Faculty Bibliography

Objective: While the use of fine needle aspiration (FNA) in the diagnosis of gastrointestinal stromal tumours (GISTs) is well-established, it can be difficult to predict the prognosis of GIST based on morphology alone. The objective of the current study was to determine if expression of bcl-2, Ki-67 and p53 correlated with the outcome of GISTs based on cytological material. Methods: Cell-blocks from 14 GISTs diagnosed by FNA were retrieved. Immunostaining was performed with antibodies against bcl-2, Ki-67 and p53. All cytological diagnoses were confirmed by positive immunostaining with c-kit and/or subsequent histological evaluation. Positivity for bcl-2, Ki-67 and p53 was defined as the presence of >= 10% cytoplasmic staining, >= 5% nuclear staining and >= 5% nuclear staining respectively. Results: The 14 patients consisted of seven males and seven females with a mean age of 58 years. The average follow-up interval was 46 months. Six had a benign course and eight developed recurrences/metastases. Thirteen (93%) cases showed positive staining for bcl-2. Positive Ki-67 and p53 staining was noted in one (7%) and seven (50%) cases respectively. The difference in staining for p53 between aggressive and non-aggressive GISTs was statistically significant. No statistically significant difference was noted for bcl-2 staining or Ki-67 labelling index between the two groups. Conclusions: According to our observations, p53 immunostaining may be useful in predicting the outcome of GIST diagnosed by FNA; Ki-67 and bcl-2 are not useful as prognostic markers for GIST in FNA specimens

Fine-needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) of the head and neck region is well accepted as a diagnostic procedure in the adult population. FNAC in the pediatric population is gaining acceptance as clinicians add this technique to the diagnostic armamentarium. An experience with FNAC of the head and neck region in the pediatric population is described from 2 large inner-city hospitals. Eighty-five cases were retrieved from patients age <18 years. In 52 cases, clinical or surgical follow-up was obtained and among these cases the specificity and sensitivity of FNA was 93% and 100%, respectively. The high specificity of FNAC allows the clinician to be confident of malignancy in a clinically suspicious lesion of the head and neck in a pediatric patient. Cancer (Cancer Cytopathol) 2007. (c) 2007 American Cancer Society.

Mucinous lesions in the breast are uncommon. They constitute a wide spectrum of lesions ranging from extravasated mucin associated with fibrocystic change to mucinous carcinoma. There are limited data on the reliability of core biopsy in the diagnosis of mucinous lesions of the breast. We reviewed the core biopsy and surgical biopsy diagnoses in 32 mucinous lesions of the breast. We conclude that core biopsy is highly reliable for accurate diagnosis of mucinous lesions of the breast

We report a case of an intraparenchymal leiomyoma of the breast with description of the radiologic, histopathologic, and immunohistochemical findings. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first case of an intraparenchymal leiomyoma of the breast diagnosed by core needle biopsy and the 22nd case described in the literature. In addition, we review the literature on this uncommon breast neoplasm