[Erdheim-Chester disease: a non-Langerhans cell histiocytosis. A clinical-case and review of the literature].

We make a retrospective evaluation of clinical and radiologic features, treatment, and outcome of Erdheim-Chester disease, a rare non-Langerhans cell histiocytosis. We report a case of Erdheim-Chester disease and review 60 cases from the literature. These cases are consider to have Erdheim-Chester disease when they have either typical bone radiographs (symmetrical long bones osteosclerosis) and/or histologic criteria disclosing histiocytic infiltration with distinctive immunohistochemical phenotype of the non-Langerhans cell histiocytes with positive staining for CD68 and negative staining for S-100 protein and CD1a.

Identification of breast cyst subpopulations: biochemical and morphological features.

The concentration of insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I) and its relationship to other biochemical parameters of cyst fluids was investigated in 94 cyst fluids of 86 women with gross cystic breast disease. The relationship between the biochemical parameters and the cytological features of breast fluids (presence or absence of apocrine cells) was also studied. IGF-I was detected in all tested fluids, with a concentration 50 to 100 times lower than that found in plasma.

Epidermal growth factor in breast cyst fluid: relationship with intracystic cation and androgen conjugate content.

In recent years, several studies focused on the biochemical analysis of breast cyst fluid composition. It has been shown that breast cysts lined by apocrine epithelium contain higher levels of potassium and dehydroepiandrosterone-sulphate as compared to cysts lined by flattened cells, and that women with apocrine cysts are more likely to develop breast cancer. In the present study, we measured the intracystic levels of sodium (Na+), potassium (K+), dehydroepiandrosterone-sulphate (DHEA-S), and epidermal growth factor (EGF), a factor which could play a role in the autocrine or paracrine control of breast cancer cell growth as recently proposed by some investigators.