Background/Aims: Papillary tumors of the pineal region are a recently described very rare group of primary CNS neoplasms. Because of their rarity, it has proven to be difficult to establish the optimal therapy. Furthermore, microsurgical resection of pineal region neoplasms is associated with quite a high morbidity. We report the first case of stereotactic radiosurgery of a histologically confirmed papillary tumor of the pineal region. Methods: After establishing the diagnosis by stereotactic biopsy, the patient was treated with stereotactic radiosurgery in a Gamma Knife unit. Results: Five years after treatment, the tumor size is still decreasing, showing a good response to the treatment. Conclusions: Stereotactic radiosurgery should be considered a treatment option in these surgically challenging tumors.

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The expression of bcl2 was typically observed in follicular lymphoma with a t(14;18) but also in CLL and mantle cell lymphoma (MCL). Up to now no study investigated the expression of bcl2 in correlation with the clinical outcome in a large collective of patients with MCL. We investigated immunohistochemically the expression of the apoptotic marker bcl2 in relation to the clinical course. 90 biopsy specimens were investigated immunohistochemically with antibodies against CD20, CD5, CD3, CD23, cyclin D1 and bcl2. The expression was analyzed in three groups: negative, 5–50% positive cells (weak positive) and more than 50% positive cells (strong positive). The expression profils were compared with the overall survival data analysed according to Kaplan and Meier. In none of thae cases a negative staining was found. 16 cases (18%) had a weak and 74 cases (82%) a strong bcl2 expression. Patients with mantle cell lymphoma that had a weak positive expression (n=16) had a median overall survival time of 21 months compared to 32 months for patients with a strong expression (n=74) (p=0.0402). In contrast to DLBL high levels of bcl2 expression had a better prognosis than pathients with low levels.

In malignant tumors beside cell proliferation also cell death plays role for cell survival. Apoptosis regulating genes can be divided into two groups: death antagonists and death agonists such as bax. The ratio of death agonists and antagonists determines if a cell goes into apoptosis. We investigated in a large collective the immunohistochemical expression of the apoptotic marker p53 and bax in relation to the clinical course. Biopsies were stained immunohistochemically with monoclonal antibodies against bax and p53 and the expression was subdivided in three groups: negative, weak positive and strong positive. The expression profiles were analyzed with the overall survival data according to Kaplan and Meier. Patients with mantle cell lymphoma that had negative p53 expression had a median overall survival time of 38.1 months compared to 22.3 months for patients with a weak and 11.3 months for a strong p53 expression (0<0.0001). The bax expression was in the majority of cases positive. Only one case showed a negative staining. Patients with weak and strong bax expression showed no differences in clinical outcome (median overall survival time: 23 vs 33 months, p=0.6051). The immunohistochemical detection of p53 in mantle cell lymphoma is a good predictor for the clinical outcome.

Gene expression profiles revealed that proliferation associated genes are important prognostic factors in the clinical outcome in mantle cell lymphoma (MCL). Beside this well accepted markers also analysis of apoptotic proteins are now under investigation. We investigated immunohistochemically the expression of the apoptotic marker NF-kB in relation to the clinical course in 89 patients enrolled in two multicenter prospective trials. Biopsies were recut and stained with mandatory antibodies (CD20, CD5, CD3, CD23, cyclin D1) and NF-kB. The NF-kB expression was analyzed in three groups: negative, cytoplasmatic positive and nuclear positive (more than 1/HPF). The expression was compared with the overall survival data analyzed according to Kaplan and Meier. In 13 cases a negative NF-kB staining was detected. Fifty-seven cases were positive only in the cytoplasma and in 17 cases more than 1 cell per high power field showed nuclear activity. Patients with mantle cell lymphoma that had negative and cytoplasmatic positive expression had a median overall survival time of 35.7 months compared to 22.4 months for patients with a nuclear NF-kB expression. The Kaplan-Meier analysis showed a significant difference in the overall survival time (p=0.0121). The immunohistochemical detection of NF-kB in mantle cell lymphoma is possible and a tool to identify patients with a poor prognosis.