A population-based analysis of pediatric breast cancer

Purpose

The purpose of this study was to evaluate trends in demographics and outcomes of pediatric breast cancer in a United States population-based cohort.

Differentiating benign from malignant cardiac tumors with cardiac magnetic resonance imaging

Background

The purpose of this analysis is to describe the differences in cardiac magnetic resonance characteristics between benign and malignant tumors, which would be helpful for surgical planning.

正常人及脑肿瘤患者听觉性中英文语言刺激的fMRI研究

目的应用BOLD-MfRI研究正常人及脑肿瘤患者听觉性中英文语言皮层定位并探讨其对脑肿瘤的临床应用价值。方法应用MarconiEclipse1.5T超导型磁共振机,30例受试者,行听觉性中、英文语言刺激的BOLD-MfRI,以定位正常人和脑肿瘤患者的语言皮层。结果正常人听觉性中英文语言任务激活区域均以左侧大脑半球为主,主要有双侧颞横回、Wernicke区、Broca区和SMA区。中文语言任务刺激时脑区激活面积和程度比英文语言任务大,但英文语言任务时可见更明显的Broca区和角回激活。累及功能皮层的脑肿瘤患者患侧半球可见残留部分功能激活区,但激活区移位,分布弥散,激活程度及范围较正常人略增高。未累及功能皮层者功能区定位与正常人大致相同。结论BOLD-MfRI是一种有效而无创的功能皮层定位方法,有利于脑肿瘤的精确定位诊断并指导临床治疗。     

LONG‐TERM FOLLOW UP OF PATIENTS WITH SMALL GASTROINTESTINAL STROMAL TUMORS IN THE STOMACH USING ENDOSCOPIC ULTRASONOGRAPHY‐GUIDED FINE‐NEEDLE ASPIRATION BIOPSY

Background: Gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST) are one of the most common mesenchymal tumors of the gastrointestinal tract. GIST are defined by positive immunohistochemical staining for KIT or CD34 and thus are generally diagnosed after surgery. Because small GIST are rarely diagnosed before surgery, the clinical course of these small tumors is not clear. The aim of the present study was to follow changes in size and configuration of small GIST that were pathologically confirmed using endoscopic ultrasonography‐guided fine‐needle aspiration biopsy (EUS‐FNAB). Methods: Between July 1997 and December 2003, 16 tumors in 16 patients (10 men and 6 women) with an immunohistochemical diagnosis of GIST were regularly followed in our hospital. The median patient age when EUS‐FNAB was performed was 62 years (range 26–82 years) and the median follow‐up period was 4.9 years (range 0.5–9.6 years). Results: Fourteen tumors showed no remarkable changes in size and shape during follow up compared with the initial diagnosis. Two tumors enlarged: one tumor approximately doubled its diameter in 8 years and the other tumor increased from 1.8 cm at diagnosis to up to 10 cm after only 2 years. Doubling time of the latter tumor was calculated as 3.1 months. Conclusions: We conclude that EUS‐FNAB might be a good modality for final diagnosis of GIST without surgery, and that GIST without rapid growth on follow up can be endoscopically followed.     

Sciatic Neuropathy: Case Report and Discussion of the Literature on Postoperative Sciatic Neuropathy and Sciatic Nerve Tumors

Sciatic nerve injury and dysfunction is not an uncommon cause of lower extremity symptoms in a musculoskeletal practice. We present the case of a man who presented with lower extremity weakness, pain, and cramps, and was initially diagnosed at an outside institution with bilateral S1 radiculopathies and recommended for spine surgery. He came to us for a second opinion. Electrodiagnostic testing revealed an isolated sciatic neuropathy and the patient was referred for imaging, which showed a sciatic nerve sheath tumor. Review of the literature on sciatic neuropathies shows that there can be many possible etiologies of sciatic nerve dysfunction, but that hip arthroplasty continues to be the leading risk factor. Sciatic nerve tumors are not commonly described in the literature and their definitive management remains unclear.     

Tumor induction by ras and myc oncogenes in fetal and neonatal brain: modulating effects of developmental stage and retroviral dose

Introduction into fetal rat brain cells of a replication-defective retroviral vector harboring v-Ha-ras and v-gag-myc rapidly causes the induction of highly malignant undifferentiated neuroectodermal tumors following transplantation into the brains of syngeneic hosts [Wiestler, et al. (1992) Cancer Res. 52: 3760–3767]. In the present study, we have investigated the modulating effect of the developmental stage of neural target cells and of the dose of the retroviral vector used in the grafting experiments. Exposure of fetal cells from embryonic day (E)12 or E14 produced a 100% incidence of malignant neuroectodermal tumors which led to the death of recipient animals after a median latency period of 32 days. A 100-fold reduction of the virus dose from 2.062×10⁶ to 2.062×10⁴ focus-forming units/ml resulted in a lower tumor incidence of 25%. Of six neural grafts exposed to v-Ha-ras and v-myc at E16, only one showed evidence of tumorigenesis (low-grade astrocytoma and hemangioma). All other transplants were morphologically normal for observation periods of 26 weeks, indicating a marked loss of transforming activity of ras and myc in more advanced stages of brain development. In retrovirus-exposed donor cells which caused the development of neural tumors in recipient rats, malignant transformation was also evident during culture in vitro, usually after 9–12 days. Oncogene complementation was also studied in the newborn rat brain. After microinjection of the retroviral vector into the brain at postnatal day (P)0, P1 and P3, 5 out of 20 animals (25%) developed a total of seven brain tumors. Histopathologically, three of these neoplasms were malignant neuroectodermal tumors which, in contrast to those induced in fetal brain transplants showed evidence of focal glial and/or neuronal differentiation. In addition, we observed one oligodendroglioma, two hemangiomas and a malignant hemangioendothelioma. These data indicate that neural precursor cells and endothelia of the rat brain represent the major target cells for the complementary action of ras and myc and that the use of target cells from later developmental stages (E16 and postnatal) leads to the induction of both primitive and more differentiated neoplasms.These studies were supported by the Fonds zur Förderung der wissenschaftlichen Forschung in Österreich (Erwin Schrödinger fellowship, JO501-MED), by the Swiss National Science Foundation and by the Cancer League of the Kanton of Zürich     

