Uroplakins are a family of membrane-spanning proteins highly specific to the urothelium. There are four uroplakin proteins in humans. These are encoded by the following UPK genes: UPK1A, UPK1B, UPK2 and UPK3. Uroplakin proteins span the apical membrane of umbrella cells of the urothelium, where they associate into urothelial plaques. This provides a barrier function to prevent passage of urine across the urothelium in the renal pelvis, ureters, and bladder. Uroplakins are also involved in developmental processes such as nephrogenesis. The specific localisation of uroplakins within the urotheli ..read more

Aims Despite efficacy of anti-PD-1 blockade in treatment of metastatic melanoma (MM), many patients achieve rapid disease progression (DP). Therefore, the aim of this study is to better define biomarkers for DP by analysing levels of circulating cytokines TGF-β, IFN-, IL-6, IL-8 and IL-10 in MM patients prior to anti-PD-1 therapy. Methods Cytokine levels were evaluated before therapy with pembrolizumab in peripheral blood of BRAF wild-type (wt) MM patients by ELISA method. Results In this study, we give pretherapy levels for circulating TGF-β, IFN-, IL-6, IL-8 and IL-10 in BRAFwt MM patients a ..read more

Dematiaceous fungi are defined by pigment within their cell walls. They are increasingly recognised human pathogens, causing a wide range of clinical presentations, from localised subcutaneous infections to disseminated disease in rare cases. We report our institutional experience with diagnosis of dematiaceous fungal infections from 2005 to 2022 and highlight four instructive cases that clinically and pathologically mimicked other diseases for which the diagnosis was confirmed by fungal culture (one case) or supported by PCR with 28S rRNA and internal transcribed spacer primers (three cases ..read more

Aims To explore the accumulation of lipid droplets (LDs) and its relationship with lipid metabolism, and epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) in the carcinogenesis processes in the oral cavity. Methods LDs were stained by oil red O. Forty-eight oral squamous cell carcinomas (OSCC), 78 oral potentially malignant disorders (OPMDs) and 25 normal tissue sections were included to explore the LDs surface protein caveolin-2 and perilipin-3, lipid metabolism-related molecule FABP5 and EMT biomarker E-cadherin expression by immunohistochemical staining. Results The accumulation of LDs was observed i ..read more

Aims To stratify the risk of cervical precancers (high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion (HSIL) and adenocarcinoma in situ (AIS)) and cancers (squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) and adenocarcinoma) based on distinct high-risk human papillomavirus (hrHPV) genotypes as well as age groups among women with atypical squamous cells of undetermined significance (ASC-US) and hrHPV+results. Methods In total, 2292 cases of ASC-US/hrHPV+ with immediate follow-up biopsy results were included in the study for prevalence analysis. Results Overall, 12.2% women with ASC-US /hrHPV+ had HSIL+ while 0.22% had AIS ..read more

Aims International consensus diagnostic criteria for idiopathic multicentric Castleman disease (iMCD) includes lymph node Castleman disease (CD) histopathological features as major criteria. Our aim was to apply those criteria in a series of 42 cases with CD to find differences among unicentric CD, iMCD, HHV-8+multicentric CD (HHV-8+MCD) and POEMS/plasma cell neoplasia (PCN)-associated CD. Methods Available clinical and laboratory criteria were collected. Histopathological features (germinal centre hyperplasia/regression, plasmacytosis, hypervascularity and follicular dendritic cell (FDC) prom ..read more

Aims To investigate the clinicopathological features, molecular characteristics and diagnostic criteria of primary salivary duct carcinoma of the lung (LSDC). Methods We analysed the clinicopathological and molecular features of five cases of LSDC retrieved from the archives of Shanghai Pulmonary Hospital from 2020 to 2022, and reviewed the relevant literature. Results All patients were men, with an average age of 66 years (age range: 49–79 years), and all lesions were central masses with a mean maximum diameter of 42.6 mm (range: 16–70 mm). Morphologically, LSDC comprised of intraductal and i ..read more

Aims Cystic neutrophilic granulomatous mastitis (CNGM) is a subtype of granulomatous mastitis (GM) associated with Corynebacterium spp infection. We aimed to analyse the prevalence of Corynebacteria in CNGM and non-CNGM cases. Methods Breast specimens diagnosed as granulomatous inflammation between 2010 and 2020 were reviewed to identify a CNGM cohort and a non-CNGM cohort. Polymerase chain reaction-based identification of Corynebacteria by 16S ribosomal RNA (16S rRNA) primers, followed by confirmatory Sanger sequencing (SS), was performed on all cases. Clinical, radiological and microbiology ..read more

Aims Even though extensive melanoma sentinel node (SN) pathology protocols increase metastasis detection, there is a need for balancing high detection rates with reasonable workload. A newly tested Danish protocol recommended examining nodes at six levels 150 µm apart (six-level model) and using SOX10 and Melan-A immunohistochemistry (IHC). We explored if a protocol examining 3 levels 300 µm apart (three-level model) combined with IHC would compromise metastasis detection. The study aim was to optimise the protocol to reduce workload without compromising detection rate. Methods 8 months after ..read more

Introduction An established dogma of autopsy pathology is that it is not possible to ascertain a cause of death in about 2–5% of postmortems.1 One of the most common reasons for a cause of death to be unascertained is due to postmortem decomposition. Decomposition change can affect the macroscopic and microscopic appearances of pathology and can introduce uncertainty into the interpretation of postmortem findings.2 Postmortem decomposition is also an increasingly recognised sign of perimortem social isolation.3 But what is the actual relationship between postmortem decomposition and unascertai ..read more