Faculty Bibliography

Pulmonary metastasis remains the leading ca use of death for cancer patients. Opportunities to improve treatment outcomes for patients require new methods to study and view the biology of metastatic progression. Here, we describe an ex vivo pulmonary metastasis assay (PuMA) in which the metastatic progression of GFP-expressing cancer cells, from a single cell to the formation of multicellular colonies, in the mouse lung microenvironment was assessed in real time for up to 21 days. The biological validity of this assay was confirmed by its prediction of the in vivo behavior of a variety of high- and low-metastatic human and mouse cancer cell lines and the discrimination of tumor microenvironments in the lung that were most permissive to metastasis. Using this approach, we provide what we believe to be new insights into the importance of tumor cell interactions with the stromal components of the lung microenvironment. Finally, the translational utility of this assay was demonstrated through its use in the evaluation of therapeutics at discrete time points during metastatic progression. We believe that this assay system is uniquely capable of advancing our understanding of both metastasis biology and therapeutic strategies.

We present the case of a patient with malignant transformation of a liposclerosing myxofibrous tumor. The patient had a histologically confirmed liposclerosing myxofibrous tumor that, during a course of 22 months, spontaneously transformed into a lesion appearing like a benign giant cell reactive lesion and subsequently into a high-grade bone sarcoma. Few such cases of spontaneous malignant transformation of liposclerosing myxofibrous tumor have been reported. We report what we believe to be the first case documenting spontaneous transformation of a liposclerosing myxofibrous tumor into an intermediate lesion with benign-appearing histologic features and then into a high-grade malignant tumor.

BACKGROUND: Strain injury to the adductor longus muscle is a common cause of groin pain in athletes and generally occurs in the proximal portion of the muscle, near its origin from the anterior aspect of the pubis. The composition and cross-sectional anatomy of this muscle's origin has not been previously described. HYPOTHESIS: We hypothesize that the adductor longus muscle origin is composed mainly of muscle fibers and that the tendon composes only a small part of the cross section at the origin of the muscle. STUDY DESIGN: Descriptive laboratory study. METHODS: We harvested 42 adductor longus muscles from 28 cadavers and measured the cross-sectional dimensions of the tendon with microcalipers. Next, we determined the relative contributions of the tendon and muscle fibers to the cross-sectional anatomy of the muscle using optical scanning. These 2 sets of measurements were obtained at 3 locations: at the muscle origin and 1.0 and 2.0 cm distal to the origin. RESULTS: The average length and width of the tendon was 11.6 and 3.7 mm, respectively, at the origin. The average cross-sectional areas of the tendon were 49.3, 27.9, and 25.7 mm(2) at points 0.0, 1.0, and 2.0 cm from its origin, respectively. The origin of the adductor longus muscle was composed of 37.9% tendon and 62.1% muscle tissue. At 1.0 cm from the origin, the percentage of tendon decreased to 34%. At 2.0 cm from the origin, the tendon composed 26.7% of the cross section. CONCLUSION: The cross-sectional area of the tendon of the adductor longus muscle is relatively small. The muscle origin is composed predominantly of direct attachment of muscle fibers. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Knowledge of the cross-sectional anatomy of the adductor longus muscle at its origin may help clinicians better understand the complex nature of injuries in this area