Solitary fibrous tumour of the pleura: an ultrastructural and immunohistochemical study

Our plain-English summary of Solitary fibrous tumour of the pleura: an ultrastructural and immunohistochemical study, by S. Keating, G.T. Simon, I. Alexopoulou, et al (Thorax, 1987).

The study

• Authors: S. Keating, G.T. Simon, I. Alexopoulou, J.M. Kay
• Journal: Thorax
• Published: 1987;42(12):976-9
• Type of article: Case report
• Cited by: 11 articles, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher · Free full text

Abstract

Solitary fibrous tumour of the pleura is a benign neoplasm differing from diffuse pleural mesothelioma. It was originally thought to be a variant of mesothelioma because it consists of a spindle cell stroma associated with branching tubular structures lined by cuboidal cells. In this study of two cases the tubular structures were lined with ciliated and non-ciliated cuboidal cells. Ultrastructurally most of the non-ciliated cells had the features of type II pneumocytes, while the stromal cells had all the characteristics of fibroblasts. Immunohistochemical staining showed the epithelial cells to be positive for both keratin and carcinoembryonic antigen, whereas the stromal cells were negative. The findings support the theory that these tumours are fibroblastic in origin, and that the biphasic pattern is due to entrapment of non-neoplastic bronchiolar and alveolar epithelial cells.

In plain English

This article described two men, aged 51 and 53, treated in Hamilton, Ontario, in 1984 for solitary fibrous tumour of the pleura. This is a rare tumour that was once thought to be a type of mesothelioma. The first man had no history of asbestos exposure. The second worked in a car body shop doing car repairs, and the article did not say whether he had been exposed to asbestos. Both tumours were removed, and neither man had respiratory complaints at follow-up. The authors examined the tumours under light and electron microscopes and with stains for keratin and carcinoembryonic antigen. Small tube-like spaces in the tumours were lined mostly by cells resembling type II pneumocytes, a normal lung cell. The long microvilli typical of mesothelial cells were not seen. The main tumour cells looked like fibroblasts. The authors concluded that the tubes were trapped, non-neoplastic lung lining, and that their findings supported an origin from fibroblasts rather than from mesothelial cells.

We wrote this plain-English summary from the full article with the help of AI, and a second AI model checked each sentence against the article. It is not the authors' wording; the abstract and the article are their own account.

What the study did and found

• Design: Case report of two patients, with light microscopic, electron microscopic (ultrastructural) and immunohistochemical study of the tumours
• Who was studied: Two men, aged 51 and 53, with solitary fibrous tumour of the pleura, operated on in 1984. The authors were at St Joseph's Hospital and McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
• Exposure: Asbestos exposure was not studied. Case 1 had no history of asbestos exposure and had worked for many years on a chicken farm. Case 2 worked in a car body shop doing car repairs; the article does not state an asbestos history for him. Both men were smokers.
• Main results:
  • In both tumours, slit-like tubular spaces were lined with columnar or cuboidal cells, some of which had cilia.
  • Under the electron microscope, most tubular lining cells contained the lamellar inclusion bodies typical of type II pneumocytes.
  • The long microvilli characteristic of mesothelial cells were not seen in the tubular lining cells.
  • The spindle-shaped stromal cells had features of fibroblasts (elongated processes, rough endoplasmic reticulum, surrounding collagen), and no mesothelial cells were seen.
  • With antikeratin antibody, the tubular lining cells stained moderately positive, while the stromal cells were negative.
  • Tubular lining cells were weakly positive for carcinoembryonic antigen. Non-neoplastic mesothelial cells and tumour stromal cells were negative.
  • Neither patient had respiratory complaints at follow-up: case 1 when seen six months later, case 2 when seen one year later.
• The authors' conclusion: The authors concluded that the tubular structures are lined by entrapped, non-neoplastic alveolar and bronchiolar epithelium. They concluded that the neoplastic part is the stromal component, whose cells are fibroblastic and lack the features of mesothelial cells, and that their findings support a fibroblastic origin for these tumours.

Topics

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: Pleura, Neoplasm, Pleural Mesothelioma, Mesothelioma, Spindle Cell, Fibroblast, Immunohistochemistry, Carcinoembryonic Antigen (CEA).

Related studies

• Solitary fibrous tumor of the pleura. An immunohistochemical, electron microscopic and tissue culture study of a tumor producing insulin-like growth factor I in a patient with hypoglycemia — E.H. Strøm, F. Skjørten, et al. (1991)
• Solitary fibrous tumour of the tongue: a case report with immunohistochemical studies — Y. Yamashita, T. Satoh, et al. (2002)
• Solitary fibrous tumour of the pleura: A case report — G. Rakovich, M. Laflamme, et al. (2010)
• Patterns of chromosomal imbalances in benign solitary fibrous tumours of the pleura — M. Krismann, H. Adams, et al. (2000)
• Solitary fibrous tumor of the liver: a clinicopathologic and immunohistochemical study of nine cases — C.A. Moran, K.G. Ishak, et al. (1998)
• Solitary fibrous tumor of the buccal mucosa: report of a case with immunohistochemical studies — S. Iwai, M. Nakazawa, et al. (1999)

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