Insulinoma in Patient With Nonalcoholic Steatohepatitis.

An insulinoma is a rare neuroendocrine tumor characterized by inappropriate secretion of insulin with resultant hypoglycemia and concomitant symptoms. Symptoms include diaphoresis, tremor, palpitations, tachycardia, visual disturbances, weakness, confusion, syncope, seizures, and even coma. Enteropancreatic neoplasms are rare in general but among them, insulinomas are among the more common neuroendocrine tumors though they still have a very low incidence. They can be benign or malignant, however, the latter is exceptionally rare. In the case of malignancy, such spread usually includes metastasis to the liver and surrounding nodes. They can also be sporadic or occur in association with other inherited conditions. Herein, we present a case of insulinoma in a 51-year-old female.

Lobular Breast Carcinoma Mimicking a Primary Gastric Malignancy.

Invasive lobular carcinoma (ILC) is the second most common subclass of breast cancer and adds to the breast malignancy burden in women. Studies focused on metastatic patterns of ILC have reported bone, gynecologic organs, the peritoneum, and the gastrointestinal tract as potential sites of metastasis. Metastatic spread to the stomach has been reported, but generally remains an infrequent finding. Due to vague symptomatology and the visual limitations of endoscopic examination, metastatic lesions can often mimic a primary gastric malignancy. Metastasis in the stomach can be challenging to diagnose and requires a multimodal, thorough endoscopic and immunohistochemical evaluation. It is important to distinguish the primary origin of malignant lesions as treatment can range from systemic chemotherapy to surgical resection based on the diagnosis. We present a case of an underlying ILC metastatic lesion mimicking a primary gastric adenocarcinoma.

Peculiar Presentation of Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumor in a Patient With Early Satiety.

Gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs) are one of the most common, potentially malignant, subepithelial lesions identified in the gastrointestinal tract. Hypothesized to derive from the interstitial cells of Cajal (ICC), GISTs commonly demonstrate gain of function mutations in proto-oncogenic receptor tyrosine kinase CD117 (KIT). Depending on mitotic activity and tumor size characteristics, GISTs may transform from benign to malignant neoplasms. Increasing evidence suggests that early identification of a GIST is paramount for optimal prognostic outcomes. We present a rare case of a GIST located in the uncinate pancreas identified via endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) and diagnosed with an EUS-guided fine needle aspiration (EUS-FNA) biopsy.

Esophageal Pancreatic Acinar Heterotopia: Premalignant or Benign.

Dysphagia, which refers to difficulty swallowing, can be caused by benign pathologies of the esophagus such as gastroesophageal reflux disease which is the most common cause. There are also malignant pathologies such as esophageal carcinoma which should be excluded during the initial clinical evaluation of a patient. Esophageal pancreatic acinar heterotopia (EPAH) is an exceedingly rare finding and an uncommon differential for dysphagia. A search of the literature yielded few previously reported cases. In general, the reported prevalence of pancreatic acinar heterotopia ranges from 16% to 24% in asymptomatic patients and 3% in patients with a known history of Barrett's esophagitis. It has been found in patients ranging from as young as 1 day old to an incidental autopsy finding. Here, we present a brief literature review and a case of a 57-year-old man with severe dysphagia who was discovered to have EPAH in the gastroesophageal junction, associated with active inflammation and focal metaplasia.

Comparison of Pre- and Post-translational Expressions of COXIV-1 and MT-ATPase 6 Genes in Colorectal Adenoma-Carcinoma Tissues.

OBJECTIVE: Colorectal cancer (CRC) develops from precancerous adenomatous polyps to malignant lesions of adenocarcinoma. Elucidating inhibition mechanisms for this route in patients with a risk of developing CRC is highly important for a potential diagnostic or prognostic marker. Differential expression of nuclear-encoded cytochrome c oxidase subunit 4 (COXIV) seems to contribute to a more unregulated respiration due to loss of ATP inhibition. Majority of energy for tumor transformations are mitochondrial origin. Differences in mitochondrial efficiency may be reflected in the progression of colorectal adenomatous polyps to adenocarcinomas. Here, we evaluate expression levels of COXIV isoform 1 (COXIV-1) and Mitochondrial (MT)-ATP synthase Subunit 6 (ATPase6) in adenomas of tubular, tubulovillous and villous tissues as compared to adenocarcinoma tissues. METHOD: Both RT-qPCR and western blot techniques were used to assess COXIV-1 and ATPase6 expression levels in 42 pairs of patients' tissue samples. Protein carbonyl assay was performed to determine levels of oxidized proteins, as a measurement of ROS productions, in the tissue samples. RESULTS: Differential RNA expression levels of COXIV-1 and ATPase6 from whole tissues were observed. Interestingly, RNA expression levels obtained from mitochondrial for COXIV-1 were significantly decreased in tubulovillous, villous adenomas and adenocarcinoma, but not in the tubular-polyps. Moreover, mitochondrial ATPase6 RNA expression levels decreased progressively from adenopolyps to adenocarcinoma. In mitochondrial protein, expression levels of both genes progressively decreased with a three folds from adenomatous polyps to adenocarcinoma. Whilst the ATPase6 protein expression significantly decreased in adenocarcinoma compared to villous, conversely, the levels of oxidized carbonyl proteins were considerably increased from adenomatous polyps to adenocarcinoma. CONCLUSION: Our findings provide evidence that decreased mitochondrial protein expression of COXIV-1 and ATPase6 correlates with increased ROS production during colorectal adenomatous polyps' progression, suggesting the pivotal role of COXIV-1 in energy metabolism of colorectal cells as they progress from polyps to carcinoma.