Articles
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11 results found
Article
Prostate specific antigen
Prostate specific antigen (PSA) is currently used as a tumor marker for prostate cancer.
PSA is a 33-kilodalton glycoprotein produced in prostate epithelial cells. Its normal physiologic role is as a liquefying agent for seminal fluid; only a tiny amount leaks into the blood, so its normal seru...
Article
Metastatic axillary lymphadenopathy of unknown primary
Metastatic axillary lymphadenopathy of unknown primary can be a very challenging situation.
Pathology
Usual potential sites include:
occult breast cancer: the incidence of an axillary lymph node manifestation from an occult primary breast cancer is low, ranging from 0.3-0.8% of all patients ...
Article
Oncotype DX Breast Recurrence Score
Oncotype DX Breast Recurrence Score (Exact Sciences, USA) is a proprietary 21-gene expression assay that is prospectively validated and provides prognostic information on the 10-year risk of disease recurrence in estrogen receptor positive, lymph node-negative breast cancer patients 1. This gene...
Article
Metaplasia
Metaplasia is a general pathology term that refers to the process when one cell type is replaced by another. It usually occurs in the context of a changed cellular environment to which the new cell type is better adapted 1.
Examples include 2-5:
Barrett esophagus: normal squamous epithelium re...
Article
Fistula
A fistula (plural: fistulae or fistulas) is an abnormal connection between two epithelial surfaces such as between hollow organs, skin or vessels. Conventionally, the name of a specific fistula type is a combination of the two organs. For discussions of specific fistulae please refer to individu...
Article
CA 15-3
CA 15-3 is a tumor marker used in monitoring breast cancer. The test detects levels of MUC-1, a mucin protein in the blood. MUC-1 is thought to be important in the invasiveness and metastasization of cancer cells.
Physiology
Mucin-1 is a normal epithelial cellular glycoprotein localized to the...
Article
Columnar cell hyperplasia of the breast
Columnar cell hyperplasia is part of the spectrum of columnar cell lesions of the breast characterized by enlarged terminal ductal lobular units lined by stratified (more than two layers) columnar epithelium, cellular crowding or overlapping without atypia.
It can also form tufts or mounds with...
Article
Columnar cell change without atypia (breast)
Columnar cell change without atypia breast lesions are characterized by enlarged terminal ductal lobular units lined by columnar epithelial cells which substitute the normal cuboid epithelial layer.
They are also associated with prominent apical cytoplasmic snouts and intraluminal secretions. ...
Article
Flat epithelial atypia
Flat epithelial atypia is an entity that comprises any columnar cell lesion with low-grade cytologic atypia.
Terminology
Flat epithelial atypia was introduced in the 3rd edition of WHO Classification of Breast Tumors in 2003, to substitute terms such as clinging carcinoma monomorphous type, at...
Article
Sentinel lymph node
The sentinel lymph nodes (SLNs) are defined as those lymph nodes that directly drain a malignancy, or alternatively can be considered as the first node(s) that a tumor metastasizes to.
History and etymology
"Sentinel node" as the initial draining node of a malignancy was first used in a paper ...
Article
Columnar alteration with prominent apical snouts and secretions
Columnar alteration with prominent apical snouts and secretions (CAPSS) is a pathological entity encountered when breast biopsies are done for investigation of punctate or amorphous calcifications. CAPSS involves the terminal ductal and lobular units (TDLU's).
It is sometimes classified under t...