Search PubMed⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

E Pescarmona

Publications and source records attributed to E Pescarmona.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources
PubMed1994

Peripheral neuroectodermal tumor of the chest (Askin tumor) as secondary neoplasm after Hodgkin's disease: a case report.

The authors present the case of a 20-year-old woman who developed a peripheral neuroectodermal neoplasm of the thoracopulmonary region (Askin tumor) 7 years after achieving complete remission of stage-IV Hodgkin's disease. The previous treatment had consisted of eight courses of alternating MOPP/ABVD combined with involved-field 20-Gy radiotherapy. The second neoplasm appeared in a nonirradiated area of the chest wall, with erosion of the ribs as shown by sonography and computed tomography. The histological pattern was in accordance with a generic diagnosis of a malignant small cell tumor; the immunostaining positivity of the neoplastic cells for the neuron-specific enolase allowed us to make the diagnosis of a tumor with a neuroectodermal origin. Partial resection of the neoplasm and four courses of chemotherapy including adriamycin, cisplatin, and ifosfamide induced a complete remission, confirmed by surgical restaging. She is alive and well 10 months after the completion of therapy. The clinical, radiological, and microscopic features of this tumor occurring as a secondary neoplasm after Hodgkin's disease are described.

Adult↗
PubMed1993

Expression of epidermal and nerve growth factor receptors in human thymus and thymomas.

The expression of epidermal growth factor (EGF) and nerve growth factor (NGF) receptors has been investigated by immunohistochemical analysis in eight normal human thymuses and in 15 thymomas. Thymomas were classified into five different histological types--medullary, mixed, predominantly cortical, cortical thymoma and well-differentiated thymic carcinoma. In fetal and paediatric normal thymus, EGF-receptor was expressed by subcapsular, cortical and medullary epithelial cells, whereas immunoreactivity for NGF-receptor was detected on only subcapsular and medullary epithelial cells. In thymomas, independent of their histological type, EGF-receptor was expressed by a large majority of epithelial cells. In contrast, the pattern of expression of NGF-receptor in thymomas was different for the various histological types. These findings indicate that the expression of both EGF and NGF receptors in human thymomas substantially reflects their expression in normal thymus, and suggest that EGF and NGF may play a role in the ontogenesis of the human thymus as well as in the histogenesis of thymomas.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1992

Well-differentiated thymic carcinoma: a clinico-pathological study.

Well-differentiated thymic carcinoma (WDTC) is a recently described epithelial tumour of the thymus previously classified as cortical or predominantly epithelial thymoma. The authors have reviewed a series of 15 cases of WDTC with the aim of further defining the clinicopathological features of this neoplasm. Histologically, the number of lymphocytes was always low; perivascular spaces and epithelial palisading around blood vessels and/or along fibrous septa were prominent features; 6 cases (40%) were associated with areas of typical cortical thymoma. All cases showed slight to moderate cytological atypia and nuclear grooving was frequently detected. Mitotic activity was variable but usually low. Clinically, all but 3 cases (80%) were invasive at surgery; myasthenia gravis was present in 9 cases (60%); 5 patients (33.3%) died due to disease and 2 additional patients (13.3%) had tumor recurrence. Our study indicates that WDTC has fairly distinctive clinicopathological features and that it is histologically and histogenetically related to cortical thymoma. The definition "well-differentiated carcinoma" is justified because of low-grade cytological atypia and retention of some organotypical histological features, in a tumour otherwise often displaying aggressive and sometimes clear-cut malignant clinical behaviour.

Adult↗
PubMed1992

Thymoma in childhood: a clinicopathological study of five cases.

The histological and clinical findings in five cases of thymoma arising in paediatric patients have been studied. The age range was 11-15 years and no patient was affected by myasthenia gravis. All tumours were macroscopically encapsulated, but two of them displayed evidence of microscopic capsular invasion. Histologically, four cases were of the predominantly cortical type (organoid thymoma) with prominent areas of medullary differentiation and Hassall's bodies; one case was of the cortical type. All patients are alive and disease-free 3 months to 9 years after surgery. These findings suggest that thymoma in the paediatric age group may be characterized by fairly uniform clinicopathological features, with a low rate of association with myasthenia gravis and a favourable prognosis.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1992

Microscopic thymoma: histological evidence of multifocal cortical and medullary origin.

Twenty cases of macroscopically non-neoplastic thymuses obtained from patients with myasthenia gravis have been studied histologically. Seven cases were characterized by lymphoid follicular hyperplasia and 13 by involutional changes of variable degree. In three cases (15%), one with lymphoid follicular hyperplasia and two with involutional changes, multiple microscopic epithelial lesions, 0.2-0.4 mm in diameter and consistent with foci of microscopic thymoma, were observed. Most of them were related to the thymic cortex and one, displaying a different histological pattern, was located in a medullary area. These observations provide morphological evidence of a possible multifocal origin of thymoma from distinct epithelial clones present in the different topographic areas of the human thymus.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1992

Prognostic value of the histologic classification of peripheral T-cell lymphoma: a clinico-pathologic study of 71 HTLV-1 negative cases.

