Correlation between the Expression of PD-L1 and Clinicopathological Parameters in Triple Negative Breast Cancer Patients.

OBJECTIVE: Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is a heterogenous group of tumors with no estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PR) and Cerb-B2/HER2 expression. Programmed death ligand-1 (PD-L1) is a transmembrane protein located on both non-tumor and tumor cells and it has been shown to be associated with the escape of tumor cells from the immune system. PD-L1-targeted therapy alone or in combination is now an alternative strategy in several aggressive tumor types. In this respect, TNBC is a potential candidate having limited treatment options and poor outcome. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Sixty-one breast cancers with no expression of ER, PR and Cerb-B2/HER2 were chosen to study PD-L1 immunohistochemistry. PD-L1 staining and its correlation with main clinicopathological parameters were evaluated. RESULTS: The percentage of PD-L1 positivity was 37.7% and 47.5% in tumor and tumor microenvironment, respectively. The positivity rate was higher in breast carcinomas with medullary features (83.3%) and metaplastic carcinoma (66.6%) subgroups. PD-L1 expression of tumors was positively correlated with their Ki-67 score and PD-L1 positivity of the tumor microenvironment. No significant relationship was found between the other variables. CONCLUSION: PD-L1 expression rate was remarkable both in the tumor and the tumor microenvironment of TNBCs. Larger cohorts of TNBC are required to further describe their PD-L1 expression characteristics and help standardize PD-L1 immunohistochemistry assays in these tumors.

Comparison of Monitor-Image and Printout-Image Methods in Ki-67 Scoring of Gastroenteropancreatic Neuroendocrine Tumors.

Gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (GEP-NET) are classified according to tumor grade. Ki-67 and mitotic count are the two determinants of this classification. Therefore, Ki-67 scoring becomes very important in classifying the patients accurately. Eye-balling, counting of cells through the microscope, automated image analysis systems, and manual counting of printed image are the four major scoring methods in use. The aim of this study is to show the agreement between monitor-image method (MIM) and printout-image method (PIM) of Ki-67 scoring. In our study, 120 GEP-NETs from 85 patients diagnosed between January 2005 and July 2017 were evaluated. Thirty-seven cases with either polypectomy or resection material were selected. Seven different scoring methods using either a monitor-image or a printout-image were applied for Ki-67 scoring. They are as follows: whole-PIM, 1/9-PIM, whole-MIM, 1/4-MIM, 1/6-MIM, 1/9-MIM, and 1/12-MIM. In the comparison of Ki-67 scoring methods, intraclass correlation coefficients ranging from 0.951 to 0.999 were found. The Bland-Altman analysis showed near-perfect agreement between whole-MIM and whole-PIM as well as 1/9-MIM and 1/9-PIM. The level of agreements among the other methods were sufficient too, but there was a relative decrease in the level of agreement as the area of counting becomes smaller. The average application time decreased from 373.7 to 41.7 s gradually as the scoring area becomes smaller. Our study shows that there is a remarkable agreement between the MIM and PIM used in Ki-67 scoring.

Nonneoplastic Lesions of the Pancreas: A Retrospective Analysis of 20 Cases.

OBJECTIVES: In the pancreatic lesion cases, surgery is often planned based only on imaging results and without a preoperative histological diagnosis, due to the high risk of malignancy in combination with the difficulty of invasive interventions and limited cytopathological evaluation. In this study, the records of 20 patients who had undergone a pancreatectomy procedure and who were diagnosed with nonneoplastic pancreatic lesions were retrospectively evaluated according to the clinical and histopathological findings. METHODS: A total of 122 cases of patients who underwent a pancreatectomy with suspicious lesions between 2004 and 2016 were retrospectively assessed in detail using the clinical and histopathological findings. RESULTS: Nonneoplastic lesions were observed in 20 (16%) of 122 patients who underwent a pancreatectomy. Histopathological examination revealed 11 cases of chronic pancreatitis, 1 hematoma, 1 instance of hemorrhagic necrosis secondary to trauma, 1 pseudocyst, 1 granulation tissue, 1 retention cyst, 1 bile duct cyst, 1 patient with Castleman disease, and 1 instance of fat necrosis were seen. In 1 patient, no evidence of disease was found. In addition, among the patients with chronic pancreatitis, autoimmune pancreatitis was observed in 1, adenomyoma of the ampulla of Vater was present in 1, and a pseudocyst was found in 1 patient. CONCLUSION: A clinical and histopathological analysis of nonneoplastic lesions found in pancreatectomy patients was performed.

Primary Pure Uterine Lipoma: A Report of two Cases and Review of the Literature.

Pure uterine lipomas are rare diagnoses despite lipoma being a common entity. The histogenesis of these lesions remains unknown, and its clinical symptoms are similar to those of uterine leiomyomas. In this report, two cases of uterine lipomas were presented with their histopathological and clinical aspects.