Faculty Bibliography

Myelolipomas are benign tumors, histologically consisting of an admixture of mature adipose tissue and normal hematopoietic elements. It is most commonly found in the adrenal glands. Extra-adrenal myelolipomas are rare. Due to the rarity of this entity, exposure to and awareness of the cytological characteristics are limited. We report a case of intra-abdominal extra-adrenal myelolipoma diagnosed by fine needle aspiration (FNA) in a 67-year-old female, and review of relevant English literature. Knowledge of the cytological features of myelolipoma will avoid mistaking this benign tumor as malignant.

As a review for the 20th anniversary of publishing the antigen retrieval (AR) technique in this journal, the authors intend briefly to summarize developments in AR-immunohistochemistry (IHC)-based research and diagnostics, with particular emphasis on current challenges and future research directions. Over the past 20 years, the efforts of many different investigators have coalesced in extending the AR approach to all areas of anatomic pathology diagnosis and research and further have led to AR-based protein extraction techniques and tissue-based proteomics. As a result, formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) archival tissue collections are now seen as a literal treasure of materials for clinical and translational research to an extent unimaginable just two decades ago. Further research in AR-IHC is likely to focus on tissue proteomics, developing a more efficient protocol for protein extraction from FFPE tissue based on the AR principle, and combining the proteomics approach with AR-IHC to establish a practical, sophisticated platform for identifying and using biomarkers in personalized medicine

Granular cell astrocytoma (GCA) is a rare type of malignant brain tumor with distinct morphologic features and aggressive clinical behavior. Almost all GCAs occur in the cerebral hemispheres. It is characterized by a prominent component of bland-looking granular cells. The tumor cells are usually positive for glial fibrillary acidic protein, S100, CD68, and epithelial membrane antigen. The most important differential diagnoses include a number of reactive lesions such as cerebral infarction, multiple sclerosis, and progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy. Electron microscopic study reveals that the granules of GCA correspond to an increased number of intracytoplasmic lysosomes. The histogenesis of GCA is still unclear, but most people believe it originates from astrocytes. Loss of 9p and 10q were identified in almost all cases of GCA, but they are not specific for this tumor. Surgical excision plus postoperative chemotherapy or radiotherapy is the choice for most patients with GCA.