Case report: Diffuse metastatic infiltration of the thyroid by esophageal adenocarcinoma mimicking non-neoplastic thyroid disease.

We report a patient who suffered from esophageal cancer that metastasized to the thyroid. There are only a handful of cases of esophageal cancer with metastases to the thyroid reported in the literature. To our knowledge, this is the first with a diffusely infiltrative pattern (the others were focal masses/nodules).

Epstein-Barr virus infection is common in inflamed gastrointestinal mucosa.

Background And Aims: Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) is present in the malignant epithelial cells of 10% of all gastric adenocarcinomas; however, localization of the virus in normal gastrointestinal mucosa is largely unexplored. In the present study, we measured EBV DNA and localized viral gene products in gastritis specimens (n = 89), normal gastric and colonic mucosa (n = 14), Crohn's disease (n = 9), and ulcerative colitis (n = 11) tissues.

Methods: A battery of sensitive and specific quantitative polymerase chain reactions targeted six disparate regions of the EBV genome: BamH1 W, EBNA1, LMP1, LMP2, BZLF1, and EBER1.

Negative-staining electron microscopy of the urine for the detection of polyomavirus infections.

Negative-staining electron microscopy (EM) has played a pivotal role in diagnostic virology. It is a rapid technique for viral detection in the urine and can provide an easy means for monitoring viral activity and productive infections. EM of urine for the detection of polyomaviruses has hitherto not been systematically evaluated as a screening tool for renal transplant patients at risk for BK polyomavirus nephropathy (BKN).

Polyploid formation via chromosome duplication induced by CTP:phosphocholine cytidylyltransferase deficiency and Bcl-2 overexpression: identification of two novel endogenous factors.

Polyploidy is a profound phenotype found in tumors and its mechanism is unknown. We report here that when B-cell lymphoma gene-2 (Bcl-2) was overexpressed in a Chinese hamster ovary cell line that was deficient in CTP:phosphocholine cytidylyltransferase (CT), cellular DNA content doubled. The higher DNA content was due to a permanent conversion from diploid cells to tetraploid cells.