Epidemiological Trends for Childhood and Adolescent Cancers in the Period 1994-2016 in the Czech Republic.

BACKGROUND: Our study aimed to evaluate incidence and mortality trends for childhood and adolescent cancers in the period 1994-2016 in the Czech Republic. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Data on childhood cancers, which are recorded in the Czech National Cancer Registry, were validated using a clinical database of childhood cancer patients and combined with data from the National Register of Hospitalised Patients and with data from death certificates. These validated data were used to establish cancer incidence. Data from death certificates were used to evaluate long-term trends in mortality. Incidence and mortality trends were assessed by the average annual percentage change. RESULTS: The age-standardised incidence trend for childhood cancers (i.e. those diagnosed in patients aged 0-19 years) showed a statistically significant slight long-term increase in the number of new cases, +0.5% annually on average (p < 0.01), more specifically an increase of +0.6% in girls and a statistically insignificant decrease of 0.1% in boys. In children aged 0-14 years, other malignant epithelial neoplasms and malignant melanomas showed the largest statistically significant average annual increase in incidence (+4.9%; p < 0.01), followed by central nervous system neoplasms (+1.3%; p < 0.05). Lymphomas, by contrast, showed a statistically significant average annual decrease in incidence in children aged 0-14 years (2.1%; p < 0.01). In adolescents aged 15-19 years, other malignant epithelial neoplasms and malignant melanomas also showed a statistically significant average annual increase in incidence (+5.2%; p < 0.01), followed by central nervous system neoplasms (+1.5%; p < 0.05). Mortality trends showed a statistically significant long-term decrease: on average, 5.1% annually in children aged 0-14 years (p < 0.01), and 3.7% annually in adolescents aged 15-19 years (p < 0.01). CONCLUSION: Available data make it possible to analyse long-term trends in childhood cancer incidence and mortality.

Trends in incidence of childhood cancers in the Czech Republic: population- based analysis of national registries (1994-2014).

The purpose of this study is to summarize incidence and trends in the pediatric cancer burden in the Czech Republic over the period 1994-2014. The recently established Childhood Cancer Registry was combined with retrospective data from the Czech National Cancer Registry to analyze the annual patterns of incidence and long-term trends of pediatric cancer patients aged 0-14 years diagnosed between 1994 and 2014. Malignancies were classified according to the International Classification of Childhood Cancer. The distribution of incidence was stratified according to gender, age at diagnosis, type of cancer and geographic area. Annual age-standardized rates were adjusted using the world standard population. Changes over time were quantified as the average annual percentage change. This analysis comprised records of 5,605 children diagnosed with cancer within the period 1994-2014, annually 267 records on average; the overall age-standardized average annual incidence rate was 169 cases per million. Boys were affected more frequently than girls: the M/F crude incidence ratio was 1.2:1. The highest incidence rates were observed for ICCC groups I (27.8%), III (21.8%), II (12.4%) and IV (7.8%); other groups formed 30.2%. There are significant differences in the geographic distribution of incidence between regions. A borderline statistically significant increase (0.6%) in the overall average annual percentage change was detected between 1994 and 2014 (95% CI: 0.01 to 1.12; p = 0.05). This study provides reliable recent information on trends in the incidence of childhood cancers in the Czech Republic.

[Nephroblastoma -  30-years period of its treatment in the University Hospital Motol, Prague]. / Nefroblastom -  30 let lécby ve Fakultní nemocnici v Motole.

