Acta pathologica japonica最新文献

A rarely reported, large heterotopia of gastric glands in the submucosal layer of the stomach is observed in a 79 year old Japanese man with early gastric cancer. Histologically, it consists of marked hyperplasia of benign foveolar-type epithelia and tubular glands which instead of growing upwards grow downwards into the submucosa. Immunohistochemically, many gastrin-positive G cells are observed within it, indicating the existence of independent pyloric-type glands from the surrounding mucosa with intestinal metaplasia. Muscle actin-positive fascicles, derived from the muscularis mucosae, are demonstrated to branch into it and to encapsulate it. This result suggests that the present lesion may not represent a truly submucosal ectopic location, but an inverted downgrowth of the mucosa into the submucosa, thus resembling an inverted polyp of the colon. An awareness of this unique lesion is important in order that it not be mistaken for a submucosal extension of the primary adenocarcinoma.

Hypoxic effects on glutamate uptake and ATP content in glial cells were investigated by using cultured C6 glioma cells. Mild regressive changes were found depending on the duration of the hypoxic insult, but necrosis or detachment of the cells from the substratum was rarely observed. Glutamate uptake was relatively well preserved after a short hypoxic insult, while a marked decrease in glutamate uptake was observed after hypoxia of long duration. The uptake of sucrose was reduced in a similar pattern to glutamate uptake. Hypoxic insult resulted in a significant reduction of the ATP content in glial cells. Therefore, the decrease in glutamate uptake by glial cells under hypoxia is likely to be due to ATP dependency, and not to the failure of a specific glutamate uptake system, but the failure of a general uptake of the glial cells owing to the energy-dependent membrane dysfunction by ATP depletion. These findings suggest that there are phased changes of astrocytic functions in a hypoxic condition, a preservative phase in the initial stages and then a dysfunctional phase in the later stages of hypoxia.

A rare case of an alveolar soft part sarcoma of the uterine cervix in an 8 year old girl is presented. The patient was admitted because of genital bleeding lasting for 7 months. A polypoid tumor, 2 x 1.5 cm in diameter, was found in her external uterine os and was surgically resected. Microscopically, the tumor consisted of a uniform sheet of tumor cells in the cytoplasm which contained granules and which were stained with periodic acid-Schiff, both before and after the diastase digestion. Alveolar arrangement of the tumor cells was manifested with reticulin silver impregnation. Dense, membrane bound granules were evident at an ultrastructural level in the cytoplasm of the tumor cells. An immunohistochemical examination demonstrated a positive reaction for anti-desmin, anti-myoglobin, anti-HHF35 and anti-neuron specific enolase in the cytoplasm.

A case of a malignant nerve sheath tumor with rhabdomyoblastic differentiation arising from the acoustic nerve in a 38 year old man is reported. At autopsy, the tumor was found to be extensively involved in the right cerebellopontine angle of the brain stem. Histologically, the tumor was composed mainly of spindle-shaped tumor cells proliferating in hypercellular fascicles scattered with pleomorphic cells. The tumor cells were characterized by high mitotic activity and invasive growth. Occasional tumor cells had eosinophilic cytoplasm, which in a few cases was cross-striated. Cytoplasmic interdigitations and a thick basal lamina were confirmed ultrastructurally. Immunohistochemical analysis revealed that some tumor cells were positive for myoglobin and desmin, but weakly positive or negative for S-100 protein. The patient did not have von Recklinghausen's disease.

A unique case of carcinosarcoma of the prostate occurring in a 32 year old man is presented. This is the youngest case reported to date among nine well-documented examples. The patient underwent a total prostatectomy under the diagnosis of prostatic sarcoma. Despite adjuvant chemotherapy and full-dose radiotherapy being undertaken, the patient died from multiple lung metastases about 8 months after the operation. The surgically resected primary tumor was composed of two histologically distinct elements, these being an undifferentiated carcinoma and a sarcoma with various mesodermal components. These elements were intimately intermingled and transitional forms were often noticed. The sarcomatous portion contained myxoid areas, spindle cell sarcomas with nuclear palisading, areas of osteoid formation and small islands of chondromatous differentiation. The pathogenesis of this complex neoplasm is discussed, and it is suggested that vestigial embryologic Müllerian mesodermal tissue may be capable of diverse differentiation.

