Primary apocrine sweat gland carcinoma (PASGC) is an extremely rare malignancy with a relatively favorable prognosis. PASGC is often suspected to be a benign disease during an initial clinical examination, which leads to inadequate initial treatment and extensive metastasis. Owing to the limited number of reports on PASGC, its diagnostic criteria and treatment guidelines have not yet been established. The only known curative therapy for localized PASGC is wide local excision. In the present report, we describe two cases of PASGC with locally aggressive disease that arose in the axilla and review the literature about its clinicopathological features, diagnosis, and treatment. Based on the findings of the current report, we suggest that a sentinel lymph node biopsy and adjuvant anti-estrogen therapy should be included in the management of PASGC.

Pancreatic cancer is one of the most devastating human malignancies. Despite considerable research efforts, it remains resistant to almost all available treatment regimens. The human trophoblast cell-surface antigen, TROP2, was found to be strongly expressed in a variety of human epithelial cancers, correlating with aggressiveness and poor prognosis. TROP2 antigen expression was investigated retrospectively by immunohistochemistry in paraffin-embedded primary tumour tissue samples from a series (n ¼ 197) of consecutive patients with pancreatic adenocarcinoma. Survival was calculated using Kaplan -Meier curves. Parameters found to be of prognostic significance in univariate analysis were verified in a multivariate Cox regression model. TROP2 overexpression was observed in 109 (55%) of 197 pancreatic cancer patients and was significantly associated with decreased overall survival (Po0.01). By univariate analysis, TROP2 overexpression was found to correlate with the presence of lymph node metastasis (P ¼ 0.04) and tumour grade (P ¼ 0.01). Furthermore, in the subgroup of patients treated surgically with curative intent, TROP2 overexpression significantly correlated with poor progression-free survival (Po0.01). Multivariate analyses revealed TROP2 to be an independent prognosticator. These findings suggest for the first time that TROP2 could be a novel prognostic biomarker for pancreatic cancer. Targeting TROP2 might be a useful treatment approach for patients with pancreatic cancer overexpressing this cell-surface marker.

BackgroundIt is difficult to correctly diagnose follicular neoplasms (FNs) on fine-needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) because it shares many cytological features with other mimicking lesions. The aim of this study was to identify the cytological features that differentiate FNs from mimicking lesions. MethodsWe included the cytological slides from 116 cases of thyroid FN diagnosed on FNAC, and included their subsequent histological diagnoses. We evaluated the cytological architectural pattern and nuclear features of the lesions according to their histological groups. ResultsThe final histological diagnoses of the 116 cases varied, and included 51 FNs (44%), 47 papillary thyroid carcinomas (40%) including follicular variant, and seventeen cellular nodular hyperplasias (15%). Regardless of the final histological diagnosis, microfollicular pattern was observed in most cases. On the other hand, trabecular pattern was identified in 34% of FNs, but not in any other lesions. Additionally, elongated nuclei and ground glass chromatin were found in only some papillary thyroid carcinomas. ConclusionsThis study shows that the trabecular pattern is a representative cytological feature of FNs that can be used to distinguish FNs from mimicking lesions. In addition, nuclear shape and chromatin pattern can be used to further confirm the diagnosis of FNs from mimicking lesions through FNAC.

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BackgroundAlthough histological diagnosis of pilomatricoma is not difficult because of its unique histological features, cytological diagnosis through fine-needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) is often problematic due to misdiagnoses as malignancy.MethodsWe reviewed the cytological features of 14 cases of histologically-proven pilomatricoma from Korea Cancer Center Hospital, with a discussion on the diagnostic pitfalls of FNAC. ResultsAmong 14 cases of pilomatricoma, 10 (71.4%) were correctly diagnosed through FNAC, and two (14.3%) were misdiagnosed as carcinoma. Cytologically, all cases had easily recognizable clusters of basaloid cells and foreign body-type multinucleated cells. Although ghost cells were also found in all cases, some were inconspicuous and hardly recognizable due to their small numbers.ConclusionsAn accurate diagnosis of pilomatricoma in FNAC is feasible with consideration of clinical information and close examination of ghost cells.