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C Ceccarelli

Publications and source records attributed to C Ceccarelli.

107 records · Page 6Linked to original sources

Serum thyroid autoantibodies as a risk factor for development of hypothyroidism after radioactive iodine therapy for single thyroid 'hot' nodule.

Hypothyroidism is often observed after radioiodine treatment in Graves' disease, but it is considered a rare complication in single hyperfunctioning thyroid nodule ('hot' nodule). This concept has been recently challenged, but the available data are conflicting. In the present study we therefore assessed the development of permanent hypothyroidism in 126 patients with thyroid hot nodule treated with 131I (180 muCi/g of estimated nodule weight, total dose 5.5-28.9 mCi). Follow-up ranged between 1 to 11 years. Hypothyroidism was observed in 5 (4%) patients, corresponding to a cumulative incidence by life-table analysis of 4.8% ten years after treatment. No relationship was found between the development of hypothyroidism and the size of the nodule or the total amount of administered dose. Fifty-six patients with euthyroid hot nodule at the time of treatment had higher cumulative incidence of hypothyroidism after 10 years (9.7%) than those with toxic adenoma (1.5%) (0.1 greater than P greater than 0.05 by logrank test). When the patients were analyzed according to the presence or absence of serum antithyroglobulin and/or antithyroid microsomal autoantibodies, the prevalence of hypothyroidism after 131I treatment was higher (4/25 = 16%) in patients with significant serum antibody titres (greater than or equal to 1/400 by passive haemagglutination), when compared to that observed in subjects with negative antibody tests (1/101 = 1.0%). Life-table analysis showed in antibody positive patients a cumulative incidence of hypothyroidism after 10 years of 18.0% vs 1.4% in antibody negative patients (P less than 0.001 by logrank test).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Adult↗

Fast and slow myosins as specific markers of muscle: an immunocytochemical study.

Slow and fast myosins are specific markers of skeletal muscle. The specificity of anti-fast and anti-slow myosin antisera been verified on frozen and paraffin embedded tissues. The optimal fixative useful for routine histopathological purposes has been investigated. It is suggested that these two antisera can be used in the diagnosis of rhabdomyoblastic tumours substituting for or complementary to myoglobin, a well known marker of striated muscle.

Animals↗

Immunocytochemistry of rhabdomyosarcoma. The use of four different markers.

Fast myosin and slow myosin are specific markers of skeletal muscle, in addition to myoglobin. This study of 15 specimens of rhabdomyosarcomas from 13 patients using specific antisera for the three markers as well as for desmin led to positive findings in all cases with at least one antiserum. Desmin was present in all cases; fast myosin and myoglobin were present in 10 cases each. Slow myosin was present in six cases. It appears that the combination of several markers is helpful in differentiating rhabdomyosarcomas from other tumors. The markers considered were generally more abundant in neoplastic elements with large amounts of cytoplasm. This finding suggests that the larger cells of rhabdomyosarcomas are more differentiated than smaller rhabdomyoblasts, which were often negative with some of the antisera used.

Adolescent↗

Reciprocal changes of serum thyroglobulin and TSH in residents of a moderate endemic goitre area.

Subjects living in iodine deficient areas were reported to have elevated serum thyroglobulin (Tg) concentrations. This finding was interpreted as related to thyroid stimulation. Discrepant results, however, were found when serum Tg concentrations were correlated either with serum TSH or with goitre size. In this study we investigated the relationships between goitre size, serum Tg and serum TSH in 488 unselected adult subjects living in an endemic area of North-Western Tuscany (Garfagnana district). The control group comprised 352 subjects residing in a non-endemic area. In the endemic area a high prevalence of goitre was found (80.1%), thyroid enlargement being slight to moderate in the majority of cases and very large only in six subjects. Serum Tg concentrations increased and serum TSH levels decreased with the size of goitre. Statistical analysis by the chi-square cross correlation test showed that the converse changes of serum Tg and serum TSH in relation to goitre size were highly significant. These findings indicate that the increase of serum Tg occurring in endemic goitrous subjects may be related to factors other than TSH stimulation. Functional autonomy of the thyroid may account for the finding of low serum TSH and elevated serum Tg values in patients with large goitres. The present data do not exclude the possibility that the release of Tg is influenced by TSH stimulation, but indicate that other factors may be responsible for the increased levels of Tg found in endemic goitre.

Adult↗

Morphofunctional findings in adenocarcinoma of endometrium.

Ten cases of adenocarcinoma of the endometrium were studied using histochemical methods for mucopolysaccharides and immunocytochemical methods for the localization of various markers, such as EMA (epithelial membrane antigen), GCDFP-15 (gross cystic disease fluid protein) and CEA. Four cases appeared to contain High Iron Diamine-positive substance and 6 cases were positive using an immunocytochemical method with a polyclonal anti-CEA antiserum. In contrast, no cases stained when a monoclonal anti-CEA antiserum was employed. This suggested that HID- positive material could be a sign of differentiation towards cells with a secretory function.

Adenocarcinoma↗

Spindle cell tumours of the skin of debatable origin. An immunocytochemical study.