INTRODUCTION: Nephroblastoma (Wilms tumor - WT) is the most common solid tumor of kidney in children. We present treatment development of WT at the Department of Pediatric Hematology and Oncology, Charles University in Prague, 2nd Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Motol (KDHO) in the Czech Republic over 30 years. Patients that were treated prior to access to the International Society of Pediatric Oncology (SIOP) protocols are considered to be the historical group, then we have patients treated according to SIOP 9, SIOP 93-01 and SIOP 2001 protocols as full participants of SIOP studies. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Between January 1980 and April 2009, we treated 330 patients with WT at KDHO: 91 patients in historical group (1980-1988), 94 pts in SIOP 9 (1988-1993), 80 pts in SIOP 93-01 (1994-2001) and 65 pts in SIOP 2001 (2002-2009). Overall survival (OS) and event-free survival (EFS) were analyzed by Kaplan-Meier test. RESULTS: The overall ten-year EFS was 81.2% and OS 87.6%. Fifty-eight patients from the 330 (17.6%) had metastases at diagnosis, EFS without metastatic process was 84.6% compared to 65.4% with metastasis presented at diagnosis (p = 0.0003), OS was 70.7% compared to 91.2% (p < 0.0001). One hundred and seventy patients (51.5%) were treated with preoperative chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy, whereas 158 patients (47.5%) underwent primary nephrectomy; EFS and OS did not differ: neoadjuvant vs primary nephrectomy EFS was 81.2% vs 80.9% (p = 0.85), OS 89.4% vs 85.4% (p = 0.38). Sixty (18%) patients experienced disease recurrence; OS after relapse was 33%. In the historical group, EFS and OS were 85.7% and 91.2%. In patients treated according to the SIOP 9 protocol, EFS and OS were 68.1% and 74.5%, resp. In patients treated according to SIOP 93-01, it was 83.6% and 93.7%, resp. and in patients treated according to 87 SIOP 2001, it was 7% and 95.4% (p = 0.001 and p = 0.0008), resp. CONCLUSION: WT is a well treatable disease. The aim for the future is to maintain the current very good survival while minimizing the treatment intensity.

[Radical surgery and intensive chemotherapy are necessary for successful treatment of osteosarcoma]. / Radikální operacní výkon a intenzivní chemoterapie jsou podmínkou úspesné lécby osteosarkomu.

BACKGROUND: We evaluated the therapeutic results in 44 patients (17 girls and 27 boys) with osteosarcoma from 1997 to 2006.Their average age was 12.8 years (2.5-20.2). 41 patients had localised disease and 3 had primary metastases. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We treated our 44 patients using CCG 7921 POG 9351 INT 0133, the therapeutic protocol of the North American cooperative Children's Oncology Group.The median of the follow up was 5.5 years (2-11 years). RESULTS: 40 patients went into complete remission. 19 patients suffered relapses. Of these, 17 patients died - 15 progressed, 1 died due to treatment-related toxicity, 1 died due to secondary acute myeloid leukaemia. As a whole, the patients had a 5-year overall survival rate (OS) of 58.4% and a 5-year event free survival rate (EFS) of 46.7%. The patients with localised extremity osteosarcoma (n = 40) had a 5-year EFS rate of 51%. The patients with good histological response (n = 22) had a 5-year EFS rate of 63.6%, while patients with poor histological response (n = 18) achieved a 5-year EFS rate of 30.5% (p = 0.009). CONCLUSION: The results of treatment of patients with localised extremity osteosarcoma and patients with good histological response to preoperative treatment were very good. The prognosis of patients with axial localisation and metastatic involvement was poor.

[Clinical relevance of chromosomal aberrations in bone and soft tissue tumors in children and young adults]. / Klinický význam chromozomálních zmen u nádoru kostí a mekkých tkání detí a mladistvých.

