BACKGROUND The syncytialization of cytotrophoblast cells to syncytiotrophoblast is central to human placental transport and hormone production. Many techniques for in vitro study of this process have been proposed and new investigators to the field may find the literature in the field daunting. Here, we present a straightforward and reliable method to establish this important model using modern...

A 43-year-old housewife suffered from an occipital headache, and brain computed tomography (CT) showed an occipital meningeal tumor. She received a complete tumor excision and the tumor pathology was interpreted as atypical meningioma. Five years later, a subacute left neck pain with radiation to the left arm occurred. A tumor invading the second and third cervical vertebrae with compression on...

Cytokeratin (CK) expression was investigated, by means of immunocytochemistry, in the hamster thymic epithelium during ontogeny, as well as in primary cultures and upon glucocorticoid hormone treatment in vivo. As compared to the distribution pattern of distinct monoclonal antibody-defined cytokeratins in the normal adult thymus, CK modulation was evidenced in the three situations studied. Duri...

BACKGROUND After skin cancer, breast cancer is the most common malignancy in women. Tumors of unknown origin account for 5-15% of malignant neoplasms, with 1.5% being breast cancer. An immunohistochemical panel with conventional and newer markers, such as mammaglobin, was selected for the detection of neoplastic cells of breast origin. The specific objectives are: 1) to determine the sensitivit...

The role of basal epithelial cells in prostatic function, development and carcinogenesis is unknown. The ability of basal prostatic epithelial cells to acquire a luminal phenotype was explored in vitro using the NRP-152 rat dorsal-lateral prostate epithelial cell line as a model system. NRP-152, which was spontaneously immortalized and clonally derived, is an androgen-responsive and nontumorige...

BACKGROUND: Mast cells have been documented to have several key functions with regards to malignant neoplasms. However, the functional significance of their accumulation is largely unknown. An analysis of the mast cell profile in mediastinal lymph nodes from lung cancer patients is reported here. METHODS: One hundred thirty-four, randomly selected lymph nodes (63 with positive pathological lymp...

Cystic tumours of the atrioventricular node (sometimes called ‘‘benign mesotheliomas of the atrioventricular node’’) are rare lesions associated with sudden cardiac death. 2 A recent case provided several informative points regarding the nature of this lesion and best practice methodology within the coroner’s necropsy. A 31 year old man, training for a marathon, collapsed and died suddenly with...

In gynecologic oncology valid prognostic factors are necessary to define biologically similar subgroups for analysis of therapeutic efficacy. This study is the first published prospective study concerning prognostic significance of DNA ploidy and S-phase fraction in cervical and endometrial cancer following enrichment of tumor cells by cytokeratin labelling. Epithelial cells were labeled by FIT...

The identification of primary location of a metastatic tumor is a difficult diagnostic problem and sometimes can be facilitated by the use of immunohistochemical markers. Thyroid transcription factor-1 (TTF-1) is a 38-kDa nuclear homeodomain transcription factor that is expressed specifically in lung or thyroid neoplasms. Cytokeratin 20 (CK20) is a 46-kDa low-molecular-weight cytokeratin that s...