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Biomedical subjects

W Böcker

Publications and source records attributed to W Böcker.

At least 163 records · Page 9Linked to original sources
PubMed1991

Apolipoproteins and immunohistological differentiation of cells in the arterial wall of kidneys in transplant arteriopathy. Morphological parallels with atherosclerosis.

22 nephrectomy specimens of renal allografts in chronic rejection after periods between 3 and 96 months, were studied immunohistologically. Various cell types in the arterial wall were characterized with antibodies specific against different cells of the mononuclear phagocyte system, against smooth muscle cells, and against differentiating lymphoid cells. In addition, the metabolism of lipoproteins was investigated using appropriate antibodies against several apolipoproteins. Subendothelial plaques of foam cells were found to consist of macrophages in foamy transformation. At the stage of intimal fibrosis the smooth muscle cells are more prominent. Lymphatic infiltration consists almost exclusively of T-lymphocytes. Apolipoprotein analysis reveals deposits of Apo A1, A2 and B1, most of them extracellular. According to these results, it is not only immunologic factors that are involved in arterial wall reactions during chronic transplant arteriopathy, but disorders of the lipoprotein metabolism--probably due to endothelial dysfunction--are also playing an important role like in atherosclerosis.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1991

Juvenile intracortical adamantinoma of the tibia with predominant osteofibrous dysplasia-like features.

In view of the still disputed relationship between adult adamantinoma and osteofibrous dysplasia in children, a unique case of adamantinoma, indicating a direct relationship between the two lesions, is presented with a review of the literature. The patient was a six-year-old boy who complained of pain and swelling in the left lower leg. Roentgenographs showed a loculate osteolysis surrounded by sclerosis within the cortex of the tibial shaft that would be typical of osteofibrous dysplasia. Although an osteofibrous-dysplastic component predominated histologically, some small islands of epithelial cells were scattered throughout the lesion. Immunohistochemically, the tumor cells of these epithelial islands gave a constant positive reaction for cytokeratin as well as vimentin, while the stromal cells in the osteofibrous dysplasia-like lesion were positive for vimentin only. This type of lesion is recorded in the Bone Tumor Registry of Westphalia at a rate of 8.3% for osteofibrous dysplasia, and of 25% for adamantinoma. A review of the literature, yielding reports with remarkable uniformity on 14 cases beyond the present one, suggests the existence of a separate clinicopathologic entity to be called juvenile intracortical adamantinoma with predominant osteofibrous dysplasia-like features, and which might be a regressing form of adamantinoma specific in childhood.

Ameloblastoma↗
PubMed1990

Medullary carcinoma of the thyroid.

The results of our study may be summarized as follows: 1. Medullary carcinomas of the thyroid are derived from the C cells of the gland and are characterized by strong histologic and cytologic pleomorphism with inconstant stromal amyloid deposits. 2. The decisive morphodiagnostic criterion is immunohistochemical evidence of calcitonin coinciding with negative TG reactivity. 3. In addition to obligatory calcitonin expression, MCs may show variable synthesis of several polypeptids and biogenic (?) amines. 4. The varying immunoreactivity patterns are not related to the clinical behavior of the respective tumors. 5. Leu-M-1 antigen, a monocyte-granulocyte marker known to express in Reed-Sternberg cells and in certain nonhemopoietic neoplasms, can also be demonstrated in MCs. Leu-M-1 immunoreactivity was found to correlate significantly with an unfavorable course. Thus, the introduction of immunostaining for Leu-M-1 in cases of thyroid carcinoma may provide significant prognostic information for these patients.

Antigens, Differentiation, Myelomonocytic↗
PubMed1990

Diffuse sclerosing variant of papillary thyroid carcinoma. S-100 protein immunocytochemistry and prognosis.

The recently published second edition of the WHO classification of thyroid tumours describes the diffuse sclerosing papillary carcinoma (DSPC) as a specific variant of papillary thyroid cancer (PC). Besides several histological hallmarks, this rare tumour is characterized by its occurrence in young individuals and is thought to have a less favourable prognosis than PC in general. The observations on two examples of this tumour presented herein, however, are at variance at this assumption. The neoplasms occurred in a 10 year old girl and a 34 year old woman. Each time, diffuse involvement of both thyroid lobes and bilateral cervical lymphadenopathy were seen. In one case, the carcinoma extended into the cervical soft tissue. Follow-up disclosed both patients to be without evidence of disease 2 and 13 years, respectively, after thyroid surgery. Immunocytochemically, both thyroid primaries as well as 7 other cases of DSPC reported in the literature showed dense accumulations of S-100 protein positive dendritic/Langerhans cells. Such infiltrations have been demonstrated to be correlated with a benign clinical course of PC. It is thus suggested that DSPC behaves similarly or even less aggressively than PC in general, at least if prominent Langerhans cell infiltration is present.

