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Background: Primary ovarian signet-ring cell carcinoma is extremely rare, with only five recent case reports. Almost all reported cases of ovarian signet-ring cell carcinoma have been treated with TC therapy and none have reported regarding the use of S-1/CDDP therapy. We report a case of primary ovarian signet-ring cell carcinoma treated postoperatively with S-1/CDDP therapy., Case Presentation: We describe a 55-year-old woman diagnosed with stage IB primary ovarian signet-ring cell carcinoma that was treated with S-1/CDDP therapy. Preoperative transvaginal ultrasonography and contrast-enhanced computed tomography (CT) revealed a solid tumor measuring 10 cm in diameter in the pelvis. The tumor marker levels were as follows: CA125, 41.6 U/mL; CA19-9, < 2.0 U/mL; and CEA, 2.2 ng/mL. Ovarian cancer was suspected, and total abdominal hysterectomy, bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy, and omentectomy were performed. The left ovary was enlarged to greater than fist-sized, and there was a small amount of clear yellow ascites. Histological examination of the left ovary led to the diagnosis of signet-ring cell carcinoma. Histological examination of the right ovary also showed the presence of a signet-ring cell carcinoma. After surgery, upper and lower gastrointestinal endoscopy and positron-emission tomography-CT were performed to search for a possible primary lesion, but none was found. The patient was diagnosed with primary ovarian signet-ring cell carcinoma with FIGO Stage IB (PT1b, NX, M0). As postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy, S-1/CDDP therapy (S-1120 mg/day/body × 14 days, CDDP 50 mg/m 2 day 8, q 21 days) was administered for six cycles. There was no recurrence 27 months after the initial treatment., Conclusions: We considered S-1/CDDP therapy was effective for primary ovarian signet-ring cell carcinoma. This is the first case report of primary ovarian signet-ring cell carcinoma treated with S-1/CDDP therapy in the world.

Colorectal carcinoma (CRC) is the third most common malignancy in adults. Pediatric colorectal carcinoma (PCRC) is a rare non-embryonal tumor with a significantly lower incidence compared to adults. The clinical manifestations of PCRC are not typical, and pediatricians usually have no enough experience in diagnosis and treatment. Therefore, early diagnosis is extremely difficult, which would always lead to late clinical stages when diagnosis is made. At present, the pathogenesis of PCRC is still not clear, and many countries have started to carry out researches at the level of genes, molecules and cells. In both tumor primary tumors and distant metastases, PCRC has obvious difference in distribution from adults, and the proportion of pathological type of mucous adenocarcinoma (including the signet ring cell carcinoma) was significantly higher than that of adults. Although treated according to adult colorectal cancer guidelines, PCRC has been unable to achieve ideal efficacy with poor prognosis and lower long-term survival rate. The purpose of this paper is to summarize the epidemiological characteristics, pathogenesis, clinical symptoms, pathological types, treatment and prognosis of colorectal cancer in children by reviewing the latest literatures at home and abroad.

Rationale: Signet-ring cell is a rare morphological finding in bone marrow, which usually indicates metastatic carcinoma from either the gastrointestinal tract or a primary hematolymphoid neoplasm. Here, we present a very unusual case of lobular breast carcinoma with metastasis to the bone marrow., Patient Concerns: A 67-year-old female with estrogen receptor (ER)-positive lobular breast carcinoma was staged as T3N3M0, and treated with modified radical mastectomy followed by chemotherapy and radiotherapy. One year after treatment, she was noted to have moderate thrombocytopenia on complete blood count with the remainder of the parameters within normal limits. Radiographic examination revealed no evidence of recurrent disease., Diagnosis: Bone marrow biopsy was performed to exclude therapy-related myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS), which demonstrated hypercellularity with "hyperplastic" hematopoiesis. Upon closer inspection, a few signet-ring cells were identified which morphologically resembled histiocytes. These formed an interstitial infiltrate among the predominantly hematopoietic elements, and could have been easily overlooked. Immunohistochemistry demonstrated that these signet-ring cells were positive for pancytokeratin as well as ER which confirmed metastatic lobular breast carcinoma. On retrospective review of the aspirate smear, rare signet-ring cells were identified., Interventions: The patient was treated with additional chemotherapy., Outcomes: The patient eventually succumbed to overt dissemination after 14 months., Lessons: Due to the relative discohesiveness of lobular breast carcinoma, the cells frequently assume single-cell infiltration in bone marrow. This attribute, along with small cell size, bland cytologic features and paucity of tissue response, contributes to its escaping from identification on hematoxylin-eosin (H&E) sections. In this case, the signet-ring cells were hidden in apparently hyperplastic hematopoiesis. Careful inspection raised the possibility of occult metastasis which was readily detected and confirmed with immunohistochemistry.

