Apoptosis in premalignant and malignant squamous cell lesions of the oral cavity: a light microscopic study.

BACKGROUND: Oral cancers are a major health problem in India. Recently, parameters of cell proliferation and cell death have emerged as important diagnostic and prognostic tools. AIMS: The aim was to study apoptosis in premalignant and malignant squamous cell lesions of the oral cavity and to evaluate its prognostic role in oral cancers. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study included 175 patients presenting with oral lesions. Evaluation of apoptotic index (AI) (using light microscopy) was performed on hematoxylin and eosin-stained sections. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS USED: Student's t test was performed. RESULTS: The mean AI increased progressively with increasing dysplasia, with the maximum AI in well-differentiated (WD) squamous cell carcinoma, and a fall was noted with progression toward higher grades. The difference between WD SCC and poorly-differentiated SCC was significant (P < 0.05). Cases with lymph node metastasis had significantly (P < 0.05) lower mean AI values. CONCLUSION: Apoptosis can be fairly accurately assessed using light microscopy. Tumors that exhibit less apoptosis tend to show aggressive behavior and have a greater potential for metastasis.

Bilateral Sertoli-Leydig cell tumor of the ovary: a rare case report.

Sertoli leydig cell tumors also known as arrhenoblastoma, are a rare member of the sex cord-stromal tumor group of ovarian and testicular cancers, comprising less than 1% of all ovarian tumors, which occur in young adults and are almost always unilateral. We hereby report a case of a 17-year-old female presenting with a short history of irregular menses and an abdominal lump, which was histologically proven to be a bilateral sertoli leydig cell tumor of the ovary, an exceptionally rare entity in itself.

Prostatic adenocarcinoma metastasizing to the parietal bones.

Prostate cancer metastasis to the axial skeleton occurs at high frequency in patients with advanced disease causing significant morbidity and mortality. Apart from bone, brain is also a common site of metastasis but the involvement of the parietal bones is extremely unusual. Parietal bone metastasis from prostatic adenocarcinoma was the initial presentation seen in our patient. This is the first case of its kind in the literature where the prostatic carcinoma had metastasized to the parietal bones of the skull without any symptomatology of prostatic involvement. The report is intended to alert the reader of this rare site of metastasis from the prostate.

Glomus tumor of lesser omentum--a case report.

A case of glomus tumor of lesser omentum occurring in a 24 years old male is being reported for its rarity.

RAEB-t in young adults--a rare entity.

Refractory anemia with excess blasts in transformation (RAEB-t) in young adults is a rare entity. RAEB-t presenting with megaloblastic erythropoiesis should be differentiated from nutritional B12 and folic acid deficiency and from acute erythroleukemia. We report two cases in the present article.