From epithelial dysplasia to squamous carcinoma of the head and neck region: evolutive and prognostic histopathological markers.

Ki67 immunoreactivity, p53 expression and apoptotic index were examined in 26 non-malignant lesions of the head and neck region, 22 dysplastic lesions of patients without evidence of head and neck carcinoma during follow-up time, 24 dysplastic lesions of patients who subsequently developed a squamous carcinoma in the same area, and 42 squamous cancer cases. A directly proportional relation between Ki67 immunoreactive pattern, apoptotic index and histological evolution from normal to dysplastic or neoplastic mucosa was evident. As far as p53 protein is concerned, its expression became higher and frequently transmural in neoplastic mucosa. A strict correlation between frequency and density of Ki67/p53 immunoreactivity according to invasive cell grading (ICG) scores and poor prognosis of patients were found. On the contrary, malignant cells highly expressing p53 seemed not to undergo apoptosis. Ki67 antigen and p53 protein detection in premalignant lesions and in carcinomas of the head and neck tract could be a useful marker for the management of patients at risk.

Metastases of the heart and pericardium.

Tumours metastasizing to the heart are one of the least investigated subjects in clinical oncology. Nevertheless, this problem holds great practical significance in relation to the operability and type of treatment of neoplastic patients. Of 4769 patients autopsied at the Institute of Pathological Anatomy of Trieste from 1994 through 1995, 1148 males (42%) and 780 females (38%) had a primary tumour. Among them, 162 subjects had cardiac metastases (8.4%) of all cancers), with a significant decrease in frequency in elderly patients. Mesothelioma, melanoma and lung cancer showed the highest frequency of heart involvement in males (100, 50 and 31%, respectively). Melanoma, lung tumours and renal neoplasms had the highest percentages of secondary heart lesions in females (45, 26 and 20%, respectively). In lung cancer, anaplastic small-cell carcinoma (37%) and adenocarcinoma (33%) showed the most frequent heart involvement in males, while squamous carcinoma (43%) and anaplastic small-cell carcinoma (29%) had the highest frequency of heart metastases in females. Adenocarcinoma (82%) and anaplastic small-cell carcinoma (74%) of the lung, mesothelioma (100%) and breast tumours (73%) had the highest frequency of metastases to the pericardium. A particularly high frequency of myocardial involvement was observed in squamous cell carcinoma of the lung (62%), urinary tract tumours (60%) and melanoma (45%).

Neoplastic and borderline lesions of the prostate: autopsy study and epidemiological data.

Early detection and management of prostatic cancer (PC) is an important public health problem in all industrialized countries, where the relative rate of the elderly population is rapidly increasing. We examined the epidemiology of PC in the province of Trieste, Italy and studied the relationship between prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia (PIN) and PC. The average annual incidence of PC was 99.3 per 100,000 (1,739 new prostatic cancer cases were histologically diagnosed at autopsy or in surgical specimens between 1980 and 1993). In patients over 85 years of age, the incidence rate was 1,209 per 100,000 compared with 64 per 100,000 in the 55-64 age group. Trends in PC incidence rates showed a significant increase among men under 64 years of age and those between 65-74 years. Survival analysis showed that 94% of the patients with well differentiated PC were alive at 5 years, compared with 80% and 40% of those with moderately differentiated and poorly differentiated cancer, respectively. We studied 130 whole autopsy prostates, 70 radical prostatectomies with carcinoma, 63 transurethral resections or adenomectomies without cancer from patients who later developed PC and 94 transurethral resections or adenomectomies from patients who did not develop PC. The 102 prostatic cases with cancer had a high rate of PIN, and the relative frequency of PIN 3 was high (almost 70%, versus almost 0% in benign prostates). In addition, the frequency of PIN was higher in benign prostates of patients who later developed PC (almost 50% of the cases) than in benign autopsy and surgical prostates. PIN was spatially associated with cancer in 75% of the cases. This study confirms the strong relationship between PIN and PC.