Surgery following chemotherapy for metastatic testicular teratoma

Twenty patients with metastatic testicular teratoma underwent surgery for residual disease after chemotherapy. Twelve patients in whom complete excision of all residual masses was possible are alive with no evidence of disease. Four patients have died of malignant teratoma, 2 have active malignant disease and 2 have inoperable residual cystic disease. Patients with malignant teratoma intermediate (MTI) primary testis tumours, and those with bulky abdominal disease at presentation, are more likely to have residual masses requiring excision. Completeness of excision appears to be the most important predictor of disease-free survival.     

Indications, results, and complications of bronchoscopic carbon dioxide laser therapy

A carbon dioxide laser coupled with a rigid ventilating bronchoscope has been used to treat 94 patients with symptomatic obstructing lesions of the trachea and main stem bronchi. Fifty-nine patients had malignant disease and 35 had benign disease. The results in the 35 patients with benign disease have been good except for patients with airway deformity who required subsequent reconstruction. The results in the 59 patients with malignant disease have been satisfactory. Six patients died in the immediate postoperative period, five died within 30 days of treatment, and of the remaining, 24 are alive with an average life span of 14.3 months.     

Detrimental effect of cardiopulmonary bypass(CPB) on malignant disease

Patients with coronary artery disease associated with malignancy are a difficult group of patients to treat. The ideal approach to manage them is still controversial. Both problems can be manage by either a combined or staged operation. The use of CPB during revascularization of the myocardium among patients with malignant disease, may have an effect on dissimination of malignant cells. This was observed among two of our patients. We believe that the use of off-pump technique to revascularize the myocardium is a safe approach and can be performed either in combined or staged surgery to resect malignant disease.     

Malignant breast cancer in children: a review of 75 patients

OBJECTIVE: To determine incidence trends and outcomes for pediatric patients with malignant breast disease. METHODS: The Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results registry was examined for all females 19 years of age and younger diagnosed with a malignant breast tumor between 1973 and 2004. RESULTS: A total of 75 patients with malignant breast tumors were identified. Overall, 14.5% of patients had in situ tumors, and 85.5% had invasive disease. Tumors were classified as being either carcinomas (n = 41, 54.7%) or sarcomas (n = 34, 45.3%). The majority of sarcomatous lesions were phyllodes tumors (n = 29, 85.5%), whereas most carcinomas were of a ductal etiology (n = 19, 46.3%). The age-adjusted incidence of all malignant pediatric breast tumors in 2003 was 0.08 cases per 100,000 people (0.03 carcinoma and 0.06 sarcoma cases per 100,000 people). In the carcinoma group, regionally advanced disease was present in 11 patients (26.8%), whereas only 3 patients (7.3%) presented with metastatic disease. All patients with sarcomatous tumors presented with localized disease. Adjuvant radiation therapy was administered in only 9.8% of carcinomas and 8.8% of sarcomas, and 85.4% of carcinoma patients and 97.1% of sarcoma patients underwent surgical resection for their primary disease. Subgroup analysis revealed 5- and 10-year survival rates of 89.6% for patients with sarcomatous tumors and 63.1% and 54.3% for carcinomas. CONCLUSIONS: Malignant pediatric breast malignancies remain relatively rare. The two most common histologies of breast neoplasms in children are malignant carcinomas followed by sarcomas. Although uncommon, malignant disease must be considered in the differential diagnosis of the pediatric patient with a breast mass.     

CO2 laser therapy in malignant and premalignant lesions of the larynx

Twenty-nine patients have undergone CO₂ laser surgery for dysplasia or for malignant disease of the larynx. Nine patients treated for dysplasia show no signs of recurrence and, of 20 patients treated for malignant disease of the larynx, 14 are currently alive. From these results it is possible to define the indications for laser surgery and to show that there may be advantages in combining laser surgery with other forms of treatment for malignant disease.     

