Asymptomatic cerebellopontine angle and lateral ventricle metastases from renal cell carcinoma: case report and literature review

Tumors rarely metastasize to the cerebellopontine angle. We report the first instance of simultaneous metastasis of renal cell carcinoma to the cerebellopontine angle and the lateral ventricle. A 51-year-old man presented with anemia and fatigue owing to stomach metastases from renal cell carcinoma 8 years after undergoing partial left nephrectomy for grade II clear cell renal carcinoma and radical right nephrectomy for grade III clear cell renal carcinoma. He also suffered metastases to the lung, both adrenal glands, the L-3 vertebra, and the brain (asymptomatic, but revealed by magnetic resonance imaging): a 1-cm (maximum diameter) mass in the left medullary cistern and a 2-cm (maximum diameter) mass in the right lateral ventricle trigone. Both brain lesions were treated with stereotactic radiosurgery, followed by gross-total resection of the right trigonal mass 7 months later. Both tumors shrank significantly, but the patient died from progressive systemic cancer 1 year after diagnosis of brain metastasis.     

Brain metastasis as a late manifestation of ovarian carcinoma

CHEN Y‐L., CHENG W‐F., HSIEH C‐Y. & CHEN C‐A. (2011) European Journal of Cancer Care 20 , 44–49
Brain metastasis as a late manifestation of ovarian carcinoma This paper aims to evaluate the clinical characteristics of ovarian cancer patients with cerebral metastases. Ten ovarian cancer patients with brain metastases were retrospectively identified from a total of 539 ovarian cancer patients. Their characteristics before and at the time of diagnosis of cerebral metastases were analysed. The survival of them was also measured. Ten (1.9%) of the 539 ovarian cancer patients had brain metastases in the study period. Nine had stage III or IV tumours with either moderate or poor histological differentiation. The mean time from diagnosis of ovarian cancer to documentation of central nervous system metastasis was 24.3 months, which was 11.1 months if other sites of metastasis were involved before cerebral relapse. All of the patients with intra‐cranial tumours suffered from associated neurological defects and relived by treatments. The median survival time after diagnosis of central nervous system involvement was 3 months. In this study, all ovarian cancer patients with cerebral metastases had clinical neurological symptoms. Physicians should pay more attention to ovarian cancer patients with neurological defects and arrange brain imaging studies for the early diagnosis of brain metastases and prompt management to improve quality of life.     

Dural cerebellopontine angle metastasis from malignant parotid oncocytoma

Malignant oncocytoma of the parotid gland is a quite rare tumor, with only 40 cases with unequivocal histological diagnosis reported in the literature. No cases with intracranial metastasis have been described. The authors report a very unusual case of malignant parotid gland oncocytoma with a large dural extracerebellar metastasis occurring in the contiguous cerebellopontine angle six months after surgery for the primary tumor. Only a partial removal of the dural metastasis was possible because of the cranial nerve and vessel encasement within the mass. Surgery and irradiation resulted in one-year survival. Interestingly, no destruction and infiltration of the petrous and temporal bones were found both at radiological and surgical exploration. We may suggest that metastatic spread from the parotid region to the cerebellopontine angle occurred through the mastoid cells or by haematogenous diffusion through the meningeal branches to the posterior fossa dura from the occipital or ascending pharyngealbreak arteries.     

Ovarian metastases from colon carcinoma

A case report describes a postmenopausal woman who presented with vaginal bleeding and a pelvic mass. She was found to have a colon cancer with a large metastasis in the right ovary. A review of the literature suggests that ovarian metastasis from a primary colon carcinoma is not rare. Frequently, the ovarian tumor causes symptoms sooner than the primary carcinoma. The presence of ovarian metastasis is associated with a poor prognosis. Consideration should be given to the performance of prophylactic oophorectomy during colon resections for carcinoma.     

Gemcitabine twice weekly as a radiosensitiser for the treatment of brain metastases in patients with carcinoma: a phase I study

Conventional treatment for brain metastases (BM) is whole-brain radiotherapy (WBRT). Efficacy is poor. It might be increased by a potent radiosensitiser such as gemcitabine which is believed to cross the disrupted blood-brain barrier. Primary objective of this study was to determine the maximum tolerated dose (MTD) of twice weekly gemcitabine given concurrently with WBRT. Patients with BM from carcinoma were included. The dose of WBRT was 30 Gys (10 daily fractions). Gemcitabine was given 2-4 h prior to WBRT on days 1 and 8 for the first cohort of patients and then on days 1, 4, 8 and 11. Starting dose was 25 mg m(-2), escalated by 12.5 mg m(-2) increments. At least three patients were included per level. Dose limiting toxicity (DLT) was defined as grade 4 haematological or grade > or =3 nonhaematological toxicity. A total of 25 patients were included; 74% had a PS 1 (ECOG). In all, 23 had non-small-cell lung cancer, six colorectal, four breast, two renal cell and one oesophageal carcinoma. A total of 92% had concurrent extracranial disease. Six had single BM, 13 had two or three BM and six multiple. Up to 50 mg m(-2) (level 4) no DLT was observed. At 62.5 mg m(-2), one out of six patients developed DLT (thrombocytopenia-bleeding). The next dose level (75 mg m(-2)) was abandoned after grade 4 bone marrow toxicity (fatal neutropenic sepsis) was seen in one out of two patients. So that the dose of 50 mg m(-2) will be taken forward for further study.     

