Molecular detection of metastatic melanoma cells in cerebrospinal fluid in melanoma patients.

Melanoma frequently metastasizes to the central nervous system (CNS). The diagnosis of CNS metastases typically is made following the onset of clinical symptoms. Thus, more sensitive diagnostic approaches are needed to identify subclinical CNS metastases. Currently, standard cytologic analysis of the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) is limited by its poor sensitivity. A more sensitive assay was therefore developed using multiple reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) markers. CSF was collected and assessed by RT-PCR for three known melanoma-associated markers (MAGE-3, MART-1, and tyrosinase) to detect occult metastatic melanoma cells in the CSF of 37 American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) stage IV melanoma patients. Cytologic analysis of CSF was performed on all patients, and immunohistochemistry (IHC) analysis was performed on 33 CSF samples using anti-S100 and anti-HMB-45 antibodies. Only one patient (3%) had tumor-positive CSF cytology and IHC upon entry into the study, whereas 12 patients (32%) were positive for at least one RT-PCR marker. The correlation between CSF RT-PCR positivity of MART-1 and/or MAGE-3 and the development of CNS metastases at 3 mo was significant (p = 0.04). Fifteen of 37 patients (41%) had either positive MRI and/or positive RT-PCR results. Multimarker RT-PCR is more informative and sensitive than cytology/IHC in assessing the CSF of melanoma patients.

Tincture of benzoin: clinical and microbiological implications of reusable containers.

At our institution, tincture of benzoin solution is commonly used as a topical adhesive agent. As a cost-saving practice, multiple-dose bottles are routinely used in the operating rooms and the clinic on multiple patients. Although clinically pathogenic organisms are known to be capable of survival in both benzoin and its isopropyl alcohol solvent, no prior controlled studies have investigated the potential for tincture of benzoin solution to support the growth of specific pathogens under clinically relevant conditions. In this study, multiple aerobic, anaerobic, and spore-forming bacteria were exposed to tincture of benzoin solution, as well as Candida albicans and Mycobacterium fortuitum. Bacillus cereus was the only index organism demonstrating a clear ability to survive a 15 minute incubation in tincture of benzoin, although 24 hours of exposure to tincture of benzoin resulted in no subsequent viable cultures of this organism after 72 hours of incubation. Thus although certain bacilli might, under ideal circumstances, remain viable and infectious within multiple-dose bottles of tincture of benzoin, the risk of causing iatrogenic infection appears to be rather minimal. Still, the use of multiple-dose dispensers of topical agents, particularly in surgical patients, should be carefully scrutinized for their clinical risk-to-economic benefit ratio.

Air rifle pellet injury to the heart with retrograde caval migration.

Great emphasis is placed on the lethality of modern high-powered street weapons, and their impact on mortality from firearm injuries. Presented is a case of an air rifle BB injury to the chest, resulting in a penetrating injury of the right heart, with apparent retrograde embolization to the inferior vena cava. Although no clinical evidence of pericardial tamponade was present 4 hours following injury, 150 mL of pericardial blood was encountered at median sternotomy, secondary to a right atrial appendage entry wound. This case exemplifies three important principles regarding penetrating chest trauma and air guns: (1) Modern air rifles, capable of muzzle velocities as high as 900 fps, are intrinsically lethal weapons; (2) missiles within the cardiovascular system have a propensity for embolization, and often follow an intuitively unexpected course; and (3) young healthy patients with potentially lethal penetrating cardiac injuries, particularly those caused by low velocity firearms, may appear stable and minimally injured in the emergency room. A strong suspicion of cardiac injury and prompt intervention should be extended to airgun injuries of the thorax.

Recurrent cutaneous leiomyosarcoma.

BACKGROUND: Soft tissue sarcomas comprise approximately 0.7% of all malignant neoplasms. Superficial leiomyosarcoma, a rare malignant lesion, constitutes 4.0-6.5% of all soft tissue sarcomas, an overall incidence of approximately 0.04% among all cancers. Currently, less than 125 cumulative cases of cutaneous and subcutaneous leiomyosarcoma have been reported in the English literature. METHODS: The authors report the case of a 70-year-old Japanese man with recurrent cutaneous leiomyosarcoma who was treated by wide local excision. A comprehensive literature survey is also presented. RESULTS: The patient is free from recurrence 1 year after wide local excision of a second recurrence of cutaneous leiomyosarcoma. Moreover, superficial leiomyosarcoma can be subdivided into cutaneous leiomyosarcoma and subcutaneous leiomyosarcoma, based on histopathologic and prognostic differences. CONCLUSIONS: The treatment of choice of superficial leiomyosarcoma is wide local excision. Cutaneous leiomyosarcoma is associated with local recurrence only, although subcutaneous leiomyosarcoma undergoes metastatic spread in 30-60% of cases, with a 30-40% mortality rate.

Detection of MAGE-A3 in breast cancer patients' sentinel lymph nodes.

The detection of occult metastatic breast cancer cells by RT-PCR is limited by the poor specificity of most tumour mRNA markers. MAGE-A3 is a highly specific tumour mRNA marker that is not expressed in non-cancer cells. This study assesses MAGE-A3 mRNA as a molecular marker for the detection of tumour cells in the sentinel lymph nodes (SLN) of breast cancer patients. Serial frozen sections of SLN (n = 121) were obtained from 77 AJCC (American Joint Committee on Cancer) Stage I-IIIA breast cancer patients. MAGE-A3 mRNA analysis of SLN was performed by RT-PCR and Southern blot analysis. Tumour cells were detected in 48 of 121 (40%) SLN from 77 patients by H&E or IHC staining, and 35 of 77 (45%) patients, overall, had histopathologically (H&E and/or IHC) positive SLN. Among histopathologically negative SLN, 28 of 73 (38%) SLN were MAGE-A3 mRNA positive by RT-PCR. Overall, 41 of 77 (53%) patients and 50 of 121 (41%) SLN were positive for MAGE-A3. MAGE-A3 mRNA expression in the SLN occurred more frequently with infiltrating lobular carcinoma (P < 0.001) than with infiltrating ductal carcinoma, adding further evidence of possible phenotypic differences between these 2 subtypes of breast cancer. Due to its high specificity, MAGE-A3 mRNA is a potentially useful marker for detecting breast cancer cells in the SLN. One half of breast tumours expressed MAGE-A3 mRNA, which has important potential implications for antigen-specific targeted immunotherapy.