Infrared spectroscopy of normal and abnormal cervical smears: evaluation by principal component analysis.

Fourier-transform infrared (FT-IR) spectra of malignant and dysplastic cervical scrapings were abnormal, as first described in our study of a limited number of samples, where the spectra were evaluated by visual inspection and peak intensity ratios. We have expanded our study to evaluate more cervical conditions, and to analyze the spectra by a chemometric approach (principal component analysis [PCA]). Cervical samples from 436 females were evaluated by FT-IR and Papanicolaou testing; 40/436 spectra were nonanalyzable. The remaining were as follows: normal, 174; malignant, 19; dysplasia, 8; atypia, 113; atrophy, 19; inflammatory, 47; bloody smear, 12; hypocellular, 4. PCA analysis followed by chi2 test revealed that statistically significant frequencies of being predicted malignant by FT-IR were associated with samples diagnosed as malignant (P < 0.0001), and also those diagnosed as "atrophy" (P < 0.001), "atypical with bloody smear" (P < 0.05), "atypical with atrophic pattern" (P < 0.05), and "dysplasia" (P < 0.05). Based on these findings, for the diagnosis of cervical cancer by FT-IR, as defined here, the sensitivity is 79%, the specificity is 77%, the positive predictive value is 15%, and the negative predictive value is 98.6%. Our findings (a) demonstrate the application of a chemometric approach to the study of cervical FT-IR spectra; (b) assess its potential diagnostic role; (c) suggest that atrophic and neoplastic samples share structural features; and (d) suggest that blood may interfere with such spectroscopic evaluation. These findings warrant further evaluation of FT- IR spectroscopy in cervical and other malignancies.

Hepatic heterotopias in the jejunum: a case study over time showing progressive degenerative changes.

Multiple foci of heterotopic liver in the jejunum were sequentially discovered in an infant boy at the ages of 1 day, 2 months, and 4 months. This is the second reported case of jejunal heterotopic liver, a rare entity in any site. Progressive histological changes indicative of biliary duct obstruction were observed in the hepatic heterotopias, which demonstrated no connections to the main body of the liver or biliary tree.

Infantile myofibromatosis with hemangiopericytoma-like features of the tongue: a case study including ultrastructure.

We report a case of an infantile myofibromatosis with hemangiopericytoma-like features arising in the tongue of a 5-month-old female infant. Many authors now classify neoplasms as infantile myofibromatosis that were previously called infantile hemangiopericytoma. The ultrastructural features of our tumor illustrate its biphasic nature and provide a possible explanation for its histogenesis. Infantile myofibromatosis, including those diagnosed as infantile hemangiopericytomas, rarely arise in any intraoral location. Despite the generally good prognosis associated with these neoplasms, complete surgical excision is recommended to avoid recurrences.

Early occurrence and prognostic significance of p53 alteration in primary carcinoma of the fallopian tube.

The pathogenesis of primary carcinoma of the fallopian tube (PCFT) is poorly understood. Tumor suppressor p53 gene alterations are common in human malignancies, but their role in the tumorigenesis and survival of PCFT is undefined. The objectives of this study were to define the occurrence and prognostic role of p53 alteration in PCFT and to examine the efficiency of immunohistochemistry (IHC) in detecting p53 alteration in PCFT. Fifty-two PCFT and 10 normal fallopian tubes were examined for p53 alteration by IHC and polymerase chain reaction-single-strand conformation polymorphism (PCR-SSCP). The Kaplan-Meier method was used to derive the survival function, while the log-rank test was used to compare curves for two or more groups. Other patients' characteristics were analyzed by two-tailed Fisher's exact tests. IHC correlated well with PCR-SSCP with 100% sensitivity and 83.3% specificity for detecting p53 alteration in this study. Thirty-one of 52 (57%) PCFT showed p53 alteration. Alteration of p53 occurred in all stages of PCFT with a similar incidence in carcinoma in situ and late-stage disease. Alteration of p53 was related to tumor histologic type. Significant survival difference was noted between advanced and early clinical stages but no such difference was identified among different tumor grades. Compared to the p53-nonaltered group, the presence of p53 alteration in PCFT was related to significantly decreased patient survival (RR = 6.8, 95% CI = 2.9-16.2) in multivariate analysis. In the subgroup of patients with residual tumor after surgery, those with p53-altered tumors had a significantly decreased survival compared to those with p53-nonaltered group (RR = 7.4, 95% CI = 1.9-28.2). Alteration of p53 is common and IHC is an efficient method to detect p53 alteration in PCFT. Shorter survival is associated with p53 alteration which is an independent marker for the disease in this study. Alteration of p53 may be an early event in tubal tumorigenesis and may play an important role in the development of PCFT. Whether detection of p53 alteration may serve as an indicator of high-risk patients for whom more aggressive adjuvant chemotherapy may be considered needs to be explored in the future.

p53 overexpression and bcl-2 persistence in endometrial carcinoma: comparison of papillary serous and endometrioid subtypes.

