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Hemangioblastomas are low-grade, highly vascular tumors that are usually associated with von Hippel-Lindau syndrome. Hemangioblastomas most commonly occur in the cerebellum, and intradural extramedullary hemangioblastoma of the cauda equina is very rare, especially in patients without von Hippel-Lindau syndrome. Herein, we report a case of intradural extramedullary hemangioblastoma of the cauda equina that was not associated with von HippelLindau syndrome, with a focus on its imaging characteristics and differential diagnoses. We compared the clinical presentation and imaging features of our case with those of previously reported cases in the review of the literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hibernoma is a rare benign tumor that arises from vestiges of brown fat. Spinal intraosseous hibernoma has only recently been described in the literature, and only 12 cases have been reported to date due to its extreme rarity. Here, we report the case of a patient who was incidentally diagnosed with an intraosseous hibernoma in the thoracic spine, following a diverse imaging work-up and pathologic confirmation. We correlate the clinical presentation and imaging features of our case with those of previously reported cases during our review of the literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary Microsatellite instability (MSI)-high gastric cancers (GC) have better prognosis and higher levels of tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TIL) compared with MSI-low or MSI-stable GCs. TILs are part of the adaptive immune response against tumor growth and are associated with improved prognosis in GCs. The aim of this study was to investigate the prognostic significance of CD8+ and FoxP3+ TILs in MSI-high GCs and their relationships with various clinicopathologic characteristics. Intratumoral intraepithelial CD8+ and FoxP3+ TILs were assessed in 99 cases of MSI-high GCs using a computerized image analysis system. TILs were grouped into low- and high-density groups and were analyzed for their relationships with clinicopathologic parameters. A low density was closely associated with a higher TNM stage (P = .040) and invasion depth (P = .044) and more frequent lymphatic and vascular invasion (P = .033 and .015, respectively). GCs with high-density CD8+ or FoxP3+ TILs showed significantly higher overall survival rates than those of GCs with low-density CD8+ or FoxP3+ TILs (P = .017 and .013, respectively, Kaplan-Meier test). In multivariate survival analysis, a high density of FoxP3+ TILs was significantly associated with improved overall survival (P = .027; hazard ratio, 0.269), and the combinatorial status of CD8+ and FoxP3+ TIL density was an independent prognostic factor (P = .003). Our results demonstrate that higher densities of both intratumoral CD8+ and FoxP3+ TILs are associated with good prognosis, suggesting a synergistic activity of these 2 subsets that can be used as an independent prognostic factor in MSI-high GCs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) is known to play an important role in breast cancer invasion and metastatic progression. However, the pattern of expression of EMT markers in the progression from in situ to invasive breast carcinoma is not clear. To investigate this, we performed immunohistochemical analyses of EMT markers (expression of vimentin, smooth muscle actin, osteonectin, and N-cadherin; loss of E-cadherin; alteration of ß-catenin), breast cancer stem cell (CSC) markers (CD44+/CD24-, ALDH1), and CD146, an EMT inducer, in invasive carcinomas and ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) of the breast. Expression of EMT markers was closely associated with the basal-like subtype and CSC phenotype in invasive carcinoma but not in pure DCIS, except for vimentin. The expression of smooth muscle actin and N-cadherin, loss of E-cadherin, and alteration of ß-catenin were significantly higher in invasive carcinomas than in pure DCIS (P = .015, P = .029, P = .001, and P = .007, respectively). Subgroup analyses revealed greater loss of E-cadherin and alteration of ß-catenin in invasive carcinoma than in pure DCIS in basal-like subtype (P = .001) but not in non-basal-like subtypes. Moreover, expression of EMT markers and CD146 was higher in the invasive than in the DCIS component of basal-like cancers. Our study confirmed that EMT is an intrinsic characteristic of basal-like subtype and is associated with CSC phenotype. Furthermore, we showed higher expression of EMT markers in invasive carcinomas than in pure DCIS, especially in basal-like subtype, and in the invasive component of basal-like breast cancers, suggesting that EMT may be involved in the progression from in situ to invasive basal-like breast cancers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]