Two cases of primary intrapulmonary spindle-celled sarcomas unrelated to the pleura have been studied by electron microscopy, tissue culture and histochemistry. Ultrastructurally both tumors showed some desmosomial unions. The first case showed cytoplasmic filaments, nuclear inclusions, prominent rough endoplasmic reticulum and abundant collagen in the interstitium. The second tumor showed scanty organelles and a paucity of interstitial connective tissue fibers. In spite of their spindle morphology both tumors showed a similar pattern in vitro, growing as an epithelial plaque in the same way as previously described mesotheliomas and related tumors, such as synovial sarcomas. Histochemistry of the tumor mass allowed the identification of most of the cavities which were engulfed alveoli and bronchioli. Both neoplasm were classified as intrapulmonary mesotheliomas. Their relationship to other pulmonary lesions is discussed.
A case of pulmonary sclerosing haemangioma was studied by electron microscopy, tissue culture, time-lapse cinematography and enzyme histochemistry. The cells bordering the spaces and forming solid sheets showed abundant surface microvilli, desmosomes and osmiophilic inclusions some of which had a lamellar structure. No Weibel-Palade bodies were found. The cells showed a negative reaction to ATP-ase and stained focally for alkaline phosphatase. Normal cells inside the tumour showed positive reactions for both enzymes. In tissue culture, both conventional studies and time-lapse cinematography showed a rather characteristic behaviour unrelated to that previously described in other neoplasms or in cultures of normal lung. The findings contradict the view that pulmonary sclerosing haemangiomas are proliferations of immature respiratory epithelial cells.
Tissue cultures from a series of spindle cell soft tissue sarcomas allowed th identification of five cases in which the neoplastic cells grew as polygonal elements, forming plaques in the same way as epithelial tumors. The similarity of this behavior in vitro to that of normal pleura and synovium, and to monophasic malignant pleural mesothelioma, allowed these tumors to be classified as monophasic synovial sarcomas. None of the five tumors showed specific light-optical features, being composed of fusiform cells with a tendency to form slits in two cases. No true epithelial differentiation was found. The topographic distribution and the response to therapy of the neoplasms were also similar to that found in the usual biphasic tumors.
Dermatofibrosarcoma protuberans has been considered to be of fibrohistiocytic or fibroblastic origin. The purpose of this paper is to identify the original cell strain from which this neoplasm derives, using tissue culture and electron microscopic methods. Thirteen cases of DFSP characterised by clinical, topographical, histological and behavioral criteria were explanted. The emigrating cells were bipolar with two opposed processed and showed a radial arrangement in respect to the explants. After the second week the distal processes tended to curve back towards the cell body forming flame-like structures. This cell morphology and cellular orientation persisted during the whole life of the culture. Electron microscopy was performed in three cases; the newly grown cells maintained an electron microscopic picture similar to that found in the original tumors. This pattern of behaviour is characteristic of fibroblastic tumors and has been found in explants of normal fibroblasts, of fibromatosis and of fibrosarcomas used as controls. On this basis, we believe that DFSP is a fibrosarcoma of the skin of low grade malignancy.
Forty-eight cerebral astrocytomas and glioblastomas were studied by tissue culture for two purposes: (a) the establishment of a definite growth pattern of cerebral astrocytomas and (b) the comparison of this growth pattern and that of glioblastomas. According to the grade of malignancy the series was divided into four groups: low-, middle-, and high-grade astrocytomas and undifferentiated glioblastomas. All the astrocytomas showed the same growth pattern with two successive phases. First, bipolar cells in radial arrangement emigrated from the explant, whereas in the last weeks, multipolar astrocytic-like cells in reticular arrangement predominated. The more malignant the cases, the more prolonged the bipolar phase, with retardation of the development of multipolar cells. Glioblastomas showed the same behavior with maximal persistence of the bipolar phase. On this basis, we believe that (a) cerebral astrocytomas have a characteristic behavior in vitro and (b) the glioblastoma is an astrocytic tumor showing maximal dedifferentiation.
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