Iris melanomas are very rare in children. The paper presents the case of a 12-year-old boy with iris melanoma of spindle-cell type A and pre-operatively associated with uncontrolled secondary glaucoma. Tumour resection was complicated by lens extraction and consecutive PC IOL implantation. Antiglaucomatous surgery was performed due to the persistently elevated intraocular pressure. Currently, the intraocular pressure is within the normal range and the patient has no signs of the presence of tumour cells or metastases.Key words: iris melanoma, spindle-cell type, secondary glaucoma.

Testicular dysgenesis syndrome (TDS) comprises testicular germ cell cancer, cryptorchidism and some cases of male infertility and hypospadias, which can be linked to impairment of intrauterine gonadal development. Among histological signs of TDS, large Leydig cell (LC) clusters (micronodules) are frequently present. This study aimed to investigate possible associations of LC micronodules with the presence of Reinke crystals and hormonal function of LCs, the latter primarily reflected by serum concentrations of luteinising hormone (LH) and testosterone, in patients with TDS.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the risk of metastatic disease and orbital recurrence in advanced retinoblastoma treated with systemic chemoreduction versus primary enucleation.

Adolescent and young adult (AYA) patients with very high risk sarcomas have poor outcomes and are in need of novel therapies.

To explore the effects of silencing HERC4 on the proliferation, apoptosis, and migration of cervical cancer cell line Hela and the possible molecular mechanisms.

To analyze the expression of MAP2K4 and vimentin in human endometrial carcinoma (EC) and their association with the clinicopathological features and prognosis of the patients.

Hemangioblastoma is a well-circumscribed, highly vascular, lipid-rich and low-grade tumor of uncertain histogenesis. Its histopathological features have been well established. Herein, we present a case of cerebellar hemangioblastoma in a 43-year-old woman. Histologically, the tumor was predominantly composed of cellular areas showing eosinophilic or vacuolated stromal cells arranged in nests and sheets. Focally, conventional reticular areas could be seen. Additionally, in some areas, the stromal cells were arranged radially around blood vessels, exhibiting perivascular pseudorosette structures, which were similar mostly to those of ependymomas. Immunohistochemically, the stromal cells markedly showed diffused staining for Vimentin, S-100, CD56, NSE, inhibin-a, podoplanin, alpha-Thalassemia/mental retardation syndrome X and carbonic anhydrase IX, and were negative for cytokeratin, epithelial membrane antigen, oligodendrocyte transcription factor 2, neuronal nuclear antigen, synaptophysin, isocitrate dehydrogenase 1 (R132H), P53 and CD34. Interestingly, the reticular and cellular areas either showed no or individual scattering of the GFAP-positive cells, respectively, while, the perivascular pseudorosette areas strongly and diffusely expressed GFAP. Nuclear mitosis and necrosis were not observed. The MIB-1 antibody labeling index was especially low (about 3%). Based on these findings, the patient was diagnosed with cerebellar hemangioblastoma. In the present case, we documented a distinctive histological appearance of perivascular pseudorosettes in hemangioblastoma and provided the evidence for stromal cells with glial differentiation.

Barrett's esophagus (BE), which develops as a result of gastroesophageal reflux disease, is a preneoplastic condition for esophageal adenocarcinoma (EAC). A new hypothesis suggests that cancer is a disease of stem cells, however, their expression and pathways in BE - EAC sequence are not fully elucidated yet.

Gallbladder cancer is the most common biliary tract cancer and the fifth most common cancer of the digestive system. However, the clinicopathologic features of gallbladder cancer in young Korean patients have not been studied. This study included 101 consecutive cases of gallbladder cancer that underwent cholecystectomy at Kangbuk Samsung Hospital from December 1990 to March 2011. The patients were divided into two groups by age at initial diagnosis of gallbladder cancer: a young patient group aged less than 45 years and an old patient group aged 45 or older. The young patient group included 10 patients with mean age of 38 (range, 29-44 years). Compared with the old patient group, the young patient group showed polypoid tumor appearance (p=0.014), lower pT stage (p=0.023), more frequent adenoma background (p=0.009), and less frequent dysplasia in remaining mucosa (p=0.001). The disease-related survival rate after 13.5 months was significantly more favorable for the young patients. Gallbladder cancers in young Korean patients have distinct clinicopathologic features of a high frequency of cancer arising in adenoma, rare association with intestinal metaplasia and dysplasia, and a favorable patient's prognosis. These findings suggest that the adenoma-carcinoma pathway could contribute more to gallbladder cancer carcinogenesis in young Korean patients than the metaplasia-dysplasia-carcinoma pathway.

We aim to explore the associations of CCL2 and Snail in gastric cancer to the clinicopathologic features and prognosis of gastric cancer (GC). In our study, the expression of CCL2 and Snail in clinical specimens of 178 GC patients was detected by immunohistochemistry. High expression of CCL2 and Snail were closely related to the clinicopathologic features. The results showed there is a link between CCL2 and Snail expression at protein levels (Pearson Χ2=40.751, P<0.001). The Kaplan-Meier survival analysis showed that CCL2 or Snail expression was correlated with 5-year survival rate (P<0.001, P<0.001, respectively). Univariate analysis showed that CCL2, Snail, pTNM stage, depth of invasion, nodal involvement, metastasis and tumor diameter were significantly associated with 5-year survival rate respectively. Multivariate Cox analysis showed that the CCL2, Snail and nodal involvement were independent prognostic factor for patients with GC. In conclusion, the expression of CCL2 is significantly correlated with Snail expression and may be used as a predictive co-biomarker for patient prognosis and tumor aggressiveness in GC. The exactly mechanism between CCL2 and Snail in the process of EMT in GC need further investigation.

