Molecularly determined total tumour load in lymph nodes of stage I-II colon cancer patients correlates with high-risk factors. A multicentre prospective study.

Stage I-II (pN0) colorectal cancer patients are surgically treated although up to 25 % will eventually die from disease recurrence. Lymph node (LN) status is an independent prognostic factor in colorectal cancer (CRC), and molecular tumour detection in LN of early-stage CRC patients is associated with an increased risk of disease recurrence and poor survival. This prospective multicentre study aimed to determine the relationship between LN molecular tumour burden and conventional high-risk factors in stage I-II colon cancer patients. A total of 1940 LN from 149 pathologically assessed pN0 colon cancer patients were analysed for the amount of tumour cytokeratin 19 (CK19) messenger RNA (mRNA) with the quantitative reverse transcription loop-mediated isothermal amplification molecular assay One-Step Nucleic Acid Amplification. Patient's total tumour load (TTL) resulted from the sum of all CK19 mRNA tumour copies/µL of each positive LN from the colectomy specimen. A median of 15 LN were procured per case (IQR 12;20). Molecular positivity correlated with high-grade (p < 0.01), mucinous/signet ring type (p = 0.017), male gender (p = 0.02), number of collected LN (p = 0.012) and total LN weight per case (p < 0.01). The TTL was related to pT stage (p = 0.01) and tumour size (p < 0.01) in low-grade tumours. Multivariate logistic regression showed independent correlation of molecular positivity with gender, tumour grade and number of fresh LN [AUC = 0.71 (95 % CI = 0.62-0.79)]. Our results show that lymph node CK19 mRNA detection correlates with classical high-risk factors in stage I-II colon cancer patients. Total tumour load is a quantitative and objective measure that may help to better stage early colon cancer patients.

Intraretinal immunohistochemistry findings in proliferative vitreoretinopathy with retinal shortening.

UNLABELLED: To report the major intraretinal pathological changes in retinas with proliferative vitreoretinopathy (PVR) and retinal shortening, 13 human retinal samples from postoperative PVR after primary surgery for retinal detachment were immunostained for vimentin, glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP), cytokeratins, and CD68. One more sample was studied with electron microscopy. Retinal disorganization, neuronal loss, and gliosis were observed in 12 out of 13 samples, but all 13 were positive for GFAP. Muller cell processes showed different degrees of intermediate filament hyperplasia. CD68-positive cells were present in 11 of 13 retinal samples. CONCLUSION: A gliotic response plays a major role in retinal shortening in PVR. In addition, the presence of macrophage-like cells in retinal tissues suggests a possible role of these cells in the pathogenesis of this variety of PVR.

Analysis of irises with a latanoprost-induced change in iris color.

PURPOSE: To study the histologic aspects of irises subjected to extended latanoprost treatment. DESIGN: Prospective, observer-masked study. METHODS: Iris biopsies of eyes treated with latanoprost were analyzed (all had a photographically documented increase in iris pigmentation) plus control eyes (untreated with prostanoids) using optical microscopy. PATIENT OR STUDY POPULATION: There were 14 study eyes treated with latanoprost and 8 untreated control eyes. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: The morphologic characteristics of the irises. RESULTS: The irises treated with latanoprost had an increased number of melanocytes with nuclear inclusions, granules of melanin in the vascular walls and the melanocytes and free granules in the stroma compared with control eyes (P = .001, P = .01, P = .004, P = .01, respectively, by the chi(2) test). CONCLUSIONS: Chronic therapy with latanoprost appears to induce more changes in the iris than a simple increase in the melanin content of the melanocytes.

Nasopharyngeal/nasal type T/NK lymphomas: analysis of 14 cases and review of the literature.

AIMS AND BACKGROUND: Lymphoid malignancies expressing CD56 are rare and most occur in the nasal or nasopharyngeal region. They derive from natural killer cells or from a small subset of T cells that have granular cytoplasm containing molecules that mediate cytotoxic activity: TIA-1, granzyme B and perforin. Both types are closely associated with Epstein-Barr virus. METHODS: We report the pathologic, immunophenotypic and molecular findings in 14 cases of nasopharyngeal/nasal type T/NK lymphomas. RESULTS: Clinically, all patients had localized disease and also had symptoms limited to the nose. The neoplastic cells were frequently pleomorphic, and angiocentric growth was common. Combined immunophenotypic and gene rearrangement analyses demonstrated that most of the cases were true NK cell tumors and were either CD56+ and CD3- or CD56+ and CD3+. Immunohistochemical study showed TIA-1 and granzyme B expression in all cases. By in situ hybridization, most of the cases were associated to Epstein-Barr virus, harboring type 1 virus, and polymerase chain reaction amplification across the 30 bp deletion showed high frequency of latent membrane protein-1-deleted variants. CONCLUSIONS: The nasal type T/NK cell lymphoma shows distinctive clinicopathologic, immunophenotypic and molecular features. These results confirm the important role of Epstein-Barr virus as a local factor in their pathogenesis.