Aneurysmal fibrous histiocytoma (AFH) is a rare variant of benign fibrous histiocytoma (FH), Characterized by blood-filled spaces within the fibrohistiocytic tumor. AFH has a higher recurrence rate than FH. The diagnosis of AFH is often problematic due to its overlapping morphological features with other skin tumors. The diagnosis of AFH depends on histological features and immunohistochemistry. The aim of this study is to understand the clinical and histopathological diagnostic criteria for AFH.

Medulloblastoma (MB) is one of the most common malignant tumors with poor survival in children. Nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor2 (Nrf-2) and heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) have been considered to play major roles in the pathogenesis of many tumors. There is no report about clinicopathological significance of Nrf-2 and HO-1 expression in medulloblastoma. In the present study, to explore the expression and potential function of Nrf-2 and HO-1 in MBs, immunohistochemistry was used to examine the Nrf-2 and HO-1 expression in 41 MBs and 27 control tissues adjacent to the tumor. The results showed that in the cases of MB, the positive expression rates of Nrf-2 and HO-1 (82.9% and 78.0%) were significantly increased compared with that (37.0% and 29.6%) in peritumoral control brain tissues. The difference was statistically significant (P < 0.001). A positive correlation between the expression of Nrf-2 and HO-1 in MB (r = 0.542, P < 0.05) was observed. However, there was no definite correlation among the expression of Nrf-2 and HO-1 and the clinical pathological features (P > 0.05). The abnormal expression of Nrf-2 and HO-1 in MB suggest that the Nrf-2/HO-1 pathway plays an important role in the formation and development of MB and may be a potential therapeutic target for MB.

No abstract

No abstract