Goals: The aim of this study was to assess the histopathologic characteristics of colorectal carcinomas (CRC) in patients with Crohn's disease (CD)., Background: A higher frequency of microsatellite instability (MSI) is seen in mucinous compared with nonmucinous CRC which suggests that its pathogenesis involves distinct molecular pathways. Several publications reported a higher percentage of mucinous adenocarcinoma in CD patients with CRC. So far, there has been no investigation of MSI in CD patients with mucinous CRC., Study: The medical records of patients who underwent surgery for CRC were reviewed and those with a history of CD identified. The data of histologic classification and MSI status of the tumor were investigated., Results: Fourteen patients with CD-associated CRC were identified (5 female, 9 male) resulting in 20 CRC in total. Histologic investigation revealed 7 adenocarcinomas without a mucinous or signet ring cell component. All other CRCs harbored a mucinous (n=11) and/or signet ring cell (n=6) component. All tumors assessed for MSI were found to be microsatellite stable., Conclusions: Our data indicate that CRCs with signet ring cell and mucinous components were much more common in patients with CD than in patients with sporadic CRC. This observation suggests that CRC in CD represent an own entity with distinct histopathologic and molecular features. This may implicate potential consequences for diagnosis and therapy of CRC in CD in the future as well as new factors to identify patients with an increased risk for developing CRC in CD.

Rationale: Choledochal cysts are a risk factor for the development of cholangiocarcinoma. Hence, complete surgical excision is the preferred treatment in most cases. However, cholangiocarcinoma still can develop from the remnant biliary system after surgical excision. Signet-ring cell carcinoma is a rare type of cancer of the biliary system, and the occurrence of signet-ring cell carcinoma after surgical excision of choledochal cysts has not been reported in the English literature to date., Patient Concerns: We report a case of a 32-year-old woman who presented with a 1-month history of abdominal pain,obstructive jaundice, itching, and fever. The patient had undergone choledochal cyst excision and Roux-en-Y hepatico-jejunostomy 25 years previously and had now developed signet-ring cell carcinoma along with cholangiocarcinoma at the anastomotic site. DIAGNOSES:: signet-ring cell carcinoma along with cholangiocarcinoma., Interventions: Interventions included laparotomy with evacuation,blood transfusion,and other adjuvant therapy., Outcomes: The patient died five months later., Lessons: Surgery is the best treatment for CCCs, and the surgeon should try to remove as much as of the bile duct cyst as possible.

Background: Colorectal cancer (CRC) has been known to complicate Crohn's disease (CD). Several reports in Western population revealed that CRC in CD were characterized by much younger onset and equal distribution of tumors along the entire colon. However, clinicopathologic features of CD-associated CRC in Korean population have not been well documented yet., Methods: Among 2968 Korean CD patients, 16 patients (0.54%) were found to develop CRC during follow up. We reviewed clinicopathologic features of the 16 CRC patients., Results: The mean age at the time of CRC diagnosis was 39.3 years (range 18-59 years) and 14 of the 16 CRCs (87.5%) occurred in anorectal region. Mucinous adenocarcinoma was strikingly frequent (9/16, 56.3%) and eight cases (8/9) of the mucinous adenocarcinoma cases were located at anorectal area. The other cases consisted of 4 tubular adenocarcinomas, 2 signet ring cell carcinomas and 1 neuroendocrine tumor. Thirteen patients (81.3%) had a history of perianal fistula and 8 of them had a histological association between the CRC and the perianal fistula., Conclusions: CD-associated CRC was characterized by young age at diagnosis, mucinous histology and association with perianal fistula in Korean patients., (Copyright © 2016 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.)