Adult↗
PubMed1990

The impact of osteonectin for differential diagnosis of bone tumors. An immunohistochemical approach.

75 osteosarcoma at various grades of histologic differentiation, including chondroblastic and small cell variants, and 5 fibrosarcomas of bone, 5 Ewing's sarcomas, 5 malignant fibrous histiocytomas of bone, 8 chondrosarcomas, and 2 dedifferentiated chondrosarcomas, were investigated immunohistochemically for evidence of osteonectin. According to the results of our study, osteonectin is present in all osteosarcomas, with special topographic preponderance in the osteoblastic and chondroblastic variants. Evidence of osteonectin was also found in all other bone tumors we had analysed so far. In chondrosarcomas, positive reactions appeared only in the vicinity of trabeculae and in dedifferentiated areas. Thus, osteonectin cannot be regarded as a bone-specific protein. Although a high affinity for the osseous matrix is one of its undoubted features, it is therefore unsuitable for differential diagnostic purposes.

Bone Neoplasms↗
PubMed1990

[DNA cytometry in gastric cancer--a comparison between static cytometry on cytologic and histologic preparations and flow cytometry].

Static cytometry on cytologic and histologic preparations and flow cytometry are the basic techniques of DNA cytometry with certain advantages and drawbacks. An exact and reliable assessment of DNA ploidy and stem line heterogeneity of paraffin-embedded specimens is best performed with static cytometry on smears. The high resolution of DNA histograms in flow cytometry is reduced by the often strong portion of detritus and therefore the internal reference peak or small tumor stem lines might not be identified. The use of histologic preparations is advantageous for the analysis of correlations between histomorphologic tumor heterogeneity and stem line heterogeneity.

DNA, Neoplasm↗
PubMed1990

[Demonstration of activated oncogenes of the ras family in human thyroid tumors using the polymerase chain reaction].

Activation of ras-oncogenes in 180 different thyroid tumours, was examined by using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification and subsequent analysis of the amplification products by oligonucleotide probing, direct sequence analysis of single stranded DNA and primer-mismatch analysis. In contrast to recently published results we found a very low frequency of activated ras-genes occurring mainly in undifferentiated carcinomas and follicle cell carcinomas which show a transition to undifferentiation. In none of thirty benign tumors an activated ras-gene was found. The predominant ras-oncogene activated in thyroid neoplasias was the Harvey-ras gene. Our results suggest Harvey-ras activation at a later evolutionary step in tumour genesis.

DNA, Neoplasm↗
PubMed1990

Proliferation kinetics of bone tumors.

We investigated bone tumors of various grades of malignancy as well as tumor-like lesions with regard to proliferation kinetic parameters immunohistologically, autoradiographically, and flow cytophotometrically. Good correlation of the established tumor kinetic parameters with the prognostic expectations of the tumor entities was found. Apart from this, possibilities concerning the differential diagnostic analysis of the proliferation rate in a given tumor and its possible grading as well as the possible practical impact of these modern methods on pre- and/or post-therapeutic monitoring of patients are demonstrated.

Antigens, Surface↗
PubMed1989

[Immunohistology and prognosis in thyroid cancer. Determination of the malignancy potential of papillary and medullary neoplasms by the detection of S-100 protein and Leu-M1 antigen].

170 thyroid carcinomas were investigated for the presence of S-100-protein-positive Langerhans cells (LC) and the expression of Leu-M1-antigen. Dense LC infiltrates were found only in papillary tumours and were shown to be significantly related to prognosis. Irrespective of any other feature, no single instance of death resulting from cancer occurred among 23 tumours (including 6 cases of stage pT4) with dense infiltrates (greater than 20 LC/unit field) while 9/53 (17%) of the remaining patients died from carcinoma (p less than 0.01). The degree of epithelial Leu-M1 expression was significantly related to the biological behaviour of papillary and medullary neoplasms. Death resulting from cancer occurred 17 times more frequently among papillary tumours with marked positivity (greater than 15%) as compared to cases with slight or absent immunoreactivity (8/24 vs. 1/52; p less than 0.00005). Among medullary carcinomas, local recurrences occurred 2.9 times (14/16 vs. 7/23; p less than 0.005) and death resulting from tumour occurred 4.3 times (9/16 vs. 3/23; p less than 0.03) more frequently for intensely stained as compared to slightly immunoreactive and unstained neoplasms.

