Immunohistochemical and morphologic findings in columnar cell lesions of the breast.

Background: Columnar cell lesions (CCLs) with or without atypia frequently coexist with invasive or in situ breast carcinomas. In this study, 39 mastectomy specimens containing CCLs coexisting with invasive carcinomas were retrospectively analyzed for cellular characteristics and structural pattern of CCL neighboring the tumor. Materials and Methods: The expression of estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PR), and p53 antibodies in CCL and coexisting invasive tumors, type of invasive tumor, histopathologic grade, and presence of atypia in CCL have been studied. Results: Sixteen (41%) of all CCLs were with atypia, whereas 23 (59%) of them were without atypia. No correlations were found between the presence of CCLs with atypia and either the morphologic type of carcinoma or histopathologic grade of the tumors. Presence of atypia in the CCL was not correlated with the expression of p53 in the invasive tumors. CCLs without atypia dominated in Grade III tumors. The percentages of CCLs without atypia were also higher in both ER (−) and PR (−) tumors. Conclusions: CCL with atypia is generally considered to be a precursor of invasive carcinoma; however, in our study, CCLs without atypia more frequently coexisted with breast carcinoma.

p53 expression in pterygium in two climatic regions in Turkey.

Purpose: To assess accumulation of p53 protein in samples of primary pterygium from people living in two different climatic regions in Turkey. Materials and Methods: Group 1 included 101 pterygium specimens from people in Adana located in southern Turkey. Group 2 included 39 pterygium specimens from people in Ankara, located in the middle of Turkey. Climatic conditions throughout the year are sunnier and warmer in Adana than they are in Ankara. The control group (Group 3) included 30 specimens of conjunctiva that had been excised during cataract surgery from 30 patients without pterygium. The pterygial specimens and control conjunctiva were studied by immunohistochemistry using antibodies against p53 protein. Pearson's chi-square test was used to compare the p53 immunoreactivity. Results: The p53 immunoreactivity in Groups 1 and 2 was greater than it was in the control group ( P 0.001). There were no differences in p53 immunoreactivity between Groups 1 and 2 ( P= 0.060). Conclusion: The p53 immunoreactivity was not correlated with ultraviolet irradiation exposure. The p53 immunoreactivity in our pterygium specimens suggests that pterygium could be a result of uncontrolled cell proliferation.

Early diagnosis of cancer in renal transplant patients: a single center experience.

Renal transplantation confers increased survival with improvement of immune suppressive drugs, but certain types of neoplasm can arise as secondary complications. It is thus well known that recipients have significantly increased risk of developing de novo malignancy when compared with the age-matched general population. Cancer is the 4th most common cause of death in transplant patients after cardiovascular disease, infections and liver failure. Our transplantation team has performed 1,582 kidney transplantations since 1975. Fifty-nine of the patients developed malignancies in the posttransplantation period. The most common was Kaposi's sarcoma (19 patients, 32.2 %), followed by lymphomas (16 patients, 27.1 %) and skin carcinomas (13 patients, 22.0 %). Many factors can contribute to high susceptibility in these patients; age at transplantation, certain types of viral infections like Epstein-Barr virus, human herpes virus-8, human papilloma virus or chronic usage of immune suppressive agents, type of immune suppressive drugs, and ethnic characteristics. Transplant recipients generally have advanced stage cancers at the time of diagnosis with a poor prognosis. Since some neoplasms are common early detection of cancer is important to decrease cancer related mortality and morbidity. This article considers risk factors and recommendations for early diagnosis of cancer in renal transplant patients.