z-logo
open-access-imgOpen Access
Pathology of healing: what else might we look at?
Author(s) -
Horimoto Yoshiya,
Hayashi Takuo,
Arakawa Atsushi
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
cancer medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.403
H-Index - 53
ISSN - 2045-7634
DOI - 10.1002/cam4.952
Subject(s) - myoepithelial cell , cancer , pathology , fibrosis , basement membrane , tumor infiltrating lymphocytes , biology , immunohistochemistry , medicine , immunotherapy
Several aspects of the article by Morita et al. (Cancer Medicine 5:1607‐18, 2016), examining the spontaneous healing phenomenon with reference to tumor infiltrating lymphocytes ( TIL s), require clarification. The concept of “healing”, which can perhaps be more accurately termed “regressive change”, remains controversial due to a lack of concrete evidence. Since regressive change is characterized by fibrosis and lymphocytes, a cancer nest that appears to lack a distinct basement membrane, surrounded only by lymphocytes, as in Morita et al's Figure 2F, should be meticulously examined because the appearance may correspond to a tumor having just completed the process of invasion. In our experience, a layer of myoepithelial cells in such foci is often difficult to detect even with immunohistochemistry. Thus, we suggest evaluating the viability of cancer cells within the nest by employing several markers, such as Ki67 and apoptotic markers, to judge whether the tumor is intraductal. It might also be useful to compare cases with versus without regressive change to elucidate the biology of such tumors. For these reasons, a tumor, floating within a pool of TIL s and lacking obvious fibrous bands, might be an interesting material to examine in future studies.

The content you want is available to Zendy users.

Already have an account? Click here to sign in.
Having issues? You can contact us here