ABSTRACT
The authors report the very rare case of a congenital immature teratoma arising from the nasopharyx in a full term female neonate. The tumor also extended to the oral cavity, particularly the right tonsillar fossa without intracranial involvement leading to upper airway obstruction and secondary Escherichia coli pneumonia. The immature part of the tumor in the head and neck region is not a poor prognostic indicator and chemotherapy is useless. In the presented case, the mass was widely excised without postoperative complications. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first reported case in Thailand.
Subject(s)
Nasopharyngeal Neoplasms/congenital , Teratoma/congenital , Female , Humans , Infant, Newborn , ThailandABSTRACT
Expression of neuronal nuclei (NeuN), a mouse-derived neuronal-specific monoclonal antibody, has been found in almost all neuronal cell types throughout the nervous system. The authors have demonstrated NeuN immunoreactivity in 56% of epithelial neuroendocrine carcinomas (ENEC) (19/34): 4 of 7 (57%) grade 1 ENECs (carcinoid), 4 of 5 (90%) grade 2 ENECs (atypical carcinoid), and 11 of 22 (50%) grade 3 ENECs (small and large cell neuroendocrine carcinoma). Of the NeuN-positive cases, the immunoreactivity was localized primarily in the cytoplasm in 11 cases and in the nucleus in the remaining. Even though NeuN is not a highly sensitive marker for solo use, it would be useful as an adjunct in the panel immunohisto- chemistry of cases with histologic features suspicious of neuroendocrine differentiation.
Subject(s)
Antigens, Nuclear/analysis , Carcinoma, Neuroendocrine/chemistry , Carcinoma, Neuroendocrine/pathology , Nerve Tissue Proteins/analysis , Biomarkers, Tumor/analysis , Carcinoma, Neuroendocrine/diagnosis , Cell Nucleus/chemistry , Cytoplasm/chemistry , Humans , Immunohistochemistry , Tissue DistributionSubject(s)
Epstein-Barr Virus Infections/virology , HIV Infections/virology , Iris Neoplasms/virology , Leiomyosarcoma/virology , Biomarkers, Tumor/analysis , Child, Preschool , Epstein-Barr Virus Infections/pathology , Fatal Outcome , Female , HIV Infections/pathology , Humans , Iris Neoplasms/chemistry , Iris Neoplasms/pathology , Leiomyosarcoma/chemistry , Leiomyosarcoma/pathology , Neoplasm Proteins/analysisABSTRACT
Cytokeratin (CK)7 and CK20, the low molecular weight cytokeratins, have been found to have a benefit in the differential diagnosis of some epithelial neoplasms. In the present study, the actual role of these markers in the search of primary tumors in 32 patients with craniospinal metastasis of an unknown primary site at presentation, is evaluated. A series of 36 patients with a known primary tumor were presented for comparison. In the first group, two CK7 and CK20 expression profiles were observed; 87% of metastatic tumors were CK7+/CK20- and 13% CK7-/CK20-. The lung was the major source (82%) of CK7+/CK20- metastatic tumors, whereas it represented only 38% of primary tumor in the second group of a known primary site (P=0.006). Given the fact that metastatic tumors to the craniospinal axis of an unknown primary site are frequently CK7+/CK20-, and they have commonly metastasized from the lung, it is doubtful that immunohistochemistry is really helpful. However, CT scan and MRI of the chest still play an important role. Many patients in the present study had to undertake these imaging studies, regardless of the CK7/CK20 result. The immunostains may be useful in cases with other expression profiles, but such examples constituted only a minority in the present study.