Age-related EBV-associated lymphoproliferative disorders form a new clinicopathological group. Until recently, this group was associated with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL), characterised by an aggressive clinical presentation and a poor prognosis. Recent findings in Western Caucasian patients, however, suggest that this entity covers a wide spectrum of diseases, ranging from reactive follicular hyperplasia (HR) to DLBCL. We report the case of an 85-year-old Caucasian man showing lymphadenopathy and numerous hypodense lesions of the liver. Examination of a lymph node revealed follicular hyperplasia with EBV expression confined to germinal centres. The patient was treated with Rituximab and subsequently, the lesions of the liver were explored. They showed extensive necrosis and a polymorphic large B-cell population with strong EBV expression. This is the first report to describe age-related EBV-associated follicular hyperplasia at one site coexisting with DLBCL at another. This case warrants undertaking further investigations each time a diagnosis of age-related EBV-HR is associated with extranodal lesions.

In this chapter, we parse the literature on neurotrophins that have been implicated in the pathogenesis of perineural invasion (PNI) in select lineage-unrelated malignancies. We also detail evidence linking neurotrophins and their receptors (TrkA, RET, p75NGFR, and NCAM) to the pathogenesis of PNI in desmoplastic melanoma and cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma-both malignancies with an established propensity for PNI. Lastly, the clinical potential of neurotrophins as receptors for targeted therapies is explored.

Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is the most prevalent neoplasia of oral cavity worldwide and prognosis remains unchanged in decades. Recently, different authors reported that head and neck squamous cell carcinomas have a subpopulation of tumor initiating cells that apparently correspond to cancer stem cells (CSC) and are also responsible for tumor growth and metastasis. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the microscopic and phenotypic characteristics of OSCC tumors induced after orthotopic xenoimplantation of SCC9WT cell line and CSC-enriched subpopulation isolated from SCC9 cell line based on high expression of the putative CSC marker CD44. Different numbers of FACS-sorted SCC9 CD44high and CD44low cells as well as SCC9WT (wild type) were transplanted into the tongue of BALB/C nude (NOD/SCID) mice to evaluate their tumorigenic potential. Sixty days post-induction, tumors were morphologically characterized and immunostained for CSC markers (CD44, Nanog and Bmi-1), epithelial-mesenchymal transition (Snail, Slug) and epithelial differentiating cell markers (cytokeratins 4, 13, 15, 17 and 19), as well as E-cadherin and β-catenin. The data presented here shows that SCC9 CD44high cells have higher ability to form tumors than SCC9 CD44low cells, even when significantly lower numbers of SCC9 CD44high cells were transplanted. Immunoassessment of tumors derived from SCC9 CD44high cells revealed high expression of cytokeratin CK19, β-catenin, E-cadherin and CD44, and negative or low expression of CK17, CK4, CK15, CK13, Nanog, Bmi-1, Snail and Slug. While tumors derived from SCC9WT showed high expression of CK17, CK19, CD44, Nanog, Bmi-1, Snail and Slug, and negative or low expression of CK4, CK15, CK13, β-catenin and E-cadherin. Thus, SCC9 CD44high cells were highly tumorigenic, capable of originating heterogeneous tumors and these tumors have a immunohistochemical profile different from those formed by the wild type cell line.

Colorectal cancer (CRC) has been known to complicate Crohn's disease (CD). Several reports in Western population revealed that CRC in CD were characterized by much younger onset and equal distribution of tumors along the entire colon. However, clinicopathologic features of CD-associated CRC in Korean population have not been well documented yet.

MicroRNA (miR)-19a, a member of the miR-17-92 cluster, functions as an oncomiRNA in multiple kinds of cancers. However, its involvement in human osteosarcomas remains unclear. In this study, to analyze the expression pattern of miR-19a and to investigate its clinical implication in human osteosarcomas, quantitative reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction was performed to detect expression levels of miR-19a in 166 self-pairs of osteosarcoma and noncancerous bone tissues. Associations between miR-19a expression and various clinicopathological parameters and patients' prognosis of osteosarcomas were further evaluated. As a results, miR-19a expression in osteosarcoma tissues was significantly higher than that in corresponding noncancerous bone tissues (P<0.001). Osteosarcoma patients with high miR-19a expression more frequently had large tumor size (P=0.03), advanced clinical stage (P=0.01), positive distant metastasis (P=0.008) and poor response to chemotherapy (P=0.01) than those with low miR-19a expression. Additionally, kaplan-Meier analysis showed that both overall and disease-free survivals of osteosarcoma patients with high miR-19a expression were shorter than those with low miR-19a expression (both P<0.001). Further multivariate analysis identified miR-19a expression as an independent prognostic factor for both overall (P=0.001) and disease-free (P=0.006) survivals. In conclusion, the aberrant expression of miR-19a may play a crucial role in development and progression of human osteosarcomas. MiR-19a may act as a novel prognostic marker for patients with this malignancy.

CD4+CD25+regulatoryT cells (Tregs) play an important role in anti-tumor immune responses. Poor prognosis and declining survival rates have intimate connection with high Treg expression in cancer patients. Cytotoxic T Lymphocyte-associated protein (CTLA-4) is one of the most prominent molecules on Treg. In our previous research, we have demonstrated that HCC-derived Tregs can interfere with Dendritic cells (DCs) function and down-modulate CD80/CD86 on DCs in vitro in a cell-contact dependent way. However the mechanism of how HCC-derived Treg affect DC phenotype are not very clear. Therefore, we investigated the function of CTLA-4 in anti-tumor immune responses.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the prognostic impact of tumor volume (TV) on patients with stage I non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) after complete resection.