Background: The clear cell/signet-ring cell variant of cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (cSCC) is extremely rare. Its carcinogenesis has consistently been linked to ultraviolet radiation and HPV in the literature. However, there is little definite information about the contribution of diabetes mellitus (DM) to cSCC., Case Presentation: A 78-year-old Chinese woman with type 2 DM presented with a mushroom-like lump in her right thigh. Histological findings revealed that the lesion was mainly composed of clear cells and signet-ring cells. The septa of vacuoles in cytoplasm displayed positivity for periodic acid schiff (PAS) and cytokeratins such as AE1/AE3, CK5/6, CK14, and CK19. Malignant cells did not express CK7, CK8, CK18, CK20, p16, p53, or c-erbB-2, and the Ki-67 index was less than 5 %. We further explored the etiology of clear cell/signet-ring cell cSCC using human papillomavirus (HPV) type-specific PCR and genotyping and confirmed that the patient was not infected with HPV. Nucleus positivity for p63 indicated the involvement of the p53 family in the lesion. Meanwhile, the expression of fibroblast growth factor receptor-2 (FGFR2), a downstream effector of p63, was upregulated in tumor cells., Conclusions: This study provides the first report on the clear cell/signet-ring cell variant of cSCC found in the right thigh of a patient with type 2 DM. Metabolic imbalance in addition to conventional pathogens such as UV and HPV may contribute to the development of the lesion via p63/FGFR2 axis.

We present three young patients diagnosed with signet ring cell carcinoma of the stomach. All had in common the smoking rather than the injecting route of administration of drugs, such as heroin. In the smoking route, pieces of nickel scourer are mixed with the drug. This heavy metal has known carcinogenic effects. Chronic exposure of the gastric mucosa to nickel, from oropharynx, could be a risk factor for the development of gastric adenocarcinoma in heroin smoking addicts.

Background: Ulcerative colitis (UC) patients have an increased risk of developing colorectal carcinoma (CRC). In contrast to clinical and pathogenetic differences, little is known about how prognosis compares between these patients and those with sporadic CRC. The aim of this study was to compare their characteristics and prognosis and identify independent risk factors for patients with UC-associated CRC., Methods: A total of 126 patients who underwent surgery in our department (1984-2010) for UC-associated (n = 63) or sporadic (n = 63) CRC were included in this analysis. Patients were matched according to sex, tumor location, and disease stage. Clinical parameters and overall, recurrence-free, and disease-specific survival were compared. In subgroup analyses, clinical parameters of UC patients were correlated with survival., Results: Median follow-up was 129 months in the UC group and 99 months in the sporadic CRC group. UC patients were significantly younger and had more multifocal, high-grade, and mucinous carcinomas. Five-year overall survival rate for UC-associated and sporadic CRC was similar (65.7 vs. 63.2%, p = 0.98). Recurrence-free survival for International Union Against Cancer (UICC) stage II disease was superior in the sporadic CRC group (p = 0.039). In a subgroup analysis of UC patients, a shorter duration of UC (p = 0.045) and male sex (p = 0.005) were associated with a worse prognosis., Conclusions: Despite multiple clinical and histopathologic differences between UC-associated and sporadic CRC patients, overall survival and disease-specific survival are similar. In a subgroup analysis of UC patients with CRC, female sex was associated with a significantly better prognosis. This finding implies that estrogens may play a protective role in UC-associated CRC carcinogenesis.

