Evaluation of the importance of morphological and immunohistochemical criteria in differential diagnosis between pleomorphic malignant neoplasias and histiocytic sarcoma

• Grant number: 12/09795-3
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: September 01, 2012
• End date: August 31, 2013
• Field of knowledge: Health Sciences - Medicine - Pathological Anatomy and Clinical Pathology
• Principal Investigator: Maria Aparecida Custódio Domingues
• Grantee: Mauricio Fernando Silva Almeida Ribeiro
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Medicina (FMB). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Botucatu. Botucatu , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Histiocytic Sarcoma (HS) is a malignant neoplasm characterized by cell proliferation that has morphological and immunophenotypic features similar to mature tissue histiocytes. It is a rare lymphoma, currently accounting for less than 1% of non-Hodgkin lymphomas. This rarity could be explained by difficulties in its diagnostic and morphological characterization, which can be misidentified as other pleomorphic malignant neoplasms. This project aimed to retrospectively validate morphological criteria and a immunohistochemical panel selected in a previous project, while studying patients diagnosed with anaplastic lymphoma, diffuse large B cell lymphoma, the lymphocytic depletion variant of Hodgkin lymphoma, lymph node metastases of malignant melanoma, undifferentiated carcinomas and spindle cell sarcoma, belonging to the archives of the Department of Pathology of Botucatu Medical School from 1988 to 2006. This proposal suggests that the histiocytic sarcoma is a treatable entity with variable prognosis that is underdiagnosed. The research proposes to demonstrate the importance of recognizing morphological and immunohistochemical findings to differentiate this entity from malignancies with worse prognosis.