Twelve cases of malignant spindle-cell and sarcomatoid tumours of the skin of debatable nature were studied by immunocytochemical methods, using four antisera which might help contribute to resolution of the problems. The initial diagnosis made on structural grounds was confirmed by immunocytochemistry in six of eight cases in which a specific diagnosis had been made (one melanoma, three squamous carcinomas and two atypical fibroxanthomas). One case, initially regarded as AFX was reclassified as a squamous carcinoma, while a further case of possible AFX could not be confirmed by immunocytochemical study. Of the four cases in which structural examination was inconclusive, two were identified as squamous carcinomas and one as a melanoma by virtue of tumour markers. The fourth case was an intriguing actin-rich tumour of uncertain nature. Immunocytochemistry, despite certain limitations, has a valuable role to play in the analysis of the problematic spindle-cell malignant and pseudomalignant tumours of the skin.

Actins↗

Outcome of 309 patients with metastatic differentiated thyroid carcinoma treated with radioiodine.

From 1969 to 1990 there were 309 patients with differentiated thyroid carcinoma (241 papillary and 68 follicular) treated with radioactive iodine for functioning node metastases alone (n = 191) or distant metastases (n = 118) with or without node metastases. These patients represented 32.7% of 945 patients treated in our institution during the same period. Initial treatment included near-total thyroidectomy and 131I ablation of postsurgical thyroid residue, followed by L-thyroxine suppressive therapy. At the end of follow-up (mean 5.8 years), 146 patients (76.4%) in the group with nodal metastases were considered cured, as assessed by clinical and laboratory evaluation including whole body scan (WBS) and serum thyroglobulin (Tg) levels; 32 patients (16.7%) had persistent disease. Loss of 131I uptake in persistent metastatic lesions occurred in five patients (2.6%), and newly developed distant metastases occurred in eight patients (4.2%). Of the patients with distant metastases, 36.4% were cured by 131I. Distant metastases from papillary carcinomas had a higher cure rate than follicular carcinomas (p < 0.01). The metastases of four patients (5.2%) lost the property to take up radioiodine. Lung and bone metastases detectable by WBS but not by radiography were most likely to be cured by 131I. The overall survival at the end of follow-up was 95.8% in patients with only lymph node metastases and 76.0% in those with distant metastases. Tumor-related deaths were 3.6% and 23.7%, respectively. Our data indicate that 131I therapy is highly effective in the treatment of lymph node metastases from differentiated thyroid carcinoma.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Adenocarcinoma, Follicular↗

Prognostic relevance of silver-stained nucleolar proteins in sarcomatoid carcinomas of the breast.

Fourteen cases of sarcomatoid carcinomas of breast were evaluated by means of a silver technique that selectively stains proteins located in the nucleolar organizer regions (Ag-NORs). The mean area of Ag-NORs (MNORA) was in each case quantitatively analyzed by means of an automated image analyzer. Patients who died early of the disease had a higher MNORA than patients who survived longer than 3 years. The difference was statistically significant. Ag-NORs might be a novel parameter of prognostic relevance in specific cases.

Adult↗

Metastatic ability and differentiative properties of a new cell line of human embryonal rhabdomyosarcoma (CCA).

A new cell line (CCA) was established from a human embryonal rhabdomyosarcoma. It showed an "early" myogenic differentiation pattern: vimentin expression was found in 100% of cells, desmin in about 40% and myosin of the embryonic isoform in about 5%. Class I HLA expression on CCA cells was undeterctable but was greatly increased by in vitro treatment with human recombinant interferon-gamma and only marginally increased by human recombinant tumour necrosis factor-alfa. CCA cell line was tumorigenic in nude mice after either subcutaneous or intramuscular injection; macroscopic spontaneous metastases were not detected. The ability to induce metastatic nodules in the lungs was found when CCA cells were injected intravenously in cyclophosphamide-pretreated nude mice and, at low frequency, in untreated nude mice.

Animals↗

Familial amyloid polyneuropathy: report of a family.

We report an Italian family affected by familial amyloid polyneuropathy. In two siblings, the diagnosis was confirmed by skin biopsy which revealed an unusual involvement of cutaneous nerves. Immunohistochemical studies confirmed the presence of prealbumin in the amyloid deposits.

Adult↗

Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGF-R) and transforming growth factor alpha (TGFA) expression in different endometrial cancers.

The role of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGF-R) and transforming growth factor alpha (TGFA) in endometrial cancer is still controversial. In this study the immunostaining of EGF-R and TGFA, investigated in 44 cases, proved to be related to endometrial cancer histotype regardless of the tumor grade or the extent of myometrial invasion. In fact, EGF-R expression was observed in 12.5% (1/8) of cases with classical endometrioid adenocarcinoma, in 91% (10/11) with endometrial adenocarcinoma and benign squamous metaplasia, and in 35% (6/17) with adenosquamous carcinoma. TGFA expression was concomitant with EGF-R in the first two histotypes, and was present in about 50% (9/17) of the latter. Conversely, in mucinous and serous papillary adenocarcinoma, EGF-R and TGFA immunostaining was not observed. In conclusion, EGF-R positivity was observed in endometrial cancer with squamous differentiation, especially in those cases with benign squamous metaplasia. EGF-R and TGFA coexpression appeared as a constant feature of benign squamous metaplasia.

Endometrial Neoplasms↗