Granular cell tumor (GCT) commonly presents in the subcutaneous tissue and head and neck region, and it is uncommon in the gastrointestinal tract. Experience with esophageal GCTs in the pediatric population is limited, with only 7 cases reported in the literature, 3 with eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE).
Case information from 11 pediatric patients with GCTs of the esophagus was retrieved. H&E and immunohistochemical slides were reviewed with clinical, endoscopic, and follow-up data from all patients.
In total, 7 male and 4 female patients were included, with ages ranging from 3 to 14 years. Indications for esophagogastroduodenoscopy (EGD) included EoE (n = 3), follow-up for Crohn disease, and other nonspecific complaints. Endoscopically, all patients had a single submucosal, firm mass protruding into the lumen, with normal overlying mucosa. The nodules were removed endoscopically in multiple fragments in all cases. Histologically, the tumors showed sheets and trabeculae of cells containing bland nuclei, inconspicuous nucleoli, and abundant pink granular cytoplasm without atypical features. All tumors were immunoreactive for S100, CD68, and SOX10. Follow-up showed that all patients were disease-free (median, 2 years).
We report the largest series of pediatric esophageal GCTs with coincidental association with EoE. These EGD findings are characteristic, and removal by biopsy is both diagnostic and therapeutic.

OBJECTIVE: For invasive breast cancer (IBC), high SOX10 expression was reported particularly in TNBC. This raised the possibility that SOX10 may complement other breast markers for determining cancers of breast origin.
METHODS: Here, we compared the expression of SOX10 with other breast markers (GATA3, mammaglobin and GCDFP15) and their combined expression in a large cohort of IBC together with nodal metastases. We have also evaluated the expression of GATA3 and SOX10 in a wide spectrum of non-breast carcinomas to assess their value as breast specific markers.
RESULTS: Compared with other markers, SOX10 showed lower overall sensitivity (6.5%), but higher sensitivity in TNBC (31.4%) than other breast markers including GATA3 (29.7% for TNBC). Its expression demonstrated the highest concordance between the paired IBC and nodal metastases (96.4%, κ = 0.663) among all the breast markers. More importantly, SOX10 identified many GATA3-negative TNBC, thus the SOX10/GATA3 combination was the most sensitive marker combination for IBC (86.6%). For non-breast carcinoma, a high SOX10/GATA3 expression rate was found in melanoma (77.9%, predominately expressed SOX10), urothelial carcinoma (82.0%, predominately expressed GATA3) and salivary gland tumors (69.4%). Other carcinomas, including cancers from lungs, showed very low expression for the marker combination.
CONCLUSIONS: The data suggested that SOX10/GATA3 combination can be used for differentiating metastases of breast and multiple non-breast origins. However, the differentiation with melanoma and urothelial tumors required more careful histologic examination, thorough clinical information and additional site-specific IHC markers. For salivary gland tumors, the overlapping tumor types with IBC renders the differentiation difficult.

Background and objectives: Bisphosphonates represent selective inhibitors of excess osteoblastic bone resorption that characterizes all osteopathies, targeting osteoclasts and their precursors. Their long-term administration in postmenopausal women suffering from osteoporosis has resulted in neural adverse effects. The current study focuses on the research of possible alterations in the femoral nerve, caused by bisphosphonates. We hypothesized that bisphosphonates, taken orally (per os), may produce degenerative changes to the femoral nerve, affecting lower-limb posture and walking neuronal commands. Materials and Methods: In order to support our hypothesis, femoral nerve specimens were extracted from ten female 12-month-old Wistar rats given 0.05 milligrams (mg) per kilogram (kg) of body weight (b.w.) per week alendronate per os for 13 weeks and from ten female 12-month-old Wistar rats given normal saline that were used as a control group. Specimens were studied using immunohistochemistry for selected antibodies NeuN (Neuronal Nuclear Protein), a protein located within mature, postmitotic neural nucleus, and cytosol and Sox10 (Sex-determining Region Y (SRY) - High-Motility Group (HMG) - box 10). The latter marker is fundamental for myelination of peripheral nerves. Obtained slides were examined under a light microscope. Results: Samples extracted from rats given alendronate were more Sox10 positive compared to samples of the control group, where the marker\'s expression was not so intense. Both groups were equally NeuN positive. Our results are in agreement with previous studies conducted under a transmission electron microscope. Conclusions: The suggested pathophysiological mechanism linked to histological alterations described above is possibly related to toxic drug effects on Schwann and neuronal cells. Our hypothesis enhances the existing scientific evidence of degenerative changes present on femoral nerve following bisphosphonates administration, indicating a possible relationship between alendronate use and neuronal function.