Ovarian metastases from ileal neuroendocrine tumour: Multimodality imaging

We present a rare case of large bilateral ovarian tumours, secondarily revealing an ileal neuroendocrine tumour in a 71‐year‐old woman. Magnetic resonance examination showed bilateral ovarian, entirely solid lesions with a fibrous content and marked enhancement. Computed tomography was able to show a mesenteric retractile mass and a satellite suspicious ileal wall thickening. Gallium‐68 DOTATOC confirmed the suspicion of digestive neuroendocrine tumour metastatic to the ovaries and the final diagnosis was made following radical surgery. To the best of our knowledge, the mainly fibrous aspect at imaging, resembling that of the primary tumour, is the first to be described in English literature. Therefore, we think that in the presence of atypical bilateral, solid and mainly fibrous ovarian masses, careful search for a primary lesion along the digestive tract should be conducted.     

Ovarian cancer presenting as umbilical hernia.

Six patients are reported whose presenting symptom was umbilical herniation. Upon exploration of the umbilicus with the intent to repair the hernia, ovarian cancer and malignant ascites were encountered in each individual. Cancer at the umbilicus, both metastatic and primary, is briefly discussed. The apperance of an acquired umbilical hernia in an otherwise asymptomatic patient should raise the suspicion of intraabdominal malignancy.     

桥小脑角脑膜瘤的手术治疗(附88例报告)

目的 探讨桥小脑角区脑膜瘤的手术治疗方法。方法 对近20年经手术治疗的88例桥小脑角质膜瘤进行回顾性分析。结果 肿瘤全部切除68例（全切率77．3％）,大部切除20例;术后死亡6例（死亡率6．8％）。60例随访6个月－11年,46例恢复良好,8例死亡,6例复发。结论 手术治疗是桥小脑角脑膜瘤的首选治疗方法。合理选择手术入路,术中妥善处理和保护血管、神经、脑干等,以及术后正确处理并发症,配合其他辅助治疗,是提高手术疗效和患者术后生活质量的关键。     

Management of intracranial metastases of differentiated carcinoma of thyroid

Summary Brain metastases in differentiated carinoma of the thyroid is a rare occurrence. We treated five documented cases of carcinoma of thyroid with brain metastases out of 400 cases of thyroid cancer treated between 1972 to 1993. 4 were females out of which one was pregnant during the appearance of brain metastases. All cases were treated with thyroidectomy, and radioiodine as primary therapy. Brain metastases developed 6 months to 11 years following treatment of the primary and were treated with radiotherapy and suppressive levothyroxine. We observed the beneficial effect of suppressive thyroxine and the poor prognosis associated with pregnancy and withdrawl of thyroid replacement therapy. 3 of the 5 patients are alive 12–23 months after treatment for brain metastases, while 2 patients died at 4 months and 7 years post brain metastases due to pulmonary and hepatic failure, respectively.     

Meningioma of the cerebellopontine angle in identical twins: a case report

Meningiomas in identical twins are extremely rare. To our knowledge, only one previous report of meningiomas in identical twins has been published. We present identical twin sisters with meningiomas. The tumors were located at a similar, but not a common, position (the cerebellopontine angle) in both twins. Histologically, both tumors were diagnosed as meningothelial meningiomas with an angiomatous component. Immunohistochemically, the Ki-67 indices in the two cases were 1.0 and 1.1, and the p53 positive rates were 0.2 and 0.9. The specimens in both cases were reactive to neurofibromin 2 (NF2). A comparative genomic hybridization (CGH) assay revealed an aberration in the long arm of chromosome X, but no aberrations in the long arm of chromosome 22 in either case. These results strongly suggest that genetic aberrations other than NF2 are associated with tumorigenesis in some types of sporadic meningiomas.     

卵巢成熟性畸胎瘤恶变临床病理分析

目的:探讨卵巢成熟性囊性畸胎瘸恶变的临床病理特点.方法:收集8例卵巢成熟性囊性畸胎瘤恶变肿瘤,分析病变的临床表现、病理特征分期及随访结果.结果:卵巢成熟性囊性畸胎瘤恶变多发生于绝经后女性.8例中2例为类癌,2例为恶性甲状腺,1例黏液腺癌,1例上皮内癌,1例甲状腺肿类癌,1例鳞状细胞癌.8例均为临床Ⅰ期,除1例死亡外,其余7例均无瘤生存.结论:卵巢成熟性囊性畸胎瘤恶变率低,病理检查需细致全面,结合临床综合治疗1期患者预后良好.     

