SLITRK3 expression correlation to gastrointestinal stromal tumor risk rating and prognosis

AIM: To assess the influence of SLIT and NTRKlike family member 3(SLITRK3) on the prognosis of gastrointestinal stromal tumor(GIST) and determine whether SLITRK3 can help improve current risk stratification systems.METHODS: We hypothesized that SLITRK3 could be used as a prognostic molecular biomarker for GIST. 35 fresh tumor samples and 417 paraffin-embedded specimens from GIST patients were utilized. SLITRK3m RNA expression in GIST tumor tissue was detected by real-time polymerase chain reaction, and SLITRK3 protein levels were estimated by immunohistochemistry. The correlation of SLITRK3 expression with various tumor clinicopathological characteristics and follow-up data were analyzed.RESULTS: GIST tumors had high expression of SLITRK3 compared with adjacent normal tissues and the expression level gradually increased with risk grade. SLITRK3 protein expression was closely associated with gastrointestinal bleeding, tumor site, tumor size, mitotic index, and National Institutes of Health(NIH) classification. Survival analysis showed that SLITRK3 expression was closely correlated with overall survival and disease-free survival of GIST patients. Multivariate analysis also identified SLITRK3 expression, mitotic index, and NIH stage as significant risk factors of GIST recurrence.CONCLUSION: SLITRK3 expression is a highly significant predictor of GIST recurrence and metastasis. Combinations of SLITRK3 and NIH stage have strong predictive and prognostic value, and are feasible markers for clinical practice in gastrointestinal stromal tumor.

Lacrimal sac lymphoma: a case series and literature review

AIM: To study the clinical and pathological characteristics of the lacrimal sac lymphoma, which is rare but it is the major type of non-epithelial malignant tumor in the lacrimal sac region. METHODS: Sixty-four cases of malignant lacrimal sac tumors in our hospital from 1986 to 2020 were retrospectively reviewed. Eight cases of lacrimal sac lymphoma were carefully reviewed. RESULTS: There were five mucosal-associated lymphoid tissue(MALT) lymphomas, one diffused large B-cell lymphoma, one NK/T cell lymphoma, and one mantle cell lymphoma. All eight patients represented symptoms of epiphora with swelling in the lacrimal sac for a certain period of time and showed no signs of systemic involvement at the first time of clinical visits. They had received either chemotherapy or radiotherapy after surgery. Long-term follow-up(from 11 to 220 mo) showed that, except one patient with MALT lymphoma died for unknown reasons at 104 mo after surgery, the other 7 patients were all alive with no signs of local recurrence, neither in other organs. CONCLUSION: Non-epithelial malignant tumors of the lacrimal sac are rare and lymphoma is the major subtype.