Desmoplastic stroma (DS) and the epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) play a key role in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) progression. To date, however, the combined expression of DS and EMT markers, and their association with variations in survival within each clinical stage and degree of tumor differentiation is unknown. The purpose of this study was to investigate the association between expression of DS and EMT markers and survival variability in patients diagnosed with PDAC. We examined the expression levels of DS markers alpha smooth muscle actin (α-SMA), fibronectin, and vimentin, and the EMT markers epithelial cell adhesion molecule (EPCAM), pan-cytokeratin, and vimentin, by immunohistochemistry using a tissue microarray of a retrospective cohort of 25 patients with PDAC. The results were examined for association with survival by clinical stage and by degree of tumor differentiation. High DS markers expression -α-SMA, fibronectin, and vimentin- was associated with decreased survival at intermediate and advanced clinical stages (p=0.006-0.03), as well as with both poorly and moderately differentiated tumor grades (p=0.01-0.02). Interestingly, the same pattern was observed for EMT markers, i.e., EPCAM, pan-cytokeratin, and vimentin (p=0.00008-0.03). High expression of DS and EMT markers within each clinical stage and degree of tumor differentiation was associated with lower PDAC survival. Evaluation of these markers may have a prognostic impact on survival time variation in patients with PDAC.

No abstract

No abstract

A 35-year-old woman presented with abdominal pain and weight loss. Pelvic computed tomography showed a 15 cm mass in the left ovary. Grossly, the removed ovary was completely replaced by a solid tumor mass. On histological analysis (100 sections), the lesion showed the typical morphological features of dysgerminoma (20%) admixed with a major (80%) fibrosarcoma component. Tumors did not have well-demarcated boundaries with a close intermingling of both cell types. Despite surgery and combination chemotherapy, the disease progressed rapidly and the patient died of disease 18 months after diagnosis. Review of the literature showed that soft tissue sarcomas of several types may occasionally be associated with gonadal and extragonadal mixed germ-cell tumors or with spermatocytic seminoma of the testis. However, no previously published report of an ovarian fibrosarcoma associated with a pure dysgerminoma was found in the literature.

Histologic grade of the gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (GEP-NETs) is one of the most important prognostic factors. The term carcinoid should be eliminated because it does not reflect the biological behavior of these tumors.