Background: Signet ring cell carcinoma occurs as a histological variant of oesophageal adenocarcinoma., Aim: In a cross-sectional study, to pursue the hypothesis that oesophageal signet ring cell cancers constitute a complication of gastro-oesophageal reflux disease., Methods: In a large national database of histopathology records, we accumulated 91 802 patients with Barrett's oesophagus (BE), 2817 with oesophageal nonsignet ring adenocarcinoma (EAC) and 278 with oesophageal signet ring cell carcinoma (SRC). The three groups were compared with respect to their clinical and demographic characteristics, as well as socio-economic risk factors (associated with patients' place of residence)., Results: About 9% of all oesophageal adenocarcinomas harboured features of signet ring cell carcinoma. Patients with oesophageal adenocarcinoma and signet ring cell carcinoma were characterised by almost identical epidemiological patterns. Patients with either cancer type were slightly older than those with Barrett's oesophagus (EAC 68.0, SRC 66.7 vs. BE 63.7 years), and both showed a striking male predominance (EAC and SRC 85% vs. BE 67%). Both cancer types were associated with a similar set of alarm symptoms, such as dysphagia, pain and weight loss. The distribution by race (Whites vs. Blacks) and socio-economic parameters, such as levels of college education and family income, were similar among the three groups of patients., Conclusions: Signet ring cell carcinoma is a rare variant of oesophageal adenocarcinoma with similar epidemiological characteristics. The reasons why a minority of reflux patients progress to develop signet ring cell carcinoma, rather than the usual type of oesophageal adenocarcinoma, remain unknown., (© 2015 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Background: The impact of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) on colorectal cancer (CRC) prognosis, taking into account other comorbidities, is not clear. We studied the overall mortality in CRC patients with a history of ulcerative colitis (UC) or Crohn's disease (CD) compared with non-IBD-CRC patients., Methods: Data on all CRC and IBD patients diagnosed with CRC between 1977 and 2009 were retrieved from Danish medical registries. One-year and 5-year overall mortality were evaluated with the Kaplan-Meier method and with Cox regression, adjusting for year of CRC diagnosis, sex, Duke's stage, age at CRC diagnosis, and Charlson Comorbidity Index score., Results: We identified 653 CRC patients diagnosed with UC, 238 patients with CD, and 107,024 CRC patients without IBD. The patients with IBD were younger at diagnosis than patients without IBD. The Duke's stage distribution was similar for UC-CRC patients and non-IBD-CRC patients. The CD-CRC patients had a lower frequency of Duke's A and B stage tumors (36% versus 42%), a higher frequency of Duke's C stage tumors (31% versus 27%) and Duke's D-stage tumors (23% versus 21%), and a similar frequency of unknown stage tumors (10%) compared with non-IBD-CRC patients. After 5-years of follow-up, 59% of the UC and the non-UC-CRC patients had died compared with 62% of the patients with CD and 56% of the non-CD-CRC patients. The 5-year adjusted mortality rate ratios for patients with UC or CD were 1.14 (95% confidence interval, 1.03-1.27) and 1.26 (95% confidence interval, 1.07-1.49), respectively, compared with patients without IBD., Conclusion: A history of IBD in patients with CRC may be associated with increased mortality.

Purpose: We present a case of a young male with a history of ureterosigmoidostomy who presented with hip pain, the subsequent workup of which revealed metastatic bone lesions from a primary sigmoid signet ring cell adenocarcinoma., Methods: Review of literature was conducted using databases PubMed Medline (1966-current), PubMed Central (1970-current), and EMBASE (1988-2009) to explore previous studies on the topic; used the Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results Program for epidemiological data; and used the National Comprehensive Cancer Network guidelines for management recommendations., Results: Ureterosigmoidostomy is well-documented risk factor for colonic neoplasms, the reported incidence being 2-41% with a latent period of 10 to 30 years and a risk of occurrence 80-7,000 times higher than in the general population. The most common histological type of colon cancer seen after ureterosigmoidostomy is adenocarcinoma, but cases of signet-ring cell carcinoma have also been described. Signet-ring cell adenocarcinoma occurs predominantly in stomach but may infrequently arise from other organs such as breast, urinary bladder, and small and large bowel., Conclusions: This case underscores the importance of prolonged screening in patients with ureterosigmoidostomies and also calls for heightened awareness among primary care physicians regarding long-term risks associated with this unique entity.

An understanding of the clinical features of gastric cancer (GC) in hereditary diffuse gastric cancer (HDGC) families may be helpful in deciding who should receive prophylactic total gastrectomy and when. This study evaluates the sex ratio and age of onset features of these patients. Forty-seven HDGC families were screened from the English (40 families), Chinese (7 families) literature. One family was ascertained in our hospital. A total of 48 HDGC families with 192 GC cases were analyzed. The patients were grouped as Asian and non-Asian cases according the first author corresponding address. The male to female ratio of GC patients in our study was less than general GC population (0.769 vs. 1.826, P < 0.0001). The mean age of male cases was higher than that for females (48.9 vs. 43.1 years; P = 0.012). The mean age for parents of cases was higher than that for the offspring of cases (52.5 vs. 37.4 years; P = 0.0001). There was a significant age correlation between sib-sib GC pairs (P < 0.0001). The male to female ratio of Asian GC patients was higher than that of non-Asian GC cases (1.450 vs. 0.614, P = 0.01). The age for Asian GC patients was higher than that of non-Asian GC patients (52.1 vs. 43.5 years, P = 0.001). The results showed that female GC patients were more frequent and younger than male patients in HDGC families. The parents of cases were older than offspring cases. There was a significant age correlation between sib-sib cases. There was regional disparity in the sex ratio and age features.

