Sclerosing microcystic adenocarcinoma is an exceedingly rare entity occurring in the mucosal surfaces of the head and neck that closely resembles cutaneous microcystic adnexal carcinoma. Here, we report a case of sclerosing microcystic adenocarcinoma that presented as a vague mass at the floor of the mouth in a 55-year-old woman. The pathology features and the diagnostic challenges, especially in the biopsy and margin evaluation are discussed here. Similar cases published in the English literatures are reviewed.

Objective To establish the intracellular consequences of electrical stimulation to spiral ganglion neurons after deafferentation. Here we use a rat model to determine the effect of both low and high pulse rate acute electrical stimulation on activation of the proapoptotic transcription factor Jun in deafferented spiral ganglion neurons in vivo. Study design Experimental animal study. Setting Hearing research laboratories of the University of Iowa Departments of Biology and Otolaryngology Methods A single electrode was implanted through the round window of kanamycin-deafened rats at either postnatal day 32 (P32, n=24) or P60 (n=22) for four hours of stimulation (monopolar, biphasic pulses, amplitude twice eABR threshold) at either 100 or 5000 Hz. Jun phosphorylation was assayed by immunofluorescence to quantitatively assess the effect of electrical stimulation on proapoptotic signaling. Results Jun phosphorylation was reliably suppressed by 100 Hz stimuli in deafened cochleae of P32 but not P60 rats. This effect was not significant in the basal cochlear turns. Stimulation frequency may be consequential: 100 Hz was significantly more effective than was 5 kHz stimulation in suppressing phospho-Jun. Conclusions Suppression of Jun phosphorylation occurs in deafferented spiral ganglion neurons after only four hours of electrical stimulation. This finding is consistent with the hypothesis that electrical stimulation can decrease spiral ganglion neuron death after deafferentation.

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There is increasing evidence that many endometrial cancers (EC) diagnosed as clear cell carcinoma (CCC) have substantial overlap with both serous carcinoma (SC) and endometrioid carcinoma (EmC), not only in terms of morphology and immunophenotype but also by molecular characterization. Now with use of HER2-based therapy in SC, a CCC diagnosis in serous-like tumors has the potential to exclude patients from receiving beneficial therapy. To assess HER2 in CCC in relation to other characteristics, a tissue microarray of archived CCC, EmC, and SC was stained for HER2 alongside a battery of immunostains used in EC. Cases with equivocal HER2 IHC were also assessed by in situ hybridization. HER2 status was assessed in 229 cases (23 CCC, 74 SC, 132 EmC). HER2 was positive in 48% of cases diagnosed as CCC, 19% of SC, and 0% of EmC. Rigorous morphologic and immunophenotypic review by 5 gynecologic pathologists revealed diagnostic disagreement in 8/11 HER2+ cases diagnosed as CCC, with SC as the other major diagnostic consideration. All HER2+ (n = 25) cases were MMR-intact and most HER2+ EC had aberrant p53 staining (22/25, 88%); the 3 cases with a wild type pattern for p53 (12%) were all negative for ER. Based on these findings, patients with a diagnosis of CCC should be included in future clinical trials of HER2-targeted therapy. Moreover, given the diagnostic difficulty surrounding CCC, immunohistochemistry-based algorithms that include aberrant p53 and/or the absence of ER expression may provide a more objective means of establishing eligibility criteria than is currently possible using traditional histologic classification.