To clarify co-carcinogenic effects of chrysotile (Chry) and amosite (Amo) asbestos with benzo(a)pyrene (Bap), 0.2 mg UICC (International Union against Cancer) standard reference sample of asbestos and 0.4 mg Bap were applied intratracheally once a week for 6 weeks. Eighteen and 24 months after the last instillation the number of tumors was examined. The Chry + Bap group yielded 37 tumors including 16 carcinomas in 12 animals, and the Amo + Bap group yielded 30 tumors including 11 carcinomas in 12 animals. Tumor-bearing animals were 100% in the Chry + Bap group and 92% in the Amo + Bap group, and carcinoma-bearing animals were 83% and 67%, respectively. The animals injected with Chry, Amo, and Bap alone developed no tumors. The number of tumors and carcinomas and the frequency of the tumor- or carcinoma-bearing animals in Chry + Bap and Amo + Bap were significantly higher than those of the groups injected independently. The number of tumors or the frequency of tumor-bearing animals was higher in Chry + Bap than in Amo + Bap; however, these differences were not significant. These results indicate that both Chry and Amo play an important role in the genesis of bronchogenic carcinoma.

A 38 year old man died suddenly of widespread lymphoid neoplasm after a short clinical course. Histologically the tumor was composed of pleomorphic large cells that often demonstrated phagocytic activity. Moreover, histochemical and immunohistochemical tests revealed that the tumor cells had the phenotypes of both anaplastic large cell lymphoma and histiocytic cells. Immunogenotyping failed to demonstrate any lymphoid nature. This case might be categorized as anaplastic large cell lymphoma with histiocytic phenotypes.

Immunohistochemical investigations were carried out on the localization and expression of the Ca(2+)-dependent intercellular adhesion molecule E-cadherin in human gingiva and gingival carcinoma. Although E-cadherin did not appear in the parakeratinized layer of either clinically healthy or inflamed gingiva, it did appear strongly in the prickle layer and somewhat more weakly in the basal layer. Immunogold particles reactive to anti-E-cadherin monoclonal antibody in the electron microscopic findings were localized only in the vicinity of the desmosomes of the prickle and basal layers. In the case of gingival carcinoma, although E-cadherin was strongly expressed in the cells surrounding the keratinized region in the cancer nests, the expression decreased towards the marginal portion of the cancer nests. The distribution of E-cadherin in these cells may be dependent on the condition of the cancer cells that are potentially invasive. These findings suggest that cells of the parakeratinized layer of gingiva and cells of the marginal portion of the gingival carcinoma nests may easily detach or invade. In addition, the findings suggest that the gingival carcinoma used in this study tended to be invasive.

DNA analysis of testicular seminoma (typical seminoma [TS] and anaplastic seminoma [AS]) and spermatocytic seminoma (SS) was performed to evaluate the relationship between the proliferative activity and clinical outcome, and also to determine the proliferative characteristics of SS. Nuclear DNA contents of 15 cases of TS, 17 of AS and three of SS were measured by flow cytometry. Cytofluorometric DNA analysis was performed on three cases of every tumor. All 35 cases showed aneuploidy in the flow cytometry. In comparison with TS, AS tended to have a higher percentage of G2M phase in one cell cycle, having more cell cycle numbers and containing cells of various DNA values. Many mitotic figures with larger atypical cells that characterize AS could be explained by these results. In SS, the diploid formation by the small cells and the appearance of large cells with a maximum DNA value of 40C were demonstrated. These ploidy characteristics were considered to result in the morphological expression of large, small and intermediate cells. The application of both flow cytometry and cytofluorometry to the same cases was beneficial.

The Epstein-Barr virus-encoded small nuclear RNA, EBER-1, has been shown to be a suitable target for the in situ hybridization detection of EBV in routinely processed tissue specimens. We evaluated the presence of EBV in thymic carcinoma and invasive thymoma using EBER-1 in situ hybridization on formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissue sections. EBER-1 expression was demonstrated in a case of lymphoepithelioma-like thymic carcinoma, but was not detectable in other thymic carcinomas including six squamous cell carcinomas, a clear cell carcinoma and seven invasive thymomas. As reported in three previous cases of EBV-associated thymic carcinoma, lymphoepithelioma-like thymic carcinoma was shown to be closely associated with EBV in our series.