HER2 status in advanced gastric carcinoma: A retrospective multicentric analysis from Sicily.

According to the ToGA trial, HER2 has been shown to be predictive for the success of treatment with trastuzumab in advanced gastric cancer (AGC). A number of studies have analyzed HER-2/neu overexpression in gastric carcinoma and identified the rate of HER2 positivity to be markedly varied. To date, the prevalence of HER2 overexpression in Sicilian people with AGC is unknown. Therefore, in the present study, a retrospective immunohistochemical analysis of HER2 was performed in a cohort of 304 AGC samples that were obtained from the archives of 10 Sicilian anatomopathological diagnostic units in order to verify the positive rate of HER2-positive cases. Furthermore, the characteristics of histotype, grade, stage and Ki-67 expression were also analyzed. HER2 overexpression was encountered in 17.43% of all the gastric adenocarcinomas, which was consistent with the results that have been reported elsewhere in the literature. A progressive increase in HER2 overexpression was observed, from the poorly cohesive histotype to the tubular adenocarcinomas and gastric hepatoid adenocarcinomas. HER2 overexpression was significantly associated with a high grade, advanced stage and high Ki-67 labeling index. Further investigations performed jointly by pathologists and oncologists within the geographical area of the present study should confirm that the association of trastuzumab with chemotherapy results in an improvement of survival in patients with AGC.

Cutaneous angiosarcoma of the face.

Cutaneous angiosarcoma is a rare tumour of vascular origin, which has a poor prognosis because of its high potential for metastasis. We report the case of a 57-year-old man with an 8-month history of a progressively enlarging, asymptomatic red patch over the left periorbital region of the face, previously diagnosed as angiolupoid leishmaniasis, insect-bites, 'cellulitis' and treated with several topical antibiotic and steroid therapy, without any improvement. A skin biopsy of the lesion was performed and histological and immunohistochemical examination revealed a pattern of poorly differentiated angiosarcoma. The peculiarity of the localization at the periorbital area and the particular clinical presentation are emphasized.

Pretibial myxoedema associated with Hashimoto's thyroiditis.

Pretibial myxoedema is a cutaneous mucinosis typically associated with Graves' disease, although it may also develop in subjects with non-thyrotoxic thyroid pathologies. This report presents a rare case of pretibial myxoedema occurring in a 58-year-old woman with biopsy-proven Hashimoto's thyroiditis. The hypothetical pathogenetic link between the two disorders is discussed with particular attention to the role of thyroid stimulating hormone receptor antibodies.