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Background: Extranodal nasal-type NK/T-cell lymphoma (ENKTCL) is a common and geographic predominant disease in China. We observed the clinical and pathologic features of this tumor type and its relationship to Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), and focused on the epidermology and prevalence of ENKTCL in Xinjiang, in order to improve the diagnostic and differential diagnosis ability., Methods: 103 cases with nasal-type NK/T-cell lymphoma were recruited and assessed. All cases were submitted for histological assessment, immunophenotyping, in situ hybridization detection of EBV-encoded RNA (EBER), and clinical information analysis., Results: Male patients, aged between 40 and 50 years, were predominantly of Han ethnicity outnumbering those of Uyghur ethnicity. 80 cases of ENKTCL involved the nasal cavity or other areas of the upper respirodigestive tract whereas the remaining ones involved other extranodal sites. All cases exhibited similar histological changes: necrosis and inflammatory infiltration were frequently present. Cytologic atypical as well as angiocentric and angiodestructive growth patterns of the tumor cells were consistently noted, although the sizes and contours of the tumor cells varied considerably. All cases expressed one or several T-cell markers and at least one cytotoxic molecule. 86 cases (84%) expressed CD56, and 97 cases submitted for EBER detection showed positive results. ENKTCL affects predominantly middle-aged Han Chinese in the Xinjiang region, with a predilection to involvement of the nasal cavity and a strong association with a high EBV load., Conclusions: Early and correct identification of the disease in daily practice depends on the combination of morphologic evaluation, immunophenotypic assessment, and EBER detection.

Background: Thyroid tumor is the most common malignant cancer of endocrinology, with an increasing incidence in the world. In the absence of specific markers of malignancy, it is a real challenge to distinguish benign and malignant thyroid tumors under the microscope., Methods: The present study aimed to investigate the expression of Ki-67, Galectin-3, and pituitary tumor transforming gene (PTTG) in thyroid tumors, and to assess their diagnostic value as markers in the differential diagnoses of thyroid tumors. Immunohistochemistry (IHC) was performed on formalin-fixed, paraffin-embeded tissue of 10 cases of normal thyroid tissue as negative control, 13 cases of follicular adenomas (FA), 14 cases of follicular carcinomas (FC), and 40 cases of papillary carcinomas (PC)., Results: Statistically, it was clearly found that all three markers should be used in a panel, not only distinguishing malignant and benign thyroid tumors but also differentiating follicular carcinoma from papillary carcinoma. It also confirmed previous observations that Galectin-3 alone is highly sensitive for papillary carcinoma but not adequately sensitive for follicular carcinoma., Conclusions: PTTG alone is not adequately sensitive for the evaluation of any thyroid lesion. The combination of Galectin-3 and PTTG is complementary as a diagnostic biomarker for patients with papillary carcinoma.

Background: Having been asymptomatic, most thyroid nodules are found incidentally. In the absence of a specific diagnostic marker of malignant thyroid nodules, it is difficult to microscopically diagnose the benign or malignant nature of nodules., Methods: In the present study, the goal is to investigate the expression of cytokeratin-19 (CK-19), galectin-3 (Gal-3), and Hector Battifora mesothelial-1 (HBME-1) in thyroid nodules, and to assess their diagnostic value as markers in the differential diagnoses of benign and malignant thyroid nodules. Conventional Immunohistochemistry (IHC) was used on formalin-fixed, paraffin-embeded blocks of 150 cases of benign and malignant thyroid lesions. The benign group included 28 cases of follicular adenoma (FA) and 44 cases of thyroid nodular goiter. The malignant group included 72 cases of papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) and 6 cases of follicular thyroid carcinomas (FTC)., Results: It was statistically found that there were strikingly significant differences for the three markers in the distinguishing diagnosis of malignant and benign thyroid nodules (p < 0.01). However, there were no significant differences for the expression of the three markers among two different subtypes in the malignant group. What is more, no significant relationship was found between the expression of CK-19, Gal-3, or HBME-1 and gender, age, tumor size, focal lymphocytic infiltration, or lymph node metastasis in thyroid nodules., Conclusions: The combined use of CK19, Gal-3, and HBME-1 is of practical value in the diagnosis and differential diagnosis of benign and malignant thyroid nodules.