Utility of the immunohistochemical detection of FLI-1 expression in round cell and vascular neoplasm using a monoclonal antibody. (25/119)

FLI-1 nuclear transcription factor has been proposed as a useful tool in the differential diagnosis of small round cell sarcomas. Recently, FLI-1 has been reported as the first nuclear marker of endothelial differentiation. However, its clinical use has been hampered by major interpretation problems, due to the presence of background staining as well as staining variation between different lots of the same antiserum. In this study, a novel monoclonal antibody raised against the carboxyl terminal of the FLI-1 protein (clone GI146-222, BD Pharmingen) was tested in a series of small round cell and vascular neoplasms. Furthermore, in order to assess FLI-1 specificity, we analyzed its expression in a series of common epithelial and nonepithelial malignancies. In total, 15 Ewing's sarcomas, 10 rhabdomyosarcomas, 5 desmoplastic small round cell tumors, 10 synovial sarcomas, 10 high-grade pleomorphic sarcomas, 10 malignant melanomas, 5 Merkel's carcinomas, 10 colonic adenocarcinomas, 10 breast carcinomas, 10 lung adenocarcinomas, 20 angiosarcomas, 5 epithelioid hemangioendotheliomas, 10 Kaposi's sarcomas and 10 benign hemangiomas, were stained. A strong FLI-1 immunoreactivity was detected in all Ewing's sarcomas and vascular neoplasms, highlighting the high sensitivity of FLI-1 monoclonal antibody. However, 2/5 Merkel's carcinomas and 1/10 malignant melanomas showed a strong nuclear immunostaining, suggesting that FLI-1 may not be so helpful in the differential diagnosis of cutaneous Ewing's sarcoma. In addition, a weak immunoreactivity was found in 3/5 Merkel cell carcinomas, 3/10 synovial sarcomas, 5/10 malignant melanomas, 6/10 lung adenocarcinomas and in 1/10 breast carcinomas. In contrast, all the rhabdomyosarcomas, desmoplastic small round cell tumors, high-grade pleomorphic sarcomas and colonic adenocarcinomas tested were negative. Importantly, in contrast with previous studies, no background staining was observed. Our results indicate that FLI-1 monoclonal antibody can be reliably applied to the differential diagnosis of small round cell neoplasms of soft tissue, and confirm its important role as nuclear marker of endothelial differentiation, mainly helpful in those cases in which technical artifacts are seen by using the traditional membranous and cytoplasmic endothelial markers.  (+info)

An autopsy case of intravascular lymphomatosis (neoplastic angioendotheliomatosis) accompanied by high fever, hypertension and without focal sign. (26/119)

A 75-year-old woman suffered from intermittent high-grade fever and hypertension without any focal sign. Serum lactic dehydrogenase (LDH) was markedly elevated. The fever was resistant to antibiotics and temporarily sensitive to prednisolone. She had heart failure and died. Postmortem examination revealed intravascular proliferation of B lymphocytes, indicative of the diagnosis of intravascular lymphomatosis. The clinical diagnosis is usually very difficult because of the absence of pathognomonic clinical manifestations.  (+info)

Intravascular papillary endothelial hyperplasia (Masson's hemangioma) of the liver: a new hepatic lesion. (27/119)

Intravascular papillary endothelial hyperplasia (Masson's hemangioma) is a disease characterized by exuberant endothelial proliferation within the lumen of medium-sized veins. In 1923, Masson regarded this disease as a neoplasm inducing endothelial proliferation, however, now it is considered to be a reactive vascular proliferation following traumatic vascular stasis. The lesion has a propensity to occur in the head, neck, fingers, and trunk. Occurrence within the abdominal cavity is known to be very rare, and especially in the liver, there has been no reported case up to date. The authors have experienced intravascular papillary endothelial hyperplasia of the liver in a 69-yr-old woman, and report the case with a review of the literature.  (+info)

Management of hepatic epithelioid haemangio-endothelioma in children: what option? (28/119)

Hepatic epithelioid haemangio-endothelioma (HEHE) is an endothelium-derived tumour of low-to-medium grade malignancy. It is predominantly seen in adults and is unresponsive to chemotherapy. Liver transplantation is an accepted indication when the tumour is unresectable. Hepatic epithelioid haemangio-endothelioma is very rare in children and results after transplantation are not reported. The aim of this study is to review the experience of three European centres in the management of HEHE in children. A retrospective review of all paediatric patients with HEHE managed in three European centres is presented. Five children were identified. Four had unresectable tumours. The first had successful resection followed by chemotherapy and is alive, without disease 3 years after diagnosis. One child died of sepsis and one of tumour recurrence in the graft and lungs 2 and 5 months, respectively, after transplant. Two children who had progressive disease with ifosfamide-based chemotherapy have had a reduction in clinical symptoms and stabilisation of disease up to 18 and 24 months after the use of platinum-based chemotherapy. HEHE seems more aggressive in children than reported in adults and the curative role of transplantation must be questioned. Ifosfamide-based chemotherapy was not effective. Further studies are necessary to confirm if HEHE progression in children may be influenced by platinum-based chemotherapy.  (+info)