Preoperative staging of gastrointestinal tumors by endosonography

Summary Intracavitary application of ultrasound was first performed for diagnostic purposes in 1967; since that time, it has been more and more widely used. As far as the gastrointestinal tract is concerned, endoscopically controlled ultrasonic probes provide visualization of the various layers of the intestinal wall. It is therefore possible to describe lesions of the esophagus, stomach, and the rectum with regard to their nature and depth of infiltration. Furthermore, periesophageal and perigastric organs can be visualized. It has become evident that endosonography is particularly important for pretherapeutic staging of tumors of the esophagus, stomach, and rectum. Here prospective comparative studies confirm the superiority of this new diagnostic procedure when compared to the methods available to date.     

Four primary malignant tumors, including malignant melanoma and malignant lymphoma, in the same adult patient

We report an 80-year-old Japanese male with four primary malignant tumors: malignant melanoma, prostatic cancer, malignant lymphoma, and renal cell carcinoma, which occurred in that respective order. The combination of malignant melanoma and malignant lymphoma is rare. The patient was treated with BCG after an operation for malignant melanoma. He was also treated with cobalt 60 irradiation after an operation for prostatic cancer. We also discuss other reports of multiple malignant tumors and suggest some possible causes of this patient's primary malignant tumors.     

头颈部良性神经源性肿瘤1H MRS的表现特点

目的：探讨头颈部良性神经源性肿瘤在单体素^1H MRS上的表现特点。材料和方法：共收集经单体素。HMRS检查，并经手术病理证实的头颈部神经源性肿瘤14例（神经鞘瘤11例，神经纤维瘤2例，颈动脉体瘤1例）。采用点分析波谱法（PRESS：TE=144ms，14例）和激励回波法（STEAM：TE=30ms，11例）进行。HMRS空间定位，以胆碱和脂质代谢物为标准评价所有肿瘤。波谱图上，胆碱和脂质分别在3．2ppm和0．9—1．4ppm区域识别。结果：采用PRESS后，14例神经源性肿瘤中检测出胆碱代谢物者11例，检出脂质代谢物者6例。胆碱和脂质代谢物同时检出者5例，仅检出胆碱者6例，仅检出脂质者1例，胆碱和脂质均未检出者2例。采用STEAM后，11例肿瘤中检出胆碱代谢物和脂质者分别为3例和8例。结论：头颈部良性神经源性肿瘤的单体素。HMRS表现具有多样性，多数肿瘤以长TEPRESS上胆碱峰的显示为特点，长TEPRESS能较STEAM更好地检出良性神经源性肿瘤内的胆碱代谢物。     

Testicular tumors

Germ cell tumors of the testes represent a unique paradigm of diseases which can be cured even in extremely advanced phase. Unfortunately, this makes them unique among adult solid tumors. Seminoma and non seminoma are relatively rare with approximatively 25,000 patients in Europe per year, but numbers are increasing world wide. Different strategies are needed depending on stage and prognostic scores. Seminoma is extremely sensitive to radiation therapy and chemotherapy, while all germ cell tumors show a very good response to chemotherapy. Clinical stage I seminoma is currently treated with radiation, single course carboplatin or surveillance policy. Clinical stage I non seminoma can also be approached with different strategies such as retroperitoneal lymph node dissection, observation or one-two courses of standard chemotherapy. Stage II seminoma may be treated with either radiation or chemotherapy, while for all advanced stages chemotherapy is mandatory. Since the mid-eighties PEB (Cisplatin, Etoposide and Bleomycin) is the regimen of choice and no other schedule has proved superior in terms of efficacy. Surgery on the residual disease is crucial to the whole strategy and should be performed or attempted in all cases. Consequently, the correct treatment strategy for these tumors does not depend only on the ability of a single physician, but on a skilled team specialized in this particular tumor. Second line therapies (VeIP, PEI, TIP) can cure 25%–40% of patients, but improved strategies for resistant tumors are desperately needed. High-dose chemotherapy has shown very good results in some studies while being less impressive in others. In any case, it should remain an option for relapsing patients and could be used in some cases of upfront chemotherapy in patients with slow marker decline, but this should only be considered in referring centers.