Still a place for conventional histopathological analysis in the era of molecular medicine: predicting prognosis of resectable ductal pancreatic adenocarcinoma.

INTRODUCTION: Our aim is to find features that define prognosis in surgically resected ductal pancreatic adenocarcinoma readily accessible in everyday practice. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Longitudinal retrospective case series of pancreatic adenocarcinoma operated with a curative intent in a large tertiary hospital in Madrid between 2009 and 2015. RESULTS: 162 were enrolled. 40.8% survived less than 1 year. Multivariate Cox's regression model revealed that gender, presence of symptoms, T and N stage independently influenced progression-free survival, while overall survival was determined by gender, smoking, presence of symptoms and N stage. Logistic regression analysis revealed that only symptoms at diagnosis could predict death, while gender, symptoms, histopathological type, vessel invasion, T stage and necrosis could independently predict recurrence. DISCUSSION: Our series show that patients with symptomatic disease at the time of diagnosis and females showed a shorter progression-free and overall survival. We herein propose a regression model to predict outcome.

Dissemination of hepatocellular carcinoma in subcutaeous tissue after fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC).

The hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the fifth most frequent tumor in the world, and the third cause of death related to cancer. Histological samples obtained from diseased liver likely to have HCC are currently prescribed in selected patients in whose imaging studies and tumor markers are not sufficient for the diagnosis. In recent years, a risk of tumoral seeding along needle tract of FNAC to obtain histological samples has been reported. We present a case of tumor implantation of HCC cells in the needle tract, a year and four months after a percutaneous fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC).

Overexpression of c-myc and loss of heterozygosity on 2p, 3p, 5q, 17p and 18q in sporadic colorectal carcinoma.

AIM: The aim of the present study is to evaluate the prognostic influence of loss of heterozygosity on 2p, 3p, 5q, 17p and 18q, and c-myc overexpression on surgically treated sporadic colorectal carcinoma. METHODS: Tumor and non-tumor tissue samples from 153 patients were analyzed. Fifty-one percent of patients were male, and mean age in the series was 67 years. Tumors were located in the proximal colon in 37 cases, in the distal bowel in 37, and in the rectum in 79 patients. c-myc overexpression was studied by means of Northern blot analysis, and loss of heterozygosity through microsatellite analysis. RESULTS: c-myc overexpression was detected in 25% of cases, and loss of heterozygosity in at least one of the studied regions in 48%. There was no association between clinical and pathologic features, and genetic alterations. The disease-free interval was significantly shorter for patients with both genetic alterations; the presence of both events was an independent prognostic factor for poor outcome in the multivariate analysis (RR: 4.34, p < 0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: The presence of both loss of heterozygosity and overexpression of the c-myc oncogene separates a subset of colorectal carcinoma patients who have a shorter disease-free interval after curative-intent surgery.

Recurrence pattern of esophageal cancer after esophagectomy with two-field lymphadenectomy.

AIM: To analyze the pattern of recurrence of esophageal carcinoma after a curative-intention surgical resection. PATIENTS: Ninety-two patients with non-metastatic esophageal carcinoma were included. Ninety percent of patients were male, and the mean age of this series was 61 years. The most frequent histologic subtype was squamous cell carcinoma. Fifty percent of tumors were at or above the tracheal bifurcation. All patients were submitted for transthoracic subtotal esophagectomy plus two-field radical lymphadenectomy, leaving no apparent residual disease. No adjuvant therapy was applied to any patient. RESULTS: Follow-up was complete for 76 out of 80 patients surviving the operation. Thirty-four tumoral recurrences were detected for a disease-free survival af 39% at 9 years after surgery. All recurrences were detected during the first two years after treatment. Tumoral relapse was related to the presence of T3 or T4 tumors, with positive lymph nodes, squamous cell carcinoma subtype and supracarinal location. Nine percent of patients had a distant relapse, 15% had a locorregional relapse and 12% a combination of both. Distant relapse presented significantly earlier. There was no statistical association between type of recurrence and clinico-pathological or surgical features. CONCLUSIONS: After radical surgery for carcinoma of the esophagus, half of the patients relapse in the following two years. Distant metastases happen to appear earlier in the follow-up, but the most frequent recurrence is the locorregional one.

Heterotopic gastric mucosa in the upper esophagus ("inlet patch"): a rare cause of esophageal perforation.

We report the case of a 21-yr-old woman who presented with a perforation of an upper esophageal ulcer on a patch of gastric-type mucosa. Despite surgical closure of the perforation and reinforcement with a pleuro-muscular flap the patient developed an esophageal leakage and died in the postoperative period. Heterotopic gastric mucosa in the upper esophagus is usually an asymptomatic abnormality, discovered incidentally during endoscopic studies carried out for some other reason; however, complications secondary to the inlet patch acid secreting capacity can arise, and this has to be kept in mind to elude life-threatening conditions.

