonary adenocarcinoma.

Aberrant methylation of promoter CpG islands is one of the most important inactivation mechanisms for tumor suppressor and tumor-related genes. Previous studies using genome-wide DNA methylation microarray analysis have suggested the existence of a CpG island methylator phenotype (CIMP) in lung adenocarcinomas. Although the biological behavior of these tumors varies according to tumor stage, no large-scale study has examined the CIMP in lung adenocarcinoma patients according to tumor stage.

The impact of postoperative radiation therapy on patterns of failure and survival improvement in patients with intracranial hemangiopericytoma.

Because of the rarity of intracranial hemangiopericytomas (HPCs), the role of postoperative radiation therapy (PORT) in the management of HPC remains unclear. This study therefore analyzed the effects of PORT on patterns of failure and survival improvement in patients with HPC. Fifty-two patients surgically treated for intracranial HPC at our institution between 1992 and 2013 were retrospectively analyzed.

Upfront Stereotactic Radiosurgery for Pineal Parenchymal Tumors in Adults.

Objective: Pineal parenchymal tumors (PPTs) in adults are rare, and knowledge regarding their optimal management and treatment outcome is limited. Herein, we present the clinical results of our series of PPTs other than pineoblastomas managed by stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) at upfront setting.

Methods: Between 1997 and 2014, nine consecutive adult patients with the diagnosis of PPTs, either pineocytoma or pineal parenchymal tumor of intermediate differentiation, were treated with SRS.

Primary histiocytic sarcoma of the central nervous system.

Histiocytic sarcoma is a type of lymphoma that rarely involves the central nervous system (CNS). Its rarity can easily lead to a misdiagnosis. We describe a patient with primary CNS histocytic sarcoma involving the cerebral hemisphere and spinal cord, who had been initially misdiagnosed as demyelinating disease.

Treatment outcome of radiation therapy for intracranial germinoma: adaptive radiation field in relation to response to chemotherapy.

Aim: To determine the optimal radiotherapy (RT) target volume in correlation with tumor response to chemotherapy in patients with intracranial germinoma.

Patients And Methods: Seventy-two patients received chemotherapy followed by RT. The RT field was tailored to chemotherapy response.

Intramedullary spinal cysticercosis: a case report and review of literature.

To report a case of spinal intramedullary cysticercosis in thoracic spine. A 47-year old man living in Korea referred to our hospital with both feet tingling sensation for about a year. Laboratory evaluations, including serologic tests were not helpful.

Hypofractionated intensity-modulated radiotherapy using simultaneous integrated boost technique with concurrent and adjuvant temozolomide for glioblastoma.

Aims And Background: We assessed the therapeutic efficacy of combined hypofractionated intensity-modulated radiotherapy with temozolomide in patients with primary glioblastoma.

Methods And Study Design: Thirty-nine patients with histologically confirmed glioblastoma were accrued. Using the simultaneous integrated boost technique, a dose of 50 Gy in 5-Gy fractions was applied to the gross tumor volume, together with 40 Gy in 4-Gy fractions and 30 Gy in 3-Gy fractions to the 1- and 2-cm margins from the gross tumor volume, respectively.

Cytological Evaluation and REBA HPV-ID HPV Testing of Newly Developed Liquid-Based Cytology, EASYPREP: Comparison with SurePath.

Background: The objective of this study was to evaluate a newly-developed EASYPREP liquid-based cytology method in cervicovaginal specimens and compare it with SurePath.

Methods: Cervicovaginal specimens were prospectively collected from 1,000 patients with EASYPREP and SurePath. The specimens were first collected by brushing for SurePath and second for EASYPREP.

Promoter methylation of WNT inhibitory factor-1 and expression pattern of WNT/β-catenin pathway in human astrocytoma: pathologic and prognostic correlations.

WNT inhibitory factor-1 (WIF1) is an antagonist of the WNT signaling pathway. We investigated the relationship between WIF1 promoter methylation and regulation of the WNT/β-catenin signaling pathway, tumor grade, and survival in patients with astrocytoma. This study included 86 cases of astrocytoma, comprising 20 diffuse astrocytomas and 66 glioblastomas.

Frontal transcortical approach in 12 central neurocytomas.

Background: Central neurocytomas (CN) are rare intraventricular tumors with benign clinical behavior that typically affect young adults. Although a favorable prognosis is generally expected after adequate management, there is no general consensus on the standard of therapy. We evaluated the efficacy and safety of radical surgery for the management of CN.

Clinicopathological parameters and biological markers predicting non-sentinel node metastasis in sentinel node-positive breast cancer patients.

The value of complete axillary lymph node dissection (ALND) has been questioned in invasive breast cancer (IBC) patients with positive sentinel lymph nodes (SLNs) who have no non-sentinel lymph node (NSLN) metastases. Because biological markers have not been systematically studied in this setting, we sought to identify clinicopathological characteristics and biological markers for predicting NSLN metastases in SLN-positive IBC patients. Two hundred and five IBC patients who had at least one positive SLN and received SLN biopsy and ALND were included in our study.

Intradural involvement of multicentric myxoid liposarcoma.

Liposarcomas are malignant tumors of the soft tissue, with myxoid liposarcoma being the second most common subtype, tending to occur in the limbs, particularly in the thighs. Myxoid liposarcomas have an intermediate prognosis between well-differentiated and pleomorphic tumors. Spinal metastasis is usual but intradural involvement is extremely rare.

Extrarenal teratoid Wilms' tumor: two cases in unusual locations, one associated with elevated serum AFP.

Teratoid Wilms' tumor is an unusual morphological entity characterized by a classic triphasic malignancy with predominantly heterologous tissue. The authors describe two cases of teratoid Wilms' tumor with an extrarenal site: one in a 13-year-old girl with vaginal spotting (patient 1) and another in a 1-day-old girl with a sacrococcygeal mass (patient 2). The tumors were located in the vagina and coccyx, respectively.

Clinical features of the microform cleft lip and the ultrastructural characteristics of the orbicularis oris muscle.

Objective: To clarify the clinical features of the microform cleft lip and to establish the ultrastructural characteristics of the orbicularis muscle.

Design: Clinical observations of the characteristic deformities and associated anomalies were made. Muscle biopsies were harvested for histologic and ultrastructural analyses.

Spinal radiosurgical treatment for thoracic epidural cavernous hemangioma presenting as radiculomyelopathy: technical case report.

Objective: Image-guided stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) was applied to a case of spinal epidural cavernous hemangioma in the thoracic spine. This report demonstrates the potential for spinal SRS in treating diseases that have previously required extensive invasive surgery.

Clinical Presentation: A 27-year-old woman with gait disturbance and shoulder pain radiating into the right upper arm and back presented for clinical evaluation.

Chordomas and chondrosarcomas of the skull base: comparative analysis of clinical results in 30 patients.

Chordomas and chondrosarcomas occur rarely in the skull base and have been often considered commonly with respect to the management. The aim of this study was to investigate the clinical results in each series of these tumors and analyze comparative outcome. Between 1991 and 2005, 30 consecutive patients with pathological diagnosis of chordoma (n=19) or chondrosarcoma (n=11) of the skull base were managed by multimodal treatment combining surgical resection with conventional photon radiotherapy and/or gamma knife radiosurgery.