BACKGROUND: We present the results of a cytogenetic and molecular cytogenetic analysis of a series of patients with bone and soft tissue tumors. PATIENTS ANDMETHODS: We analyzed a cohort of 26 patients with Ewing sarcoma/PNET, 15 patients with rhabdomyosarcoma, 5 with synovial sarcoma and one patient with an undifferentiated sarcoma using the cytogenetic and molecular cytogenetic techniques M-FISH and arrayCGH. RESULTS: We found nonrandom chromosomal structural and numerical changes with diagnostic and prognostic relevance in most patients. Eight patients with ES/PNET had only a t(11;22)(q24;q12), eight patients had secondary aberrations as well and six had only secondary aberrations. In the RMS patients we detected the t(1;13)(p36;q14) once and the t(2;13)(q35;q14) four times, both of them characteristic for the alveolar subtype with poor prognosis and numerical aberrations, characteristic for the embryonal subtype, in five patients. Four patients with synovial sarcoma had the diagnostic t(X;18)(p11.2;q11.2), one of them had a complex karyotype with a complex t(X;18;21) (p11.2;q11.2;q11.2) together with t(2;5)(q24-32;p13-14) and t(12;20)(p11;q13). We correlated the karyotype of cancer cells with histopathologic morphologic analysis, clinical outcome and foreign published results. CONCLUSION: Cytogenetic and molecular cytogenetic analysis is a valuable diagnostic tool in bone and soft tissue tumors, especially in less differentiated subtypes, and as such it should be an integral part of curative care.

[Treatment results of Langerhans cell histiocytosis with LSH II protocol]. / Výsledky lécby histiocytózy z Langerhansových bunek protokolem LCH II.

BACKGROUND: The aim of study was to evaluate outcome of international treatment protocol LCH II for children with Langerhans cell histiocytosis treated in FN Motol. METHODS AND RESULTS: Between November 1995 and December 2003, 46 children were treated, sex ratio M:F 29:17 and median age at diagnosis 6 years 8 months. 28 children (60.9%) suffered from monosystem disease with majority of bone lesions (23 times) with skull predominance (16 times). Surgery was primary treatment modality for monosystem disease. Five children with recurrence were successfully treated by protocol LCH II - LR (3x) and LCH III - LR /G2/, respectively. Eighteen children (39.1%) suffered from multisystem disease. 6 out of 18 patients were treated according to low-risk protocol LCH II - LR and 12 children by high-risk scheme LCH II - HR at the non-randomized branch included etoposide. Recurrence was revealed in 11 patients and 10 of them reached 2nd or 3rd complete remission (CR) by 2 - chlorodeoxyadenosine (CDA) monotherapy, and 1 child reached 2nd CR by LCH II - HR scheme. Two children underwent irradiation after bone lesion excision as well as 1 child as supplemental treatment. Totally, 29 children (63.0%) achieved 1st CR, 14 (30.4%) 2nd CR, 2 (4.4%) 3rd CR, and 1 child died because of LCH progression. There were no severe side effects of chemotherapy. Follow-up median time was 5 years 8 months (range 9 months - 9 years 6 months). CONCLUSIONS: LCH II protocol is safe and effective. Results revealed that treatment of patients with multisystem disease might demand some treatment modification.

A comparison of oral ondansetron syrup or intravenous ondansetron loading dose regimens given in combination with dexamethasone for the prevention of nausea and emesis in pediatric and adolescent patients receiving moderately/highly emetogenic chemotherapy.

This double-blind, parallel-group, multicenter study compared the efficacy and safety of intravenous (i.v.) ondansetron with oral syrup ondansetron plus oral dexamethasone in the prevention of nausea and emesis in pediatric patients receiving moderately/highly emetogenic chemotherapy. On each day of chemotherapy, patients were administered ondansetron 5 mg/m2 i.v. and placebo syrup orally (n = 215) or ondansetron 8 mg syrup orally and placebo i.v. (n = 223) plus dexamethasone 2-4 mg p.o. Ondansetron 4 mg syrup p.o. was administered twice daily for 2 days following the cessation of chemotherapy. Complete or major control of emesis was obtained in 89% patients in the i.v. group and 88% patients in the oral syrup group during the worst day of chemotherapy treatment (90% CI: -6, 4) and in 85% and 82% patients, respectively, during the worst day of the study period (90% CI: -8, 3). Intravenous or oral syrup ondansetron plus dexamethasone was well tolerated and effective in preventing chemotherapy-induced emesis in pediatric patients.