We analyzed clinicopathologically 12 gastric schwannomas. Patient ages ranged from 41 to 79 years (mean, 52 years; median, 59 years). They variably presented with gastric discomfort, bleeding, or rarely gastric outlet obstruction and many were incidental findings during other medical procedures. The maximum tumor diameters ranged from 1.0 to 5.4 cm (mean, 3.5 cm; median 3.8 cm). The typical histologic features included spindle cells with micro-trabecular architecture, focal nuclear atypia, and peritumoral lymphoid cuff. Median mitotic count was 1/50 high-power field. No malignant variants were recognized, and follow-up did not reveal recurrences or metastases. Immunohistochemically, all tumors were positive for S100 and SOX10, and most were also GFAP positive, whereas CD34 and NF were rarely positive. All tumors were negative for cytokeratin AE1/3, HMB45, c-kit, DOG1, smooth muscle actin, desmin, and synaptophysin. None of the tumors showed gastrointestinal stromal tumor-specific KIT or PDGFRA mutations. Gastric schwannoma is a distinctive form of peripheral nerve sheath tumor and it should be distinguished from gastrointestinal stromal tumor and other mesenchymal tumors of the gastrointestinal tract, especially clear cell sarcoma and metastatic melanoma.

The neural crest is a multipotent population of cells that originates a variety of cell types. Many animal models are used to study neural crest induction, migration and differentiation, with amphibians and birds being the most widely used systems. A major technological advance to study neural crest development in mouse, chick and zebrafish has been the generation of transgenic animals in which neural crest specific enhancers/promoters drive the expression of either fluorescent proteins for use as lineage tracers, or modified genes for use in functional studies. Unfortunately, no such transgenic animals currently exist for the amphibians Xenopus laevis and tropicalis, key model systems for studying neural crest development. Here we describe the generation and characterization of two transgenic Xenopus laevis lines, Pax3-GFP and Sox10-GFP, in which GFP is expressed in the pre-migratory and migratory neural crest, respectively. We show that Pax3-GFP could be a powerful tool to study neural crest induction, whereas Sox10-GFP could be used in the study of neural crest migration in living embryos.

BACKGROUND: Genital melanosis may clinically mimic melanoma. Little is known about the potential risk for genital and nongenital melanoma in these patients.
OBJECTIVE: In this retrospective cohort study, we analyzed clinical and histologic data from patients with genital melanosis to better characterize these lesions and the risk they confer for genital and nongenital melanoma.
METHODS: In all, 41 patients were identified for a retrospective chart review and histologic analysis.
RESULTS: Genital melanosis can clinically mimic melanoma but the typical age of onset is younger than for genital melanoma. A majority of lesions were found to stabilize or regress over time. Five patients were found to have a history of melanoma, only 1 of which was in the genital region. Lesions from these patients were more likely to show melanocytes with suprabasal movement (P = .0101) and to have a higher melanocyte count (P < .0462).
CONCLUSIONS: We present a relatively small cohort of patients with an average follow-up of only 30.5 months.
CONCLUSIONS: Patients with genital melanosis, and in particular those with any level of histologic atypia in the genital melanosis lesion, may require careful total body skin examinations for the possibility of melanoma in any body site.

Although the histologic features of alveolar soft part sarcoma and granular cell tumor are typically distinctive, occasional cases show a significant morphologic overlap. Differentiating these entities is crucial because granular cell tumor is almost always benign and alveolar soft part sarcoma is invariably malignant. We evaluated a panel of immunohistochemical stains (S-100 protein, inhibin, SOX10, nestin, calretinin, and TFE3) in 13 alveolar soft part sarcomas and 11 granular cell tumors. Tissue sections were also stained by the periodic acid-Schiff method after diastase digestion (PAS-D) and evaluated for coarse cytoplasmic granularity or crystalline cytoplasmic inclusions. S-100 protein, inhibin, SOX10, and nestin each distinguished granular cell tumor and alveolar soft part sarcoma with 100% sensitivity and specificity. PAS-D staining also distinguished cases with 100% accuracy, as granular cell tumor consistently demonstrated coarsely granular, PAS-D-positive cytoplasm and alveolar soft part sarcoma showed only focal intracytoplasmic crystalline inclusions. Although all granular cell tumors were calretinin positive, so were 46% of alveolar soft part sarcomas. TFE3 was positive in 91% of granular cell tumors and all alveolar soft part sarcomas. Together with PAS-D, immunohistochemical stains for S-100 protein, inhibin, SOX10, and nestin accurately identify alveolar soft part sarcoma and granular cell tumor. Although TFE3 has been reported as a relatively specific marker for alveolar soft part sarcoma, it should be recalled that it is also expressed in most granular cell tumors.