A novel panel of differentially-expressed microRNAs in breast cancer brain metastasis may predict patient survival.

Breast cancer brain metastasis (BCBM) is an area of unmet clinical need. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) have been linked to the metastatic process in breast cancer (BC). In this study, we aim to determine differentially-expressed miRNAs utilising primary BCs that did not relapse (BCNR, n = 12), primaries that relapsed (BCR) and their paired (n = 40 pairs) brain metastases (BM) using the NanoString™ nCounter™ miRNA Expression Assays. Significance analysis of microarrays identified 58 and 11 differentially-expressed miRNAs between BCNR vs BCR and BCR vs BM respectively and pathway analysis revealed enrichment for genes involved in invasion and metastasis. Four miRNAs, miR-132-3p, miR-199a-5p, miR-150-5p and miR-155-5p, were differentially-expressed within both cohorts (BCNR-BCR, BCR-BM) and receiver-operating characteristic curve analysis (p = 0.00137) and Kaplan-Meier survival method (p = 0.0029, brain metastasis-free survival; p = 0.0007, overall survival) demonstrated their potential use as prognostic markers. Ingenuity pathway enrichment linked them to the MET oncogene, and the cMET protein was overexpressed in the BCR (p < 0.0001) and BM (p = 0.0008) cases, compared to the BCNRs. The 4-miRNAs panel identified in this study could be potentially used to distinguish BC patients with an increased risk of developing BCBM and provide potential novel therapeutic targets, whereas cMET-targeting warrants further investigation in the treatment of BCBM.

Clinical evaluation and treatment of phaeochromocytoma.

Phaeochromocytoma and extra adrenal paraganglioma are rare neuroendocrine tumours and have the potential to secrete adrenaline, noradrenaline and dopamine causing a myriad of clinical symptoms. Prompt diagnosis is essential for clinicians and requires a multidisciplinary specialist approach for the clinical and laboratory investigation, diagnosis, treatment and follow-up of patients. This paper is an integrated review of the clinical and laboratory evaluation and treatment of patients suspected to have phaeochromocytoma or paraganglioma, highlighting recent developments and best practices from recent published clinical guidelines.

Primary cervical and uterine corpus lymphoma; a case report and literature review.

Primary lymphoma of the uterine corpus and cervix is rare. We present a case of primary non-Hodgkin follicular lymphoma isolated to uterine corpus and parametria with focal spread to ovaries and fallopian tubes, incidentally found on the background of endometrial malignancy. A summary of the published cases focusing on the presentation and prognosis as well as a review of current management are discussed. The rising incidence of extra-nodal lymphoma and recent changes in classification and therapeutic approach, require clinical vigilance. In the absence of prospective studies assessing the value of the available therapeutic options, data from retrospective series and scattered case reports are presented in this review.

Mesonephric adenocarcinoma of the uterine cervix and literature review.

Mesonephric adenocarcinoma is a rare type of cervical cancer that derives from mesonephric remnants in the uterine cervix. To the best of our knowledge, this is the 34th case of mesonephric adenocarcinoma in adult women documented in the literature. We present an asymptomatic 64-year-old postmenopausal woman presenting with a suspicious-looking cervix as an incidental finding and diagnosed with a stage IB mesonephric adenocarcinoma of the cervix. This case was managed with radical hysterectomy, bilateral salpingoophorectomy and pelvic lymphadenectomy. The rarity of such cases imposes challenges on the management in terms of diagnosis, prognosis and therapeutic options.