Association of multiple vertebral hemangiomas and severe paraparesis in a patient with aPTENhamartoma tumor syndrome

Neuroimaging abnormalities in patients with Cowden syndrome: Retrospective single-center study

Background

We retrospectively reviewed the neuroimaging findings of patients with Cowden syndrome and determined their frequency in a single cohort.

Methods

Electronic medical records were queried from January 1999 to January 2017 to identify patients who fit the clinical criteria for diagnosis of Cowden syndrome with or without a documented PTEN mutation. Patients with brain MRI examinations were then identified.

Results

We retrospectively identified 44 patients with Cowden syndrome, 22 of whom had neuroimaging for review. Eleven (50%) had Lhermitte-Duclos disease, 4 (18.1%) had meningiomas, 13 (59.1%) had at least one developmental venous anomaly, 3 had cavernous malformations, 2 had evidence of dural arteriovenous fistula, 7 had increased white matter signal abnormalities relative to age (31.8%), 4 had prominent perivascular spaces, cerebellar tonsillar ectopia was present in 7 of 21 (33.3%), and 1 had cortical malformation.

Conclusions

It is important to recognize that in addition to Lhermitte-Duclos disease, other intracranial findings such as multiple venous anomalies, meningiomas, greater than expected white matter signal abnormality, prominent perivascular spaces, and cortical malformations may warrant a thorough evaluation for Cowden syndrome in the appropriate clinical setting. We further recommend that this broader spectrum of intracranial abnormalities be considered for addition to the Cowden syndrome diagnostic criteria at the time of next revision.

Tumor-to-tumor metastases in Cowden's disease: an autopsy case report and review of the literature

Tumor-to-tumor metastasis is a rare phenomenon, but it has been suggested to be more frequent in patients with hereditary cancer syndrome. We report an autopsy case of tumor-to-tumor metastasis in a 75-year-old male. At 6 months before his death, the patient complained of hoarseness and dysphagia, and clinical whole-body examinations revealed advanced lung adenocarcinoma (T4N2M1b, Stage IV), multiple skin verrucas, gastrointestinal polyposis, goiters, and cerebellar dysplastic gangliocytoma (Lhermitte-Duclos disease), while PTEN gene mutation was detected in his serum. An mTOR inhibitor had been used to treat his lung adenocarcinoma, but he developed aspiration pneumonia and died of respiratory failure. Autopsy revealed that the lung adenocarcinoma had metastasized to cavernous hemangiomas of the right atrial appendage and liver, to cerebellar dysplastic gangliocytoma and to multiple organs such as the liver, kidney, adrenal glands and spine. This is the first reported case of Cowden’s disease with multiple tumor-to-tumor metastases.

Muscle hemangiomatosis presenting as a severe feature in a patient with the pten mutation: expanding the phenotype of vascular malformations in bannayan-riley-ruvalcaba syndrome

Bannayan-Riley-Ruvalcaba syndrome (BRRS) is a rare autosomal, dominantly-inherited, hamartoma syndrome with distinct phenotypic features. Mutations in the PTEN gene have been identified in PTEN hamartoma tumor syndromes. Our aim was to determine the correlation of phenotype-genotype relationships in a BRRS case. We have evaluated a PTEN mutation in a patient with vascular anomalies and the phenotypic findings of BRRS. We described an 8-year-old girl with the clinical features of BRRS, specifically with vascular anomalies. The mutation in the PTEN gene was identified by DNA sequencing. In our patient, we defined a de novo nonsense R335X (c.1003 C>T) mutation in exon 8, which results in a premature termination codon. Due to vascular anomalies and hemangioma, the patient’s left leg was amputated 1 year after the hemangioma diagnosis. Bannayan - Riley - Ruvalcaba syndrome patients with macrocephaly and vascular anomalies should be considered for PTEN mutation analysis and special medical care.

Beta catenin and cytokine pathway dysregulation in patients with manifestations of the "PTEN hamartoma tumor syndrome"

Background

The "PTEN hamartoma tumor syndrome" (PHTS) includes a group of syndromes caused by germline mutations within the tumor suppressor gene "phosphatase and tensin homolog deleted on chromosome ten" (PTEN), characterized by multiple polyps in the gastrointestinal tract and by a highly increased risk of developing malignant tumours in many tissues.

The current work clarifies the molecular basis of PHTS in three unrelated Italian patients, and sheds light on molecular pathway disregulation constitutively associated to PTEN alteration.

Methods

We performed a combination of RT-PCR, PCR, sequencing of the amplified fragments, Real Time PCR and western blot techniques.

Results

Our data provide the first evidence of β-catenin accumulation in blood cells of patients with hereditary cancer syndrome caused by germ-line PTEN alteration. In addition, for the first time we show, in all PHTS patients analysed, alterations in the expression of TNFα, its receptors and IL-10. Importantly, the isoform of TNFRI that lacks the DEATH domain (TNFRSF1β) was found to be overexpressed.

Conclusion

In light of our findings, we suggest that the PTEN pathway disregulation could determine, in non-neoplastic cells of PHTS patients, cell survival and pro-inflammatory stimulation, mediated by the expression of molecules such as β-catenin, TNFα and TNFα receptors, which could predispose these patients to the development of multiple cancers.

Clinicopathologic and molecular analysis of a choroidal pigmented schwannoma in the context of a PTEN hamartoma tumor syndrome

PURPOSE

To report the first case of choroidal schwannoma in a patient affected by PTEN hamartoma tumor syndrome (PHTS) and investigate the molecular involvement of the phosphatase and tensin homolog (PTEN) and neurofibromin 2 (NF2) genes in this rare intraocular tumor.

DESIGN

Observational case report.

PARTICIPANT

A 10-year-old girl diagnosed with PHTS.

METHODS

The enucleated specimen underwent histologic, immunohistochemical, and transmission electronic microscopy. The expression of PTEN and NF2 and their protein products were evaluated by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction and immunohistochemistry. Somatic mutations of PTEN and NF2, as well as allelic loss, were investigated by direct sequencing of DNA extracted from the tumor. PTEN epigenetic silencing was investigated by pyrosequencing.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES

Histopathologic and molecular characterization of a choroidal pigmented schwannoma.

RESULTS

Histopathologic, immunohistochemical, and electron microscopic analysis demonstrated features consistent with a pigmented cellular schwannoma of the choroid. We found no loss of heterozygosity at the genomic level for the PTEN germline mutation and no promoter hypermethylation or other somatic intragenic mutations. However, we observed an approximate 40% reduction of PTEN expression at both the mRNA and the protein level, indicating that the tumor was nonetheless functionally deficient for PTEN. Although DNA sequencing of NF2 failed to identify any pathologic variants, its expression was abolished within the tumor.

CONCLUSIONS

We report the first description of a pigmented choroidal schwannoma in the context of a PHTS. This rare tumor showed a unique combination of reduction of PTEN and absence of NF2 expression.