Patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) show an over-expression of Type I Interferon (IFN) responsive genes called “Interferon Signature”. We found that the B6.NZMSle1/Sle2/Sle3 (Sle1,2,3) lupus-prone mice also express an Interferon Signature compared to non autoimmune C57BL/6 mice. In vitro, myeloid dendritic cells (mDCs)(GM-CSF bone marrow-derived BMDCs) from Sle1,2,3 mice constitutively over-expressed IFN responsive genes such as IFNb, Oas-3, Mx-1, ISG-15 and CXCL10, and the members of IFN signaling pathway STAT1, STAT2, and IRF7. The Interferon Signature was similar in Sle1,2,3 BMDCs from young, pre-autoimmune mice and from mice with high titers of autoantibodies, suggesting that the Interferon Signature in mDCs precedes disease onset and it is independent from the autoantibodies. Sle1,2,3 BMDCs hyper-responded to stimulation with IFNa and the TLR7 and TLR9 agonists R848 and CpGs. We propose that this hyper-response is induced by the Interferon Signature and only partially contributes to the Signature, since oligonucleotides inhibitory for TLR7 and TLR9 only partially suppressed the constitutive Interferon Signature and pre-exposure to IFNa induced the same hyper-response in wild type BMDCs than in Sle1,2,3 BMDCs. In vivo, mDCs and with lesser extent T and B cells from young pre-diseased Sle1,2,3 mice also expressed the Interferon Signature, although they lacked the strength that BMDCs showed in vitro. Sle1,2,3 plasmacytoid DCs expressed the Interferon Signature in vitro but not in vivo, suggesting that mDCs may be more relevant before disease onset. We propose that Sle1,2,3 mice are useful tools to study the role of the Interferon Signature in lupus pathogenesis.

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The human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) gene is amplified and its protein product overexpressed in about 20% of invasive breast cancers. Despite more than a decade of efforts to standardize HER2 testing, controversy persists regarding the most optimal testing method. Recently, Oncotype DX reports have begun including HER2 results in addition to the previously reported Recurrence Score. We compared HER2 results obtained by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) in our laboratories with HER2 results obtained by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) as documented in the Oncotype DX report. We then sought to identify potentially significant characteristics in the discrepant cases. We identified breast cancer patients with estrogen receptor-positive, lymph node-negative tumors who had Oncotype DX testing performed between September 2008 and March 2012. Patient and tumor characteristics including HER2 FISH and Oncotype DX test results were recorded. Image analysis was performed on cases with discrepancy between the HER2 FISH and Oncotype DX HER2 results to determine the relative proportion of invasive tumor. Eight of 194 (4.1%) cases showed discrepancy between HER2 FISH and Oncotype DX RT-PCR results. Although the overall percent agreement (96%) and percent negative agreement (100%) were high, percent positive agreement was only 50%. Three of 8 (38%) discrepant cases showed heterogeneous amplification by FISH. Seven of 8 (88%) discrepant cases had <50% invasive tumor in the Oncotype DX tissue block. Percent positive agreement between HER2 FISH and Oncotype DX RT-PCR is low. Multiple factors may contribute to this discrepancy including a suboptimal microdissection and possibly heterogeneous amplification of HER2 gene in some cases.

Involvement of the pancreas by metastatic sarcoma is rare, and can prove challenging to differentiate from sarcomatoid carcinomas which occur more commonly. The endoscopic ultrasound-guided fine-needle aspiration (EUS-FNA) technique has been successfully used for the diagnosis of pancreatic carcinomas whether primary or metastatic, and is now considered the most effective noninvasive method for the identification of pancreatic metastases. However, to date very few reports detail the diagnosis of mesenchymal neoplasms by EUS-FNA. Herein, we report a series of four patients who underwent EUS-FNA of the pancreas, where the diagnosis of metastatic sarcoma was made based on morphology and ancillary studies. The cases include metastases of leiomyosarcoma, liposarcoma, alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma, and solitary fibrous tumor. The history of a primary sarcoma of the chest wall, mediastinum, and respectively lower extremity was known for the first three of these patients while in the case of the solitary fibrous tumor a remote history of a paraspinal "hemangiopericytoma" was only elicited after the EUS-FNA diagnosis was made. We conclude that EUS-FNA is efficient and accurate in providing a diagnosis of sarcoma, even in patients without a known primary sarcoma, thus allowing institution of therapy without additional biopsies.

Colectomy with continent reconstruction is an option for treatment of patients with lymphocytic colitis refractory to medical therapy.