[Detection of minimal residual disease in Ewing's sarcoma using RT-PCR]. / Detekce minimální reziduální nemoci u Ewingova sarkomu pomocí RT-PCR.

BACKGROUND: More than 90% of Ewing's sarcomas (ES) contain a fusion of the EWS and FLI-1 genes, due to the t(11;22)(q23;q12) translocation. At the molecular level, the EWS-FLI-1 rearrangement shows great diversity. Specifically, many different combinations of exons from EWS-FLI-1 encode in-frame fusion transcripts and result in differences in length and composition of the chimeric protein, which function as an oncogenic aberrant transcription factor. The finding of this translocation gives evidence for the presence of ES cells. The aim of this prospective study was to verify applicability of the RT-PCR method for the detection of minimal residual disease in patients with ES. METHODS AND RESULTS: Conditions for the detection of Ewing's sarcoma cells by means of the reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) at fusion transcripts in peripheral blood, bone marrow (BM) and autologous hematopoietic stem cell grafts in patients with ES were appointed. 31 samples of BM, 5 samples of blood and 7 peripheral blood grafts obtained from 23 patients were investigated. Presence of tumor cells was identified in 7 BM samples from 7 different patients (31 samples from 16 patients), all the peripheral blood and graft samples were negative. CONCLUSIONS: The high sensitivity of RT-PCR method in detection of cells bearing t(11;22)(q23;q12) was demonstrated in the experimental model and clinical samples. Likewise the literary statements, the RT-PCR method was found to be more sensitive than cytology.

Treatment of children and adolescents with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (results based on the NHL Berlin-Frankfurt-Münster 90 protocols).

BACKGROUND: To determine the feasibility and results of treating children with non-Hodgkin's lymphomas (NHL) according to very intensive protocols based on the German Berlin Frankfurt Münster NHL 90 study. METHODS AND RESULTS: From 1991 until 1995 eighty two patients less than 18 years of age with NHL were admitted to our department. Sixty three of them were eligible for the study. The entire group consisted of 43 males and 20 females (ratio 2.1:1). Median age was 10 2/12 years. Eleven had stage I disease, 4 stage II, 29 stage III and 19 stage IV disease. Histologies represented were: large cell lymphoma 22, lymphoblastic lymphoma 19, and Burkitt lymphoma 10 patients. In 12 cases the immunophenotype was not further classified as to B-cell or T-cell subtype. Patients were stratified into the therapy groups "B" or "non B" according to histopathology, clinical stage and LDH level. Therapy for the B group consisted of 2, 4 or 6 courses of intensive 5 day pulses of 6 drugs. Patients in the non B group received the protocol for acute lymphoblastic leukemia including reinduction and CNS irradiation for advanced stages. At a median follow-up of 35 months the probability of event free survival (pEFS) at 5 years 70% and overall survival 73% for entire group. For therapy group B pEFS was 76%. The non B therapy group had a pEFS 60% (p = 0.22). There was a significantly better outcome for children classified as stage I and II. There was no statistical difference between stage III and IV. Treatment results were comparable between NHL subtypes, except for large cell lymphomas, which did significantly better (pEFS 90%). CONCLUSIONS: The use of protocols based on BFM 90 study in the Czech Republic was feasible. The pEFS are approximately 10% lower than the German study but comparable to some other studies. Outcome for large cell lymphomas was excellent. Reduction of treatment related complication and mortality rate as well as more precise classification are required.

[N-myc oncogene amplification in tumors of the sympathetic nervous system: preliminary study of methods and clinico-pathologic correlations]. / Amplifikace N-myc onkogenu u nádoru sympatického nervového systému: Predbezná studie s metodickým aspektem a klinickopatologickou korelací.