Phase I/II study of selective cyclooxygenase-2 inhibitor celecoxib as a radiation sensitizer in patients with unresectable brain metastases

Summary PurposeThe primary goal of this phase I/II study was to evaluate the feasibility, safety and efficacy of celecoxib administered concomitant to radiotherapy to treat unresectable BM. Patients and methods: Patients with measurable BM by CT or MRI, unresectability criteria by a neurosurgeon and RPA-RTOG class II were eligible. Celecoxib was administered at 400 mg/day during the entire course of radiotherapy. All patients were irradiated with ⁶⁰Co beams to whole-brain dose of 32 Gy (20 fractions of 1.6 Gy each two times a day with a 6 h interval between treatments) followed by a 22.4 Gy boost (same fractionation schedule) over evident lesions. Results: Twenty-seven patients were treated. The concurrent regimen was well tolerated with 15 cases of mild dyspepsia. Alopecia (NCI grades 1–2) was the most important side effect. Three patients presented rash/desquamation of moderate intensity. Radiological responses occurred in 18 of 25 valuable patients (72), with five complete responses (CR). Symptomatic responses were reported in 25 of 27 patients (92.6), with 20 CR. The overall response rate (considering complete plus partial responses) was 66.7. Percentile 50 for time-to-progression, time-to-neurological-progression and functional-independence-time were 3, 6.25 and 6.7 months, respectively. Median survival time was 8.7 months. Conclusion: Our initial results suggest that radiotherapy plus celecoxib is safe and a possible active treatment for patients with BM. Further investigation in a randomized trial is warranted to validate its clinical utility.This Article Presented in part at the Second International Conference on Translational Research and Preclinical Strategies in Radiation Oncology, March 2003, Lugano, Switzerland.     

Brain metastases from apocrine carcinoma of the scalp: case report

Summary Apocrine carcinoma is an extremely rare malignant neoplasm that occurs most frequently in the axilla. Although it usually shows an indolent clinical course, it often metastasizes to regional lymph nodes and sometimes to lungs or bones. However, a literature search did not reveal any report describing the detailed clinical course of brain metastases from apocrine carcinoma. We report a case of a 54-year-old male who suffered from multiple brain metastases from apocrine carcinoma that had originated in the scalp 6 years before. The brain metastases appeared in spite of several regimens of chemotherapy for lung metastases for two years. The tumor in the right frontal lobe was successfully operated. However, the small tumor in the right occipital lobe was not cured by gamma knife surgery, and eventually required second operation. The operation had contributed to his neurologically independent life for about one year until he died for gradual progression of lung metastases. To our knowledge this is the first reported case of metastatic brain tumor from apocrine carcinoma.     

Images in neuro oncology: Primary extraaxial cerebellopontine angle ependymoma

Posterior fossa ependymoma usually arise in the fourth ventricle. Though extension of this tumor into the cerebellopontine angle and subarachnoid space through the foramina of Luschka or Magendie is well described, a primary extraaxial cerebellopontine angle location of a posterior fossa ependymoma is distinctly uncommon. The authors report imaging in such an unusual case of a primary cerebellopontine angle ependymoma.     

经枕下乙状窦后入路桥小脑角脑膜瘤的显微外科手术治疗

目的：探讨桥小脑角脑膜瘤的临床特点及经枕下乙状窦后入路行显微外科手术的手术技巧。方法：对29例桥小脑角脑膜瘤患者经枕下乙状窦后入路行显微外科手术，观察切除程度、手术前后神经功能变化及主要并发症。结果：肿瘤全切（SimpsonⅠ、Ⅱ级）16例，大部分切除10例，部分切除3例；大部分切除或部分切除者术后均行1刀治疗。术后临床症状改善者20例，症状基本同术前及加重者9例；术后出现脑脊液漏2例，肺部感染4例，后组颅神经损伤3例，颅内感染1例，昏迷伴偏瘫1例，死亡1例。结论：对于桥小脑角脑膜瘤可选择经枕下乙状窦后的手术入路，术中妥善处理大血管，注意神经和脑干的保护，提高肿瘤切除的技巧，针对性预防和处理术后并发症，是保证手术疗效和患者术后生活质量的关键。     

桥小脑角区占位性病变的MRI鉴别诊断

Objective： To explore the value of magnetic resonance imaging （MRI） in diagnosis of occupying lesions in cerebellopontine angle area. Methods： MRI records of 78 patients with pathologically confirmed occupied lesions in cerebellopontine angle area were analyzed. Results： Of the 78 cases, 48 （61.5%） were unilateral acoustic neuroma, 5 （6.4%） were bilateral acoustic neuroma, 12 （15.4%） were meningioma, 4 （5.1%） were trigeminal neuroma, 3 （3.8%） were lipoma, 2 （2.6%） were melanoma, and 1 （1.3%） was medulloblastoma. According to the anatomic site, tumor lesion character, and MRI signal, the majority of cerebellopontine angle area tumors were diagnosed accurately. Conclusion： MRI plays an important role in diagnosis of occupying lesions in cerebellopontine angle area.     

