[A tumor of the uterus with a falsely benign aspect]. / Une tumeur utérine d'allure faussement bénigne.

We report the case of a 79 year-old woman, who was admitted in the department of digestive surgery for an occlusive syndrome. The abdominopelvic computed tomography revealed a voluminous mass infiltrating the uterus, the bladder and the colon. A monobloc surgery is performed. The histopathological examination evidences an invasion of these organs by a well-differentiated glandular proliferation composed of epithelial cells without atypia stained with keratin 7 and carcinoembryonar antigen, without expression of p16, hormonal receptors and keratin 20. Ki-67 labeling index was low. The diagnosis of minimal deviation gastric mucinous adenocarcinoma was proposed. This is an uncommon neoplasm comprising approximately 1% of all endocervical adenocarcinomas. This is a difficult histopathological which should be known by pathologist. It is correlated to a poor clinical outcome with a high tendency to lymph node and extra-uterine metastases, as illustrated in our observation.

[A pulmonary tumor that racks our brains!] / Une tumeur pulmonaire à se creuser les méninges !

We report the case of a 74-year-old woman who, as part of the follow-up for two breast cancers, presented a 2cm long lung nodule. A microscopic examination of the biopsy under a scanner showed a proliferation of epithelial appearance but whose immunophenotypic profile did not permit a precise diagnosis (negativity of CK7, GATA3, TTF1, negative estrogen receptors but positive progesterone receptors). Wedge resection surgery was performed. Extemporaneous and definitive microscopic examination showed a well-defined lesion made up of lobules of cohesive-looking cells, frequently forming coils. The tumor cells showed some intranuclear inclusions and a few psammomas while the immunohistochemical study showed diffuse expression of EMA, SSTR2A and progesterone receptor markers and a low proliferation index. A diagnosis of a pulmonary localization of a meningioma was proposed. The radiological assessment of the entire neuraxis did not show any other lesion leading to the final diagnosis of primary intra-pulmonary meningioma. This is an exceptional tumor with a difficult histopathological diagnosis of biopsy material, which must familiar to the pathologists. It is associated with an excellent prognosis. Our observation aims to illustrate the macroscopic and microscopic aspects and to present the data from the recent literature review.

[A case of bronchial mucous gland adenoma: A rare diagnosis that should not be mistaken!] / Un cas d'adénome muqueux glandulaire bronchique : un diagnostic rare à ne pas méconnaître !

We report the case of a 32-year-old man, who was admitted for a recurrent pneumopathy. The thoracic computed tomography revealed a small well-circumscribed lesion of the lower right lobe of the lung. Microscopic examination from the biopsy material of the endoscopy concluded a mucoepidermoid carcinoma. A lobectomy was realized. Microscopic examination revealed the presence of a well-delineated lesion composed of glands and cysts containing mucous and limited by mucous and cylindric and ciliated cells without atypia. The proliferation index was very low. A diagnosis of mucous gland adenoma was made. It is an exceptional tumor and is very difficult to diagnose on biopsy material but should be known by pathologists. It is associated with a good prognosis. The aims of our observation are to present the macroscopic and microscopic features of this tumor and data from recent literature review to better diagnose it. This is also the second observation with molecular details for this entity.

Successful Treatment of Differentiated Thyroid Carcinoma with Transaxillary Robotic Surgery and Radioiodine: The First European Experience.

OBJECTIVES: Transaxillary robotic thyroidectomy surgery (TARS) has been reported to be a safe approach in patients with differentiated thyroid carcinoma, and oncological responses are promising. STUDY DESIGN: This study aimed to evaluate the oncological outcomes of TARS followed by radioiodine (RAI) therapy in patients with differentiated thyroid carcinoma. Between 2011 and 2016, patients treated for differentiated thyroid carcinoma by TARS in a single institution, followed by RAI, were retrospectively included. The oncological response was performed according to the 2015 American Thyroid Association (ATA) guidelines 6-12 months later and at the last available visit. RESULTS: A total of 42 patients (30 females) were included, with a median tumor size of 20 mm (12 cases of N1a and 5 cases of N1b on initial pathology report). According to ATA classification of recurrence risk after surgery, 17 and 25 patients were classified as low and intermediate risk, respectively. After RAI, all patients had a normal posttherapeutic whole body scan (except 1 patient, who had pathological lymph node uptake), but no unusual uptake was seen. At the 6- to 12-month evaluation (n = 37), 24 patients had excellent response, 8 had indeterminate response, and 5 had incomplete response (2 biological and 3 structural); no distant metastasis was found. At the last evaluation (median follow-up 15.9 months), 35 patients had no evidence of disease and 1 patient had a structural incomplete response. In total, a second open surgery was necessary for 3 patients to treat persistent lymph nodes (all intermediate risk). CONCLUSION: In this study, TARS followed by RAI therapy seems to be curative, even for patients with lymph node metastases, after good preoperative staging. More studies are required to confirm the findings.

DNA degrades during storage in formalin-fixed and paraffin-embedded tissue blocks.

Formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) tissue blocks are widely used to identify clinically actionable molecular alterations or perform retrospective molecular studies. Our goal was to quantify degradation of DNA occurring during mid to long-term storage of samples in usual conditions. We selected 46 FFPE samples of surgically resected carcinomas of lung, colon, and urothelial tract, of which DNA had been previously extracted. We performed a second DNA extraction on the same blocks under identical conditions after a median period of storage of 5.5 years. Quantitation of DNA by fluorimetry showed a 53% decrease in DNA quantity after storage. Quantitative PCR (qPCR) targeting KRAS exon 2 showed delayed amplification of DNA extracted after storage in all samples but one. The qPCR/fluorimetry quantification ratio decreased from 56 to 15% after storage (p < 0.001). Overall, remaining proportion of DNA analyzable by qPCR represented only 11% of the amount obtained at first extraction. Maximal length of amplifiable DNA fragments assessed with a multiplex PCR was reduced in DNA extracted from stored tissue, indicating that DNA fragmentation had increased in the paraffin blocks during storage. Next-generation sequencing was performed on 12 samples and showed a mean 3.3-fold decrease in library yield and a mean 4.5-fold increase in the number of single-nucleotide variants detected after storage. In conclusion, we observed significant degradation of DNA extracted from the same FFPE block after 4 to 6 years of storage. Better preservation strategies should be considered for storage of FFPE biopsy specimens.