The histologic and clinical features of 71 cases of peripheral T-cell lymphoma (PTCL) have been studied. All patients were HTLV-1 negative. The T-cell phenotype was demonstrated by immunohistochemistry on cryostat sections (41 cases) and paraffin-embedded sections (30 cases). All cases were histologically classified according to the updated Kiel classification of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (low and high-grade) and according to a Working Formulation (WF)-based classification (predominantly small cells, mixed small and large cells, and predominantly large cells). Most cases were in the high-grade group according to both classifications. The prognostic value of these two classifications was comparatively assessed. The analysis of the actuarial survival curves showed that, by using the updated Kiel classification, low-grade PTCL had a survival probability higher than high-grade PTCL although the difference was not statistically significant. Similar results were obtained when the WF-based classification was applied: furthermore, actuarial survival curves of mixed small and large cell PTCL, and of large cell PTCL were rather similar, thus indicating that differentiating these two categories has a limited prognostic value.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1991

Fibrosarcoma of the thymic region. A case report.

Fibrosarcoma of the mediastinum is an unusual tumor and only few cases have been reported. We describe the clinical and pathologic findings of a case of mediastinal mass in a 34 year old woman. The histologic, histochemical, immunocytochemical and ultrastructural features of the tumor were consistent with a diagnosis of fibrosarcoma. Furthermore, the tumor displayed evidence of close relations with the thymus capsule; the possibility that it may arise from the thymic stroma is considered. The differential diagnosis of spindle cell tumors of the mediastinum is also discussed.

Adult↗
PubMed1991

'Organoid' thymoma: a well-differentiated variant with distinctive clinicopathological features.

The present paper describes the clinical, histological and immunohistochemical features of five cases of 'organoid' thymoma. The histological hallmark of this lesion is the prominent and diffuse 'organoid' pattern, defined by the presence of several areas of medullary differentiation. These areas, which are strictly reminiscent of the medullary area of the normal thymus, are scattered within a neoplastic tissue resembling the thymus cortex, the overall appearance mimicking that of normal thymus. All cases shared common clinical features; they were non-invasive or minimally invasive tumours arising in young or middle-aged female patients. Although the incidence of 'organoid' thymoma is low (5.2% in our series), our morphological, immunohistochemical and clinical data suggest that this peculiar tumour may represent a well-differentiated variant of thymoma, with low-grade aggressiveness and a distinct clinicopathological profile.

Adult↗
PubMed1990

Analysis of prognostic factors and clinicopathological staging of thymoma.

The prognostic value of four clinical variables (age and sex of patients, association with myasthenia gravis, and clinical stage) and histological type was analyzed in 83 consecutive patients with thymoma, histologically classified as cortical, medullary, and mixed. Age, sex, and association with myasthenia gravis did not prove to represent significant prognostic factors; clinical stage and histological type, on the contrary, had a highly significant prognostic value (p less than 0.001). A model of clinicopathological staging, based on both clinical stage and histological type, in which three major prognostic groups are considered is proposed. The degree of significance of this model is higher (p less than 0.0001) than that of clinical stage and histological type considered individually; its validity is further supported by the results of multivariate analysis according to the Cox regression model (p = 0.0001). We think it represents a prognostically valuable approach to the problem of management of thymoma.

Actuarial Analysis↗
PubMed1990

Low grade neuroendocrine tumors of the lung (bronchial carcinoids)--25 years experience.

From 1960 to 1986, 69 patients with low grade neuroendocrine tumours (LGNT) of the lung were admitted to our institution. Of these, 36 were male and 33 were female. The mean age was 43 years with a range of 9-76 years. Sixty-eight patients were operated upon of whom 11 had metastatic mediastinal lymphnodes. A complete follow-up ranging from 3 to 25 years was obtained in 61 patients. Actuarial survival was 95% at 5 years and 87% at 10 years. The most important factor influencing the prognosis was mediastinal lymph node involvement. In 9 patients with mediastinal lymph node metastases at operation, the survival at 5 and 10 years was 75% and 46%, respectively, with highly significant difference (P less than 0.0001) as compared with the nonmetastatic group. In conclusion, bronchial LGNT are generally benign, but encompass a potential for malignancy. The prognosis depends on the presence of regional lymph node metastases. The choice of adequate surgical treatment depends on the size, location and aggressiveness of the tumour and the status of the mediastinal lymph nodes. The condition of the lung parenchyma distal to the lesion must be taken into account.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1990

The prognostic implication of thymoma histologic subtyping. A study of 80 consecutive cases.