The observed increased risks of gastric cancer among first-generation immigrants compared to those in Swedes suggest the role of childhood environmental exposure in the risk of this disease.

Background: The clinicopathological features of ulcerative colitis-associated colorectal cancer (UC-CRC) have not yet been fully clarified, especially in Asian populations. This study aimed to clarify the prognosis and clinicopathological features of UC-CRC in comparison with sporadic CRC in the Japanese population., Methods: Histologically diagnosed UC-CRC patients between 1978 to 1998 were extracted from the Multi-Institutional Registry of Large-Bowel Cancer in Japan, a large nationwide CRC database, and the clinicopathological features and postoperative survival rates of UC-CRC patients and sporadic CRC patients were compared., Results: Among the 108,536 CRC patients registered between 1978 and 1998, a total of 169 UC-CRC patients were identified, including 121 patients who had been treated surgically. The proportion of UC-CRC patients increased in the period between 1995 and 1998 compared to that between 1978 and 1994. Comparisons with the sporadic CRC patients showed that the UC-CRC patients were younger, had a higher proportion of multiple cancer lesions, had higher proportions of superficial type lesions and invasive type lesions morphologically, and had higher proportions of mucinous or signet ring cell carcinomas. In stage III, UC-CRC patients had a poorer survival rate than the sporadic CRC patients (43.3% versus 57.4%, P = 0.0320)., Conclusions: UC-CRC increased over the investigated time periods and showed a poorer survival than sporadic CRC in the advanced stage, while no difference was observed in the early stage. By detecting UC-CRC at an early stage we can expect a similar postoperative outcomes to that of sporadic CRC. These results stress the importance of surveillance for the early detection of UC-CRC., (Copyright © 2010 Crohn's & Colitis Foundation of America, Inc.)

The importance of loss of the cell-cell adhesion molecule E-cadherin (encoded by CDH1) to tumor progression is well established. However, CDH1 germ-line mutations predispose to the cancer susceptibility syndrome hereditary diffuse gastric cancer (HDGC), suggesting a role for E-cadherin in tumor initiation. The earliest indications of cancer in the stomachs of CDH1 mutation carriers are microscopic foci of intramucosal signet-ring cell carcinoma (SRCC; designated "eHDGC"). Here, we used N-methyl-N-nitrosourea (MNU) to promote gastric carcinogenesis in wild-type (wt) and cdh1(+/-) mice. MNU induced a variety of gastric tumors; however, intramucosal SRCC developed with an 11 times higher incidence in cdh1(+/-) mice compared with wt mice. The murine SRCC resembled the human eHDGCs in that they were hypoproliferative, lacked nuclear beta-catenin accumulation, and had reduced membrane localization of E-cadherin and its interacting junctional proteins. The down-regulation of E-cadherin in the murine SRCCs confirmed the importance of the second CDH1 hit to the initiation of diffuse gastric cancer. CDH1 promoter hypermethylation has been proposed to be a major second hit in advanced HDGC; however, its contribution to eHDGC was unknown. We thus examined a series of human eHDGC and detected CDH1 promoter methylation in 50% of foci. Promoter methylation was accompanied by reduced wt CDH1 mRNA levels in the foci and had a monoclonal pattern, consistent with an epigenetic initiation of disease. Together, these findings provide compelling evidence for a deficiency in cell-to-cell adhesion being sufficient to initiate diffuse gastric cancer in the absence of hyperproliferation and beta-catenin activation.

Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis are well known risk factors of intestinal cancer in relation to the extent and duration of disease. Rarely, small bowel cancer can develop after a longstanding inflammation of Crohn's disease with a relatively higher incidence than the general population. Signet ring cell carcinoma is a rare condition among intestinal cancers, and the diagnosis or detection is more difficult if the cancer originates from the small bowel. We report a case of a 30-year old female in whom signet ring cell carcinoma of ileum was diagnosed after a 15-year history of Crohn's disease.

