Comparative analysis of ARID1A mutations with mRNA levels and protein expression in gastric carcinoma.

The ARID1A gene is pivotal in chromatin remodeling and genomic integrity and is frequently mutated in various cancer types. ARID1A mutation is the second most frequently mutated tumor suppressor gene and has been suggested as a predictor of immunotherapeutic responsiveness in gastric carcinoma (GC). Despite its significance, the relationship among ARID1A somatic mutations, RNA expression levels, and protein expression remains unclear, particularly in GC. For this purpose, we performed comparative study in two cohorts. Cohort 1 used next-generation sequencing (NGS) to identify 112 GC cases with ARID1A mutations. These cases were compared with ARID1A immunohistochemistry (IHC) results. Cohort 2 employed microarray gene expression data to assess ARID1A RNA levels and compare them with ARID1A IHC results. In Cohort 1, 38.4% of ARID1A-mutated GC exhibited a complete loss of ARID1A protein when assessed by IHC, whereas the remaining 61.6% displayed intact ARID1A. Discordance between NGS and IHC results was not associated with specific mutation sites, variant classifications, or variant allele frequencies. In Cohort 2, 24.1% of the patients demonstrated a loss of ARID1A protein, and there was no significant difference in mRNA levels between the ARID1A protein-intact and -loss groups. Our study revealed a substantial discrepancy between ARID1A mutations detected using NGS and protein expression assessed using IHC in GC. Moreover, ARID1A mRNA expression levels did not correlate well with protein expression. These findings highlighted the complexity of ARID1A expression in GC.

Tumor-infiltrating T lymphocytes evaluated using digital image analysis predict the prognosis of patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma.

BACKGROUND: The implication of the presence of tumor-infiltrating T lymphocytes (TIL-T) in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) is yet to be elucidated. We aimed to investigate the effect of TIL-T levels on the prognosis of patients with DLBCL. METHODS: Ninety-six patients with DLBCL were enrolled in the study. The TIL-T ratio was measured using QuPath, a digital pathology software package. The TIL-T ratio was investigated in three foci (highest, intermediate, and lowest) for each case, resulting in TIL-T-Max, TIL-T-Intermediate, and TIL-T-Min. The relationship between the TIL-T ratios and prognosis was investigated. RESULTS: When 19% was used as the cutoff value for TIL-T-Max, 72 (75.0%) and 24 (25.0%) patients had high and low TIL-T-Max, respectively. A high TIL-T-Max was significantly associated with lower serum lactate dehydrogenase levels (p < .001), with patient group who achieved complete remission after RCHOP therapy (p < .001), and a low-risk revised International Prognostic Index score (p < .001). Univariate analysis showed that patients with a low TIL-T-Max had a significantly worse prognosis in overall survival compared to those with a high TIL-T-Max (p < .001); this difference remained significant in a multivariate analysis with Cox proportional hazards (hazard ratio, 7.55; 95% confidence interval, 2.54 to 22.42; p < .001). CONCLUSIONS: Patients with DLBCL with a high TIL-T-Max showed significantly better prognosis than those with a low TIL-T-Max, and the TIL-T-Max was an independent indicator of overall survival. These results suggest that evaluating TIL-T ratios using a digital pathology system is useful in predicting the prognosis of patients with DLBCL.

Mesonephric-like Adenocarcinoma of the Uterine Corpus: Clinicopathological and Prognostic Significance of L1 Cell Adhesion Molecule (L1CAM) Over-expression.

BACKGROUND/AIM: The expression of L1 cell adhesion molecule (L1CAM) in uterine mesonephric-like adenocarcinoma (MLA) remains understudied. Our aim was to explore the L1CAM expression in uterine MLA, delving into its clinicopathological implications and prognostic significance. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We conducted L1CAM immunostaining in MLA, endometrioid carcinoma (EC), and serous carcinoma (SC), compared L1CAM expression across these histological types, and probed the relationship between L1CAM expression and the clinicopathological features and outcomes of patients with MLA. RESULTS: High L1CAM expression was evident in 15 of 28 MLA cases (53.6%). This rate surpassed that of EC (7.5%) but was less than that of SC (78.9%). A high L1CAM expression correlated with initial distant metastasis, advanced initial stage, lung metastasis, and the recurrence of MLA. L1CAM-high MLA exhibited worse disease-free and overall survival than L1CAM-low MLA. CONCLUSION: L1CAM over-expression was observed in more than half of the MLA cases, and was associated with aggressive clinicopathological traits and adverse outcomes in patients with uterine MLA.

Metastatic leiomyosarcoma of the thyroid gland: cytologic findings and differential diagnosis.

Metastatic leiomyosarcoma to the thyroid is an extremely rare occurrence, and only 18 cases have been reported. Here, we report a case of a 37-year-old woman who presented with multiple masses on the scalp. Excisional biopsy was done and the mass revealed fascicles of smooth muscle fibers which showed positive staining for smooth muscle actin, thus confirming the diagnosis of leiomyosarcoma. The patient was also found to have a 0.9 cm mass within the left thyroid. Fine-needle aspiration was done and the cytological smear showed hypercellular spindle cell clusters with hyperchromatic and large nuclei. Normal thyroid follicular cells were found within or around tumor cells. In this report, we present the cytologic findings of metastatic leiomyosarcoma to the thyroid and offer differential diagnoses of the aspirated spindle cells.

A diversity study of Saccharomycopsis fibuligera in rice wine starter nuruk, reveals the evolutionary process associated with its interspecies hybrid.

The amylolytic yeast Saccharomycopsis fibuligera is the predominant yeast in the starter product, nuruk, which is utilized for rice wine production in South Korea. Latest molecular studies explore a recently developed interspecific hybridization among stains of S. fibuligera with a unique genetic feature. However, the origin of the natural hybridization occurrence is still unclear. Thus, to respectively distinguish parental and hybrid strains, specific primer sets were applied on 141 yeast strains isolated from different nuruk samples fermented in different provinces. Sixty-seven strains were defined accordingly as parental species with genome A while 8 strains were defined as hybrid strains. Unexpectedly, another parental species with genome B could not be found among the strain pools yet. Furthermore, it was observed that hybrid strains are phenotypically different from A genome strains; asci containing tetrad ascospores were observed in A genome strains more frequent than in hybrid strains. Nevertheless, hybrid strains were slightly more thermotolerant than A genome strains. Interestingly, all hybrid strains were located only in Jeju province. Based on these sets of data, we speculated that the unique climate of Jeju province might play an evolutionary role in the interspecific hybridization between A genome strains, as well as the unculturable allopatric B genome strains.