Enver Vardar

A Rare Tumour of the Breast: Carcinosarcoma

Carcinosarcoma of the breast, also known as metaplastic carcinoma, is rare with very few cases reported in the literature. A 46-year old female patient presented with a mass in her left breast. Physical examination, ultrasonography and mammography findings were consistent with malignancy. The mass was totally removed. Histopathological examination revealed carcinosarcoma of the breast. Histologic grade of the tumour was III. Ki67 proliferation index was found 40% positive. Tumour cells were positive for p53 (70% positive), c-erb-B2 (5% positive), pancytokeratin and EMA in carcinomatous areas, and vimentin in sarcomatous areas. There was no metastasis in axillary lymph node and distant metastasis. The patient is receiving chemotherapy and is under follow-up in the 54th month. Along with a review of the literature, we present the information regarding the clinical and histological findings and treatment of the patient who was operated due to breast carcinosarcoma. Keywords Breast; Carcinoma; Carcinosarcoma

Evaluation of p53 Nuclear Accumulation in Low- and High-Grade (WHO/ISUP Classification) Transitional Papillary Carcinomas of the Bladder for Tumor Recurrence and Progression

Objectives: To evaluate the association of p53 nuclear accumulation with recurrence and progression in transitional cell carcinomas of the bladder and to examine the distribution of p53 in low-grade and high-grade transitional cell carcinomas according to the World Health Organization/International Society of Urological Pathology classification. Patients and Methods: Nuclear accumulations of p53 were examined in a total of 99 patients with transitional cell carcinoma between May 1995 and October 1999. The mean age was 64 years. There were 94 (95%) men and 5 (5%) women. Following resection, surgical specimens were examined, and p53 accumulation with a 20% cutoff value was accepted as positive staining. Of the 99 patients, 52 (53%) had histologically superficial bladder tumors, and 47 (47%) had invasive tumors. Data concerning grade, stage, number of recurrences, and disease progression were available for each patient. Results: The median follow-up period was 55 months. 60 of the 99 patients (61%) had p53 overexpression. The difference for p53 overexpression between low-grade and high-grade tumors was significant (p < 0.05). In low- and high-grade tumors, there was no significant relationship for recurrence between p53-positive and p53-negative groups. But there was a statistically significant relationship between progression and histological grade of the tumors. p53 had no significant relationship with tumor recurrences (p > 0.05), but its relationship with progression was statistically significant (p < 0.05). Conclusions: We did not find a correlation between tumor recurrence and p53 overexpression, but p53 overexpression has a predictive value in determining tumor progression. High-grade tumors had higher p53-positive values than low-grade tumors. This group of patients should be considered for radical therapies on the basis of other prognostic parameters.

Primary Breast Lymphoma Cytologic Diagnosis

Primary non-Hodgkin lymphoma of the breast is a rare pathology, and bilateral involvement is exceptional. We report a case of bilateral primary non-Hodgkin lymphoma of the breast in a 40-year-old woman. Predominantly atypical lymphocytes and rare plasma cells were found in the microscopic evaluation of the fine-needle aspiration biopsy of the right and left breasts. Microscopic findings of the incisional biopsy of the left breast were in accordance with non-Hodgkin diffuse large B-cell lymphoma. The patient received systemic chemotherapy and is alive with no evidence of recurrence for 2 years.

Myointimoma of the glans penis

Myointimoma is a recently described benign tumor, which is regarded as a rare type of mesenchymal tumor of the penis. The present patient was a 50‐year‐old man who had a nodule located in the glans penis. He had a 2 month history of a mass. An excisional biopsy was performed. The histological findings revealed a multinodular tumor that was characterized by spindle‐shaped cells located in the intravascular area. This case, in addition to 11 cases reported in the literature, demonstrates that the myointimoma is frequently misdiagnosed on clinical and pathological grounds because of its rarity. Histological and immunohistochemical features are summarized on the basis of the present case and previously published reports.

