Eighteen hundred and eighty-four cases of human solid tumours and 833 samples of normal human tissues, formalin-fixed and paraffin-embedded, were examined immunohistochemically for expression of c-kit oncogene product using polyclonal antibody against synthesized c-kit peptide. Seminoma/dysgerminoma and small cell lung carcinoma (SCLC) show preferential c-kit expression at 92% and 36% frequency, respectively, whereas only sporadic cases of cervical carcinoma and non-SCLC lung carcinoma show c-kit positivity. A normal tissue counterpart positive for c-kit product is detected in the testis (spermatocyte) and ovary (oocyte) but not in the lung or the cervix. In contrast, normal epithelial cells of the breast, skin basal cells and tissue mast cells harbour c-kit product, but transformed cells of the former two are largely deficient in the c-kit protein. One hundred and thirty-nine neuroendocrine tumours and 39 non-pulmonary small cell carcinomas were all negative, except for two cases of neuroblastoma. This indicates a distinct character for SCLC in c-kit expression. The c-kit product may be a useful marker in diagnostic pathology of seminoma/dysgerminoma and SCLC among human solid tumours, and in distinction of SCLC from non-pulmonary small cell carcinoma.

No abstract

The presence of granulomas in the skin of T-cell lymphoma patients is a rare but well-known phenomenon. The authors present the case of a 44-year-old Caucasian male, with a previously treated peripheral T-cell lymphoma, with cutaneous infiltration and extensive dyschromia on his lower limbs. Skin biopsies revealed the presence of sarcoid granulomas associated with the recurrence of the lymphoma, confirmed by immunostaining and molecular analysis. Although a new scheme of chemotherapy was started , he died 18 months later. There are two different patterns of skin granulomas associated with lympho-ma: granulomatous infiltrates admixed with neoplastic cells and cutaneous granulomas constituting a non-specific manifestation of the underlying lymphoma, but presently there is no evidence supporting their relationship with lymphoma prognosis.

No abstract

No abstract

No abstract

A case of hemophagocytic syndrome that developed in a patient with T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) with a novel chromosome translocation involving 14qll is reported. A 15-year-old boy with T-cell ALL in relapse showed leukemic cells with an abnormal karyotype of 46,XY,-15,t(l1;14)(pl% qll), +der(l5)t(l5;?)(pll;?). Pancytopenia and extensive hemophagocytosis by macrophages in the bone marrow were observed after reinduction chemotherapy and again at the terminal stage. At autopsy, infiltration of such cells was also found in other organs. The findings suggested Occurrence of hemophagocytic syndrome probably associated with cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection. The t(11;14)(p15; q l l ) may be a novel translocation specific for T-cell ALL, and conceivably, the association of T-cell ALL with the histiocytosis in this patient may not have been coincidental.

Bronchoscopy was performed under computed tomography (CT) guidance using an ultrathin fiberscope in a patient with a fluoroscopically invisible lesion that was visualized by CT in the right S and with poor pulmonary function. Under local anesthesia, the ultrathin fiberscope (3 mm in diameter) was inserted close to the lesion (1.5 mm in diameter) under direct visual guidance, and a brush was inserted into the lesion under CT guidance. Cytologic specimens obtained by the brush and washing revealed adenocarcinoma. This is the first report of CT-guided bronchoscopy, which is a new examination method for peripheral small lung lesions and is a less invasive examination than either endoscopic examination with a conventional bronchoscope or open lung biopsy, especially for those with poor pulmonary function.