Pleural epithelioid hemangioendothelioma.

Epithelioid hemangioendothelioma (EHE) is a rare tumor of vascular origin. While it can be found in any tissue, it is most often found in lung and liver and usually has an intermediate behavior. EHEs originating from pleural tissue have been less frequently described than those from other sites. Furthermore, to date, all of the cited pleural EHEs were described as highly aggressive. In the present report, we describe a rare case of pleural EHE extending to lung and bone in a 31-year-old woman. The histological diagnosis was confirmed by both conventional examination and immunohistochemistry. Her disease stabilized during the 4th course of adriamycin (45 mg/m(2), day 1-3), dacarbazine (300 mg/m(2), day 1-3) and ifosfamide (2,500 mg/m(2), day 1-3) with mesna, and she survived for 10 months after the diagnosis.

The prevalence of human papillomavirus infection in Korean non-small cell lung cancer patients.

Human papillomavirus (HPV) infection is a co-carcinogen of lung cancer and contributes to its pathogenesis. To evaluate the prevalence of HPV infection, polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was employed to detect HPV 16, 18, and 33 DNA in tumor tissues of 112 patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who underwent curative surgery from Jan. 1995 to Dec. 1998 at Severance Hospital, Seoul, Korea. The patients consisted of 90 men and 22 women. Nineteen patients were under 50 years old (17%), and 92 patients (82%) were smokers. Fifty-three patients had adenocarcinomas, while 59 patients had non-adenocarcinomas. Early stage (I and II) cancer was found in 64 patients (57.1%) and advanced stage (III and IV) found in 48 (42.9%). The prevalence of HPV 16, 18, and 33 were 12 (10.7%), 11 (9.8%), and 37 (33.0%), respectively. Smoking status, sex, and histologic type were not statistically different in the presence of HPV DNA. The presence of HPV 16 was more common in younger patients and HPV 18 was more common in advanced stage patients. This study showed that the prevalence rate of HPV 16 and 18 infections in NSCLC tissue was low, suggesting HPV 16 and 18 infections played a limited role in lung carcinogenesis of Koreans. However, the higher prevalence of HPV 33 infections in Korean lung cancer patients compared to other Asian and Western countries may be important and warrants further investigation.

[A case of gangliocytic paraganglioma in duodenum].

Duodenal gangliocytic paraganglioma derived from neural crest is a peculiar neuroendocrine tumor. It is incidentally found during radiographic studies or due to gastrointestinal hemorrhage caused by frequent ulceration of the overlying mucosa. Most lesions are pedunculated and submucosal with distinctive histology consisting of endocrine cells, ganglion cells and spindle-shaped Schwann cells. We experienced a duodenal gangliocytic paraganglioma in a 40-year-old woman presenting with episodes of melena. Esophagogastroduodenoscopy revealed a submucosal ulcerated tumor in the second portion of duodenum and a biopsy confirmed gangliocytic paraganglioma. The tumor was enucleated through a duodenotomy. It's size was 5.5 X 3 X 1.5 cm sized and revealed positive cellular reaction for chromogranin, synaptophysin, neuron-specific enolase, and neurofilament by immunohistochemistry. The majority of the reported duodenal gangliocytic paraganglioma were of benign nature. Therefore, radical surgery or a lymph node dissection could be avoided if that disease was confirmed. However, thorough investigation for lymph node metastasis and postoperative follow-up are needed. We report the first case of a duodenal gangliocytic paraganglioma in Korea with a review of literature.