Metastatic low-grade endometrial stromal sarcoma with sex cord and smooth muscle differentiation: A case report.

BACKGROUND: Metastatic low-grade endometrial stromal sarcoma (LG-ESS) with sex cord-like and smooth muscle-like differentiation is rare. This article reports such a case with multiple recurrences and with extensive pelvic and abdominal metastasis. CASE SUMMARY: A 47-year-old female patient was diagnosed with multiple cystic masses in the pelvic cavity by magnetic resonance imaging examination. Based on the postoperative pathological and immunohistochemical analyses of the surgical specimen, she was diagnosed with a metastatic low-grade endometrial stromal sarcoma with sex cord and smooth muscle differentiation. CONCLUSION: LG-ESS is a low-grade malignant tumor with a high recurrence rate and metastasis probability. It is easily misdiagnosed initially. It is essential to distinguish LG-ESS with sex cord-like differentiation from uterine tumour resembling ovarian sex cord tumour.

Effects of exogenous IL-37 on the biological characteristics of human lung adenocarcinoma A549 cells and the chemotaxis of regulatory T cells.

BACKGROUND: This study aims to investigate the effects of exogenous interleukin (IL)-37 on the biological characteristics of human lung adenocarcinoma A549 cells and the chemotaxis of regulatory T (Treg) cells. METHODS: After isolating the CD4+ CD25+ Treg cells from the peripheral blood, flow cytometry was used to detect the purity of the Treg cells. A549 cells were divided into blank (no transfection), empty plasmid (transfection with pIRES2-EGFP empty plasmid) or IL-37 group (transfection with pIRES2-EGFP-IL-37 plasmid). RT-PCR was used to detect mRNA expression of IL-37 and ELISA to determine IL-37 and MMP-9 expressions. Western blotting was applied to detect the protein expressions of PCNA, Ki-67, Cyclin D1, CDK4, cleaved caspase-3 and cleaved caspase-9. MTT assay, flow cytometry, scratch test and transwell assay were performed to detect cell proliferation, cycle, apoptosis, migration and invasion. Effect of exogenous IL-37 on the chemotaxis of Treg cells was measured through transwell assay. Xenograft models in nude mice were eastablished to detect the impact of IL-37 on A549 cells. RESULTS: The IL-37 group had a higher IL-37 expression, cell apoptosis in the early stage and percentage of cells in the G0/G1 phase than the blank and empty plasmid groups. The IL-37 group had a lower MMP-9 expression, optical density (OD), percentage of cells in the S and G2/M phases, migration, invasion and chemotaxis of CD4+CD25+ Foxp3+ Treg cells. The xenograft volume and weight of nude mice in the IL-37 group were lower than those in the blank and empty plasmid groups. Compared with the blank and empty plasmid groups, the IL-37 group had significantly reduced expression of PCNA, Ki-67, Cyclin D1 and CDK4 but elevated expression of cleaved caspase-3 and cleaved caspase-9. CONCLUSION: Therefore, exogenous IL-37 inhibits the proliferation, migration and invasion of human lung adenocarcinoma A549 cells as well as the chemotaxis of Treg cells while promoting the apoptosis of A549 cells.