Chronic Japanese schistosomiasis and hepatocellular carcinoma: ten years of follow-up in Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan.

In a preliminary study carried out in the study area we found that 19.1% (173/907) of patients with chronic liver disease and 51% (35/68) of hepatocellular carcinoma cases were infected with Japanese schistosomiasis. Analysis of data from 571 autopsies revealed a similarly high incidence of schistosomiasis among cases of hepatoma and other liver diseases. A prospective case-control study conducted over 10 years showed that hepatoma developed in 5.4% (26/484) of chronic schistosomiasis cases and in 7.5% (23/307) of patients with chronic liver disease (hepatitis, cirrhosis, etc). The difference was not statistically significant (P = 0.228). A high incidence of hepatitis C virus (HCV) antibody (HCVAb) was found in the schistosomiasis group (36.5%; 95% CI = 44.9-28.1%) and in the chronic liver disease group (56.0%), 39% of whom had chronic hepatitis (P = 0.028). Various factors that might have contributed to the development of hepatoma and schistosomiasis were investigated, but no evidence of a significant correlation between schistosomiasis and hepatoma was found. The high incidence of HCVAb was considered to have been responsible for the development of hepatocellular carcinoma in chronic schistosomiasis patients. The role of HBV infection in the development of hepatoma in schistosomiasis patients was not confirmed after an assay for HCVAb was included in the study.

Fine needle aspiration cytology of an intraductal papilloma originating in a sublingual gland. A case report.

BACKGROUND: Intraductal papilloma of the salivary gland is a very rare tumor; only eight cases have been reported to date. Only histopathology has been used to investigate this tumor to our knowledge. There has not been any reported case of this tumor in a sublingual gland. CASE: A 3-cm oral floor mass with a lanulalike lesion in a 72-year-old female was aspirated. The cytologic features included various cellular smears containing compact clusters of papillary, radial, palisading, trabecular, tubular and buddinglike projected patterns; monomorphic columnar cells with oval-to-spindle nuclei basally located; abundant, finely vacuolar cytoplasm; indistinct nucleoli; and no squamous differentiated cells. A sublingual glandectomy was performed. Cytology, histology, immunohistochemistry and electron microscopy were performed with standard methods. The intraductal papilloma seems to have arisen within an excretory duct and differentiated into acinar cells. CONCLUSION: The cytologic findings of intraductal papilloma are unique and may allow its specific diagnosis on fine needle aspiration.

[Prognostic analysis of malignant peritoneal effusions from gastric cancer].

The prognosis of 135 cases with malignant peritoneal effusion from gastric cancer was analyzed clinically and cytologically. The histologic type of the primary gastric cancer or therapeutic differences had no significant influence on the prognosis. Previous gastrectomy or absence of distant metastases had no marked effect on survival. The formation of large clusters of cancer cells on smear preparations of peritoneal effusion was interpreted as a sign of good prognosis. The cancer cell number and the presence of lymphocytes on smear preparations bore no relationship to prognosis.

Studies on cytologic characteristics of mammary aspiration smears based on histologic types.

Cytologic findings of aspiration smears from 146 histologically confirmed mammary were analyzed in this paper. High cellularity, dispersal of cells in the smears and enlarged nuclei of more than 20 mu in major axis were considered to be useful key points to distinguish carcinoma from benign lesions. Irregular piling, variable nuclear shape, cellular fusion and cytoplasmic inclusions were other common findings in cancer specimens and were scarcely noticed in benign cases. However, in some papillotubular carcinomas the above mentioned characteristics were not so dominant. Scirrhous carcinomas sometimes presented small nuclei in the smears. In some fibroadenomas, the smears were occasionally very cellular and revealed dipersal of cells.

Cytologic studies on so-called atypical epithelium of the protuberant lesions in the stomach.

Cytologic studies based on the observation of 32 atypical epithelial growths from 31 patients revealed the following characteristics: (1) The nuclei were usually elongated. The mean size of the major axis of the nuclei was most frequently distributed in the range of from 14 to 17mu while the mean size of the minor axis was between 6 and 10mu. (2) The chromatins of the nuclei were fine and showed even to somewhat dense distribution. The nucleolus was inconspicuous. (3) The cells were heaped together. A cellular aggregation was clearly composed of smaller groups of cells in which the polarity of nuclear arrangement was well preserved. Some cells at the periphery of a cellular aggregation were arranged radially toward the outside. The cells were usually cohesive, but in severe grade of atypism, they sometimes showed a scattering tendency. (4) The cells of atypical epithelium seemed to be very insensitive to radiation, compared with carcinoma cells of the stomach.