We herein report a case of infiltrative esophageal signet-ring cell carcinoma resembling gastric signet-ring cell carcinoma. Grossly, the tumor was a diffusely infiltrative carcinoma involving the lower esophagus measuring 11 cm in diameter. The tumor extensively metastasized to the cervical, mediastinal, and abdominal lymph nodes, and the patient died of peritonitis and pleuritis carcinomatosa soon after undergoing a radical esophagectomy. Histologically, the tumor was signet-ring cell carcinoma covered with normal squamous epithelium. However, the most superficial part of the tumor center contained a region of Barrett's mucosa with incomplete-type intestinal metaplasia and a well-differentiated adenocarcinoma component with goblet cells. The expression of cytokeratins 7 and 20 also indicated that both the Barrett's mucosa and the signet-ring cell carcinoma had an esophageal origin. Esophageal signet-ring cell carcinoma with diffuse infiltrative growth is quite rare, and may need a special treatment strategy because of its highly aggressive behavior and poor treatment outcome.

Comparative genomic hybridization (CGH) was used to screen 42 wood dust-related sinonasal adenocarcinomas for chromosomal alterations. The tumour collection comprised 39 papillary-tubular cylinder cell adenocarcinomas (PTCCs; six cases G1, 23 G2, and ten G3), two alveolar goblet cell adenocarcinomas (AGCs), and one signet ring cell adenocarcinoma (SRC), according to the Kleinsasser and Schroeder classification. Copy number changes were detected in 41 tumours (97.6%). The one carcinoma without imbalances was a PTCC-G1. DNA gains were most frequently seen on chromosomes 12p (83%), 7q (74%), 8q (71%), and 20q (71%), 11q (61%), 22 (59%), and 1q (52%). Pronounced overrepresentations suggestive of high copy amplifications were detected on 8q (15 cases, 36%), 7q (six cases, 14%), 20q (five cases, 12%), 13q14 (three cases, 7%), 1q22, 5p, 12p and 20 (two cases, 5% each), and 2q24, 3q13, 3q22, 7p, 14q12, and 16q13 (one case, each 2%). Frequent chromosomal losses occurred at 5q (81%), 18q (76%), 4 (74%), 8p (61%), 9p (60%), 6q and 17p (52% each), and 3p, 13q, and 21 (50% each). There was a quantitative as well as a qualitative increase of alterations from PTCC-G1 to PTCC-G2 and finally PTCC-G3, confirming the usefulness of histopathological grading. While PTCC-G1 carried only a few alterations, namely gains on chromosomes 17 and 7 as well as losses of 4q and 13q, PTCC-G2 already carried many of the above-mentioned alterations, while PTCC-G3 showed significantly more gains of 7q, 8q, and 12p, and losses of 8p and 17p. Additionally, the latter subgroup was particularly prone to carry pronounced DNA gains. These data provide further evidence for a recurrent pattern of chromosomal imbalances in sinonasal adenocarcinomas and highlight distinct aberrations that are associated with tumour differentiation and progression., (Copyright (c) 2005 Pathological Society of Great Britain and Ireland. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.)

Augmentation cystoplasty operations using segments of gastrointestinal tract are often necessary in neurogenic low-compliance bladders. Patients are usually rehabilitated with an increase in storage volume and normalization of the reduced compliance. However, gut mucosa-related early and late complications are not very uncommon. Malignancy, although rare, is known to occur after enterocystoplasty, but only one such case has been reported for gastrocystoplasty, a single patient who developed urothelial carcinoma. We describe what we believe to be the first case of signet ring cell carcinoma developing after gastrocystoplasty.

Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGBP) is one of the most commonly performed surgical procedures for morbid obesity. Several complications that may develop in the short- and long-term have been reported. We present a patient who presented with cancer in the bypassed stomach 8 years after RYGBP. Although the development of this lesion is rare and only a few cases have been reported, there are aspects worthy of discussion. Several monitoring, diagnostic and therapeutic alternatives are analyzed.