Comparison of Gram stain and Pap smear procedures in the diagnosis of bacterial vaginosis.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to examine the characteristics of Gram stain versus Pap smear in diagnosis of bacterial vaginosis (BV). METHODS: One-thousand and sixty women were enrolled in this study. All cases with symptoms of BV were determined by Amsels criteria, which were accepted as the gold standard for diagnosis of BV. Pap smear and Gram stain evaluations were compared according to Amsels criteria, without viewing the clinical results of the patients. Gram stain and Pap smear results were determined as negative or positive according to Amsels criteria. Sensitivity, specifity and positive predictive values were calculated. RESULTS: After accepting the cases that were diagnosed as BV according to Amsels criteria as reference cases, the sensitivity of the Gram stain method was calculated as 97% and the sensitivity of the Pap smear method as 93%. Similar specificity rates were obtained with both methods in diagnosis of BV related to the clinical results. There were no statistically significant differences in diagnosis of BV between these two groups. CONCLUSION: If Amsels criteria are accepted as the gold standard for diagnosis of BV, Gram stain and Pap smear methods will give similar results in diagnosis.

The role of IgG4 (+) plasma cells in the association of Hashimoto's thyroiditis with papillary carcinoma.

Hashimotos thyroiditis (HT) is considered to be a risk factor for the formation of papillary carcinoma. The association of IgG4‐related sclerosing disease with tumor is reported to be as sporadic cases in many organs. In this study, it was intended to re‐classify the HT diagnosed cases on the basis of the existence of IgG4 (+) plasma cells; to investigate the clinicopathologic and histopathologic features of the both groups; and in addition, to evaluate the papillary carcinoma prevalence in IgG4 (+) and IgG4 (−) HT cases as well as the prognostic parameters between these groups. Totally 59 cases between the years 2008–2013, 29 of which contain Hashimoto thyroiditis diagnosis in total thyroidectomy materials, and 30 of which contain the diagnosis of HT+papillary carcinoma, were included in the study. The materials were immunohistochemically applied IgG and IgG4; and the cases were classified in two groups as IgG4‐positive HT and IgG4‐negative HT containing cases, on the basis of IgG4/IgG rate. All histopathologic and clinicopathologic parameters between these two groups, as well as their association with papillary carcinoma were investigated. Thirty eight (64.4%) of total 59 cases were NonIgG4 thyroiditis, and 21 (35.5%) were IgG4 thyroiditis. Tumors were detected in 14 (36.8%) of the NonIgG4 thyroiditis cases, and in 16 (76.1%) of the IgG4 thyroiditis cases. The association of IgG4 thyroiditis with tumor is statistically significant (p < 0.004). Multifocality was found to be at a higher rate in IgG4 thyroiditis cases. Perithyroidal extension was detected in six of the cases with tumor, and five of the six cases were IgG4 thyroiditis cases. The association of IgG4 (+) HT cases with increased papillary carcinoma prevalence is suggestive of that IgG4 (+) plasma cells can play a role in carcinogenesis in papillary carcinomas developed in HTs, without a chronic sclerosing ground. In addition, although the number of cases is limited, the high‐association of IgG4 (+) plasma cells with adverse prognostic parameters such as multifocality and extrathyroidal extension is attention‐grabbing. To render these possibilities evaluable, studies to be carried out with larger case series are needed.

The Prognostic Significance of FoxP3+ T Cells and CD8+ T Cells in Colorectal Carcinomas.

Recent studies report that tumor microenvironment effects prognosis of colorectal cancers. We analyzed the densities of FoxP3+ cells and CD8+ cells, the ratio of FoxP3+/CD8+ cells and the relationship between these parameters, clinicopathological features, and prognosis. A total of 186 colorectal adenocarcinoma were evaluated in terms of clinicopathological features. Immunohistochemically, densities of intratumoral (IT; IT-FoxP3) and nontumoral (NT; NT-FoxP3) FoxP3+ cells and IT-CD8 and NT-CD8 CD8+ cells were calculated. The ratio of Foxp3/CD8 was recorded. IT-FoxP3 and the ratio of IT-FoxP3/IT-CD8 were higher than NT-FoxP3 and the ratio of NT-FoxP3/NT-CD8, respectively. In multivariate analysis, high FoxP3+ cell density is the most important predictive marker after clinical stage and surgical margin positivity in disease-free survival and the most important predictive marker after clinical stage in overall survival (OS). Short OS time was correlated with clinical stage, decrease in IT-FoxP3, increasing age, number of metastatic lymph nodes, surgical margin positivity, satellite tumor nodule, medullary carcinoma, and the number of pericolorectal lymph nodes. The ratio of FoxP3/CD8 increased noticeably in the IT area, but no relationship was found with survival. The relationships of the cells with one another in the tumor microenvironment seem to have many secrets. Studies in large series supported by molecular techniques can illuminate those secrets to some extent.

