Immunohistochemical study of epithelial and stromal laminin in normal endometrium endometrial hyperplasia and endometrial adenocarcinoma

Eighty endometrial biopsies, were studied and classified into a control group, consisting of 30 cases obtained from normal menstruating women at different periods of the menstrual cycle, 30 cases of endometrial hyperplasia and 20 cases of endometrial adenocarcinomas. All cases were stained by haema-loxylin and eosin and immunoperoxidase technique for laminin using specific polyclonal antibody of formalin fixed paraffin embedded sections. The basement membrane laminin was intact and linear in all cases normal endometrium at different periods of the menstrual cycle as well as in all cases of cystic endometrial hyperplasia. It was abnormal and interrupted in 60% of adenomatous hyperplasia cases and in all cases of atypical adenomatous hyperpiasia. In cases of endometrial adenocarcinoma, there was abrupt fragmentation of basement membrane laminin in 80% of cases and absent in 20% of poorly differentiated unfavourable aggressive adenocarcinoma subtypes, infiltrating more than 1/3 of the myometrium. Stromal laminin was absent in all endometria in the proliferative phase of the cycle while. In the secretory phase the stroinal cells accumulate laminin. Weak stromal laminin was detected in 80% and 30% of cystic hyperplasia and adenomatous, hyperplasia respectively. It is absent in 70% of cases of adenomatous hyperplasia, all cases of atypical adenomatous hyperplasia and in 80% of endometrial adenocarcinoma cases. Cytoplasmic laminin was detected in all the unfavourable poorly differentiated endometrial adenocarcinoma invading more than 1/3 of the myome-trium. While, it was absent in the well and moderately differentiated endometrial adenocarcinoma limited to the endometrium and invading less than 1/3 of the myometrium respectively

Histopathological study of pigmented tumours and tumour-like skin lesions

This retrospective study included 85 cases of pigmented tumours and tumour-like lesions. The majority were benign tumours representing 65.9 percent while the malignant tumours constituted 34.1 percent. The benign pigmented tumours were: melanocytic skin naevi [37.6 percent], lentigo simplex [1.2 percent], lentigo senilis [1.2 percent], dermatofibroma [5.9 percent] and seborrheic keratosis [20 percent]. The malignant tumours were: malignant melanoma [12.9 percent] and pigmented basal cell carcinoma [21.1 percent]. The face represented the site of predilection of all the pigmented tumours [52.9 percent]. Melanocytic naevi were the only pigmented lesions in the first decade of life. The sixth and seventh decades of life represented the highest incidence for malignant melanoma and pigmented basal cell carcinoma. The histologic patterns of seborrheic keratosis included in this study were: the acanthotic type [58.9 percent], the hypertrophic type [17.6 percent], the irritated type [17.6 percent] and mixed hypertrophic and reticulated type [5.9 percent]. Two types of malignant melanoma were included in this study, the nodular malignant melanoma [72.7 percent] and the acral lentiginous melanoma [27.3 percent]. The majority of cases of malignant melanoma showed combination of spindle and epithelioid cells [54.5 percent], while in 27.3 percent of cases, there was predominant epithelioid cells and in 18.2 percent, there was predominant spindle cells. The recurrent cases of malignant melanoma possessed predominant spindle cell element. While 54.5 percent of cases of malignant melanoma were Clark level III, 18.2 percent were clark level IV and 27.3 percent were difficult to be leveled as they were recurrent cases. The cases of pigmented basal cell carcinoma included in the study were: the solid pattern [33.3 percent], the mixed solid and cystic patterns [38.9 percent] and the mixed sloid and adenoid-cystic patterns with pilar differentiation [27.8 percent]