Tissue expression of Squamous Cellular Carcinoma Antigen (SCCA) is inversely correlated to tumor size in HCC.

BACKGROUND: This study aimed to investigate squamous cellular carcinoma antigen (SCCA) in serum and in tumoral and paired peritumoral tissues. We studied 27 patients with liver cirrhosis (LC) and 55 with HCC: 20 with a single nodule < 3 cm (s-HCC) and 35 with a single nodule > 3 cm or multifocal (l-HCC). METHODS: Serum SCCA was measured by the ELISA kit, and in frozen tissues by immunohistochemistry, quantified with appropriate imaging analysis software and expressed in square microns. Continuous variables are reported as means and 95% confidence intervals. Comparisons between independent groups were performed with a generalized linear model and Tukey grouping. Pearson's correlation coefficients were determined to evaluate relations between markers. Qualitative variables were summarized as count and percentage. Statistical significance was set at p-value < 0.05. RESULTS: Serum SCCA values in LC patients were 0.41 (0.31-0.55) ng/ml and statistically different from both HCC groups: 1.6 (1.0-2.6) ng/ml in s-HCC, 2.2 (1.28-2.74) ng/ml in l-HCC. SCCA in hepatic tissue was 263.8 (176.6-394.01) microm2 in LC patients, statistically different from values in s-HCC: 1163.2 (863.6-1566.8) microm2 and l-HCC: 625.8 (534.5-732.6). All pairwise comparisons between groups yielded statistically significant differences. Tumoral SCCA resulted linearly related with nodule size, showing a statistically significant inverse relation between the two variables (b = -0.099, p = 0.024). CONCLUSION: There was no statistically significant correlation between tissue and serum levels of SCCA. The significantly stronger expression of SCCA in smaller compared to larger HCC could be important for early HCC detection. However, the increased expression in peritumoral tissue could affect the significance of serological detection.

Touch imprint cytology in tumor tissue banks for the confirmation of neoplastic cellularity and for DNA extraction.

CONTEXT: Learning the characteristics of frozen tissue samples stored in tumor banks for biological studies remains a problem. OBJECTIVE: To assess the use of touch imprint cytology on fresh tissue samples as a rapid and reliable method of determining the presence and quantity of neoplastic cells before freezing. DESIGN: Touch imprint cytology was performed on 259 specimens of operable breast cancer. Touch imprints were prepared from fresh tissue specimens before freezing samples for storage. Each tumor sample was imprinted on a glass slide and stained with hematoxylin-eosin. Tumor cellularity was quantified as negative, poor, moderate, or rich. RESULTS: A significant correlation was found between samples with a tumor size greater than 2 cm and high tumor cellularity (P = .03; chi(2) test). Furthermore, 35% of ductal tumors showed higher tumor cellularity compared with lobular tumors (P < .001; chi(2) test). No association was found between lymph node status and tumor grade. When samples for which more than 2 imprints were available were examined, tumor cellularity among imprints of the same sample showed an overall agreement of 0.67 (P < .001; kappa statistic). It was also determined that the higher the cellularity, the higher the agreement. Our data also showed concordance of 0.87 (P < .001; kappa statistic) between touch imprint cytology imprints and histologic sections from contiguous tumor. Moreover, 11 randomly selected samples underwent DNA extraction, polymerase chain reaction, and sequencing to verify the feasibility of DNA analyses. We found that DNA from touch imprint cytology was amplifiable and suitable for direct sequencing. CONCLUSIONS: Touch imprint cytology may represent an important step in the quality control of tumor cellularity of breast cancer specimens designed to be stored in tumor biobanks and a valid method for assessing the suitability of such tissue for further biomorphologic and biomolecular applications.

[An unusual case of transient loss of consciousness: the Fahr's syndrome]. / Uno strano caso di perdita transitoria di coscienza: la sindrome di Fahr.

A 69-year-old male was admitted to our Division because of repeated episodes of transient loss of consciousness and minimal cognitive and behavioural disturbances. Brain CT showed Fahr-type bilateral calcifications. Laboratory findings showed a phospho-calcium metabolism disorder consistent with the diagnosis of pseudohypoparathyroidism, whose correction led to a significant clinical improvement. This is the first case of Fahr's syndrome associated with syncope-type episodes. This observation suggests that a brain CT, as well as the search for a dysparathyroidism condition, should always carried out in all patients with unexplained recurrent episodes of loss of consciousness.