Resection of pulmonary metastases from malignant melanoma: results of a 16-year experience

Between 1970 and 1986, 49 patients had resection of presumed pulmonary metastases from malignant melanoma. Sixteen patients were found to have benign disease only despite the appearance of a new nodule in 13. Patients with benign disease had a significantly longer mean survival (169 months) compared with the group with malignant disease (22 months). Median survival for all patients with malignant disease was 13 months. Survival after resection did not correlate with the Clark level of the original lesion, lymph node status, disease-free interval, or number of nodules on preoperative tomograms. Two of 10 patients with 1 nodule resected are long-term survivors (88 and 120 months). Exploration in patients with presumed pulmonary metastases from melanoma is justified to rule out benign disease even if a new solitary nodule is detected. There are no prognostic indicators predicting survival after resection of melanoma metastases, and a significant number of patients will have benign disease.     

Malignant giant-cell tumor of the parietal bone: case report and review of the literature

OBJECTIVE AND IMPORTANCE: Giant-cell tumors (GCTs) are primary bone tumors that involve long bones in 75 to 90% of patients. They seldom develop in the cranium and are very rare in patients older than 60 years of age. A GCT rarely occurs with Paget's disease; when it does, however, it is most commonly associated with the polyostotic form and tends to involve the craniofacial bones. Pagetic GCTs are less aggressive than GCTs that are not associated with Paget's disease. CLINICAL PRESENTATION: We report the case of an 81-year-old woman with a painless left parietal mass and asymptomatic monostotic parietal Paget's disease. INTERVENTION: Surgical resection was performed, and histological examination of the lesion demonstrated Paget's disease with a malignant GCT. An incidental, low-grade, small-cell lymphocytic lymphoma also was noted. The patient experienced local recurrence of the malignant GCT and eventually died after developing pulmonary metastases of the malignant GCT. CONCLUSION: This case is the first reported example of a patient with a malignant GCT of the cranium associated with monostotic Paget's disease. It provides evidence that not all pagetic GCTs in the cranium are benign, as has been reported.     

Epidermotropic malignant melanoma: the distinction between metastatic and new primary lesions in the skin

Although there are scattered reports in the literature, little is known of the difficulties in reconciling the clinical and histologic findings in patients with malignant melanoma in whom more skin lesions develop in different areas after removal of the primary lesion. In some cases, what appears to be metastatic disease is, in reality, primary. In 33 biopsies from five patients with clinically metastatic disease, histologic examination showed metastatic disease in 12 specimens, new primary malignant lesions in 17 and atypical nevi in 4. The purpose of this paper is to define and discuss the difficulties in differentiating metastatic lesions from new primary malignant tumours.     

Dermatomyositis and malignant disease--case report

The case of patients with dermatomyositis and malignant disease has been described. The diagnosis of malignant disease was made after death of the patient, when the malignant undifferentiated cells were found in the ascites. We think that dermatomyosistis was caused by malignant disease. The similar cases of disease were described and published in the literature.     

Carcinoma of urinary tract. Clinical significance of urinary phosphokinase activity in diagnosis

The first reported methods of measuring urinary creatine phosphokinase activity and demonstrating histochemical tumor localization are described. Sixty-eight patients with and without malignant genitourinary tract disease were examined. Enzyme activities over 6 mU. per milliliter correlate well with the presence of malignant disease. Problems of assaying urinary CPK activity are discussed.     

Analysis of mortality and morbidity in 100 composite resections for oral carcinoma.

The postoperative morbidity and mortality in one hundred patients who underwent composite resection for oral malignant disease are reviewed. Although there was a 7 per cent mortality and significant morbidity, the majority of patients did well. This procedure offers potential cure for life-threatening malignant disease.     

