Thyroid neoplasm is a neoplasm or tumor of the thyroid. It can be a benign tumor such as thyroid adenoma, or it can be a malignant neoplasm, such as papillary, follicular, medullary or anaplastic thyroid cancer. Most patients are 25 to 65 years of age when first diagnosed; women are more affected than men. The estimated number of new cases of thyroid cancer in the United States in 2023 is 43,720 compared to only 2,120 deaths. Of all thyroid nodules discovered, only about 5 percent are cancerous, and under 3 percent of those result in fatalities.
Mesothelioma is a type of cancer that develops from the thin layer of tissue that covers many of the internal organs. The area most commonly affected is the lining of the lungs and chest wall. Less commonly the lining of the abdomen and rarely the sac surrounding the heart, or the sac surrounding the testis may be affected. Signs and symptoms of mesothelioma may include shortness of breath due to fluid around the lung, a swollen abdomen, chest wall pain, cough, feeling tired, and weight loss. These symptoms typically come on slowly.
Keratin, type II cytoskeletal 7 also known as cytokeratin-7 (CK-7) or keratin-7 (K7) or sarcolectin (SCL) is a protein that in humans is encoded by the KRT7 gene. Keratin 7 is a type II keratin. It is specifically expressed in the simple epithelia lining the cavities of the internal organs and in the gland ducts and blood vessels.
Keratin 20, often abbreviated CK20, is a protein that in humans is encoded by the KRT20 gene.
Immunohistochemistry is a form of immunostaining. It involves the process of selectively identifying antigens (proteins) in cells and tissue, by exploiting the principle of antibodies binding specifically to antigens in biological tissues. Albert Hewett Coons, Ernest Berliner, Norman Jones and Hugh J Creech was the first to develop immunofluorescence in 1941. This led to the later development of immunohistochemistry.
A psammoma body is a round collection of calcium, seen microscopically. The term is derived from the Greek word άμμος (ámmos), meaning "sand".
Hybridoma technology is a method for producing large numbers of identical antibodies, also called monoclonal antibodies. This process starts by injecting a mouse with an antigen that provokes an immune response. A type of white blood cell, the B cell, produces antibodies that bind to the injected antigen. These antibody producing B-cells are then harvested from the mouse and, in turn, fused with immortal myeloma cancer cells, to produce a hybrid cell line called a hybridoma, which has both the antibody-producing ability of the B-cell and the longevity and reproductivity of the myeloma.
Carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) describes a set of highly-related glycoproteins involved in cell adhesion. CEA is normally produced in gastrointestinal tissue during fetal development, but the production stops before birth. Consequently, CEA is usually present at very low levels in the blood of healthy adults. However, the serum levels are raised in some types of cancer, which means that it can be used as a tumor marker in clinical tests. Serum levels can also be elevated in heavy smokers.
The International Classification of Diseases for Oncology (ICD-O) is a domain-specific extension of the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems for tumor diseases. This classification is widely used by cancer registries.
Keratin 5, also known as KRT5, K5, or CK5, is a protein that is encoded in humans by the KRT5 gene. It dimerizes with keratin 14 and forms the intermediate filaments (IF) that make up the cytoskeleton of basal epithelial cells. This protein is involved in several diseases including epidermolysis bullosa simplex and breast and lung cancers.
Calretinin, also known as calbindin 2, is a calcium-binding protein involved in calcium signaling. In humans, the calretinin protein is encoded by the CALB2 gene.
Mesothelin, also known as MSLN, is a protein that in humans is encoded by the MSLN gene.
A circulating tumor cell (CTC) is a cell that has shed into the vasculature or lymphatics from a primary tumor and is carried around the body in the blood circulation. CTCs can extravasate and become seeds for the subsequent growth of additional tumors (metastases) in distant organs, a mechanism that is responsible for the vast majority of cancer-related deaths. The detection and analysis of CTCs can assist early patient prognoses and determine appropriate tailored treatments. Currently, there is one FDA-approved method for CTC detection, CellSearch, which is used to diagnose breast, colorectal and prostate cancer.
Porocarcinoma (PCA) is a rare form of skin cancer that develops in eccrine sweat glands, i.e. the body's widely distributed major type of sweat glands, as opposed to the apocrine sweat glands which are located primarily in the armpits and perineal area. This cancer typically develops in individuals as a single cutaneous tumor in the intraepidermal spiral part of these sweat glands' ducts at or near to where they open on the skin's surface. PCA tumors are classified as one form of the cutaneous adnexal tumors; in a study of 2,205 cases, PCA was the most common (11.8%) form of these tumors.
Eccrine carcinoma is a rare skin condition characterized by a plaque or nodule on the scalp, trunk, or extremities. It originates from the eccrine sweat glands of the skin, accounting for less than 0.01% of diagnosed cutaneous malignancies. Eccrine carcinoma tumors are locally aggressive, with a high rate of recurrence. Lack of reliable immunohistochemical markers and similarity to other common tumors has made identification of eccrine carcinoma difficult.
Large cell lung carcinoma with rhabdoid phenotype (LCLC-RP) is a rare histological form of lung cancer, currently classified as a variant of large cell lung carcinoma (LCLC). In order for a LCLC to be subclassified as the rhabdoid phenotype variant, at least 10% of the malignant tumor cells must contain distinctive structures composed of tangled intermediate filaments that displace the cell nucleus outward toward the cell membrane. The whorled eosinophilic inclusions in LCLC-RP cells give it a microscopic resemblance to malignant cells found in rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS), a rare neoplasm arising from transformed skeletal muscle. Despite their microscopic similarities, LCLC-RP is not associated with rhabdomyosarcoma.
BerEp4 is a histologic stain mainly used to aid in the diagnosis of basal cell carcinoma (BCC). It is an antibody to EpCAM.
A histopathologic diagnosis of prostate cancer is the discernment of whether there is a cancer in the prostate, as well as specifying any subdiagnosis of prostate cancer if possible. The histopathologic subdiagnosis of prostate cancer has implications for the possibility and methodology of any subsequent Gleason scoring. The most common histopathological subdiagnosis of prostate cancer is acinar adenocarcinoma, constituting 93% of prostate cancers. The most common form of acinar adenocarcinoma, in turn, is "adenocarcinoma, not otherwise specified", also termed conventional, or usual acinar adenocarcinoma.
AE1/AE3 is an antibody cocktail that is used in immunohistochemistry, being generally positive in the cytoplasm of carcinomas.
Papillary carcinomas of the breast (PCB), also termed malignant papillary carcinomas of the breast, are rare forms of the breast cancers. The World Health Organization (2019) classified papillary neoplasms of the breast into 5 types: intraductal papilloma, papillary ductal carcinoma in situ (PDCIS), encapsulated papillary carcinoma (EPC), solid-papillary carcinoma (SPC), and invasive papillary carcinoma (IPC). The latter four carcinomas are considered here; intraductal papilloma is a benign neoplasm. The World Health Organization regarded solid papillary carcinoma as having two subtypes: in situ and invasive SPC.
