Hideo Ishige

Coexistence of adenocarcinoma and choriocarcinoma in the sigmoid colon.

A rare case of a colon carcinoma that developed in a 50‐year‐old woman is documented. Histologically, the removed tumor was composed of two distinctive elements, i.e., well‐differentiated papillary adenocarcinoma and choriocarcinoma. It was strongly suggested that the latter malignancy derived from the pre‐existing colonic carcinoma through metaplastic proliferation. A very high human chorionic gonadotropin level was noted in the patienťs serum obtained at the preoperative stage. Autopsy materials revealed that metastatic foci in the liver, lungs, and lymph nodes were exclusively composed of choriocarcinoma.

Hepatocellular carcinoma with rhabdomyoblastic differentiation

An extremely unique case of a liver tumor occurring in a 70‐year‐old man is documented in this article. The primary tumor was well encapsulated by a thick, connective capsule and was histologically composed of two distinct elements, i.e., a common hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and a rhabdomyosarcoma. Metastasis of HCC was only seen in the left adrenal gland, whereas intrahepatic metastatic foci as well as tumor thrombi occluding the portal vein branches were composed exclusively of rhabdomyosarcoma. The possibility that the rhabdomyoblastic component might have come from the preexisting HCC by way of metaplastic proliferation is discussed.

A newly established human gestational choriocarcinoma cell line and its characterization

The cell biological characteristics of a newly established human gestational choriocarcinoma cell line, HM, were examined and compared with four other gestational and two nongestational choriocarcinoma cell lines. Striking heterogeneity in the production and secretion of hCG and its subunits was observed among the cell lines. The HM cell line consisted mainly of cytotrophoblast-like cells, and the hCG and its subunit values in both the cells and culture fluid were extremely low. The syncytiotrophoblast-like multinucleated giant cells which were occasionally seen in other cell lines were scarce in the HM cell line in vitro. On the other hand, deviation of the LDH isozyme pattern to the heart-type (LDH1) was characteristic of the HM cells in contrast to the other cell lines in which LDH3 was dominant. The HM cell line represents useful material for investigating the cell biological heterogeneity of human choriocarcinomas.

Possible new markers in trophoblastic diseases

partum. This brought on strong clinical characteristics of second-stage labor but had no effect on body temperature. Because the results were negative, we did not repeat this procedure on the other two monkeys. Goodlin and Chapin* have described similar temperature declines in women during labor, but, unlike women who experience “nervous” or painful labor, our monkeys showed no signs of hyperventilation during uterine contractions. However, cage temperature recordings from the present study suggest that the maternal decrease in temperature during labor represents increased maternal heat loss, as was postulated by Goodlin and Chapin.’

Establishment and properties of a human choriocarcinoma cell line of ovarian origin

SummaryA human nongestational choriocarcinoma cell line of ovarian origin (IMa) was established in vitro. This cell line had been subcultured serially more than 22 times over 18 months. Small polygonal cells with a prominent nucleus were dominant and a sparsity of cytoplasmic organelles was an ultrastructural characteristic of the IMa cells. The production and secretion of human chorionic gonadotropin and its subunits were identified by radioimmunoassay. The IMa cells were transplantable in the hamster cheek pouch and the histological diagnosis was choriocarcinoma. A newly established ovarian choriocarcinoma cell line can be considered useful for clarifying the biological differences between nongestational and gestational choriocarcinoma cells.

An Unusual Case Involving the Spleen and Lymph Nodes

A case of peliosis hepatis in a 52‐year old woman with unusual involvement of the spleen and lymph nodes is described. The initial sign was intraperitoneal hemorrhage from the splenic lesion, recessitating splenectomy. The hepatic lesion, which was first noticed during the operation, rapidly progressed and eventually resulted in hepatic rupture with fatal intraperitoneal hemorrhage. Serial sections treated by silver impregnation revealed degeneration and dissolution of the fine reticulin framework in the involved organs, suggesting the possible morphogenesis of the peliotic lesion. The patient had no history of any underlying disorders or of medication with steroids. Acta Pathol. Jpn. 32: 212∼215, 1989.