A key angiogenic role of monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 in hemangioendothelioma proliferation. (29/119)

Angiomatous lesions are common in infants and children. Hemangioendotheliomas (HE) represent one type of these lesions. Endothelial cell proliferation and the development of vascular/blood cell-filled spaces are inherent in the growth of HE. Therefore, understanding mechanisms that regulate the proliferation of these lesions should provide key insight into mechanisms regulating angiogenesis. A murine model was used to test the significance of monocyte chemoattractant protein (MCP)-1 in HE proliferation. EOMA cells, a cell line derived from a spontaneously arising murine HE, generate these lesions with 100% efficiency when injected subcutaneously into syngeneic mice. MCP-1 produced by EOMA cells recruit macrophages, which were shown to induce angiogenic behavior in EOMA cells by stimulating transwell migration and inducing sprout formation on type I collagen gels. When EOMA cells were injected into MCP-1(-/-) mice, only 50% of the mice developed tumors, presumably because the low levels of MCP-1 expressed by the injected EOMA cells were enough to overcome any host deficits of this chemokine. When EOMA cells were coinjected with a neutralizing antibody to MCP-1, tumors failed to develop in any of the treated mice, including syngeneic 129P3, C57Bl/6 (wild type), and MCP-1(-/-). These results present the first evidence that MCP-1 is required for HE proliferation and may promote the growth of these lesions by stimulating angiogenic behavior of endothelial cells. This study has produced the first in vivo evidence of a complete response for any neoplasm, specifically a vascular proliferative lesion, to anti-MCP-1 therapy in animals with intact immune systems.  (+info)

Stromelysin-2 (matrix metalloproteinase 10) is inducible in lymphoma cells and accelerates the growth of lymphoid tumors in vivo. (30/119)

Matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) 10 (stromelysin-2) is known to degrade various components of the extracellular matrix; however, the signals that regulate its expression and its role in lymphoma growth remain unknown. In the present work, we report the up-regulated expression of MMP10 in T lymphoma cells following contact with endothelial cells. The induction of MMP10 was found to be dependent on the specific interaction between LFA-1 and ICAM-1, which play a central role in regulating the expression of genes involved in the rate-limiting steps of lymphoma development. MMP10, but not MMP3 (stromelysin-1), was also up-regulated in human B lymphoma cells following exposure to IL-4, IL-6, and IL-13, but not to IL-1. To gain further insight into the role of MMP10 in lymphoma development, we generated lymphoma cell lines constitutively expressing high levels of MMP10 and studied these cells for their ability to form thymic lymphoma in vivo. Mice injected with lymphoma cells constitutively expressing MMP10 developed thymic lymphoma more rapidly than those injected with control lymphoma cells. These results provide the first in vivo evidence that overexpression of MMP10 promotes tumor development, and indicate that MMP10 induction is an important pathway activated not only upon ICAM-1/LFA-1-mediated intercellular contact, but also following activation of tumor cells with inflammatory cytokines.  (+info)

High grade hemangioendothelioma of the temporal bone in a child: a case report. (31/119)

Hemangioendothelioma is a rare vascular tumor characterized by endothelial tumor cells and variable malignant behavior, and it's not common for this lesion to involve the bone. Although there are a few reports of cranial involvement by hemangioendothelioma, only rare cases arising in temporal bone have been published. We present the radiologic findings of a 7-year-old boy who had a high grade hemangioendothelioma involving the temporal bone with intracranial extension. Evidence of flow voids on MR images suggested a tumor of vascular origin, and the ill-defined margins, cortical destruction and intracranial extension on the CT and MR images were correlated with the tumor's high histologic grade.  (+info)

Kaposiform hemangioendothelioma: the first reported case in a nonhuman animal species. (32/119)

Kaposiform hemangioendothelioma is a rare vascular tumor that almost exclusively occurs in children. It is a low-grade malignant neoplasm that is locally aggressive but without proven metastatic potential. Herein, we describe a case of Kaposiform hemangioendothelioma in a 10-year-old male dog. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of this vascular tumor occurring in a nonhuman animal species. The tumor was located on the ventromedial surface of the posterior limb. Microscopic examination of the lesion revealed a multinodular tumor with sheets of spindled endothelial cells forming vascular slits similar to Kaposi's sarcoma and peripheral tumor lobules resembling capillary hemangioma.  (+info)