Malignant mixed mullerian tumor: an immunohistochemical study

Challenges in diagnosis and treatment: a case report on a mixed malignant Müllerian tumor

Mixed malignant Müllerian tumors (MMMTs) are rare and aggressive neoplasms made up of both carcinomatous and sarcomatous components that primarily appear in the female reproductive tract. The cellular origin of this malignancy has eluded advancements in molecular and immunohistochemical techniques contributing to the limited diagnostic and therapeutic strategies. This case report presents a 41-year-old female with a history of abnormal uterine bleeding and dysmenorrhea who was later diagnosed with an MMMT. This case highlights the importance of considering MMMTs in patients with a long-standing history of abnormal uterine bleeding because the prompt recognition and diagnosis of this condition may lead to an improved overall survival for these patients.

Immunohistochemical expression of glypican 3 in endometrial carcinoma and correlation with prognostic parameters

BACKGROUND

Carcinogenesis is associated with several critical regulatory molecules which are involved in different signaling pathways such as the WNT signaling pathways. Among which the β-catenin dependent pathway has been associated with human endometrial cancer. Genetic and biochemical studies have demonstrated that glypicans can regulate several signaling pathways including those triggered by Wnts. Glypican 3 is one of six mammalian members of the glypican family of proteoglycans. Overexpression of glypican 3 has been reported in some types of cancers but only few data are available about its expression in endometrial carcinoma and its role in endometrial carcinogenesis. The aim of this study was to examine the immunohistochemical expression of glypican 3 in endometrioid endometrial carcinoma (EEC) and serous endometrial carcinoma (SEC), and to correlate its expression with prognostic factors of endometrial carcinoma.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Immunohistochemical expression of glypican 3 was studied in fifty two EEC and nineteen SEC cases.

RESULTS

Glypican 3 expression showed a significant difference between EEC and SEC (P = 0.027) and it was significantly correlated with tumor grade, stage and myometrial invasion (P = 0.001).

CONCLUSION

Glypican 3 expression can be used as an adjunct in the differentiation between EEC and SEC. Glypican 3 is associated with poor prognostic parameters in both EEC and SEC, and it can be a promising molecule for targeted immunotherapy in positive cases.

Discovery and diagnostic value of a novel oncofetal protein: glypican 3

Glypican 3 is a membrane-bound heparan sulfate proteoglycan, which has recently been identified as a marker for liver cancer and germ cell malignancies. Individuals with loss-of-function mutations for the glypican 3 gene exhibit Simpson-Golabi-Behmel syndrome, a rare X-linked overgrowth disorder. Expression of glypican 3 mRNA and protein is normally silenced in most adult organs and may reappear during malignant transformation. In the past few years, immunohistochemical and molecular characteristics of glypican 3 in hepatocellular carcinoma have been elucidated. More recently, glypican 3 has been emerging as a new diagnostic marker for germ cell tumors and especially testicular and ovarian yolk sac tumors. However, in other tumors such as renal cell carcinomas, squamous cell carcinomas, and melanomas, studies disagree on the level of glypican 3 expression. Finally, there is the controversial notion of glypican 3 as a tumor suppressor gene. In this review article, we update current knowledge on glypican 3 expression in normal and neoplastic tissues, evaluate its utility as a tumor marker in clinical practice, and explore its role as a novel oncofetal protein with clinical implications. Our focus is on the diagnostic value of glypican 3 in germ cell tumors and other neoplasms in addition to hepatocellular carcinoma. In conclusion, glypican 3 has been proven to be a useful immunohistochemical marker in distinguishing yolk sac tumors, choriocarcinomas, and Wilms tumors from other malignancies histologically mimicking these primitive tumors. Clinically, we recommend that glypican 3 be used as part of a panel of markers in subtyping testicular germ cell tumors.

Proceedings of the 2013 National Toxicology Program Satellite Symposium

The 2013 annual National Toxicology Program (NTP) Satellite Symposium, entitled "Pathology Potpourri," was held in Portland, Oregon, in advance of the Society of Toxicologic Pathology's 32nd annual meeting. The goal of the NTP Symposium is to present current diagnostic pathology or nomenclature issues to the toxicologic pathology community. This article presents summaries of the speakers' presentations, including diagnostic or nomenclature issues that were presented, along with select images that were used for audience voting and discussion. Some lesions and topics covered during the symposium included a caudal tail vertebra duplication in mice; nephroblastematosis in rats; ectopic C cell tumor in a hamster; granular cell aggregates/tumor in the uterus of a hamster; Pneumocystis carinii in the lung of a rat; iatrogenic chronic inflammation in the lungs of control rats; hepatoblastoma arising within an adenoma in a mouse; humoral hypercalcemia of benignancy in a transgenic mouse; acetaminophen-induced hepatotoxicity in rats; electron microscopy images of iatrogenic intraerythrocytic inclusions in transgenic mice; questionable hepatocellular degeneration/cell death/artifact in rats; atypical endometrial hyperplasia in rats; malignant mixed Müllerian tumors/carcinosarcomas in rats; differential diagnoses of proliferative lesions of the intestine of rodents; and finally obstructive nephropathy caused by melamine poisoning in a rat.