Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0178874 (tumor progression)
 40,807 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Sarcomatoid carcinoma is a rare biphasic tumor characterized by a combination of malignant epithelial and mesenchymal cells. We report a rare case of sarcomatoid carcinoma of the colon. A 41-yr-old woman was hospitalized with a history of melena. Total colectomy was performed under the impression of colonic carcinoma. Histologically, the tumor was composed of differentiated adenocarcinoma in superficial portion and sarcomatoid spindle cells in deeper portion with a transitional area between the two portions. The sarcomatous areas revealed polygonal and spindle-shaped anaplastic malignant cells arranged in sheet, short fascicular or haphazard pattern. Immunohistochemically, tumor cells showed a positive immunoreaction for cytokeratin, epithelial membrane antigen, and vimentin. The histopathological and immunohistochemical transitions between the adenocarcinoma area and the spindle cell area suggested that the sarcomatous elements originated from the adenocarcinoma during tumor progression.
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PMID:Sarcomatoid carcinoma of the colon: a case report. 1164 39

Sarcomatoid carcinoma of the esophagus is an unusual type of squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) with a variable component of sarcomatoid spindle cells (SA). The loss of heterozygosity (LOH) involving multiple cancer-associated chromosomal arms has been reported to have a concerted, rather than an individual, effect on tumor progression. In order to delineate the role of LOH in the evolution of a biphasic tumor, the carcinoma in situ (CIS), invasive squamous cell carcinoma (ISCC), and SA components from a sarcomatoid carcinoma of the esophagus were compared for their clonality and extent of LOH. Forty microsatellite markers on the cancer-associated chromosomes, 3p, 4p, 5q, 8p, 9p, 13q, 17p, and 18q, were used for the polymerase chain reaction-based LOH analysis. All eight sarcomatoid carcinomas tested revealed extensive LOHs, involving an average of seven chromosomal arms. All CIS, ISCC, and SA components carried not only a high-level primary LOH (mean chromosomal involvement, 5.3) in common but also a low-level secondary LOH (mean chromosomal involvement, 1.8) in disparity. Interestingly, more secondary LOHs were always burdened in the CIS (four cases) rather than the matched ISCC. SA had a greater (four cases), equal (one case), or fewer (one case) number of secondary LOHs than ISCC. Given that excessive chromosomal losses may confer a disadvantage for tumor growth or a benefit for a metaplastic transformation, these results suggest that the multidirectional differentiation of a SCC precursor is stimulated by extensive and divergent LOHs acquired at the initial or early stages, and a precursor burdened with excessive LOH either remains in CIS or expands as a SA component.
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PMID:Extensive and divergent chromosomal losses in squamous and spindle-cell components of esophageal sarcomatoid carcinoma. 1292 97

Spindle cell carcinoma (SpCC) is a biphasic tumor composed of conventional squamous cell carcinoma and a malignant spindle cell component. SpCC expresses both epithelial and mesenchymal markers by immunohistochemical analysis. There is mounting evidence for sarcomatoid transformation from the epithelial component, supporting the theory that SpCC is a monoclonal neoplasm originating from a stem cell giving rise to both components. The loss of E-cadherin and the gain of N-cadherin expression are known as the "cadherin switching". Cadherin switching is a major hallmark of epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT). EMT is a crucial process in cancer progression providing cancer cells with the ability to escape from the primary focus, to invade stromal tissues, and to migrate to distant regions. Although E-cadherin down-regulation is well known in various cancers, there are a few studies on N-cadherin expression in cancer. Here, therefore, we investigated N-cadherin expression in the progression of head and neck SpCC. First, we examined cadherin switching in our established SpCC cell lines, SpCC-1 and SpCC-2. SpCC-1 and SpCC-2 cells were spindle in shape and showed cadherin switching. Moreover, we examined N-cadherin expression in 15 SpCC cases by immunohistochemistry. Although N-cadherin expression was not observed in non-neoplastic squamous epithelium, high expression of N-cadherin was observed in 10 of 15 SpCC cases. Interestingly, 6 of 7 SpCC cases with metastasis showed high expression of N-cadherin. In conclusion, our findings suggest that N-cadherin may play an important role in metastasis of SpCC in addition to the pathogenesis of SpCC of the head and neck.
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PMID:N-cadherin expression is correlated with metastasis of spindle cell carcinoma of head and neck region. 2107 Mar 71

Cancer of unknown primary origin (CUP) which is usually diagnosed based on the histological type of metastatic site has marked heterogeneous characteristics. Sarcomatoid carcinoma defined as CUP has not been reported according to our literature survey. A 59-year-old man presented with enlarged multiple thoracic lymph nodes, huge splenomegaly and nodules in left temporal lobe of the brain. The histopathological diagnosis of lymph node and spleen was sarcomatoid carcinoma. However, all extensive diagnostic examinations could not detect a site of primary origin. The laboratory data showed marked leukocytosis with increased serum granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF). Therefore, the patient was finally diagnosed of CUP of sarcomatoid carcinoma producing G-CSF. After gamma knife treatment for brain metastases, two regimens of taxan-based chemotherapy (carboplatin and paclitaxel, gemcitabine and docetaxel) were administered, with no effect but further tumor progression. Splenectomy for avoiding splenic rupture was performed. As the third line chemotherapy, the combination consisting of doxorubicin and ifosfamide was administered and showed a good therapeutic effect and normalized white blood cell count and serum G-CSF level. He achieved complete remission after three cycles. Herein we present an extremely rare case of CUP of sarcomatoid carcinoma producing G-CSF. Our case suggests the importance of chemotherapy including doxorubicin and ifosfamide, and multimodal therapeutic strategy for this aggressive disease.
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PMID:Dramatic response of chemotherapy for cancer of unknown primary origin of sarcomatoid carcinoma producing granulocyte colony-stimulating factor. 3114 23