BACKGROUND:The detection of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutations on small biopsy or fineneedle aspiration samples is required to guide therapy in nonsmall cell lung cancer (NSCLC). In this study, the authors compared results from EGFR mutation testing on both cytologic smears and surgical specimens and also compared the performance of platforms using 2 different technologies (pyrosequencing and real-time polymerase chain reaction) for both specimen types. METHODS: Specimens from 114 patients were divided into 2 subsets.The first subset had 60 paired cytology smears and surgical specimens, including 37 paired specimens from the same site and 23 paired specimens from different sites. The second subset consisted of nonpaired cytology smears and formalinfixed, paraffin-embedded (FFPE) tissues (including 8 cell blocks), which were compared on the pyrosequencing and realtime polymerase chain reaction platforms. Laser-capture microscopy was used to enrich tumor in the FFPE specimens before DNA extraction. RESULTS: All cytology smears that were used in the study were adequate for analysis on both platforms. Comparison between smears and concurrent FFPE tissues from the same anatomic site had a concordance rate of 97%. The concordance rate between the pyrosequencing platform and the real-time polymerase chain reaction platform was 84% and 85% for FFPE tissues and cytology smears, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The current results indicated that direct extraction and analysis of EGFR mutations from cytology smears can be performed successfully on both a pyrosequencing platform and a real-time polymerase chain reaction platform with results comparable to those achieved in matched surgical specimens. In fine-needle aspiration/endobronchial ultrasound samples with limited tissue, cytology smears can be important for molecular analysis. Cancer (Cancer Cytopathol) 2013;121:361-9. V C 2013 American Cancer Society.

BACKGROUND SMARCB1/INI1-deficient pancreatic undifferentiated rhabdoid carcinoma is a very aggressive tumor that is rarely reported in the literature. The tumor has a predominant rhabdoid cell component and different patterns of growth have been reported. CASE SUMMARY A 59-year-old woman presented with diffuse abdominal pain, increasing in severity and accompanied by weight loss, nausea, and vomiting. Imaging showed a pancreatic head mass. Fine needle aspiration demonstrated atypical epithelioid cells with a pseudopapillary growth pattern suggestive of solid pseudopapillary neoplasm. The excised neoplasm showed monotonous epithelioid and focally spindle cells with pseudopapillary structures, rhabdoid features, and loss of SMARCB1 protein expression with wild-type KRAS , consistent with a SMARCB1/INI1-deficient undifferentiated rhabdoid carcinoma. The patient’s condition deteriorated rapidly following surgery and she expired 3 mo post operation. CONCLUSION In this article, we report the first case of SMARCB1/INI1-deficient undifferentiated pancreatic rhabdoid carcinoma mimicking solid pseudopapillary neoplasm.

Silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) are used in everyday consumer products because of their bactericidal properties. Their introduction into the environment has raised ecologic concerns. This experiment set out to determine the effect of AgNPs on opportunistic and pathogenic gram-negative bacilli: Shigella flexneri, Acinetobacter baumannii, and Salmonella typhimurium. A standard inoculum of each bacterium was grown in trypticase soy broth and also in broth with the addition of 1 or 5 mL of 616.8 mg/dL AgNP solution. In addition, silver nitrate (AgNO3) and sodium borohydride (NaBH4) treatments were established because both were used in the synthesis of the AgNP solution. Bacterial growth was determined by reading absorbance at 419.0 nm against appropriate blanks. A second experiment was conducted growing the same organisms on Mueller Hinton II agar, using a Kirby-Bauer technique and standard bacterial inoculum. One-centimeter Whatman paper disks were saturated with 20 µL of the AgNPs solution, placed on plates, and incubated overnight, and zones of inhibition were measured. NaBH4-and AgNO3-saturated disks were also tested. AgNPs were shown to be effective or ineffective in killing the bacteria. Category:Chemistry