Castleman's disease of a submandibular mass diagnosed on Fine Needle Cytology: Report of a case with histopathological, immunocytochemical and imaging correlations.

Castleman's disease (CD) is an unusual inflammatory lymphoproliferative disorder of uncertain aetiology, mainly involving lymphatic tissue in the mediastinum, but also occurring in the neck, lung, abdomen, pelvis, skeletal muscle and retroperitoneum. Fine Needle Cytology (FNC) is a quick, cost-effective and safe diagnostic modality to investigate on organs involved by CD, also providing a guide to treatment and management of patients with lymphoadenopathy. We report a case of a 44-year-old man who underwent FNC of a submandibular mass with subsequent surgical excision. Cytology revealed an atypical lymphoproliferative process, which arose the suspicion of CD. Histopathological study of the excised masses combined with immunhistochemistry and imaging of the submandibular and neck areas, confirmed the suspicion. A final diagnosis of Unicentric Castleman's disease, hyaline-vascular type, was made.

Brooke-Spiegler syndrome presenting multiple concurrent cutaneous and parotid gland neoplasms: cytologic findings on fine-needle sample and description of a novel mutation of the CYLD gene.

Multiple dermal cylindromas and membranous basal cell adenoma of parotid gland in a 67-year-old woman with Brooke-Spiegler syndrome (BSS) were examined by fine-needle cytology. Histology, immunochemistry, and CYLD germline mutation testing were also performed. Cytomorphology and immunochemistry of the two lesions showed basaloid neoplasms, remarkably similar, composed by proliferating epithelial cells of basal type accompanied by a smaller proportion of myoepithelial cells. CYLD gene showed a novel germline splice acceptor site mutation (c.2042-1G>C) with skipping of the entire exon 15. The occurrence of analogous tumors, dermal cylindromas, and membranous basal cell adenoma of the parotid gland, in the same patient may result from the action of a single gene on ontogenetically similar stem cells. Therefore, patients with BSS should be offered a genetic counselling for an early and correct diagnosis.

Combined papillary and mucoepidermoid carcinoma of the thyroid gland: a possible collision tumor diagnosed on fine-needle cytology. Report of a case with immunocytochemical and molecular correlations.

Fine-needle cytology (FNC) is frequently used to diagnose thyroid nodules discovered by palpation or imaging studies. Molecular tests on FNC material may increase its diagnostic accuracy. We report a case of a classic papillary thyroid carcinoma combined with a mucoepidermoid carcinoma correctly identified on FNC. The papillary component had a classic immunophenotype (CK19+, TTF1+), while the mucoepidermoid one was only focally CK19+. Point mutations (BRAF and RAS) and rearrangements (RET/PTC) of the papillary component have been also investigated on FNC samples, with resulting concurrent rearrangements of RET/PTC1 and RET/PTC3, but no point mutations. The histogenesis of combined papillary and mucoepidermoid carcinoma of the thyroid still remains partly unsettled, and further genomic studies are needed to shed some more light on this peculiar neoplasm.

Silicone lymphadenopathy: presentation of a further case containing asteroid bodies on fine-needle cytology sample.

Silicone lymphadenopathy is a recognized complication of breast augmentation. It is thought to occur when silicone droplets migrate from breast implants to lymph nodes. We report the cytologic findings in axillary and inguinal lymph node aspirate smears from a 35-year-old Italian woman, who came to our observation 10 years after bilateral cosmetic breast augmentation. A fine-needle cytology of the axillary lymph node showed extensive granulomatous inflammation, numerous histiocytes, and multinucleated giant cells containing star-shaped structures known as "asteroid bodies." The inguinal lymph node aspirate simply showed an aspecific reactive hyperplasia. No evidence of malignancy was present in any of the smears as well as in the excised axillary lymph node.

Medullary breast carcinoma in an 18-year-old female: report on one case diagnosed on fine-needle cytology sample.

Medullary breast carcinoma (MBC) is a rare epithelial malignancy of the breast accounting for about 1-7% of all breast carcinomas. It is characterized by well-defined borders, a syncytial/solid pattern of growth of high grade atypical cells showing no glandular differentiation and a massive diffuse lympho-plasmacytic peritumoral infiltrate. Despite the high-grade atypias characterizing this neoplasm, MBC has been reported to have a better prognosis when compared with the common infiltrating duct carcinoma. MBCs typically lack estrogen and progesterone receptor (ER and PgR) expression and have a low incidence of ERBB2 overexpression. Genetically, they are often associated with BRCA-1 oncogene mutations and TP53 alterations. While MBC generally occurs in middle-aged women, ranging from 45 to 52 years of age, we report the case of a 18-year-old female patient which was diagnosed by means of fine-needle cytology sample.

Hyalinizing clear cell carcinoma of the parotid gland: report of a recurrent case with aggressive cytomorphology and behavior diagnosed on fine-needle cytology sample.

A case of recurrent hyalinizing clear cell carcinoma (HCCC) of the parotid gland in a 46-year-old female is here introduced. The patient had undergone a left superficial parotidectomy 6 months ago in another institution for an alleged benign, circumscribed mass 2.4 cm in diameter of the left parotid gland. Histopathological examination revealed a poorly differentiated HCCC bearing a EWSR-1 translocation on FISH examination. Fine Needle Cytology (FNC) was performed on three separate soft tissue masses in the pre-masseterine area and a cytological diagnosis of recurrent, poorly differentiated, possibly aggressive variant of HCCC, was rendered. FISH performed on a destained Diff Quik stained smear demonstrated an ESWR-1 translocation, which supported the cytopathological diagnosis. The cytomorphologic features and the differential diagnosis of this aggressive variant of HCCC are briefly discussed.