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Soft tissue tumours arise from the mesenchymal tissues of different origin like adipocytic, smooth muscles, skeletal muscle, fibroblastic/myofibroblastic, fibrohistiocytic, pericytic, vascular, osteo-cartilagineous or even unknown. Its diagnosis depends on the age of the patient and site of presentation but sometimes they may present at unusual sites. Some of the tumours have overlapping histomorphological features which results in a list of differential diagnosis. Therefore, immunohistochemistry and molecular genetics play an important role for definite diagnosis. French Federation of Cancer Centres Sarcoma Group System (FNCLCC) based on necrosis, tumour grading and tumour differentiation is commonly used for grading of the sarcomas to assess the treatment response and prognosis of the patient. Hereby, authors present a series of nine cases of soft issue tumours, comprising five cases of synovial sarcomas and one each of dedifferentiated liposarcoma, rhabdomyosarcoma, epithelioid angiosarcoma and Well Differentiated Liposarcoma (WDLS). Few cases are located at unusual anatomical sites; hence, they should be kept in mind as differential diagnosis. Immunohistochemistry has played an important role for confirmation of diagnosis of synovial sarcomas and angiosarcoma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Stathmin, one of the most important intracellular phosphoprotein that plays the vital role in the regulation of cell cycle and cell proliferation. It acts by disassembly of Microtubules (MT) that helps in the formation of mitotic spindle. It is overexpressed in various human cancers. Aim: To investigate the expression status of stathmin and its relation with clinicopathologic significance in Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma (OSCC) and its association with age, sex, tobacco chewing, histomorphological features and pathological staging. Materials and Methods: A descriptive and observational study in cross-sectional design was conducted in a tertiary care centre of Kolkata, West Bengal, India, from January 2020 to March 2020 in the Department of Pathology of RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in collaboration with Department of Oto-Rhino-Laryngology of the same institute. Stathmin expression was assessed by immunohistochemistry (IHC) in 28 OSCC cases. The association between stathmin expression and clinicopathological parameters like age, sex, tobacco chewing, tumour site, histomorphological type, Tumor Nodes Metastases (TNM) stage and Worst Pattern Of Invasion (WPOI) were evaluated on the basis of Chi-square test and Fisher's-exact test (software Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) V 25.0). Results: Stathmin was overexpressed in 18 cases out of 28 cases of OSCC. In this study a positive association was observed between stathmin expression and age group, history of tobacco chewing, advanced T stage, advanced pTNM staging and WPOI of OSCC. Conclusion: The study suggests that overexpression of stathmin could contribute to cancer progression. There is a higher likelihood that stathmin may be used as a potential biomarker as well as therapeutic target for OSCC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Adenocarcinoma of the prostate may be clinically suspected based on elevated serum PSA (Prostate Specific Antigen) and/or abnormal digital rectal examination. Serum PSA has been used in prostatic carcinoma screening and for diagnostic, therapeutic and prognostic purposes. Aim: To evaluate the role of serum PSA to differentiate between benign and malignant pathology of prostate diagnosed by Transrectal Ultrasound (TRUS) guided prostatic core biopsy with special emphasis on its correlation with risk stratification based on Gleason score and Grade grouping system. Materials and Methods: Total 45 cases of Prostatic core biopsy specimens of the patients where serum PSA value was known were included in this cross-sectional observational study. Biopsy specimens were processed for routine Haematoxylin-Eosin stain and diagnosed as benign or malignant by histopathological examination along with Gleason score and Grade-Grouping was done. The comparison of PSA value between benign and malignant cases along with its significance of association with higher Grade-Grouping was statistically judged by unpaired t-test Results: Out of total 45 cases, 23 (51.11%) cases showed presence of adenocarcinoma and rest 22 cases were of benign pathology. Mean PSA value (ng/mL) was significantly higher in malignant cases i.e., 58.47 (±22.191) compared to benign cases i.e., 3.45 (±0.987). However, in malignant cases which have been categorised as low to intermediate risk group (Gleason score <8) and high risk group (Gleason score =8), the mean PSA values (ng/mL) were 58.75 and 58.18 respectively and they were not so statistically significant (p-value=0.95) to differentiate between these two groups. Conclusion: Estimation of serum PSA has got definite significance in differentiating benign cases from malignant cases in prostatic core biopsy specimens (TRUS guided). But in cases of prostate adenocarcinoma while considering the disease stage based on Gleason Score and Grade-grouping, the serum PSA value has got no statistically significant role. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lemierre's syndrome is a condition characterised by septic thrombophlebitis of internal jugular vein following an oropharyngeal infection along with septic embolisation to other organs mainly lungs. This report is about a 14-year-old girl who presented with complaint of high-grade fever, progressive shortness of breath and painful swelling of throat for seven days. Chest radiograph showed left hemithorax homogenous opacity with contralateral mediastinal shift. Complete haemogram and other blood investigations revealed neutrophilic leucocytosis and raised C-reactive protein. Gram stain and aerobic culture of sputum, pleural fluid and blood were inconclusive. As there was no relief of symptoms even after empirical treatment with antibiotics, Contrast Enhanced Computed Tomography (CECT) scan of neck and thorax was done, and it showed bilateral ectatic internal jugular veins with intravascular thrombus and consolidation of left lung with ipsilateral pleural effusion. Ultrasonography of neck confirmed the presence of thrombus in internal jugular vein on both sides. She was started on intravenous clindamycin and subcutaneous anticoagulants. Gradually the symptoms of the patient resolved. To conclude with, despite being called a "forgotten disease", Lemierre's syndrome requires strong clinical suspicion and prompt management to prevent mortality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) is a chronic systemic inflammatory disease where assessment of disease activity is essential for management of patient. Currently, many composite scoring systems are used for evaluation of disease activity but they are mainly clinical-based. As several haematological parameters are altered due to systemic inflammatory process in RA, this study was intended to evaluate role of common haematological parameters to assess disease activity in RA. Aim: To find out the association of disease activity of Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) with platelet count, Mean Platelet Volume (MPV) and Haemoglobin (Hb) level so that these costeffective haematological parameters can be used as additional factors to assess disease activity. Materials and Methods: This hospital based cross-sectional study was done on newly diagnosed patients of RA along with age and sex matched healthy control population. Patients suffering from malignancies, renal failure, diabetes mellitus or RA patients on drug therapy were excluded. Clinically, disease activity of RA was measured using DAS 28-3 Score (Modified Disease Activity Score using three variables-tender joint count, swollen joint count and ESR). Haematological parameters were measured by automated cell counter. Results: Total 80 cases were selected (60 female and 20 male). 48 patients with high disease activity (DAS 28-3>5.1) were labelled as Group-A and 32 with low to moderate disease activity (DAS 28-3 =5.1) as Group-B. Mean platelet count of patients of group A and group B were 4.53 lacs/cmm and 2.17 lacs/cmm respectively (p <0.001). MPV mean in group A and B were 11.86 fl and 10.19 fl respectively (p <0.001). Mean Hb (g/dl) was 10.05 and 12.25 for group A and B respectively (p=0.001) for male patients while in females it was 10.12 and 11.91 for group A and B, respectively (p=0.003). Mean platelet count and MPV in control population were 2.07lacs/cmm and 9.4 fl, respectively while mean Hb (g/dl) were 13.31 (male) and 12.01 (female). Conclusion: In our study it was observed that Hb is significantly lower in patients with high disease activity whereas platelet count and MPV are significantly higher with high disease activity compared to patients with low to moderate disease activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]