Antigens, Differentiation, Myelomonocytic↗
PubMed1988

Prognostic factors in medullary thyroid carcinomas. Survival in relation to age, sex, stage, histology, immunocytochemistry, and DNA content.

Patients with medullary thyroid carcinomas (MTC) were analyzed according to age, sex, and tumor stage. In addition, the MTC were screened for the predominant histologic pattern, immunocytochemical spectrum (60 tumors), and DNA content (DNA cytophotometry and DNA flow cytometry, 25 tumors). These findings were correlated with follow-up data available for 45 of these patients. Forty-eight percent of the tumors revealed a polygonal cell pattern, whereas 22% showed spindle-cell predominance. All tumors contained cytokeratin, chromogranin A, and calcitonin (CT). Calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) was present in 92%, carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) in 77%, neuron-specific enolase (NSE) in 75%, and vimentin in 53% of cases. Positivity for neurotensin, somatostatin, neurofilaments, bombesin, and alpha human chorionic gonadotropin (a-hCG) and serotonin ranged between 3% and 27%. All MTC were negative for substance P, adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH), thyroglobulin (TG), or S-100 protein. Local recurrences and regional lymph node metastases revealed identical staining patterns as the primaries. Prognosis of MTC was found not to be related to histologic features (dominant architectural pattern, cellular shape, presence of amyloid deposits) or immunocytochemical pattern. Instead, survival was significantly correlated to age, sex, and stage of disease. The best prognosis was seen in women younger than 40 years and revealing an early stage of disease. DNA measurements added valuable information in assessing the prognosis of MTC.

Adult↗
PubMed1988

Leu-M1 immunoreactivity and prognosis in medullary carcinomas of the thyroid gland.

Leu-M1 antigen is a monocyte/granulocyte-related marker known to be consistently expressed in the Reed-Sternberg cells of patients with Hodgkin's disease and to be present in tumour cells of a variety of non-haematopoietic neoplasms, most of them adenocarcinomas. The biological significance of this aberrant reaction has not yet been clarified. Recently, however, we have demonstrated that marked epithelial Leu-M1 immunoreactivity significantly correlated with an unfavourable clinical course in papillary carcinomas of the thyroid gland. The findings of the present study obtained from surgical specimens of 39 tumours suggest that Leu-M1 immunostaining also provides significant prognostic information in patients with medullary carcinoma (MC) of this organ. Irrespective of other morphological and clinical features, local recurrences occurred 2.9 times (P less than 0.005) and death resulting from tumour occurred 4.3 times (P less than 0.03) more frequently among MCs with marked Leu-M1 positivity (greater than 15% tumour cells positively stained) in comparison to tumours with only slight or absent immunoreactivity. A significantly higher recurrence rate of intense Leu-M1-positive MCs was even evident when comparing only tumours of stage pT1-3N0M0 (P less than 0.005). Our findings infer that Leu-M1 immunostaining might be of clinical relevance to the selection of different aggressive adjuvant therapeutic procedures to be used in MCs with high or low malignant potential.

Antigens, Differentiation, T-Lymphocyte↗
PubMed1988

The vascularization of liver metastases. Histological investigation of gelatine-injected liver specimens with special regard to the vascularization of micrometastases.

The vascularization of 19 human livers with metastases was investigated using gelatine perfusion and resin corrosion techniques. (1) In 16 livers examined after injection via the hepatic artery hypervascular metastases were demonstrated in 12 cases, hypovascular in 4. (2) Injection via the portal vein showed that more than 50% of liver metastases had a distinct portal blood supply to the tumor periphery. In approximately one-third of cases the portal blood supply extended centrally. (3) Injection via the hepatic vein demonstrated venous drainage from peripheral areas of tumor in less than 30%, and from central areas in only 9%. Larger branches of the hepatic vein were not detected within metastases. (4) Tumor thrombi were seen within branches of the portal vein situated 1-1.5 cm from the tumor periphery in more than 50% of all liver metastases-suggesting the possibility of local hepatic retrograde tumor spread via the portal vein. (5) Central necroses were seen in hypervascular metastases only, mainly in tumors larger than 1-1.5 cm. (6) The incidence and vascularity of human hepatic micrometastases was investigated. Micrometastases were seen in close proximity to about 40% of the macrometastases. Metastases up to the size of 200 micron received their main blood supply via sinusoids. Neovascularization of tumors larger than 200 micron was demonstrated.