Tumors of the sympathetic nervous system (NT), namely neuroblastoma (NB) and ganglioneuroblastoma (GNB), have a variable clinical course. Prognostic factors include clinical stage, age of the patient, histological grade, and changes at the genomic level, of which amplification of N-myc oncogene is a well recognized phenomenon. The aim of this study was to establish the status of the N-myc oncogene in NT and to compare the results with histopathological grading, with risk groups according to criteria outlined by Joshi et al., and with the clinical stage. To detect the amplification of N-myc oncogene we used differential polymerase chain reaction (D-PCR). Amplified N-myc oncogene was found in 10 out of 31 investigated children with NB (32%). The result of D-PCR could not be interpreted reliably in two patients. Of seven children with GNB the N-myc amplification was found in one case. None of seven children with ganglioneuroma was found to have amplified N-myc oncogene. The tumors with N-myc amplification were histologically poorly differentiated of undifferentiated with a high mitotic activity-8 children were classified as a high risk category; in two we had not enough surgical material to evaluate the histological prognostic factors. The correlation of N-myc status with clinical stage revealed N-myc amplification in two of 9 children classified as clinical stage III, and in eight of 11 children classified as clinical stage IV. The N-myc amplification was not found in any child diagnosed at stage I, II and IV. Five of 10 children with NB and N-myc amplification died of the disease progression. Four children died in the group of 19 children without N-myc amplification. The median of follow-up was 18 months. The patient with GNB and N-myc amplification also died of the disease progression. Although the follow-up period of the investigated group of patients was short, the results showed that the amplification of N-myc oncogene was associated with tumors of patients diagnosed at a late clinical stage (III and IV), and with tumors whose morphology and age were assessed collectively under the term "high risk group".

History of pediatric hematology-oncology in the Czech Republic.

Specialized treatment for children with hematologic and oncologic diseases in the Czech Republic has a relatively short history. Dr. Josef Koutecky in 1964 was the first to organize the discipline of oncologic treatments and started a department that has since grown to include six other senior members. They treat over 250 new patients a year (approximately 150 malignant tumors) with an incidence similar to that in other European nations. Most are treated on cooperative group protocols with other centers in Europe and North America. Over 30 children also receive bone marrow transplants yearly from this group. Hematologic diseases including leukemia were first treated by D.r. O. Hrodek since the late 1950s in the Second Department of Pediatrics in Prague. Eight other centers in the Czech Republic besides Motol treat children with leukemia. Since 1985 they have followed the Berlin-Frankfurt-Münster (BFM) protocols for patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) and acute myeloblastic leukemia (AML). The Motol Hematology Section does about 20 transplants a year. New molecular biology laboratories in both sections aid the diagnosis and follow-up of the patients.

[Superficial epithelial-stromal ovarian tumors in girls]. / Povrchové epiteliálne-stromální nádory ovaria u dívek.

Superficial epithelial-stromal ovarian tumours are unusual in adolescent girls (when compared with adult women) and extremely rare before menarche. A group of 40 girls with such tumours was chosen among 180 cases (22%) of ovarian tumours in childhood and adolescent age. All of them were between 9 and 18 years with one exception of a 5-year old girl. Mucinous tumours (22 cases) prevailed a bit over the serous ones (16 cases), two tumours were seromucinous. 35 tumours were one sided, 5 bilateral belonged to serous tumours. One sided tumours comprised 5 cystadenomas, 5 cystadenofibromas and 1 borderline serous tumour. Bilateral neoplasms were represented by 3 serous cystadenofibromas, 1 borderline serous tumour and 1 serous cystadenocarcinoma. Mucinous tumours comprised 16 benign cystadenomas, 4 borderline intestinal type tumours (one with identifiable eosinophilic indifferent cells) and 2 mucinous intestinal type cystadenocarcinomas. Both mixed tumours had the structure of seromucinous cystadenoma.

Congenital-infantile fibrosarcoma: a clinicopathological study of five patients entered on the Prague children's tumor registry.