The surgical management of MEN-1 pancreatoduodenal neuroendocrine disease

BACKGROUND: The management of multiple endocrine neoplasia, type 1 (MEN-1) pancreatoduodenal neuroendocrine neoplasms (NENs) is controversial. An aggressive surgical approach is intended to control the functional syndromes and malignant potential for nodal or distant metastasis. METHODS: The results of treating 39 patients with MEN-1 pancreatoduodenal NENs over a 35-year period are available from chart reviews and patient interviews. This study focuses on pattern of disease, disease recurrence, and long-term functional outcomes. RESULTS: Between 1967 and 2003, 39 patients ages 19 to 58 years (mean age, 37) had abdominal operations for their pancreatoduodenal NENs: 26 with Zollinger-Ellison syndrome, 4 with hypoglycemia, 3 with both Zollinger-Ellison syndrome and hypoglycemia, and 6 with nonfunctional neoplasms. Fifteen of these 39 patients had malignant disease on initial abdominal operation; 24 of 39 patients have not required abdominal reoperation, 17 of whom have available follow-up data. Of these 17 patients, 11 have biochemical evidence of disease recurrence (increased serum concentrations of gastrin, insulin, or pancreatic polypeptide), while 6 have no biochemical evidence of recurrence. A total of 30 abdominal reoperations were performed in 15 patients; 14 of 15 patients undergoing 1 or more reoperations developed evident malignant disease by their most recent operation. Nine of 13 reoperative patients with follow-up data have evidence of disease recurrence. Functional outcomes available in 20 patients showed that 10 patients require insulin and that 6 require oral hypoglycemic medications. Ninety percent have no abdominal pain or nausea/vomiting, while 4 are unable to return to work secondary to this disease. CONCLUSIONS: Treatment of MEN-1 pancreatoduodenal NENs is met with frequent recurrence and some treatment-related morbidity and mortality. Most patients (22 of 39) eventually demonstrated malignant growth, but, with this strategy, few died of this disease.     

恶性肿瘤患者术后化疗期创伤后成长状况调查

目的了解恶性肿瘤患者术后化疗期创伤后成长状况,为恶性肿瘤患者术后的心理干预提供依据。方法对230例恶性肿瘤术后化疗期患者进行一般情况和创伤后成长状况调查,并进行统计分析。结果恶性肿瘤术后化疗期患者创伤后成长总均分为67.33±14.17,欣赏生活维度条目均分最高,其次是精神改变、人际关系、个人增强,新的可能性均分最低。不同性别、年龄、婚姻状况、居住状况、月收入、病情、病程等患者的创伤后成长评分比较,差异有统计学意义(P<0.05,P<0.01)。结论恶性肿瘤术后化疗期患者呈中等程度的创伤后成长水平,性别、年龄、社会支持、病情等为其影响因素。肿瘤患者的护理过程中,要看到患者心理的积极改变,并针对患者的不同,护理措施有所区别。     

Sacrococcygeal teratoma: has chemotherapy improved survival?

Case records of 57 patients (50 female, 7 male) with sacrococcygeal teratoma who were treated at the Royal Children's Hospital in Melbourne between 1948 and 1986 were reviewed. There were 40 benign and 19 malignant tumors; two patients had malignant recurrence following excision of a benign tumor. The majority of the benign lesions were readily excised; 80% of these patients presented under the age of 6 months. In contrast, 16 of the 19 patients with malignant disease presented after 6 months of age and 12 of these died. Before 1975, malignant lesions were treated with surgery or irradiation, and in a few patients, single-agent chemotherapy. No patients survived. In 1970, intensive multiagent chemotherapy was introduced, with planned delayed surgical resection, with or without postoperative irradiation. Three of five patients treated between 1976 and 1980 survive disease-free and are almost certainly cured. Modern therapy is with cisplatin-containing regimens, and while initial responses in six patients with extensive disease are impressive, it is too early to evaluate the impact of these newer programs on cure.     

Secondary surgery in patients with malignant germ cell tumors.

A total of 102 men treated for germ cell tumor with chemotherapy containing cisplatin was referred for a secondary operation with signs of tumor in the retroperitoneum or chest. Of the patients 85 underwent laparotomy, 14 underwent thoracotomy and 3 had both operations. Residual tumors were completely resected in 66 patients and incompletely resected in 30, while no tumor was found in 6. The resected specimen was malignant in 18 patients, of whom 11 had complete removal of all malignant tissue. All patients with malignancy in the resected specimen received further chemotherapy. Long-term disease-free status was obtained in 75% of those patients who had a complete resection, compared with 14% in the group with incomplete resection. There was no evidence of malignant disease at operation in 78 patients but 5 of them later died of the disease. Malignant tissue was present in the residual tumor in only 1 of 15 patients whose primary tumor was seminoma alone. Resection was attempted in 14 patients despite abnormal tumor markers preoperatively. Only 5 of these patients achieved a disease-free status and 2 of them died later of malignant disease. Over-all 79 of the 102 patients are without evidence of disease (medium postoperative observation 23 1/2 months). We conclude that a secondary operation constitutes an important part of the treatment of patients with germ cell cancer.     