Gelatin↗
PubMed1988

Dendritic/Langerhans cells and prognosis in patients with papillary thyroid carcinomas. Immunocytochemical study of 106 thyroid neoplasms correlated to follow-up data.

Paraffin sections of 106 primary thyroid carcinomas were the subject of an immunocytochemical study to determine the density of infiltrates of S-100 protein-positive dendritic/Langerhans cells (LC), lysozyme-positive histiocytes, and LCA-positive lymphocytes. Evidence of dense infiltrates of LCs was found only in the majority of papillary thyroid carcinomas (PCs). The determination of the quantity of LCs proved to be a highly effective means of assessing the prognosis of these tumors. Irrespective of other morphologic and clinical features, no single instance of death resulting from cancer occurred among 23 PCs with dense LC infiltrates (including 6 tumors of stage pT4), while 9 of 53 (17%) of the remaining patients ultimately died from thyroid cancer. On the other hand, the degree of histiocytic and lymphocytic infiltrations was not associated with a distinct biologic behavior neither among PC nor among the remaining thyroid carcinomas. These findings suggest that LCs may play an important role in the immunologic defense mechanisms of the host against the tumor only in the papillary type of thyroid cancer.

Amidohydrolases↗
PubMed1987

Prognostic significance of Leu-M1 immunostaining in papillary carcinomas of the thyroid gland.

Leu-M1 antigen is a monocyte/granulocyte-related marker known to be consistently expressed in the Reed-Sternberg cells of patients with Hodgkin's disease. Recently, however, the presence of Leu-M1 has also been noted in tumour cells of a variety of non-haematopoietic neoplasms, most of them adenocarcinomas. The biological significance of this aberrant reaction has not been clarified. We have been able to demonstrate marked epithelial Leu-M1 immunoreactivity (greater than 15% tumour cells positively stained) in 24 out of 76 (32%) papillary carcinomas of the thyroid gland (PC). This phenomenon was more frequently observed among PCs at an advanced stage of disease (pT4 vs. pT1-3 and M1 vs M0 p less than 0.05). The degree of epithelial Leu-M1 positivity was also shown to be significantly correlated to the clinical course of PC. Irrespective of other morphological and clinical features, death resulting from cancer occurred 17 times more frequently among PCs with marked Leu-M1 positivity (8/24) when compared with tumours with only slight or absent immunoreactivity (1/52) (p less than 0.00005). These findings suggest that Leu-M1 immunostaining provides significant prognostic information for patients with papillary carcinoma of the thyroid gland.

Antigens, Differentiation↗
PubMed1987

[Prognostic criteria of papillary thyroid cancer. Morphologic clinical analysis of 202 cases of tumor].

A retrospective study of 202 papillary thyroid carcinomas was conducted to determine the prognostic value of different morphological and clinical features. The biological behaviour was primarily influenced by tumor type: Among encapsulated (n = 28) and occult lesions (n = 34), each time recurrence-free survival was seen, whereas 22% of patients with widely invasive tumours (n = 140) died from carcinoma (mean observation period: 9.6 years). In the latter group, dismal prognosis was demonstrated for older patients (greater than 52 years) and oxyphilic or poorly differentiated tumours; the same effect was shown for presence of distant haematogenous spread and tumour invasion of cervical soft tissue. Since lethal outcome was seen even in cases lacking the aforenamed unfavourable criteria, total thyroidectomy should be performed for all widely invasive neoplasms regardless of cellular or histological differentiation, stage of disease and age at diagnosis. The same applies for the two prognostically excellent subtypes in the case of regional metastases. As opposed to this, hemithyroidectomy and life-long TSH-suppressive oral hormone replacement therapy is regarded to be sufficient in encapsulated and occult papillary tumours not accompanied by regional or distant metastases.

Biopsy↗