This Week in Modern Pathology

Researchers at University Hospital Zurich in Switzerland report in Modern Pathology that the loss of BAF250a expression in endometriosis may indicate that it will transform into cancer. The researchers examined BAF250a expression in endometriosis, endometrium, and ovarian cancer samples. "We corroborate that BAF250a expression deficiency in endometriosis is not restricted to tumor contiguous lesions and that loss of BAF250a expression can be observed already in benign endometriotic lesions, and could therefore indicate a risk of malignant transformation," they add.

Also in Modern Pathology, researchers led by Hôpital Saint-Louis' Anne Janin write that expression of BCL2 by CD105+ neoangiogenic endothelial cells is linked with tumor progression in angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma. Using a combination of triple immunofluorescence and quantitative real-time PCR, Janin and her colleagues found that "BCL2 and VEGFA proteins were coexpressed in endothelial and lymphoma cells of the 30 angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma cases" that they examined but that "a significant relation between BCL2 and VEGFA mRNA levels was only found in endothelial cells." They add that BCL2 mRNA levels "correlated with microvessel density, International Prognostic Index, Ann Arbor stage, bone marrow involvement and elevated LDH."