Effects of human interferons on human choriocarcinoma cells in vitro and in vivo

Three kinds of human choriocarcinoma cell lines (BeWo, HCCM-5, and NUC-1) were used for examining the antiviral and antiproliferative activities of human interferons (IFNs) in vitro and in vivo. All of the cell lines showed only low sensitivity to the antiviral action of every IFN-alpha, IFN-beta, and IFN-gamma against vesicular stomatitis virus infection. However, 2-5A synthetase was normally induced by IFN-alpha in all of the cell lines. The [3H]thymidine incorporation of both BeWo and HCCM-5 cells was suppressed in dose-dependent manner at 48 hr after treatment with 1 to 1,000 units (U)/ml of IFN-alpha or IFN-beta and the growth of them was also slightly inhibited when treated continuously with 1,000 U/ml for 6 days in vitro. Another cell line NUC-1 was the least sensitive to these IFNs among the three cell lines. IFN-gamma did not show any antiproliferative effect on these cell lines. The intraperitoneal administration of 5000 or 10,000 U of IFN-beta suppressed the growth of xenografts developed in hamster cheek pouches and subcutis of nude mice when its administration was initiated on the first day of cell inoculation. These results indicate that although some heterogeneities exist among the cell lines choriocarcinoma cells are weakly sensitive to the antiproliferative activity of human IFNs.

In vitro and in vivo studies of the production of placental proteins (HCG, SP1, PPs) in human choriocarcinoma cell lines

SummaryThe production of human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG), pregnancy-specific beta-1 glycoprotein (SP1), and the various placental tissue proteins (PP4, PP5, PP10, PP11, PP12, MP1) was examined in human choriocarcinoma cell lines using radioimmunoassay (RIA) and an immunoperoxidase (PAP) staining method. In 6 gestational and 2 nongestational choriocarcinoma cell lines, hCG was produced in vitro. A significant heterogeneity of hCG production was noted among the cell lines. Production of hCG in the xenograft tumors was consistent with the hCG production of the same cell lines in vitro. SP1 was demonstrated both in the culture supermatants and the xenograft tumors of 3 cell lines, and the production was found to be inversely correlated with the hCG production of the cell lines. Positive staining for PP4 and MP1, and weakly positive staining for PP5, PP10, and PP12 was found in the xenograft tumors by immunoperoxidase (PAP) stain, but the staining for PP11 was negative. These placental proteins showed positive staining in portions of choriocarcinoma cells. These results indicate that placental proteins are not equally produced in heterogeneous choriocarcinoma cells.

Lobular involvement in human breast carcinoma.

One hundred twenty‐nine cases of breast carcinoma were examined in order to clarify the occurrence of lobular involvement with regard to stromal invasion. Lobular involvement was clearly recognized in 56 cases (43%) having discernible portions of intraductal carcinoma components. The process of lobular involvement was first recognizable as an extension of a few carcinoma cells from intralobular ducts into the acinar lumina. Progressive accumulation of the carcinoma cells resulted in marked swelling and distortion of the involved lobules. During the process, perilobular myoepithelial cells (actin positive cells) were stretched and disappeared. Subsequently, breaks in the basement membranes were also observed, resulting in stromal invasion of carcinoma cells. The lobular involvement was classified into common and round varieties, possibly reflecting different growth activities of the carcinoma cells. The stromal invasion was initiated by peripheral budding or focal necrosis of the involved lobules. The latter pattern was often observed in comedo carcinoma. It was thus revealed that in breast carcinomas the terminal ductal‐lobular units are quite often involved and can become sites of extraductal invasion.

Lobular involvement: prognostic indicator for invasive ductal carcinoma of the breast.

One of the striking microscopic appearances of breast carcinoma is malignant transformation of the epithelium of an entire lobule, although the lobular architecture is still preserved. We termed this pathological feature ‘lobular involvement’. An investigation was carried out to determine whether lobular involvement would be a useful prognostic indicator for invasive ductal carcinoma. One hundred and fifty cases of invasive ductal carcinoma were included in this study. The lobular involvement, as well as the conventional prognostic factors, was evaluated to find out the correlation with the overall and relapse‐free survivals by univariate and multivariate analyses. The lobular involvement was identified in 31 of 150 patients (20.6%). Of the patients with lobular involvement, two had experienced recurrence (6.5%) and one had died (3.2%). The lobular involvement and lymph node metastases were significantly and independently correlated with the overall and relapse‐free survivals. The presence of lobular involvement was statistically correlated with the favorable outcome. Lobular involvement can be assumed as a new prognostic indicator for invasive ductal carcinoma.