Background: Recently, increased body weight has been associated with an increased risk of cancers at multiple specific sites, including gastric cancer. Adiponectin is a peptide hormone secreted by adipose tissue, affecting the proliferation and insulin sensitivity of various types of cells. Moreover, the circulating level of adiponectin has been reported to be inversely related to body mass index., Methods: Fasting plasma levels of adiponectin were determined in 75 patients with gastric cancer and 52 healthy controls using an ELISA. In these patients, we analyzed the association between plasma adiponectin level and gastric cancer risk as well as various clinicopathologic characteristics., Results: Plasma adiponectin level was significantly lower in patients with gastric cancer than in healthy controls (9.1 +/- 6.2 versus 13.3 +/- 9.4 ng/mL, P < 0.01) and showed a significant modest inverse relation with the gastric cancer (odds ratio, 0.92; 95% confidence interval, 0.85-0.97; adjusted odds ratio, 0.89; 95% confidence interval, 0.84-0.95], although body mass index was not different. In addition, adiponectin level was extremely low in patients with upper gastric cancers (upper, 5.5 +/- 4.1 ng/mL; middle, 9.7 +/- 6.4 ng/mL; lower, 10.7 +/- 4.1 ng/mL; P = 0.012). Furthermore, adiponectin level tended to decrease as the tumor stage increased (stage I, 9.9 +/- 6.9 ng/mL; stage II, 8.7 +/- 5.5 ng/mL; stage III, 8.6 +/- 4.1 ng/mL; stage IV, 5.2 +/- 6.2 ng/mL; P = 0.34). Interestingly, in 32 patients with undifferentiated cancer, serum adiponectin showed a negative correlation with pathologic findings such as tumor size, depth of invasion, as well as tumor stage (P < 0.05), but no correlation in the remaining 43 patients with differentiated cancer., Conclusions: Our results suggest that a low plasma adiponectin level is associated with an increased risk for gastric cancer and raise the possibility that adiponectin has a potential role in the progression of gastric cancer, especially in undifferentiated type cancers in the upper stomach.

The simultaneous association of gastric carcinoma with gastric lymphoma is a rare event. Recent studies have suggested that not only gastric cancer but also primary gastric lymphomas, especially those of mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT) type, are associated with Helicobacter pylori infection. We report on a 51-year-old woman who was referred to our hospital for the evaluation of abnormal shadows revealed by an upper gastrointestinal radiography series. Endoscopy of the upper gastrointestinal tract revealed early cancer in the middle body of the stomach. Biopsy of the lesion subsequently proved it to be a signet-ring cell carcinoma. Total gastrectomy was performed, under a diagnosis of early gastric carcinoma. The resected specimen revealed two grossly separate lesions. Histological examination confirmed that the gastric body lesion was compatible with early moderately differentiated tubular adenocarcinoma of type 0-IIc, while the lesion of the fundus corresponded to MALT lymphoma. H. pylori was detected, and chronic gastritis was also present in the resected gastric specimen. H. pylori infection may have played a major role in the development of both the MALT lymphoma and the adenocarcinoma of the stomach in this patient.

Aims: The purpose of this study was to investigate the epithelial lesions associated with signet ring cell carcinoma (SRCC) of the colon and small intestine and the possible mechanism of tumour development., Methods: Twenty-seven cases of adenocarcinoma with a signet ring cell (SRC) component of the colon and small intestine were divided into three groups depending on the association of the SRCC with: (1) epithelium without definite epithelial dysplasia, (2) adenoma, and (3) common type of adenocarcinoma (CTCA) with SRCC component occupying more than 50%, 30%, or less than 30% of the tumour., Results: Most carcinomas were of T3 or T4 type, using the TNM standard staging system. The SRCC component was histopathologically similar in all groups. In group 1 (four cases, linitis plastica type), the overlying epithelium was normal or showed indefinite epithelial dysplasia and occasionally contained intra-epithelial SRCs. In groups 2 and 3 (two and 21 cases, respectively), seven cases contained multiple foci of intra-epithelial SRCs in areas separated from the invasive carcinoma. Transitional areas between SRCC and adenoma or CTCA were also identified. Immunostaining for p53 showed a varied extent of positive reactivity in 23 SRCC. The degree and the extent of reactivity appeared to increase with the stage of the carcinoma. Most intra-epithelial SRCs were immunoreactive for p53. Linitis plastica SRCC was associated with extensive p53 reactivity of the 'atypical' and the adjacent 'normal' epithelium., Conclusions: SRCC may arise from either CTCA, adenoma, 'atypical' epithelium or a combination of these epithelia. SRCC accounts for the bulk of carcinoma in each of these categories. In linitis plastica SRCC, positive reactivity for p53 is extensive in the adjacent 'normal' colonic epithelium and extends as far as 3cm from the microscopically identified SRCC margin.