Five children with congenital-infantile fibrosarcoma are analyzed. The tumor was found at birth in four children: in one patient it was recognized at the age of 7 months. In three children the tumor affected the lower extremity. In one patient the inguinal region was the primary site, in another the abdominal wall. The morphology was that of a highly cellular spindle cell sarcoma with cells arranged in a fascicular pattern. Variations of this common pattern such as a cartwheel arrangement, and foci of small oval cells were observed. The immunohistochemistry revealed positivity of vimentin in four investigated tumors and muscle specific actin in three. Desmin, sarcomeric actin and myoglobin were all negative. There were scattered cells positive with KP1 (CD68), MAC 387, and in one case, with factor XIIIa antibodies which were considered to be reactive rather than tumor cells. The flow cytometry study showed DNA content in three tumors within diploid range; one tumor was hyperdiploid with the DNA index 1.2. Three children are disease-free from nine to 21 years after the diagnosis. One of them had the tumor preoperatively irradiated, and the subsequent histological examination revealed an almost complete tumor necrosis. In one patient there were six recurrences (treated by surgery only), and the child is well 25 months after the last recurrence. In one child the disease had an unusually aggressive course, and the patient died of widespread metastases to the lungs, lymph nodes and bones.

Gastrointestinal autonomic nerve tumor: a case report with electron microscopic and immunohistochemical analysis and review of the literature.

A case of an adolescent girl with metastatic gastric stromal tumor is described. There were three metastatic nodules in the liver at the time of the admission. A subtotal gastrectomy was performed. The tumor had distinctly nodular appearance and was composed of a variety of cells suggestive of smooth muscle differentiation. Electron microscopy revealed cytoplasmic neural processes and densecore neurosecretory granules. Immunohistochemistry showed positive neuron-specific enolase, synaptophysin, and chromogranin A in some of the tumor cells. Similar findings in the primary tumor and its liver metastases indicated a primitive neural differentiation and enabled us to classify the lesion as a gastric autonomic nerve tumor. No other tumors that would suggest that the gastric lesion is a part of Carney's triad were detected. The child was treated with chemotherapy but the liver metastases did not change significantly. She is alive with unresectable liver metastases 10 months after the gastrectomy.

Epithelioid sarcoma in childhood: An immunohistochemical, electron microscopic, and clinicopathologic study of 11 cases under 15 years of age and review of the literature.

Epithelioid sarcoma in a rare tumor and most of the cases occur in young adults. It is rare in childhood. We have been able to obtain data and histologic material for 11 patients with this disease. The primary sites were head and neck in three patients, inguinal region in one, and extremities in seven. The age range of the patients was 12 weeks to 13 years. There was a preponderance of males over females with a ratio of 1.75. The tumors presented with a typical nodular necrotizing pattern. In three cases giant osteoclast-like cells were present. The immunohistochemistry and electron microscopy showed features consistent with previous observations on epithelioid sarcomas. In one case islands of small dark cells noted on light microscopy were surrounded by basal lamina on electron microscopy. The cells inside the nests were undifferentiated. Six tumors studied by flow cytometry were in DNA diploid range. On follow-up, five children are alive and well 2 to 7 years after treatment. Three children died of tumor progression with metastases to lymph nodes and lungs. One child had been diagnosed only recently, and in one the disease has run a protractive course with multiple recurrences. The behavior of these epithelioid sarcomas in children is similar to that seen in adults, the prognosis being dependent on radical tumor surgery preventing recurrent disease. Long-term follow-up is necessary because the tumor may recur many years after the primary tumor was removed.

[Surgical methods in the treatment of retroperitoneal neuroblastoma]. / Chirurgická taktika v lécbe neuroblastomu retroperitonea.

The authors submit their experience with the surgical treatment of retroperitoneal neuroblastoma, which is one of the most frequent solid tumours of child age. They describe the principles of the surgical technique with emphasis on radical removal of the tumour even in the area of large blood vessels. They emphasize the advantage of using an ultrasonic surgical aspirator (CUSA, Valleylab Co., Pfizer) which makes it possible to remove residues of the tumour without damaging the large blood vessels. During the period between 1987-1992 they treated at the Motol Faculty Hospital 69 children with retroperitoneal neuroblastoma. Of these 60 were operated. In the first stage of the disease 9 patients were operated, all survive. In the second stage 4 patients were operated, 75% survive, in the third stage 24 patients 50% survive, in the fourth stage 20 of 29 patients were operated and 11 (38%) survive. In stage IV--S three patients were operated, one survives. The total survival of patients during the investigation period is 52%.