Two-field radical lymphadenectomy in the treatment of esophageal carcinoma.

This paper retrospectively compares post-operative complications, mortality and long-term survival of patients with esophageal carcinoma who were treated with standard esophagectomy or with extended two-field lymph node clearance. Fifty-seven patients with resectable esophageal carcinoma were included in the study. Twenty-eight patients were submitted to a radical two-field esophagectomy and lymphadenectomy, while the remaining 29 were submitted to a standard, more conservative, esophagectomy performed mostly through a transhiatal route. The two groups of patients were similar in all clinical, laboratory and pathologic features. There was a significant lower anastomotic leakage rate in the group of patients submitted to a radical lymph node resection; post-operative respiratory complication rate and mortality were similar in both groups. The overall 5-year survival was 20%. When lymph node resection was performed, the 5-year survival rate rose to 36%; it was 44% when nodal involvement was negative and 19% for N1 patients; when standard esophagectomy was the procedure, these figures were 9% (p < 0.05), and 6% respectively.

[Prognostic value of heterozygosity loss in chromosome 3p in non-microcytic bronchogenic carcinoma]. / Valor pronóstico de la pérdida de heterozigosidad en el cromosoma 3p en el carcinoma broncogénico no microcítico.

BACKGROUND: Recent advances on carcinogenesis have led to the recognition of different patterns of behaviour of non-small cell lung cancers apart from those guided by the TNM staging system and the histologic subtype. The frequent genetic loss on chromosome 3p in all kinds of lung carcinoma leads to the suspect of the presence of a tumor suppressor gene located in that place. The aim of this work was to compare the different clinical features and evolution after treatment of the patients with non small cell lung carcinoma with and without loss of heterozygosity (LOH) on 3p. PATIENTS AND METHOD: Forty-five operated on non-small cell lung cancer patients were evaluated. The mean age was 64.4 years and all the patients were male. Seven patients had been previously treated for another epithelial neoplasm. 82.2% of the patients were heavy tobacco smokers. Most of the tumors (62.2%) were squamous cell carcinomas. Samples of tumoral and non tumoral lung tissue were immediately frozen after surgery. DNA from the tissue was extracted; then PCR amplification of microsatellites in regions 3p14 and 3p21 was performed. To determine the LOH in the regions analyzed a polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis was performed. RESULTS: Twenty-five percent of the informative samples for 3p14 and 21.9% for 3p21 showed LOH. There was an statistical relationship between the LOH on 3p14 and the history of tobacco smoking and the adenocarcinoma histologic subtype (p < 0.05). There was a higher number of relapses and a shorter disease-free interval in those patients harboring 3p21 LOH. CONCLUSIONS: LOH on 3p can be detected in non-small cell lung carcinoma. Patients with loss of heterozygosity on 3p21 have a worse evolution after a curative intended surgical resection.

Multiple solitary leiomyomata of the esophagus.

The present report communicates a case of multiple solitary leiomyomata of the esophagus. This is an uncommon condition in which multiple, non-confluent, benign esophageal tumors arise in the same patient. The ideal treatment is enucleation of the lesions, but when these are--as in the case reported--huge and annular, or affect the gastroesophageal junction, resection of the gullet must be performed.

Prognostic significance of p53 gene mutations in squamous cell carcinoma of the lung.

The aim of the present study was to analyze the prevalence and clinical importance of p53 gene mutations in surgically treated squamous cell lung carcinoma. Sixty patients were included. Fifty-one patients in stages I to IIIa were submitted to radical resection. Twenty-five samples tested positive for the p53 immunohistochemistry assay, and were analyzed for p53 gene mutations. Eleven mutations were found. Patients harboring p53 gene mutations suffered a higher incidence of recurrence and a higher mortality rate. Disease-free interval and overall survival were shorter for patients with mutated p53 gene (p=0.03 and p=0.005, respectively).

Hydatid liver cyst perforation into the digestive tract.

Complications of liver hydatid disease include those related to the compression of adjacent viscus, to the infection of the cyst's contents or to the perforation of the cyst. Perforations into hollow abdominal organs are rare, and can occur secondary to the infection of the cyst or to a primary pathology of the perforated organ. We report on 2 cases of perforation of a liver cyst into the duodenum, 1 due to the presence of a duodenal ulcer, and 1 secondary to a hydatid abscess. The surgical treatment of the lesions and their complications was, in both cases, successful.