The Great Mimicker: Metastatic Breast Carcinoma to the Head and Neck with Emphasis on Unusual Clinical and Pathologic Features.

Distant metastases are relatively common in breast cancer, but spread to the head and neck region is uncommon and can be diagnostically challenging. Pathology databases of two academic hospitals were searched for patients. The diagnoses were by morphologic comparison with the primary breast specimen (when available) or through the use of immunohistochemical stains characteristic of breast carcinoma (cytokeratin 7, mammaglobin, GCDFP15, and/or GATA3 positive-excluding new primary tumors at the respective head and neck sites). Of the 25 patients identified, only 22 (88.0 %) had a known history of breast carcinoma. Time from primary diagnosis to head and neck metastasis was highly variable, ranging from 1 to 33 years (mean = 10.9 years). The most common locations were neck lymph nodes (8 cases), orbital soft tissue (5), oral cavity (3), skull base (3), mastoid sinus (2), nasal cavity (1), palatine tonsil (1), and facial skin (1). Clinical presentations were highly variable, ranging from cranial nerve palsies without a mass lesion to oral cavity erythema and swelling to bone pain. Histologically, two cases showed mucosal (or skin)-based mass lesions with associated pagetoid spread in the adjacent epithelium, a feature normally associated with primary carcinomas. Three tumors were misdiagnosed pathologically as new head and neck primary tumors. This series demonstrates the extreme variability in clinical and pathologic features of breast cancer metastatic to the head and neck, including long time intervals to metastasis.

Histologic Typing in Oropharyngeal Squamous Cell Carcinoma: A 4-Year Prospective Practice Study With p16 and High-Risk HPV mRNA Testing Correlation.

Oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinomas (OPSCCs) associated with human papillomavirus (HPV) represent a distinct clinical and pathologic entity. The majority of HPV-related OPSCCs have a characteristic nonkeratinizing morphology. This study sought to determine the strength of the association between nonkeratinizing histology and HPV status compared with other squamous cell carcinoma variants in 4 years of routine clinical practice on a high-volume head and neck service. Primary and/or nodal metastatic tumors in all cases of OPSCC from 2010 to 2013 were typed by 1 of 3 head and neck pathologists as keratinizing, nonkeratinizing, nonkeratinizing with maturation, or another defined variant. All were assessed for p16 by immunohistochemistry with a 70% nuclear and cytoplasmic positivity cutoff as part of routine clinical practice. In addition, 70 consecutive cases from 1 year were "audited" for high-risk HPV mRNA by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction and in situ hybridization. Of the 435 cases, the majority (90%) consisted of 1 of the 3 main types described and the rest (10%) of uncommon variants. Nonkeratinizing morphology had 99.1% and 100.0% positive predictive value for p16 and high-risk HPV mRNA positivity, respectively. Nonkeratinizing with maturation, keratinizing, and other specific squamous cell carcinoma variants were p16 positive in 91.8%, 22.8%, and 79.5%, respectively. All 47 nonkeratinizing OPSCCs tested for HPV mRNA were positive. In summary, strictly defined nonkeratinizing OPSCC (which constitutes ∼55% of all tumors) essentially implies positivity for both p16 and transcriptionally active high-risk HPV.

Genetic polymorphisms of Interleukin-18 are not associated with allograft function in kidney transplant recipients.

Interleukin 18 (IL-18) is a proinflammatory cytokine that plays a role in host defense by upregulating both innate and acquired immune responses. Analysis of IL18 polymorphisms may be clinically important since their roles have been recognized in a variety of inflammatory and autoimmune disorders. However, the role of this cytokine polymorphisms in kidney transplant still remains unclear. In this study, we evaluated the associations between IL18 polymorphisms and graft function assessed by creatinine clearance in kidney transplant recipients. A total of 82 kidney transplant recipients and 183 healthy controls were enrolled, and frequencies of alleles, genotypes and haplotypes for IL18 polymorphisms were determined and compared with creatinine clearance. The -607C/A (rs1946518) and -137C/G (rs187238) variant alleles in the IL18 gene were determined by polymerase chain reaction. In our study, no significant association was found between the IL18 variants and creatinine clearance (p > 0.05). Nonetheless, polymorphism analysis revealed an increase in the frequency of the IL18 major haplotype -607C/-137G in kidney transplant patients (odds ratio 2.57, 95% confidence interval 1.45-4.55, p = 0.0014). Finally, we found that IL18 polymorphisms did not influence the renal function and that IL18 haplotype -607C/-137G seems to be associated with kidney transplant recipients.

Síndrome do pterígio poplíteo: relato de caso e revisão da literatura / Popliteal pterygium syndrome: case report and literature review

A síndrome do pterígio poplíteo é uma condição congênita rara, que envolve anomalias craniofaciais, geniturinárias e de extremidades. As características mais marcantes dessa síndrome são o pterígio poplíteo e uma dobra de pele triangular sobre a unha do hálux. Neste trabalho, é apresentado o caso de um paciente do sexo masculino, com um mês de idade, apresentando fendas labiais superiores e inferiores, fenda palatal, bolsa escrotal bífida, sindactilia de pododáctilos, pterígio poplíteo e dobra de pele sobre a unha do hálux. O paciente foi submetido a diversas intervenções cirúrgicas, visando à correção das anomalias. Dentre as malformações, a mais difícil de ser corrigida é a relacionada aos membros inferiores, sendo necessária abordagem conjunta com a equipe de ortopedia, na tentativa de evitar enxertos nervosos e déficits funcionais. A síndrome do pterígio poplíteo, quando tratada no momento apropriado e por equipe multidisciplinar, apresenta bom prognóstico.

Popliteal pterygium syndrome is a rare congenital condition involving craniofacial and genitourinary anomalies as well as malformation of the extremities. The most obvious characteristics of this syndrome are popliteal pterygium and a triangular crease of skin over the hallux. In this study, we present the case of a 1-month-old male patient with cleft upper and lower lips, cleft palate, bifid scrotum, syndactyly, popliteal pterygium, and a crease of skin over the hallux nail. The patient underwent several surgical interventions aimed at correcting these anomalies. Malformation of the lower limbs was the most difficult anomaly to correct; correction of this anomaly required further combined effort with an orthopedics team in order to avoid nerve grafts and functional deficits. When popliteal pterygium syndrome is treated in a timely and appropriate manner by a multidisciplinary team, a good prognosis is observed.