Metastases to gastrointestinal tract are uncommon. In particular, metastases to the ampulla of Vater are very rare and may represent a significant diagnostic challenge. Metastases from the uterine cervix to the ampulla of Vater are exceedingly rare and only one case has been described in the available literature. We describe here a second case of metastatic squamous cell carcinoma of the cervix to the ampulla of Vater in a 45-year-old woman. Poorly differentiated squamous cell carcinoma presented as an isolated metastasis to the ampulla of Vater, two years after the initial diagnosis. While the squamous cell carcinoma could occur as primary ampullary carcinoma, albeit very rare, it is necessary to exclude the possibility of metastatic cancer.

IntroductionFibroadenomas are the most common benign breast tumors in young women. Infarction is rarely observed in fibroadenomas and when present, it is usually associated with pregnancy or lactation. Infarction can exceptionally occur as a complication of previous fine-needle aspiration biopsy or during lactation and pregnancy.Materials and methodsRetrospective review of 650 cases of fibroadenomas diagnosed at our institution during the 8-years period identified two cases of fibroadenomas with infarction (rate ~0.3%).ResultsTwo partially infarcted fibroadenomas were diagnosed on core biopsy and frozen section in an adolescent girl (13 years old) and in a young woman (25 years old), respectively. No preceding fine-needle aspiration biopsy was performed in these cases, nor were the patients pregnant or lactating at the time of the diagnosis.ConclusionSpontaneous infarction within fibroadenoma is a rare phenomenon in younger patients. The presence of necrosis on core biopsy or frozen section should be cautiously interpreted and is not a sign of malignancy.Virtual SlidesThe virtual slide(s) for this article can be found here:http://www.diagnosticpathology.diagnomx.eu/vs/1556060549847356

Apocrine carcinoma of the breast has recently been refined through gene expression profiling. Due to various pathological studies, we compared the results with the MDA-MB-453 breast cancer cell line, a proposed model for apocrine breast carcinoma. The MDA-MB-453 cell line is androgen receptor-positive and `triple-negative' in respect to estrogen receptor-α, progesterone receptor and the Her-2/neu protein expression. Cytogenetic analysis of the cell line revealed a hypertriploid clone characterized by extensive numerical and structural abnormalities including loss of the 9p.21 locus (P16-INK4a gene), also evidenced by the lack of p16(INK4A) protein expression in Western blot analysis and immunocytochemistry assays. Gains of chromosomes 7 and 17 without underlying EGFR, HER-2/neu, and TOP2A gene amplification were also observed. A mutation in the K-RAS gene (Gly13Asp GGC>GAC) was identified in the cell line, which was not observed in the six patient samples of apocrine breast carcinomas examined. Similarly, constitutive activation of the MAPK/ERK signaling pathway and deregulation of cell cycle proteins (p16-/pRb-/cyclin D1+ phenotype) with exceedingly high proliferation observed in the MDA-MB-453 cell line were not found in the tissue samples. In conclusion, the MDA-MB-453 cell line shares certain features with apocrine breast carcinoma but differs from patient tissues with regard to various significant characteristics, limiting the value of this cell line as a model for human apocrine breast carcinoma investigations. In contrast to the cell line, EGFR-positive apocrine carcinomas do not harbor K-RAS gene mutations, rendering these tumors amenable to targeted therapy with EGFR inhibitors.