Clinical features and outcomes of nontransitional cell carcinomas of the urinary bladder: Analysis of 125 cases

Objectives: The aim was to evaluate pathologic diagnosis, treatment and prognosis of 125 patients with nontransitional cell carcinoma of the urinary bladder. Materials and Methods: A total of 3590 patients with bladder tumors operated in our clinic between September 1998 and May 2013 were retrospectively evaluated. A total of 125 patients (107 men and 18 women) with nontransitional cell bladder cancer, confirmed by histopathology, were included in this study. The patients′ characteristics, including age, gender, smoking history, tumor size, and localization, histological types, pathological tumor stages, treatment modalities, and survival rates were all recorded. Results: Of these tumors, 47 (37.6%) were adenocarcinoma (AC), 42 (33.6%) were squamous cell carcinoma (SCC), 23 (18.4%) were undifferentiated carcinoma (UC), 13 (10.4%) were other types of bladder carcinoma. Sixty-three (50.4%) patients had undergone radical cystectomy and pelvic lymphadenectomy ± adjuvant treatment (chemotherapy [CT]/radiotherapy) and 52 (41.6%) patients received radiotherapy ± CT. The median survival time of patients with AC and SCC were significantly higher than patients with UC (AC vs UC, P = 0.001; SCC vs UC, P = 0.000; AC vs. SCC, P = 0.219). Median survival time was significantly higher in radical cystectomy ± adjuvant treatment group (P < 0.05) in all histological types. Conclusion: Prognosis of urinary bladder tumors was directly related to histological type and stage of the tumor. CT or radiotherapy has limited response rates. Early radical cystectomy should be performed to improve prognosis.

Histopathologic findings in breast reduction specimens

Abstract Reduction mammaplasty is a commonly performed operation for treatment of breast hypertrophy. It allows examination of specimens from a seemingly healthy population. Although there are many publications reporting the incidence of occult breast carcinomas, only a few studies have specifically examined the incidence of other breast lesions in reduction mammaplasty specimens. The authors conducted a single-centre retrospective chart review examining the incidence of benign and precancerous lesions in breast reduction specimens. Both age and the number of tissue sections were evaluated for the association with important pathologic findings. Of the 95 patients who underwent reduction mammaplasty, eight patients (8.4%) had atypical lesions. Fourteen patients (15%) had proliferative and 54 patients (57%) had non-proliferative breast lesions. No occult invasive breast cancer was identified in the breast reduction specimens. The existence of significant pathologic findings was not associated with age (p = 0.231, student t-test). On the other hand, it was found to be associated with the number of tissue sections (p = 0.046, Mann-Whitney U-test). This study reveals that breast reduction specimens should be analyzed histologically since a considerable amount of patients have breast lesions with increased cancer risk. Therefore, this analysis would guide the management of these patients in the follow-up period.

A Different Perspective on Macroscopic Sampling of Cholecystectomy Specimens

Background Because there may be interdepartmental differences in macroscopic sampling of cholecystectomy specimens, we aimed to investigate differences between the longitudinal sampling technique and our classical sampling technique in cholecystectomy specimens in which there was no obvious malignancy. Methods Six hundred eight cholecystectomy specimens that were collected between 2011 and 2012 were included in this study. The first group included 273 specimens for which one sample was taken from each of the fundus, body, and neck regions (our classical technique). The second group included 335 specimens for which samples taken from the neck region and lengthwise from the fundus toward the neck were placed together in one cassette (longitudinal sampling). The Pearson chi-square, Fisher exact, and ANOVA tests were used and differences were considered significant at p<.05. Results In the statistical analysis, although gallbladders in the first group were bigger, the average length of the samples taken in the second group was greater. Inflammatory cells, pyloric metaplasia, intestinal metaplasia, low grade dysplasia, and invasive carcinoma were seen more often in the second group. Conclusions In our study, the use of a longitudinal sampling technique enabled us to examine a longer mucosa and to detect more mucosal lesions than did our classical technique. Thus, longitudinal sampling can be an effective technique in detecting preinvasive lesions.