Background and Aims
Chronic liver congestion reflecting right‐sided heart failure (RHF), Budd‐Chiari syndrome, or Fontan‐associated liver disease (FALD) is involved in liver fibrosis and HCC. ...However, molecular mechanisms of fibrosis and HCC in chronic liver congestion remain poorly understood.
Approach and Results
Here, we first demonstrated that chronic liver congestion promoted HCC and metastatic liver tumor growth using murine model of chronic liver congestion by partial inferior vena cava ligation (pIVCL). As the initial step triggering HCC promotion and fibrosis, gut‐derived lipopolysaccharide (LPS) appeared to induce LSECs capillarization in mice and in vitro. LSEC capillarization was also confirmed in patients with FALD. Mitogenic factor, sphingosine‐1‐phosphate (S1P), was increased in congestive liver and expression of sphingosine kinase 1, a major synthetase of S1P, was increased in capillarized LSECs after pIVCL. Inhibition of S1P receptor (S1PR) 1 (Ex26) and S1PR2 (JTE013) mitigated HCC development and liver fibrosis, respectively. Antimicrobial treatment lowered portal blood LPS concentration, LSEC capillarization, and liver S1P concentration accompanied by reduction of HCC development and fibrosis in the congestive liver.
Conclusions
In conclusion, chronic liver congestion promotes HCC development and liver fibrosis by S1P production from LPS‐induced capillarized LSECs. Careful treatment of both RHF and liver cancer might be necessary for patients with RHF with primary or metastatic liver cancer.
Anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) translocation renal cell carcinomas (RCCs) have been reported by several independent groups in recent times. The clinical behavior and histopathologic characteristics ...of these carcinomas are not fully understood because of the paucity of cases reported. Here, we describe 2 cases of RCC harboring a novel striatin (STRN)-ALK fusion. The first case was a 33-year-old woman with no sickle cell trait who underwent nephrectomy for right renal mass and had late recurrence in para-aortic lymph nodes twice 10 and 12 years after initial surgery. After the second recurrence, she was carefully observed without any treatment. Twenty-six years after the initial nephrectomy, the second para-aortic lymphadenectomy was performed, and gastrectomy was performed for newly developed primary gastric cancer. The resected para-aortic lymph nodes were largely replaced by metastatic carcinoma. The second case was a 38-year-old man with no sickle cell trait who underwent cytoreductive nephrectomy followed by sunitinib therapy for metastatic RCC. In both cases, the tumor showed solid, papillary, tubular, and mucinous cribriform structures. Psammoma bodies were occasionally seen in the stroma. Tumor cells had a large nucleus and prominent nucleoli with predominantly eosinophilic cytoplasm. Rhabdoid cells and signet-ring cells were also observed. Intracytoplasmic mucin deposition and background mucinous stroma were confirmed. In the second case, tumor necrosis was seen in some areas. Tumor cells exhibited diffuse positive staining for ALK in both cases. ALK translocation was confirmed by fluorescent in situ hybridization, and further gene analysis revealed a STRN-ALK fusion. These cases provide great insights into ALK translocation RCCs.
Insulinoma-associated protein 1 (INSM1) is an important biomarker of Achaete-scute homolog-like 1-driven pathways. For diagnosis of pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (PanNET), chromogranin A (CGA), ...synaptophysin (SYP), and neural cell adhesion molecule (NCAM) were also considered as potential biomarkers. However, it is often difficult to diagnose it immunohistochemically. Hence, we examined the expression pattern of INSM1 in pancreatic solid tumors. We detected INSM1, CGA, SYP, and NCAM immunohistochemically, in 27 cases of NET pure type: 25 cases, mixed adenoneuroendocrine carcinoma (MANEC): 2 cases. We included 5 cases of solid-pseudopapillary neoplasm (SPN), 7 cases of acinar cell carcinoma (ACC), and 15 cases of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) as the control group. Nuclear expression of INSM1 was found in all PanNET pure type cases. However, expression of INSM1 was negative in PDAC, ACC, and SPN in all cases, whereas faint expression was seen in the cytoplasm from SPN. MANEC comprises of two components: neuroendocrine carcinoma and adenocarcinoma components. The NET component was positive for INSM1 expression, whereas the PDAC component does not express INSM1, which aids in distinguishing these components. Our results suggest that INSM1 is a useful immunohistochemical marker for diagnosing pancreatic neuroendocrine tumor.
A 79-year-old man with lymphoma who tested negative for anti-hepatitis C virus (HCV) antibody received rituximab-containing chemotherapy. Liver dysfunction of unknown cause had persisted since the ...second cycle of chemotherapy. Ten months after treatment, he rapidly developed massive ascites and atrophy of the liver, and we detected HCV RNA in his serum using real time polymerase chain reaction. Furthermore, medical interviews showed that the patient had no episodes for acute HCV infection, but he did have a history of unspecified liver dysfunction. These findings support the possibility of the reactivation of seronegative occult HCV infection due to chemotherapy in a cancer patient.
Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is based on the concept of pathological morphology as well as clinical findings, and is broadly categorized into nonalcoholic fatty liver (NAFL) and ...nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). The differential diagnosis between NAFL and NASH is important because NASH has the potential to progress to cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. NAFL is simple hepatic steatosis without hepatocellular injury, while NASH is characterized by macrovesicular steatosis, inflammation, and ballooning hepatocytes with a predominantly centrilobular (zone 3) distribution. Liver biopsy is a useful test for diagnosing NAFLD, but it is invasive. Therefore, various noninvasive methods including diagnostic imaging have been developed in recent years. To verify their usefulness, it is necessary to clarify in detail how the pathological findings are reflected in the image findings as imaging and histopathological findings are closely related. We describe the main histological features of NAFLD, i.e., steatosis, inflammation, ballooning hepatocytes, Mallory-Denk bodies, and fibrosis, as well as the evolutional process to liver cirrhosis.
Undifferentiated carcinoma of the liver is a rare and difficult-to-detect form of primary liver cancer. We herein report the first case of undifferentiated carcinoma of the liver in a 70-year-old ...Japanese woman with primary biliary cholangitis. The patient was diagnosed with cStage IVA liver cancer (85 mm in diameter) and treated with hepatic arterial infusion chemotherapy, 30 Gy radiotherapy, and 11 courses of on-demand transarterial chemoembolization. Although the hepatic tumor had markedly shrunk (from 85 to 20 mm), the patient ultimately died 16 months after the diagnosis due to rapid growth of lymph node metastases.Undifferentiated carcinoma of the liver is a rare and difficult-to-detect form of primary liver cancer. We herein report the first case of undifferentiated carcinoma of the liver in a 70-year-old Japanese woman with primary biliary cholangitis. The patient was diagnosed with cStage IVA liver cancer (85 mm in diameter) and treated with hepatic arterial infusion chemotherapy, 30 Gy radiotherapy, and 11 courses of on-demand transarterial chemoembolization. Although the hepatic tumor had markedly shrunk (from 85 to 20 mm), the patient ultimately died 16 months after the diagnosis due to rapid growth of lymph node metastases.
To clarify the clinical, pathologic, and genetic features of neonatal Dubin-Johnson syndrome.
Ten patients with neonatal Dubin-Johnson syndrome were recruited from 6 pediatric centers in Japan ...between September 2013 and October 2016. Clinical and laboratory course, macroscopic and microscopic liver findings, and molecular genetic findings concerning ATP-binding cassette subfamily C member 2 (ABCC2) were retrospectively and prospectively examined.
All neonates exhibited cholestasis, evident as prolonged jaundice with or without acholic stools and elevations of serum direct bilirubin as well as γ-glutamyltransferase or total bile acids. Only 38% (3 of 8) of patients who underwent liver biopsy showed a grossly black liver or melanin-like pigment deposits in hepatocytes; their biopsies were performed in early infancy. Immunohistochemically, all liver specimens showed no expression of multidrug resistance-associated protein 2 but increased expression of the bile salt export pump protein. Homozygous or compound heterozygous pathogenic variants of ABCC2 were identified in all patients, representing 11 distinct pathogenic variants including 2 not previously reported.
Immunohistochemical staining of the liver for multidrug resistance-associated protein 2 and molecular genetic analysis of ABCC2 are crucial for accurate diagnosis of neonatal Dubin-Johnson syndrome.
Aim
Cholangiolocellular carcinoma (CLC) is classified as a subtype of combined hepatocellular cholangiocarcinoma with stem‐cell features (CHC‐SC) in the latest World Health Organization ...classification. This subclassification of CHC‐SCs is controversial and the relevance of such classification is unclear.
Methods
We analyzed a series of CHC‐SCs and intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (iCCA) to clarify the clinicopathological features and mutational status of each tumor.
Results
Background liver disease, fibrosis stage, microvascular invasion, nodal metastasis, and IDH1/2 mutation status were associated with their histology. Compared with the intermediate cell subtype of CHC‐SC (CHCs‐SC‐int), CLCs were less frequently associated with chronic viral hepatitis, and showed lower levels of serum alpha‐fetoprotein. Compared with iCCAs, CLCs showed lower levels of serum carbohydrate antigen 19‐9 (CA19‐9) and a lower frequency of expression of S100P. Patients with iCCA showed worse overall survival than those with CLC or CHC‐SC‐int. In patients with iCCA, CLC, or CHC‐SC‐int, a histology of iCCA, microvascular invasion, and serum CA19‐9 value of >100 U/mL were significant poor prognostic factors for overall survival in univariate analysis. Multivariate analysis showed that a high serum CA19‐9 value was an independent poor prognostic factor for overall survival.
Conclusions
Patients with CLC are likely to have a different etiology and mutational background from those with CHC‐SC‐int. Their clinicopathological manifestations are also different from those with classic iCCA. Our results suggest that CLC might be a distinct entity among primary liver carcinomas.
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