Mark R Wick

Morphologic mimicry among human malignant neoplasms is a well-known phenomenon in surgical pathology; both undifferentiated and "committed" neoplasms may exhibit this trait. One particularly common group of histologic simulants includes ductal carcinomas of the breasts, the cutaneous appendages, and the salivary glands. One hundred three tumors in this structural cluster were analyzed microscopically and immunohistologically to codify points of potential pathologic similarity and ...

The distinction between squamoid basal cell carcinoma and basaloid squamous cell carcinoma (or between BCC and trichoepithelioma variants) is usually made readily on the basis of defined histological criteria. However, these differential diagnoses occasionally can pose difficult morphological problems. The stated distinctions are clinically important because the risk of progressive disease is significantly higher with squamous carcinoma of the skin than with basal cell carcinoma (BCC), ...

Neoplasms with rhabdoid features have been reported at many anatomic sites. In the kidney, rhabdoid tumors are typically found in children, whereas only rare examples have been reported in adults. Little is known of renal cell carcinomas (RCCs) that exhibit rhabdoid features. The objective of this study was to determine the incidence of RCC with rhabdoid attributes and characterize the histologic, immunophenotypic, and ultrastructural features by retrospective analysis of 480 ...

BACKGROUND: Some growth factors may promote tumor growth by affecting tumor angiogenesis. The angiogenic growth factor, pleiotrophin, was demonstrated previously in human breast carcinoma tissues; however, the pattern of pleiotrophin expression in normal breast tissues has not been established.

METHODS: The expression of pleiotrophin and the related growth factor, midkine, was examined by polymerase chain reaction amplification of reverse transcriptase copies of RNA transcripts (RT-PCR) ...

CONTEXT: Malignant mesothelioma (MM) is an uncommon tumor that can be difficult to diagnose.

OBJECTIVE: To provide updated practical guidelines for the pathologic diagnosis of MM.

DATA SOURCES: Pathologists involved in the International Mesothelioma Interest Group and others with an interest in the field contributed to this update. Reference material includes peer-reviewed publications and textbooks.

CONCLUSIONS: There was consensus opinion regarding (1) distinction of benign from ...

In an effort to shed light upon the nature of the colloid cyst, the immunohistochemical properties of 21 examples of this lesion were compared with those of other neuraxial cysts and choroid plexus epithelium. The neuraxial cysts included the following: eight Rathke's cleft cysts, 25 pituitaries containing follicular cysts of the pars intermedia, and four enterogenous cysts. Fifteen examples of normal choroid plexus and 12 choroid plexus papillomas were studied as well. These lesions ...

BACKGROUND: Although pathologic level of invasion and histologic grade are helpful in predicting the clinical outcome of transitional cell carcinoma of the bladder, they also create uncertainty. Immunohistochemical staining for p53, MIB-1, epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), c-erb B-2, and bcl-2 have shown promise as prognostic factors when evaluated singly, although multivariate analyses that include histologic grade and the interactive effects of these markers have not been ...

BACKGROUND: Atypical fibroxanthoma (AFX) is a pleomorphic spindle cell lesion of the skin; it is considered in the differential diagnosis with spindle cell malignant melanoma (MM) and sarcomatoid carcinoma/spindle cell squamous cell carcinoma (SCC). An optimum approach has yet to fully emerge with respect to the immunohistochemical discrimination of these lesions.

METHODS: Departmental archives from 1978 onwards were searched for clinicopathologically confirmed cases of AFX, MM and SCC. ...

GATA3 is a transcription factor, which is involved in the growth and differentiation of several human tissues. Immunohistochemical staining for this marker has proven to be useful in recognizing a number of tumors, most notably those in the urinary tract and breasts. To date, no study has specifically assessed the distribution of GATA3 among different histomorphologic subtypes of breast carcinoma. The surgical pathology archive at our institution was searched, to retrieve cases of breast ...

The immunoprofiles of 121 germ cell and trophoblastic neoplasms were defined, using a battery of antibodies against cytokeratin (CK), vimentin (VIM), epithelial membrane antigen (EMA), placental alkaline phosphatase (PLAP), S-100 protein, leukocyte common antigen (LCA), UCHL-1, LN-2, carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), neuron-specific enolase (NSE), chromogranin A, Leu-7, alpha-fetoprotein (AFP), alpha-1-antitrypsin (AAT), and the beta subunit of human chorionic gonadotropin (BHCG). In ...

The identification of metastatic carcinoma of the breast may be difficult in the absence of a previous history of breast cancer. Various immunophenotypic markers have been introduced to aid in this process. A monoclonal antibody directed at a 15-kilodalton (kd) gross cystic disease fluid protein (GCDFP-15) was applied immunohistochemically to paraffin sections of 105 breast cancers and 585 nonmammary malignancies in order to assess its value in this context. In addition, GCDFP-15 was ...

Most prior studies of primary diagnosis in surgical pathology using whole slide imaging (WSI) versus microscopy have focused on specific organ systems or included relatively few cases. The objective of this study was to demonstrate that WSI is noninferior to microscopy for primary diagnosis in surgical pathology. A blinded randomized noninferiority study was conducted across the entire range of surgical pathology cases (biopsies and resections, including hematoxylin and eosin, ...