Background: Myoepithelial carcinoma, also called malignant myoepithelioma, is a relatively rare malignant tumor that occurs most frequently in the salivary glands. A few isolated cases have been described in other locations, including the lung, bronchus, oral cavity, nasopharynx and larynx. The region of cavernous sinus is an uncommon condition of involvement in myoepithelial carcinoma. To the ...

Myoepithelial cells (MECs) are considered to be a key participant in most salivary gland diseases, particularly tumors. MECs structurally resemble both epithelial cells and smooth muscles. Diagnostic dilemmas caused are due to inadequacy of characterizing the wide spectrum of morphologic and immunologic features which are different for both normal and neoplastic MECs. This article discusses the...

p63 protein is widely used to identify myoepithelial cells in breast disease. There have been no comparative studies of the p63 antibodies which detect different isoforms. In this study, we examine the expression profiles of p63 protein in benign proliferative diseases and malignant tumors of the breast using pan-p63 and p40 antibodies, and analyze their diagnostic utility and clinical implicat...

Chondroid syringoma is a rare mixed tumor of the skin which is composed of both mesenchymal and epithelial cells. Its incidence at less than 0.1% and is frequently located on the head and neck. Chondroid syringoma is easily confused with epidermal cysts. Since malignant forms of chondroid syringoma have been reported, accurate and timely diagnosis is important for proper management. We report c...

The presence and distribution of basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) and transforming growth factor beta 1 in benign and malignant human breast tissue were determined by immunohistochemistry and immunoblotting. Peroxidase staining of biopsy specimens using a polyclonal antibody to amino acids 1-24 of bFGF and a monoclonal antibody to whole recombinant bFGF showed this growth factor to be loca...

SED1, also known as MFG-E8, is a secreted protein composed of two EGF repeats (the second of which contains an RGD motif) and two discoidin/Factor V/VIII C domains. SED1 is expressed by a wide range of cell types, where it participates in diverse cellular interactions, such as sperm binding to the egg coat and macrophage recognition of apoptotic lymphocytes. Although SED1 was originally identif...

Dysfunctional progenitor and luminal cells with acquired basal cell properties accumulate during human mammary epithelial aging for reasons not understood. Multipotent progenitors from women aged <30 years were exposed to a physiologically relevant range of matrix elastic modulus (stiffness). Increased stiffness causes a differentiation bias towards myoepithelial cells while reducing production...