[Juvenile granulosa cell tumor with subsequent occurrence of gastrointestinal polyposis, subcutaneous lipomatosis and nodular goiter]. / Juvenilní nádor z bunek granulózy s následným výskytem polypózy zazívacího traktu, subkutánní lipomatózy a nodózí strumy.

A juvenile tumour from granulosa cells (M-8622/1), 13 x 8 x 6 cm, in the right ovary in a three-month-old girl produced some symptoms of pseudopubertas praecox isosexualis which disappeared after operation. Microscopic examination of the tumour revealed in addition to typical structures a less common differentiation to Sertoli cells. Despite actinotherapy and chemotherapy one and a half years after the onset of the disease X-ray examination revealed metastases in the lungs which were successfully cured by further doses of the above two types of treatment. Between the age of 6 and 15 years the girl developed successively polyposis of the stomach, small and large intestine (M-7564/0), subcutaneous lipomatosis of the trunk and left lower extremity (M-8881/0) and nodular goitre (M-7164/0), predominantly quiescent. In the literature a connection between gonadal stromal ovarian tumours and mesenchymal tumours, intestinal polyposis and disorders of the thyroid gland is described, but in different patients. The authors' observation is unique by the successive incidence of these changes in a single patient surviving 15 years after operation; and thus genetically conditioned associations could be involved.

[Fibromatoses and related disorders in childhood]. / Fibromatózy a príbuzné afekce v detském veku.

A retrospective study of fibromatoses and related diseases was performed on a series of 34 children. Aggressive forms of fibromatoses similar to those in adults as well as typical forms of childhood fibromatoses and fibrous proliferations, such as sternocleidomastoid tumor, infantile myofibromatosis, digital fibromatosis and fibrous hamartoma were observed. Immunohistochemistry revealed muscle specific actin in eleven out of 13 cases, including hyaline cytoplasmic inclusions in digital fibromatosis. In two patients with infantile myofibromatosis a coexpression of actin and desmin was found. One of two cases of infantile type of aggressive fibromatosis was weakly actin positive whereas the other was negative. This result suggests poorly differentiated character of cells in infantile fibromatosis. Clinicopathologic correlation showed that extraabdominal fibromatoses had a strong propensity for local recurrence. Multiple lesions affecting different muscle groups were diagnosed in two boys. Abdominal fibromatosis affected two girls and two boys, in contrast to adult forms which occur exclusively in women.

[Tumors of the peripheral sympathetic nervous system in childhood. Immunohistochemical study]. / Nádory periferního sympatiku detského veku. Imunohistochemická studie.

Twenty tumors of the peripheral sympathetic nervous system were investigated using a spectrum of antibodies against vimentin, neurofilament triplet, S-100 protein, neuronal specific enolase (NSE), chromogranin, synaptophysin, and vasoactive intestinal polypeptide. There were two ganglioneuromas, seven stroma rich neuroblastomas (composite ganglioneuroblastomas), five undifferentiated and six differentiating stroma poor neuroblastomas (NB) included in the series. Formalin-fixed, paraffin embedded material was used. The results showed that reactivity of the antibodies was relatively high, except the reactivity against synaptophysin. The tumor cell population showed a heterogeneous positivity in all cases. Only some undifferentiated NB were positive with the employed antibodies, which reduces the diagnostic benefit in a group of NB in which diagnostic demands of the immunohistochemistry are most important. The best results in undifferentiated NB were obtained with polyclonal antibody against NSE. This antibody is, however, not specific. Positive results of the immunohistochemistry in this group of tumors should be evaluated with caution.