We report a case of signet ring-cell adenocarcinoma in augmentation colocystoplasty. We review the current literature about tumours developing in augmentation bladder.

Primary signet ring cell carcinoma of the urinary bladder and colon are rare disease entities that are aggressive, difficult to manage, and portend a poor prognosis. We present a case report of a 25-year-old man born with an imperforate anus who developed signet ring cell carcinoma of the pulled-through sigmoid colon that mimicked a primary invasive bladder tumor. Despite radical surgery and adjuvant radiation, the patient died of his disease 7 months after surgery.

Objectives: To examine the risk of gastric cancer associated with alcohol consumption and smoking in men and women in Moscow, Russia., Materials and Methods: A case-control study which includes 448 cases and 610 controls was conducted. Cases consisted of patients with newly diagnosed histologically confirmed gastric cancer. Controls were patients admitted during the study period to the hospital with diagnoses other than cancer and/or gastrointestinal diseases. Information on demographic variables, smoking, alcohol consumption and diet was collected from all subjects. Venous blood was drawn from 361 cases and 441 controls. A serological test for Helicobacter pylori immunoglobulin G was performed., Results: Alcohol consumption, particularly vodka consumption, was found to increase the risk of gastric cancer. In men the effect of hard liquor drinking was stronger for cancer of the cardia (OR = 3.4, CI = 1.2-10.2), while in women the effect was stronger for cancer of sites other than gastric cardia (OR = 1.5, CI = 1.0-2.3). Smoking increased the risk of developing gastric cancer in men, but not in women. In men a dose-response relationship between mean number of cigarettes smoked per day (p = 0.03), pack-years of cigarettes smoked (p = 0.01) and duration of smoking (p = 0.08) and the risk of cancer of gastric cardia was observed. Further statistical analysis revealed interactions between effect of smoking and alcohol consumption and between smoking and H. pylori infection status., Conclusions: The findings further support the role of alcohol consumption and smoking in the etiology of gastric cancer.

We describe light microscopic, immunohistochemical and ultrastructural features of a signet-ring cell ependymoma (WHO grade II) identified in a surgically resected left cerebellar cystic tumor from a 64-year-old man. Part of the tumor showed clear-cell differentiation. Immunohistochemical coexpression of glial fibrillary acidic protein and epithelial membrane antigen, characteristic of ependymoma, was detected in both components. Sinuous intermediate junctions, cytoplasmic lumina, and scant astroglial filaments were demonstrated by electron microscopy. Signet-ring cell change was shown to be induced by disproportionate cavitation of either microvillus-bearing cytoplasmic lumina or microrosettes. The staining qualities of clear cells were mainly due to paucity and degeneration of subcellular organelles. Therefore, signet-ring cell ependymomas represent a unique anomaly of intra- and extracellular compartmentalization to be distinguished from various unrelated forms of cytoplasmic volume increase, resulting in an optically similar "empty" appearance of tumor cells. As a clinically relevant consequence, signet-ring cell ependymoma must be included in the differential diagnosis of primary or metastatic neoplasms of the central nervous system, having in common a phenotype characterized by overdeveloped optically lucent cell bodies.

The primary signet-ring cell adenocarcinoma of the bladder is a rare tumor, with great biological aggressivity and bad prognosis. We report a clinical case of a 65 years old patient, starting with bladder irritative symptoms and suffering from advanced disease at the initial diagnosis. We review clinical and etiopathogenic aspects about this entity.

We report a case of synchronous squamous cell carcinoma and signet ring cell carcinoma in an augmented bladder 22 years after ileocystoplasty. The clinical features, predisposing factors and pertinent literature are reviewed.

We describe a 39 years-old male hemophilia A patient with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) developing to disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC) due to gastric carcinoma. He had been diagnosed as human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) sero-positive in 1990. Since then, he has been treated by the oral administration of zidovudine (AZT), dideoxyinosine (ddI) and intravenous administration of glycyrrhizin. In September 1990, he suddenly complained abdominal pain with bloody stool. His condition deteriorated in spite of our intensive treatment for DIC. He died of multiple organ failure (MOF) due to DIC. The autopsy findings showed gastric carcinoma, defined of signet ring cell carcinoma histopathologically. But neither opportunistic infection nor other cause of DIC were observed.