Forty-two cases, including 21 uterine papillary serous carcinomas (UPSC) and 21 age-, nuclear-grade-, and clinical-stage-matched uterine endometrioid carcinomas (UEC), were studied immunohistochemically for p53 and bcl-2 in archival paraffin-embedded tissue. Compared to UEC (28.6% positive), UPSC (71.4% positive) had a significantly higher frequency of p53 overexpression (P = 0.005); furthermore, in a clinical-stage-matched fashion, a higher frequency of p53 overexpression was found in early-stage cases (P = 0.032), but not in late-stage cases. In a nuclear-grade-matched comparison, no statistical difference in p53 overexpression was identified between the two subtypes, although UPSC had stronger p53 immunoreactivity than UEC. Of UPSC, no difference in p53 overexpression was detected between tumors of early and late stages; additionally, in 5 cases, there was an abrupt transition from nonstaining morphologically benign glands to uniformly positive p53 nuclear staining in regions of intraepithelial carcinoma. Conversely, in UEC, there was a significant difference in p53 immunostaining between tumors of early and late stages (P = 0.01); no case had an abrupt transition for p53 immunostaining. For bcl-2 immunostaining, UEC had a significantly higher immunohistochemical staining score than did UPSC (P = 0.0002). In general, the staining intensity of bcl-2 diminished progressively from proliferative phase and hyperplastic endometrium to UEC and then to UPSC, with 3 of 21 (14.3%) UPSC being negative. These results suggest that p53 alteration may be an early event in the development of UPSC and may be related to its clinical aggressiveness, while it is a late event in UEC. Early detection of p53 nuclear accumulation may help to identify precursor lesions of UPSC. bcl-2 persistence is frequently associated with endometrial carcinoma, and failure to inactivate bcl-2 expression probably is related to the development of endometrial carcinoma.

Mucinous adenocarcinoma of the endometrium with intestinal differentiation: a case report.

Mucinous differentiation of endocervical type has been well documented in endometrial carcinoma. However, we describe an unusual case of adenocarcinoma of the endometrium showing diffuse histological, immunohistochemical, and ultrastructural evidence of intestinal differentiation. Although intestinal differentiation has been described in mesodermally derived tissues including endocervix, ovary, and urinary tract, it has not been reported in normal endometrium. One previous case has been reported showing this pattern in endometrial carcinoma. Possible histogenetic mechanisms of this pattern are discussed.

Elevated carcinoembryonic antigen levels correlating with disease recurrence in a patient with adenoid cystic carcinoma.

BACKGROUND: Carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) is an oncofetal glycoprotein involved in cell recognition and adhesion. Serum CEA has been extensively studied as a potential chemical marker for malignancy, most notably in patients with colon carcinoma. Serum CEA measurements have not been reported for patients with salivary gland carcinomas. METHODS: Serum CEA was measured in a case study using enzyme immunoassay with monoclonal antibody specific for CEA. Tissue was examined with standard histologic and immunohistologic methods. RESULTS: A patient was initially seen with adenoid cystic carcinoma (ACC) of the trachea and had a markedly elevated serum CEA level which declined after surgical resection. The serum CEA level became elevated again when the patient developed abdominal metastases and then declined after debulking of the tumor. Immunohistochemical study of the tumor was positive for CEA. CONCLUSIONS: The measurement of serum CEA levels may play a role in the management of patients with ACC. Clinical investigation utilizing monoclonal antibodies against CEA, for imaging and for the delivery of chemotherapy and radiotherapy may be worthwhile.

Distinct infrared spectroscopic patterns of human basal cell carcinoma of the skin.

Infrared spectroscopy combined with high pressure (pressure-tuning infrared spectroscopy) was applied to the study of paired sections of basal cell carcinomas (BCC) and normal skin from ten patients. Atmospheric pressure IR spectra from BCC were dramatically different from those from the corresponding normal skin. Compared to their normal controls, BCCs displayed increased hydrogen bonding of the phosphodiester group of nucleic acids, decreased hydrogen bonding of the C--OH groups of proteins, increased intensity of the band at 972 cm-1, a decreased intensity ratio between the CH3 stretching and CH2 stretching bands, and accumulation of unidentified carbohydrates. Some of these changes are shared by all human epithelial malignancies studied to date, while some others appear as yet unique to basal cell carcinoma. The diagnostic value of infrared spectroscopy in BCC remains to be determined.