Hepatic involvement in Hodgkin's disease: clues to histologic diagnosis

Article Abstract:

When determining a therapeutic approach to Hodgkin's disease, it is important to detect liver metastases which occur in Stage IV of the disease. The histological diagnosis of liver metastases is made by examining tissue samples from liver biopsies for the presence of Reed-Sternberg cells, large abnormal cells with more than one nucleus. The diagnosis of metastases in the liver is often difficult because of the small size of the biopsy sample and the low numbers of Reed-Sternberg cells. The liver of patients with Hodgkin's disease often contains inflammatory changes that are not always indicative of metastases. Liver tissue of 41 patients with Hodgkin's disease with liver involvement tissue and of 84 patients without liver involvement were examined. The features of inflammatory liver response were examined for use in the diagnosis of metastases. The tissues from patients with liver involvement had infiltrates of a large number of white blood cells. These cells are involved in the inflammatory response in the portal system, which consists of veins that drain the blood from the digestive system into the liver. The large infiltrate occurred in 78 percent of the cases with liver involvement, compared with one percent of the cases without liver involvement. The portal infiltrates had a large number of atypical lymphocytes in 78 percent of the cases with hepatic involvement compared with 12 percent in those without liver involvement. Swelling of the portal system was seen in 90 percent of the cases with liver involvement; only eight percent of the cases without liver involvement had this swelling. Eighty-five percent of the patients with hepatic involvement had acute cholangitis, swelling of the bile ducts, compared with cholangitis which was detected in four percent of the cases without hepatic involvement. The presence of these four inflammatory responses in patients with Hodgkin's disease should indicate that a diligent search is necessary for Reed-Sternberg cells; more than one liver biopsy may be necessary. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)

Diagnosis, Hodgkin's disease, Metastasis, Cancer metastasis, Lymphomas, Tissues, Tissues (Anatomy), Liver cancer

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Human papillomaviruses and the pathogenesis of cervical neoplasia: A study by in situ hybridization

Article Abstract:

Tissue specimens from neoplasias from the cervix of 70 women were analyzed for the presence and type of human papillomaviruses (HPV) by a technique known as in situ hybridization. With in situ hybridization, the deoxyribose nucleic acid (DNA) of the virus is detected with a DNA probe specific for this virus. It allows the detection of the virus in the tissue specimens without altering the tissues, permitting the correlation of the type of pathologic lesion with the type of virus. Virus was detected in 71 percent of the lesions examined. Thirty of the cases contained the virus type HPV-16 and 10 contained HPV-18, both of which are associated with intraepithelial neoplasias and invasive cancers. HPV-31 was detected in six cases and is associated with both mild and severe pathogenic lesions. Only one case contained HPV-6/11, which is associated with condylomas, wart-like growths. Although there was a high frequency of condylomatous changes in the specimens, HPV-6 and HPV-11 were not found in most cases. Each specimen generally contained the same virus type, which was present in various lesions ranging in severity from wart-like to neoplastic. Only four cases contained more than one type of HPV. The location of the lesions and viruses suggests that the neoplasias start at the condylomas and extend toward the cervical canal. Approximately 25 percent of the samples contained detectable capsid antigen, which is indicative of a complete and potentially infectious virus. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)

Case studies, Evaluation, Development and progression, Virus diseases, DNA probes, Pathology, Papilloma, Papillomas

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Human papillomaviruses and anogenital cancers

Article Abstract:

Research has increasingly identified human papillomaviruses (HPVs) as a cause of cancer in the anal and genital area. HPV infection is responsible for nearly all cases of cervical cancer and may be involved in other anogenital cancers. The risk of infection rises with greater sexual activity, strongly suggesting sexual transmission, and so effective control must focus on behavior, cancer screening, and perhaps an HPV vaccine. The viruses are found widely in normal skin, so they may be implicated in cancers not in the anogenital area.

Editorial, Causes of, Complications and side effects, Diseases, HIV patients, Anal cancer

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