Browsing by Author "Pileri, Stefano A."

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    The Alteration of Lipid Metabolism in Burkitt Lymphoma Identifies a Novel Marker: Adipophilin
    (PLoS ONE, 2012) Ambrosio, Maria R.; Piccaluga, Pier P.; Ponzoni, Maurilio; Rocca, Bruno J.; Malagnino, Valeria; Onorati, Monica; Falco, Giulia De; Calbi, Valeria; Ogwang, Martin; Naresh, Kikkeri N.; Pileri, Stefano A.; Doglioni, Claudio; Leoncini, Lorenzo; Lazzi, Stefano
    Recent evidence suggests that lipid pathway is altered in many human tumours. In Burkitt lymphoma this is reflected by the presence of lipid droplets which are visible in the cytoplasm of neoplastic cells in cytological preparations. These vacuoles are not identifiable in biopsy section as lipids are ‘‘lost’’ during tissue processing. Methods and Results: In this study we investigated the expression of genes involved in lipid metabolism, at both RNA and protein level in Burkitt lymphoma and in other B-cell aggressive lymphoma cases. Gene expression profile indicated a significant over-expression of the adipophilin gene and marked up-regulation of other genes involved in lipid metabolism in Burkitt lymphoma. These findings were confirmed by immunohistochemistry on a series od additional histological samples: 45 out of 47 BL cases showed strong adipophilin expression, while only 3 cases of the 33 of the not-Burkitt lymphoma category showed weak adipophilin expression (p,0.05). Conclusions: Our preliminary results suggest that lipid metabolism is altered in BL, and this leads to the accumulation of lipid vacuoles. These vacuoles may be specifically recognized by a monoclonal antibody against adipophilin, which may therefore be a useful marker for Burkitt lymphoma because of its peculiar expression pattern. Moreover this peptide might represent an interesting candidate for interventional strategies.
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    B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphomas in Uganda: an immunohistochemical appraisal on tissue microarray
    (Human pathology, 2008) Tumwine, Lynnette K.; Campidelli, Cristina; Righi, Simona; Neda, Sophia; Byarugaba, Wilson; Pileri, Stefano A.
    The most common non-Hodgkin lymphomas in Uganda are neoplasms of B-cell derivation. The field of B-cell lymphoma immunophenotype has rapidly progressed because of the increasing availability of markers applicable to routine sections. Although the latter have allowed the identification of distinctive lymphoma entities in the developed countries, such approach has not yet been used in Uganda. One hundred twenty-nine formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissue samples from the Department of Pathology of Makerere University were used for tissue micro-array (TMA) construction. Four-micrometer-thick sections were cut from TMAs and stained with hematoxylin and eosin and Giemsa. Theywere also used for immunohistochemistry and in situ hybridization.According to morphology and immunohistochemistry, lymphoid neoplasms were classified as Burkitt's lymphoma (BL) (95 cases), diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (19 cases), mantle cell lymphoma (4 cases), and B-cell lymphoblastic lymphoma (1 case). In BL, a homogeneous phenotype (CD10+, Bcl-6+, Bcl-2- , MUM1/IRF4-, and Ki-67 ~100%) and a stable Epstein-Barr virus integration were found. A distinctive and unusual feature was the frequent plasma cellular differentiation, along with the positivity for CD30 and CD138 (recorded in 35 and 43 cases, respectively). According to our findings, most non-Hodgkin B-cell tumors in Uganda are endemic BLs followed by diffuse large B-cell lymphomas. The rest consist of rare but clinically important entities such as mantle cell lymphoma and B-cell lymphoblastic lymphoma. The availability of TMAs and immunohistochemistry has enabled us to precisely categorize tumors that have so far been diagnosed in Uganda as “high-grade/aggressive” lymphomas on the basis of cell morphology alone. © 2008 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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    EBV & HHV8 and HIV in B cell non Hodgkin lymphoma in Kampala, Uganda
    (Uganda Infectious Agents and Cancer, 2010) Tumwine, Lynnette K.; Orem, Jackson; Kerchan, Patrick; Byarugaba, Wilson; Pileri, Stefano A.
    B cell non Hodgkin lymphomas account for the majority of lymphomas in Uganda. The commonest is endemic Burkitt lymphoma, followed by diffuse large-B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL). There has been an increase in incidence of malignant lymphoma since the onset of the HIV/AIDS pandemic. However, the possible linkages of HHV8 and EBV to the condition of impaired immunity present in AIDS are still not yet very clearly understood.