Human papilloma virus infection in non-cancerous versus normal esophageal tissue samples by endoscopy.

BACKGROUND: Cancers are the second most common cause of non-accidental deaths in Iran, after cardiovascular mortality. Although most cases of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) in the USA and western populations have been attributed to high levels of exposure to tobacco and alcohol, but in Iranian populations, other risk factors especially infectious agents have been postulated as possible causes, particularly human papillomavirus (HPV). This study aimed to determine the prevalence and the types of HPV infection in biopsy samples taken from non-cancerous esophageal lesions during upper endoscopy. METHODS: A total of 80 non-cancerous esophageal samples were collected in parafinnated blocks of tissue archives in pathology. After DNA extraction, qualitative PCR (qPCR) was performed using the HPV L1 primer pairs MY09/MY11 and then genotyping was performed in HPV DNA positive by Real time PCR. RESULTS: From 80 cases, 29 (36.3%) were qPCR positive. Using the Real-time PCR method, a total of 14 HPV genotypes were assessed. We detected HPV-11 as a dominant type in this study and we did not find any type of HPV-16 and 18 genotypes. CONCLUSION: In this study, HPV-II was the most common type in esophageal samples, in contrast we have found no oncogenic HPV like HPV 16 and 18 which are the most known responsible factors of ESCC in other countries.

Immunohistochemical expression of CD10 in cutaneous basal and squamous cell carcinomas.

BACKGROUND: Non-melanoma skin cancer is the most common malignant tumor in humans. The role of ultraviolet radiation is well-known in the pathogenesis of basal cell carcinoma (BCC) and squamous cell carcinoma (SCC). CD10 is a zinc-dependent metallopeptidase known as common acute lymphoblastic leukemia antigen (CALLA). Although CD10 expression has been investigated in some cutaneous tumors, to our knowledge, data regarding its expression in cutaneous epithelial neoplasms are very limited. In this study, we aimed to determine the immunohistochemical expression of CD10 in BCC and SCC and to find whether it could distinguish between these two skin malignancies. METHODS: Twenty SCC and 42 BCC cases were retrieved randomly from Ayatollah Rouhani Hospital pathology archive and CD10 expression was determined in tumoral and stromal cells of each case based on immunohistochemical method. Positive CD10 staining was identified as brown cytoplasmic, with or without cell membrane staining. RESULTS: In all the 20 SCC cases, tumor cells failed to stain with CD10 in contrast to the stromal cells that showed CD10 expression in 18 cases (90%). In BCC cases, the expression of CD10 was noted in tumor cells in 25 cases (59.5%) and in stromal cells of 32 cases (76.2%). There was no relation between CD10 expression in aggressive and non- aggressive BCC. CONCLUSION: Our findings suggest that CD10 is a useful immunohistochemical marker to differentiate between BCC and SCC. At least, if tumor cells were CD10 positive, this would favor BCC over SCC. Due to small number of aggressive BCC in contrast to non- aggressive types, more studies need to be done to prove or rule out this finding.

The association between CD166 detection rate and clinicopathologic parameters of patients with colorectal cancer.

BACKGROUND: Metastasis and recurrence of colorectal cancer after treatment is attributed to stem cells. The aim of this study was to determine the relationship between the expression of stem cell marker CD166 in colorectal cancer by immunohistochemistry and clinicopathologic parameters. METHODS: From 2006 to 2012, 121 colectomy specimens of patients with colon cancer that were operated in Babol Medical University in Iran were evaluated. The paraffin blocks were extracted from the archive and the slides were prepared and stained for H&E and Immunohistochemical (IHC) methods. The samples with cytoplasmic and/or membranous staining more than 50% of tumor cells were considered as positive. Pathological parameter including type of tumor, stage and grade, vascular invasion and location of the tumors were recoerded. RESULTS: The mean age of the patients was 58.7±15.1 years. Sixty-four (54.9%) patients were males. Eighty-six (71.1%) subjects were positive for cytoplasmic and 42 (34.7%) for membranous and 42 (34.7%) for both cytoplasmic and membranous staining. The cytoplasmic expression of marker CD166 marker in mucinous type was 10 (50%) and was lower than non-mucinous type 76 (75.2%) (p=0.031). There was significant relationship between membranous expression of CD166 marker and tumor location (right colon in 23(54.8%), left colon in 18 (24.3%)] (p=0.001). There was no significant difference in the expression of marker with other demographic and clinicopathologic variables. CONCLUSION: The results show that CD166 expression was seen in more than two-thirds of the patients. The cytoplasmic expression of CD166 marker was higher in non-mucinous type. The distributions of membranous expression of marker CD166 was related more in right colon with colorectal cancer.

Histological grading and staging of liver and its relation to viral loads in chronic anti-HBe positive hepatitis.

BACKGROUND: Hepatitis activity index (HAI) and fibrosing stage are two important findings during the evaluation of liver samples in patients with chronic hepatitis B. The aim of this study was to determine the HAI and fibrosing stage in patients with anti-HBe positive chronic hepatitis B. METHODS: Liver biopsy slides of 72 patients were evaluated at the Department of Pathology in two teaching hospitals of Babol University of Medical Sciences, Iran, from April 2006 to August 2011. Total HAI or grading as well as its components including piecemeal necrosis, confluent necrosis, spoty necrosis, portal inflammation and fibrosis scores or staging in considering with viral loads more or less than 10(5) copies/ml were enumerated according to Ishak scoring system. RESULTS: The mean age of these patients was 34.4±12 years. Fifty-six patients had viral load> 10(5) copies/ml. Piecemeal necrosis and grading scores with viral load (10(3),10(3)-10(5) and >10(5) copies/ml) were 0.8±0.7, 0.9±0.4, 1.8±1 and 3.8±1.9, 4.4±2, 5.9±2.6, respectively (p=0.005 and p=0.04, respectively). There was not any significant difference with fibrosis stage regarding different viral loads. In total, 18 cases had fibrosis scores > 1 and 24 cases had confluent necrosis. HAI≥4 was seen in 29 (60.4%) of the 48 cases without confluent necrosis and in 23 out of 24 cases with confluent necrosis (p=0.007). CONCLUSION: The results show that piecemeal necrosis and higher grading scores are associated with higher viral loads. The presence of confluent necrosis is associated with more severe diseases.

Lack of elevated HER2/neu expression in epithelial dysplasia and oral squamous cell carcinoma in Iran.

PURPOSE: The role of the HER family in oral squamous cell carcinomas (OSCCs) is not well-defined. This study was aimed to assess the frequency of HER2/neu overexpression in oral carcinogenesis. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Expression of HER2/neu oncoprotein in OSCCs (N= 18), oral epithelial dysplasia (N= 18) and normal oral mucosa (N= 18) was assessed by immunohistochemistry using a cerbB2 antibody kit. RESULTS: HER2/neu was almost undetectable in normal oral mucosa and only 1/18 (0/05) of cases was positive. In oral epithelial dysplasia, 2/18 (11.1%) demonstrated staining, as did 3/18 OSCCs. Membrane staining was observed in all cases and there was no significant variation in frequency/intensity between normal oral mucosa / oral epithelial dysplasia and OSCCs (p>0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Aberrant expression of HER2/neu apparently does not contribute to carcinogenesis in the oral epithelium. The lack of overexpression in OSCCs indicates that molecular targeting is not feasible for adjuvant treatment.