In this study the authors have investigated the clinicopathologic correlations in 80 consecutive cases of thymoma in order to establish the clinical usefulness of histologic subtyping of these tumours. All cases were histologically examined and classified according to Salyer and Eggleston and to Marino and Müller-Hermelink classifications. Therefore, thymomas were subtyped as predominantly lymphocytic, mixed and predominantly epithelial and cortical, mixed and medullary, respectively. The frequency of the different histologic subtypes was determined, and histologic findings were related to patients' age, surgical stage, and survival. Through the application of Salyer and Eggleston classification, the three histologic subtypes did not correlate with patients' ages at time of diagnosis, surgical stage as determined by local infiltration, and prognosis as determined by survival curves. On the contrary, when Marino and Müller-Hermelink classification was applied, statistically significant relationships between histologic results and age, surgical stage, and prognosis were demonstrated. These results and their implications are discussed, with special reference to the important problem of histogenesis of thymomas and of their clinicopathologic staging.

Adult↗
PubMed1990

Macrophages and interdigitating reticulum cells in normal human thymus and thymomas: immunoreactivity for interleukin-1 alpha, interleukin-1 beta and tumour necrosis factor alpha.

Pairs of monoclonal/polyclonal antibodies directed against interleukin-1 (IL-1) alpha, IL-1 beta and tumour necrosis factor (TNF) alpha were used for immunocytochemical identification of cytokine-containing cells in cryostat sections of human fetal thymuses and thymomas. In the fetal thymus immunoreactivity for IL-1 alpha was mainly confined to the medulla and was detected in S-100 positive interdigitating reticulum cells. The pattern of immunoreactivity for IL-1 beta was similar to that for IL-1 alpha, but the number of positive cells was much lower. Cells positive for TNF alpha were extremely rare in the fetal thymus. In 11 thymomas macrophages were constantly present and were regularly distributed throughout the tumour, whereas S-100 positive interdigitating reticulum cells were fewer and were characterized by a zonal distribution. Thymoma-associated macrophages were negative for IL-1 beta and were poorly reactive for IL-1 alpha, only a few positive cells being detected in five of the cases. Some macrophages with immunoreactivity for TNF alpha were detected in seven cases; they formed rosettes with surrounding lymphocytes or were located in a perivascular position. A marked immunoreactivity for TNF alpha was constantly detected in mast cell granules, which were observed in nine thymomas but not in fetal thymus. Positive immunoreactivity of interdigitating reticulum cells for IL-1 alpha was confirmed in five reactive lymph nodes and was also observed in Langerhans' cells in dermatopathic lymphadenitis. Our findings suggest that IL-1 alpha is a crucial molecule for interdigitating reticulum cell and Langerhans' cell function.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Animals↗
PubMed1989

True thymic hyperplasia: a clinicopathological study.

In this report, we describe the clinicopathological features of 4 patients with true thymic hyperplasia. This controversial thymic lesion has only recently been defined as a variable, often massive enlargement of the thymus characterized by a nearly normal microscopic structure. Our study of 4 patients and review of the literature indicate that true thymic hyperplasia has a well-defined clinicopathological profile: prevalence in children or young male patients, absence of associated autoimmune diseases, and often presence of respiratory distress or peripheral blood lymphocytosis, or both. True thymic hyperplasia should be considered in the differential diagnosis of anterior mediastinal masses in children and young adolescents.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1989

Macrophages and interdigitating reticulum cells in normal thymus and in thymoma: an immunohistochemical study.

The distribution and immunophenotype of macrophages and interdigitating reticulum cells were investigated on frozen sections of seven normal thymuses and 10 thymomas. In normal thymus, macrophages were mainly located in the cortex, were markedly PAM-1+/MAC+, weakly Leu-M3+ (CD14), T4+ (CD4), T9+ and OKM-1+ (CD11b). Interdigitating reticulum cells were mainly located in the medulla and were pan-Leu+ (CD45), T4+(CD4+), HLA-DR+; furthermore, they were also often TAC+ (CD25) and T9+. Thymomas were composed of cytokeratin-containing epithelial cells admixed with variable proportions of T6+ (CD1a) lymphocytes. As defined by the histological features two thymomas were lymphocyte-rich, five were mixed type and three were epithelial-rich; eight thymomas were mainly composed of cortical epithelial cells and two were composed of spindle epithelial cells suggesting a medullary origin. In all cases, thymoma-associated macrophages were markedly PAM-1+/MAC+; they were numerous, and regularly distributed throughout the tumour. The density of macrophages per unit area was similar to that of the normal thymus, and was not influenced by the histological type or by the lymphocyte content of the tumour. Interdigitating reticulum cells were few and were confined to the areas of medullary differentiation.

Adult↗
PubMed1989

Histiocytosis X and lymphoid follicular hyperplasia of the thymus in myasthenia gravis.

A case of a myasthenic patient with the association of unifocal histiocytosis X (eosinophilic granuloma) and lymphoid follicular hyperplasia of the thymus is presented. The combined diagnosis was made on histological grounds and supported by immunohistochemistry. Two aspects of this case are of interest: (1) it is the first reported case of the association of histiocytosis X and lymphoid follicular hyperplasia of the thymus in a myasthenic patient; and (2) the pathogenesis of this peculiar association does not seem to be fortuitous but rather might be related to the general derangement of the immune system present in myasthenia gravis.

Adult↗