Not all neck mass fine-needle aspirations with squamous cells are squamous cell carcinoma; report of a case of recurrent thyroid carcinoma with papillary and squamous components

Analysis of primary and secondary squamous cell carcinoma of the thyroid gland: a retrospective study

Background

Squamous cell carcinoma of the thyroid (SCCT) is a kind of rare malignant disease. This study aimed to analyse the clinical characteristics of patients with primary SCCT (PSCCT) and secondary SCCT (SSCCT).

Methods

The medical records of seventeen patients with PSCCT and six patients with SSCCT were reviewed. Clinical symptoms, ultrasound, and pathological characteristics were compared between the two groups.

Results

The mean age of diagnosis was approximately 56 years old in each group. The most common chief complaint of the patients was neck mass in both groups. The percentage of patients with cough (P=0.008) or weight loss (P=0.021) was higher in the SSCCT group than the PSCCT group. The mean size of the tumor in the PSCCT group was larger than that in the SSCCT group (3.382±2.011 vs. 1.950±0.794 cm, P=0.024). Papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) could be combined with or recur as PSCCT. Kaplan-Meier analysis indicated that the mean survival times after diagnosis were 17.053 months in the PSCCT patients and 13.500 months in the SSCCT patients. Multivariate survival analysis using a Cox regression model demonstrated that predictors of overall survival (OS) in PSCCT patients included age (P=0.020), enlarged cervical lymph node (P=0.017), radical operation (P=4.82×10^-3), and PTC (P=0.03).

Conclusions

SCCT is aggressive, with neck mass being the most common chief complaint. There were several different characteristics between PSCCT and SSCCT. PTC could be combined with or recur as PSCCT. Age, enlarged cervical lymph node, radical operation, and PTC were the predictors of OS in PSCCT patients.

Relationship between HER2 expression and tumor interstitial angiogenesis in primary gastric cancer and its effect on prognosis

INTRODUCTION

Her2-positive gastric cancer is a unique subtype of disease, requiring different diagnosis and treatment strategies and methods. Neoplasms are significantly correlated with the occurrence, invasion and metastasis of tumors. The purpose of this study was to explore the correlation between HER2 amplification and tumor interstitial angiogenesis in patients with gastric cancer.

METHODS

The data of 1121 patients with gastric cancer were retrospectively analyzed, and the amplification of HER2 was detected by immunohistochemistry (IHC) and FISH. CD34 IHC was used to label MVD. We analyzed the factors affecting HER2 amplification, the difference in MVD under different HER2 states, the factors related to 5-year survival rate of patients, and predicted the independent factors affecting 5-year survival rate of gastric cancer patients.

RESULTS

We found 115 cases with HER2 positive rate of 10.26 %. HER2 amplification was more likely in gastric cancer patients with more than 5.2 cm tumor diameter, Lauren intestinal type, tubular adenocarcinoma, and the depth of infiltration at stage T2, (P < 0.05). Gender, age, tumor location, number of lymph node metastasis, distant metastasis, clinical stage, nerve invasion and vascular tumor thrombi were not the factors affecting HER2 amplification of gastric cancer (P > 0.05). MVD count of HER2-positive gastric cancer was significantly higher than that of HER2-negative gastric cancer, (P < 0.05). The 5-year overall survival rate of 1121 patients with gastric cancer was 51.92 %. HER2 amplification, high MVD count, large tumor size, tubular adenocarcinoma, Lauren intestinal type, deep tumor infiltration, numerous lymph node metastases and late clinical stage are all associated with low 5-year survival rate, indicating poor prognosis in gastric cancer patients, (P < 0.05). The 5-year survival rate of gastric cancer patients was not correlated with gender, age, tumor location, distant metastasis, nerve invasion and vascular cancer plug, (P > 0.05). Multivariate analysis showed that Lauren classification, Infiltrating depth, Nodal status, Clinical stage, HER2 expression, MVD count were independent factors affecting the prognosis of gastric cancer patients, (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSION

HER2 overexpression was not only closely related to gastric cancer neovascularization, but also an independent predictor of prognosis of gastric cancer. In clinical treatment, anti-HER2 targeted therapy and anti-angiogenesis drugs can be adopted to achieve effective treatment.