Buerger's disease: clinical and histomorphological study.

There is an extremely high prevalence of Thromboangiitis Obliterans (TAO) or Buerger's disease (BD) in India among people of low socioeconomic class who smoke beedies (homemade cigarettes with raw tobacco). The aim of this study was to study the clinical and histo-morphological aspects of Buerger's disease with relevance to age at presentation in the local population. The study comprised of 25 cases (all were men and were smokers) of clinically diagnosed BD based on Shionoya's criteria. The mean age was 47 years. The specimens consisted of 21 biopsies, 2 end-arterectomies and 2 amputations. Formalin fixed, routinely processed, paraffin embedded tissue sections were stained with Haematoxylin and Eosin (H and E) and Verhoeff's elastic stain. They had claudication pain either in the ankle (5) or in the calf (2) or both (13). 24 had infrapopliteal disease and 9 showed upper limb involvement. 21 showed migratory thrombophlebitis also. Histomorphological presentation included the following features: Luminal thrombosis (14), fresh thrombosis (4), chronic inflammation in the vessel wall (10), within the thrombus (1) and around perivascular channels and nerve bundles (4). Internal elastic lamina showed reduplication in 13, undulation in 9 and fragmentation in 9 cases. Media of the vessel showed the following features: fibrosis (9), hypertrophy (9) and calcification (5) Adventitial haemorrhage, cholesterol clefts and atherosclerotic plaque formation were the other changes seen. In our study the following histopathological features were consistently seen. Thrombus (with or without recanalisation), inflammatory cell infiltrate (within the thrombus wall or periadventitial tissue), subintimal and medial fibrosis and changes in internal elastic lamina. These features were also highlighted in other studies. However in our study, medial hypertrophy and calcification were observed as additional features.

Tumour angiogenesis and C-myc expression in breast carcinomas.

Angiogenesis in tumors has been widely studied and has been considered to be a prognostic factor particularly in breast carcinomas. The myc family of proto oncogenes has shown an amplification in breast carcinomas. The aim of this study was to assess MVD (micro vessel density) and the expression of c-myc in invasive breast carcinomas. Formalin fixed, routinely processed, paraffin embedded tissue was stained with H&E for classification and grading according to the Nottingham modification of Bloom and Richardson criteria. Immunohistochemical staining using primary antibody against F VIII antigen and anti C-myc were carried out. LSAB method was employed with AEC as chromogen and Gill's Haematoxylin as counter stain. Micro vessels were counted and positivity indicated by a cherry red staining in the cytoplasm of the tumour cells. Grades I, II and III showed 12.22 %, 20.9% and 24.5 % positivity of micro vessel density (MVD). Fifty percent of Grade 1, 69.2 % of Grade II and 24.5 % of Grade III tumours expressed c-myc proteins. In our study we found a positive association between tumour grade and micro vessel density, signifying a poor prognosis for tumours with high MVD. C-myc expression also showed a positive association with increasing grade.

Multidrug resistance 1 gene expression in Indian patients with gastric carcinoma.

BACKGROUND: Gastric carcinoma is frequently refractory to chemotherapy. The multidrug resistance 1 gene (MDR1) encodes for a protein (p-glycoprotein) that functions as a drug efflux pump and thus contributes to resistance to chemotherapeutic agents. METHODS: We studied gastric tissues from 28 patients with gastric cancer for MDR1 expression, using immunohistochemistry. RESULTS: Sixteen (57%) of 28 cases showed MDR1 expression. Sections of normal mucosa away from the tumor showed perinuclear staining for MDR1 in surface epithelial cells, whereas tumor cells showed diffuse cytoplasmic positivity. CONCLUSIONS: Over one half of gastric carcinoma specimens at our center show MDR1 gene expression.

The Epstein Barr virus and gastric carcinoma.

The Epstein Barr Virus (EBV) is one of the viruses implicated in the pathogenesis of malignant tumors. Its association with Burkitt's Lymphoma, nasopharyngeal carcinoma and certain cases of Hodgkin's lymphoma is well known. More recently this virus has been found to be associated with gastric carcinoma. Studies on this association, in our country are lacking. We have studied 37 cases of carcinoma using immunohistochemistry for LMP1 protein. Most workers have found an expression of latency type I antigens in gastric adenocarcinomas, with only a few cases being LMP1 positive. In the 37 cases studied by us, 24.14% of cases were positive for LMP1. LMP1 is known to have oncogenic properties. In addition, it has been demonstrated earlier that the EBV particles in gastric carcinoma are monoclonal. These two factors support a pathogenetic role for EBV in gastric carcinoma.