[Characteristics of extrapulmonary tuberculosis in (18)F-2-fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose positron emission tomography-computed tomography: experience from 39 cases].

OBJECTIVE: The clinical manifestations and the imaging features in (18)F-2-fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose positron emission tomography ((18)F-FDG PET) of extrapulmonary tuberculosis were not specific and therefore it was difficult to be differentiated from malignancy. This paper tried to analyze the clinical characteristics and findings by (18)F-FDG PET-CT in extrapulmonary tuberculosis, in order to improve the diagnosis of this disease. METHODS: Thirty-nine patients with extrapulmonary tuberculosis underwent (18)F-FDG PET-CT imaging from 2003 - 2011. The diagnosis was confirmed by histopathological examination in all the cases. There were 11 males and 28 females, aging 20 - 67 (60 ± 18) years. A past history of tuberculosis was collected in 5 cases. The PET images were reviewed visually and scored semi-quantitatively with standardized uptake value. The lesions were judged by PET imaging features in conjunction with CT slices and the fused images. RESULTS: Fever was present in 13 cases, and night sweating, weakness and malaise in 17 cases. Pleural effusion was found in 7 cases. Abdominal distention and masses were found in 6 cases, while neck mass was present in 2 cases. Laboratory tests showed that hypoalbuminemia, sedimentation rate increase and positive tuberculin tests were present in 15 cases. CA125 was increased in 3 cases. In PET-CT, lymph node tuberculosis manifested as single or multiple enlarged lymph nodes coalesced and calcified with significant FDG uptake, but ring-like FDG-avidity was also found in some of the lymph nodes. Pleural or peritoneal tuberculosis showed heterogeneous or nodular thickening and in a radio-tracer distribution. Bone tuberculosis manifested as osteolytic osseous destruction and paravertebral cold abscess, while focal radio-agent ring-like intense uptake was present in half the cases. In patients with intestinal tuberculosis, ileocecal circumferential or eccentric thickening was observed, with focal or diffuse high FDG activity. Tuberculosis in adrenal gland, liver, and oviducts all showed lesions with high FDG uptake. CONCLUSIONS: (18)F-FDG PET-CT was helpful for the differential diagnosis of extrapulmonary tuberculosis from malignancy. Osseous and lymph node tuberculosis showed ring-like FDG uptake, which maybe of diagnostic value.

99Tcm-MDP Imaging of Osteopetrosis: Case Report.

Osteopetrosis, also known as marble bone disease, is a clinically rare genetic disease, which represents a heterogeneous group of rare, inherited bone dysplasias that share the hallmark of abnormally increased bone density caused by osteoclast dysfunction. Hereby, the authors describe a case of osteopetrosis that showed increased diffuse radioactive uptake on whole body bone (99)Tc(m)-methylene diphosphonate imaging in a 56-year-old man, which increased universal radioactive uptake on craniofacial bone imaging, and enlargement of the limb long bone near the joints with evenly symmetrical enriched distribution of radioactivity. Osteopetrosis was made which based on these features and characteristics shown on (99)Tc(m)-MDP imaging.Skeletal scintigraphy with Tc-methylene diphosphonate imaging is helpful to the diagnosis of osteopetrosis. There is a characteristic of osteopetrosis different from other bone metabolic diseases.

18F-FDG PET/CT of Primary Cervical Granulocytic Sarcoma.

Granulocytic sarcoma is an uncommon solid extramedullary tumor composed of immature leukocytes and commonly associated with acute myelogenous leukemia. Isolated granulocytic sarcoma in the cervix of uterus is exceedingly rare. Hereby we describe a case of FDG PET/CT finding of cervical granulocytic sarcoma without acute myelogenous leukemia in a 51-year-old patient.

TET1 partially mediates HDAC inhibitor-induced suppression of breast cancer invasion.

Histone deacetylases (HDACs) are important in chromatin remodeling and epigenetic regulation of gene expression. Histone deacetylase inhibitors (HDACi) have highly effective anti-metastatic and anti-angiogenic activity in various types of cancer, while the molecular mechanisms involved in this process are not fully understood. In the present study, trichostatin A (TSA), a HDACi, was found to suppress MCF-7 breast carcinoma cell invasion and upregulate TET1 expression in a dose-dependent manner. TET1, a dioxygenase involved in cytosine demethylation, is downregulated during breast cancer progression. TET1 knockdown in MCF-7 cells facilitates cell invasion, inhibits the expression of tissue inhibitors of metalloproteinase 2/3 (TIMP2/3) and promotes matrix metalloproteinases (MMP) 2/9 transcriptional activity. Importantly, TET1 depletion impaired the inhibitory effect of TSA on breast cancer cell invasion. Together, these results illustrated a mechanism by which TET1 partially mediates HDACi elicited suppression of breast cancer invasion.