Corticosteroid toxicity in neuro-oncology patients

Summary Hospital charts from 59 patients with intracranial malignancy or epidural spinal cord compression were reviewed to establish the frequency of clinically important corticosteroid toxicities and to determine treatment or patient characteristics which were predictive for toxicity. Thirty patients (51%) developed at least one steroid toxicity and eleven (19%) required hospital admission for diagnosis and/or management of steroid-related complications. In this retrospective analysis the duration of steroid therapy and the total administered dose predicted for toxicity. Patients with toxicity also had a significant fall in the serum albumin level. Important corticosteroid toxicity occurs frequently in neuro-oncology patients. Further research should be directed at developing non-toxic alternatives to corticosteroids.     

Sunitinib in metastatic renal cell carcinoma patients with brain metastases

BACKGROUND:

In a broad patient population with metastatic renal cell carcinoma (RCC), enrolled in an open‐label, expanded access program (EAP), the safety profile of sunitinib was manageable, and efficacy results were encouraging. Here, the authors report results for patients with baseline brain metastases participating in this global EAP.

METHODS:

Previously treated and treatment‐naive metastatic RCC patients ≥18 years received sunitinib 50 mg orally, once daily, on Schedule 4/2. Safety was assessed regularly, tumor measurements done per local practice, and survival data collected where possible. Analyses were done in the modified intention‐to‐treat (ITT) population, consisting of all patients who received ≥1 dose of sunitinib.

RESULTS:

As of December 2007, 4564 patients had enrolled in 52 countries. Of these enrollees, 4371 were included in the modified ITT population, of whom 321 (7%) had baseline brain metastases and had received a median of 3 treatment cycles (range 1‐25). Reasons for their discontinuation included lack of efficacy (32%) and adverse events (8%). The most common grade 3‐4 treatment‐related adverse events were fatigue and asthenia (both 7%), thrombocytopenia (6%), and neutropenia (5%), the incidence of which were comparable to that for the overall EAP population. Of 213 evaluable patients, 26 (12%) had an objective response. Median progression‐free survival and overall survival were 5.6 months (95% CI, 5.2‐6.1) and 9.2 months (95% CI, 7.8‐10.9), respectively.

CONCLUSIONS:

In patients with brain metastases from RCC, the safety profile of sunitinib was comparable to that in the general metastatic RCC population, and sunitinib showed evidence of antitumor activity. Cancer 2011. © 2010 American Cancer Society.     

Ovarian androblastoma metastatic to tonsil

Structural pattern of a tonsillar tumor found in a 67-year-old female was similar to a small ovarian androblastoma diagnosed histologically 6 1/2 years earlier. Electron microscopic study of the tonsillar mass revealed crystalloid structures suggestive of the Leydig cell origin of the tumor. After tonsillectomy, there was no local recurrence of the tumor, but the patient died a year later of multiple metastases. There appeared to be no previous reports of ovarian tumors metastatic to tonsil, and malignant androblastomas of the Leydig cell type are extremely rare.     

Ovarian cancer antigen CA125: a prospective clinical assessment of its role as a tumour marker.

Serum CA 125, quantified by an immunoradiometric assay employing the monoclonal antibody 0C125 was found to be elevated in 48/58 (83%) of patients with established ovarian cancer. All histological types of carcinoma were antigen positive and there was a positive correlation between the frequency and level of serum CA125 and body burden of tumour. Twenty patients undergoing chemotherapy had serial CA125 estimations following a prospective protocol. Variation in CA125 level reflected disease progression or regression in 21/23 instances. Three of 9 patients tested showed an acute elevation of CA125 in the first week following chemotherapy and this effect predicted a good response to treatment. The natural half-life of CA125 in serum was estimated at approximately 4.8 days, sufficiently short to allow changes in tumour volume to be rapidly reflected by a change in circulating antigen level. Although none of 15 patients with non-Hodgkin lymphoma demonstrated antigen levels outside the normal range, 11/27 patients with non-ovarian adenocarcinoma showed elevated CA125 levels, a specificity of 58% for this latter group. The value of CA125 in the management of ovarian malignancy is discussed.