1/7. Adoptive therapy of canine metastatic mammary carcinoma with the human MHC non-restricted cytotoxic T-cell line TALL-104. adoptive transfer of human TALL-104 killer cells into a dog with metastatic mammary adenocarcinoma resulted in 50% reduction of the largest lung metastasis and stabilization of the other lesions for 10 weeks, accompanied by the development of tumor-specific immune responses. Upon halting cell therapy, the dog developed new lung lesions within 10 weeks and died of slowly progressive disease. TALL-104 cell therapy of mice bearing the dog's tumor xenograft induced 65% reduction of local tumor growth and regression of lung metastases in 100% of the animals. The overall findings indicate the therapeutic potential of TALL-104 cells for canine mammary tumors. ( info) |
2/7. Concurrent angiomyolipomas and renal cell carcinoma harboring metastatic foci of mammary carcinoma in the same kidney: an incidental autopsy finding in a patient with a follow-up of thirty years. The synchronous occurrence of three different types of renal tumor in a patient is rare. We report a case of conventional (clear cell) renal cell carcinoma harboring metastatic foci of mammary carcinoma associated with two angiomyolipomas in the left kidney incidentally discovered at the autopsy. The patient was a 75-year-old woman, without the tuberous sclerosis complex, who had undergone left radical mastectomy and radiotherapy for an infiltrating duct carcinoma of breast 30 years before. This tumor was widely disseminated at autopsy, but the nontumorous renal parenchyma was free of metastases. To the best of our knowledge this combination of neoplasms has not been described before. This case shows the important role played by autopsy in the accurate investigation of interrelations among coexisting tumors. ( info) |
3/7. "Revertant" mammary solid papillary carcinoma in lymph node metastasis. A case of invasive carcinoma of mixed papillary and not otherwise specified ductal type with areas of solid papillary ductal carcinoma in situ(DCIS) is reported. The solid papillary areas were predominantly of low nuclear grade, but a small area of intermediate-grade solid papillary neoplasm was also seen within the tumor, together with an area suggestive of microinvasion. The massive regional nodal tumor load consisted of invasive papillary carcinoma and revertant low-grade solid papillary carcinoma with no myoepithelial cells around the circumscribed solid papillary areas. This is the first report of a solid papillary pattern simulating intraductal carcinoma in lymph nodes, and the first time that a solid papillary carcinoma is reported in association with invasive papillary carcinoma. The case suggests that mammary carcinomas with a solid papillary pattern may sometimes be of higher grade than usual, and do not always represent a DCIS, but may be invasive. ( info) |
| The authors present a case of superficial thrombophlebitis of the left anterolateral chest wall in a man whose diagnostic investigation culminated in the characterization of the vasculopathy denominated as Mondor's disease associated with protein s deficiency. We performed an analysis of the disease's main etiologic components and preponderant clinical aspects and determined all appropriate therapeutic measures for the pathology at issue. ( info) |
5/7. Mammary epithelioid myofibroblastoma arising in bilateral gynecomastia: case report with immunohistochemical profile. Myofibroblastoma of the breast is a rare benign neoplasm, which has rarely been reported in association with gynecomastia. We report a case of a 25-year-old male patient with an epithelioid myofibroblastoma arising in a context of bilateral gynecomastia. The lesion was composed of nests and cords of epithelioid cells, with round to oval nuclei, granular chromatin, and distinct nucleoli dispersed in a myxoid to collagenous stroma with marked vascular proliferation. Immunohistochemical profile showed diffuse positivity for vimentin and focal immunoreactivity for desmin, whereas cytokeratins (CAM5.2 and AE1/AE3), EMA, alpha smooth muscle actin, actin HHF35, CEA, S100, factor viii, neuron-specific enolase, CD31, and CD34 were all negative. We emphasize that this diagnosis is difficult to establish, owing to the rarity of this variant and clinical presentation. ( info) |
6/7. Primary small cell neuroendocrine carcinoma of the breast. We report and characterize immunohistochemically a case of primary small cell neuroendocrine carcinoma of the breast. The tumor, which arose in the left side, was 18 cm in maximum diameter and microscopically was composed of patternless sheets of undifferentiated small cells with a high nuclear-to-cytoplasmic ratio, hyperchromatic nuclei with indistinct cytoplasm, inconspicuous nucleoli, numerous mitotic figures and large areas of coagulative necrosis. Tumor cells were positive for bcl-2, neuron-specific enolase, synaptophysin, CAM 5.2 and cytokeratin AE1/3, but negative for LCA, CD30, HMB-45, chromogranin a, estrogen receptor, progesterone receptor, Her-2/neu and CD99. The opposite breast harboured an intraductal carcinoma with a focus suggesting microinfiltration, a finding never reported before. In this paper we have also extensively reviewed the literature on the subject, emphasizing the variable immunohistochemical profile and the aggressiveness of mammary small cell carcinoma. The rapidly fatal clinical course of our case, which appears to have the largest dimensions described in literature, underlines the importance of an early diagnosis and treatment for long-term survival. ( info) |
| OBJECTIVE: To determine the feasibility and efficacy of cryosurgery of breast cancer. DESIGN: In phase 1, carcinogen-induced mammary adenocarcinomas in 13 Sprague-Dawley rats were treated by cryosurgery and were then examined for histopathologic change. In phase 2, transplantable mammary adenocarcinomas in 50 DBA/IJ mice were treated by cryosurgery to determine the effect of varying tumor temperatures, and duration and number of freeze-thaw cycles on tumor viability. In phase 3, 2- to 3-cm ultrasound-monitored cryolesions were formed in the breasts of 4 dogs and 4 sheep. These animals were followed up for procedure-related complications; the histopathologic necrosis of the cryolesions were correlated with the ultrasound images. Based on the results of these experiments, ultrasound-guided cryosurgery of breast cancer was initiated in a human clinical trial. RESULTS: In phase 1, a single, short-term (< 7 minutes) freeze killed only tumors smaller than 1.5 cm in diameter, despite an apparent decrease to -40 degrees C at the periphery of each tumor. In phase 2, varying the peripheral tumor temperature to as low as -70 degrees C, using a single, short-term (< 7 minutes) freeze did not alter the results from phase 1. If the ice ball fully encompassed the tumor, however, maintaining it for at least 15 minutes achieved 100% tumor kill independent of tumor size. In phase 3, creation of a reproducible ultrasound-monitored cryolesion was facilitated when 2 freeze-thaw cycles were performed. No procedure-related complications were noted. In the human trial, 2 invasive lobular carcinomas from 1 patient were treated by cryosurgery and were negative for persistent tumor by core needle biopsy performed 4 and 12 weeks after a well-tolerated procedure. CONCLUSIONS: In situ breast cryosurgery has been proved to be feasible and efficacious in small and large animal studies and has been successfully performed in 1 patient with breast cancer. The results of this study suggest that ultrasound-guided cryosurgery of breast cancer warrants further investigation. ( info) |