The mechanisms underlying the progression from ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) to invasive ductal carcinoma (IDC) of the breast are yet to be fully elucidated. Several hypotheses have been put forward to explain the progression from DCIS to IDC, including the selection of a subpopulation of cancer cells with specific genetic aberrations, and the acquisition of new genetic aberrations or non-genetic mechanisms mediated by the tumour microenvironment. To determine whether synchronously diagnosed ipsilateral DCI and IDCs have modal populations with distinct repertoires of gene copy number aberrations and mutations in common oncogenes, matched frozen samples of DCIS and IDC were retrieved from 13 patients and subjected to microarray-based comparative genomic hybridization (aCGH) and Sequenom MassARRAY (Oncocarta v 1.0 panel). Fluorescence in situ hybridization and Sanger sequencing were employed to validate the aCGH and Sequenom findings, respectively. Although the genomic profiles of matched DCI and IDCs were similar, in three of 13 matched pairs amplification of distinct loci (ie 1q41, 2q24.2, 6q22.31, 7q11.21, 8q21.2 and 9p13.3) was either restricted to, or more prevalent in, the modal population of cancer cells of one of the components. Sequenom MassARRAY identified PIK3CA mutations restricted to the DCIS component in two cases, and in a third case the frequency of the PIK3CA mutant allele reduced from 49% in the DCIS to 25% in the IDC component. Despite the genomic similarities between synchronous DCIS and IDC, our data provide strong circumstantial evidence to suggest that in some cases the progression from DCIS to IDC is driven by the selection of non-modal clones that harbour a specific repertoire of genetic aberrations.

Patient: Female, 66Final Diagnosis: Intravascular B-cell lymphomaSymptoms: Fever of unknown originMedication: —Clinical Procedure: —Specialty: HematologyObjective:Rare diseaseBackground:Intravascular lymphoma (IVL) is a rare lymphoproliferative disorder characterized by the proliferation of large B lymphoma cells within the lumen of small-caliber blood vessels. Clinical features are nonspecific, presenting as a systemic disease with fever and may be life-threatening. Antemortem diagnosis is difficult but may be made with biopsies of affected tissues or with random skin biopsies.Case Report:We report the case of a 66-year-old white woman presenting with fever of unknown origin (FUO) who developed neurologic, pulmonary, and hematologic manifestations. The diagnosis of intravascular large B cell lymphoma (IVLBCL) was made by random skin biopsies. She received treatment with steroids, rituximab, cyclophosphamide, vincristine, and doxorubicin (R-CHOP). Her disease evolution was unfavorable and she died after her first cycle of chemotherapy.Conclusions:Our case illustrates that IVL can present as FUO and should be considered in the differential diagnosis of this syndrome, especially in patients with neurologic compromise and persistently elevated serum lactate dehydrogenase. In this case, the diagnosis was made with cutaneous biopsies of visibly unaffected skin. As in our patient, the course of IVL is usually fatal within a few months.

A 31-year-old Caucasian woman of South-American descent was diagnosed with a variant of multicentric Castleman disease (MCD) that has been reported in Japan as Castleman-Kojima disease. This is a systemic inflammatory disorder known as TAFRO Syndrome which includes thrombocytopenia, polyserositis (ascites/pleural effusion), microcytic anemia, myelofibrosis, fever, renal dysfunction and organomegaly, with immunologic disorder, polyclonal hypergammaglobulinemia, and elevated levels of interleukin-6 (IL-6) and the vascular endothelial growth factor present in serum and/or effusions. Optimal therapies are not well established. The patient was treated with methylprednisolone and rituximab. Following the start of treatment, the patient has been asymptomatic for over 8 months. This is one of only a few reports of TAFRO Syndrome in a non-Japanese patient.