Tumor de Brenner maligno: caso clínico / Malignant Brenner tumor: clinical case

El tumor de Brenner es una neoplasia rara, que representa el 1-2 por ciento de las neoplasias de ovario. La mayoría son benignas, pero existe un pequeño porcentaje de casos de tumor de Brenner maligno, entre ellos el caso que se presenta. Se trata de una mujer de 41 años que presentó una tumoración ovárica cuyo resultado anatomopatológico fue de carcinoma pobremente diferenciado, con asociación de tumor tipo Brenner maligno. A pesar de ser diagnosticado en estadio precoz, este caso destaca por su mal pronóstico.

Brenner tumor is a rare neoplasia, accounting for 1-2 percent of ovarian cancer. Most of them are benign, but there are a small percentage of malignant Brenner tumors, including the case presented. This is a 41-year-old woman who presented an ovarian tumor. Definitive histological result showed a poorly differentiated carcinoma, with association of malignant Brenner tumor. Despite being diagnosed in early stages, this case stands out for its poor prognosis.

Apoptosis in epithelial ovarian tumours Prognostic significance of clinical and histopathologic factors and its association with the immunohistochemical expression of apoptotic regulatory proteins (p53, bcl-2 and bax).

OBJECTIVE: The objective was to establish the importance of apoptosis-related genes and the apoptotic index (AI) as prognostic factors in patients with epithelial ovarian tumours. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Tumour specimens from 130 epithelial ovarian tumours were examined for expression of p53, bcl-2 and bax proteins. The apoptotic index was evaluated by modified terminal deoxynucleotide-transferase-mediated digoxigenin triphosphate-biotin nick end-labelling (TUNEL) methods and by haematoxylin-eosin (H-E) staining. Other clinical and histopathological variables were also analysed. Statistical analyses were performed using the SPSS 10.0 package. RESULTS: The apoptotic index detected by H-E and enzymatic assay was high in the majority of carcinomas (serous, endometrioid and clear cell (p=0.001). In the univariate survival analysis, high apoptotic index, high p53 and low bcl-2 expression, significantly correlated with shorter survival and shorter disease-free periods (p<0.01). In multivariate analysis the age (p=0.026; CI: 1.035-1.066 and p=0.011; CI: 1.835-2.077), FIGO stage (p=0.017; CI: 1.385-4.514 and p=0.024; CI: 1.217-1.940), p53 expression (p=0.03; CI: 1.017-1.627 and p=0.02; CI: 1.050-2.350) and apoptotic index (p=0.019; CI: 1.375-1.750 and p=0.019; CI: 1.442-2.085) were revealed to be independent prognostic factors for survival and recurrence, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Our results indicate that the apoptotic index and p53 nuclear accumulation are independent predictive factors of recurrence and short survival. Our data also suggest different patterns of alterations for the various tumour types.