The macrophage electrophoretic mobility (MEM) test for the diagnosis of hydatidiform mole and choriocarcinoma. Preliminary report.

In 1970, Field and Caspary reported that lymphocytes from patients with malignant disease can be stimulated by a basic protein from human brain (human encephalitogenic protein--HEP). The stimulated lymphocytes are capable of releasing the macrophage-slowing factor, which reduces the electrophoretic mobility of guinea-pig macrophages. In general, this effect was not found with lymphocytes from patients without malignant disease. This paper deals with the application of the MEM test using HEP and HCG as antigen in the diagnosis of trophoblastic disease. We have found cellular sensitization against HCG in all patients with gestational trophoblastic tumours and against HEP in patients with hydatidiform moles of the group II or III as well as choriocarcinoma. Patients with malignant tumours of different localization showed a cellular sensitization against HEP, but only some against HCG. In pregnant women no cellular sensitization against HEP as well as HCG was detected. The results of the MEM test using HEP as antigen in patients with gestational trophoblastic tumours are compared with the clinical findings and the histological diagnosis. By means of this combination a more exact evaluation of the biological activity of the trophoblastic disease was obtained.     

Hypercalcemia and malignant melanoma.

Malignant melanoma occurs in approximately 1.7 per cent of all patients admitted to the Clinical Center, National Institutes of Health, and approximately 1.8 per cent of patients admitted with hypercalcemia and malignant disease. The incidence of hypercalcemia and malignant melanoma is 1.1 per cent. Bone metastases are diagnosed before death in approximately 5.2 per cent of patients with malignant melanoma. The cause of hypercalcemia in our patients appears to be bone metastases in 83.3 per cent and primary hyperparathyroidism in 16.9 per cent.     

Malignant neoplasia in patients with abdominal aortic aneurysms

Thirty-eight percent of 69 patients with abdominal aortic aneurysms were on record for having malignant neoplasms with the Connecticut State Tumor Registry five to ten years following aneurysm repair. Thirteen percent of 61 patients with atherosclerotic occlusive disease were on record for having malignant neoplasms as a contemporaneous case-control group. The crude and adjusted odds-ratios for this difference in patients with aneurysms v patients with atherosclerotic disease were statistically significant. There are several theoretical explanations for these observations, spanning the gamut from possible immunologic mechanisms to hypothetical disturbances in the relationship of epithelia to connective-tissue matrix in the patients with aneurysms.     

Incidence and outcome of biliary strictures after pancreaticoduodenectomy

OBJECTIVE: This single-institution review examined the incidence of biliary stricture formation after pancreaticoduodenectomy (PD) for benign and malignant periampullary disease. BACKGROUND: The incidence and course of stricture of the hepaticojejunostomy have not been documented after PD. METHODS: Between January 1995 and April 2003, 1595 patients underwent PD for periampullary disease (392 benign, 1203 malignant). A retrospective analysis of a prospectively collected database was performed to determine the incidence of biliary stricture after PD. RESULTS: Forty-two of the 1595 patients (2.6%) who underwent PD developed postoperative jaundice secondary to a stricture of the biliary-enteric anastomosis. There was no difference in the incidence of biliary strictures after resection for benign (n = 10, 2.6%) or malignant disease (n = 32, 2.6%). The median time to stricture formation resulting in jaundice was 13 months (range, 1-106 months) and was similar for patients with benign and malignant disease. Preoperative jaundice did not protect against biliary stricture formation. By univariate analysis, biliary strictures were associated with preoperative percutaneous biliary drainage (odds ratio [OR] = 2.11, P = 0.02) and postoperative biliary stenting (OR = 2.11, P = 0.013). Postoperative chemoradiotherapy in patients with malignant disease was not associated with stricture formation. All strictures were initially managed with percutaneous biliary balloon dilatation and stenting, and only 2 patients required redo hepaticojejunostomy. Recurrent neoplastic disease was discovered in only 3 of the 32 patients (9%) with malignant disease. All 3 of these patients had cholangiocarcinoma as their initial diagnosis. CONCLUSIONS: Biliary stricture formation is an infrequent complication after PD and can be managed successfully with percutaneous biliary dilatation and short-term stenting in most patients. The only significant univariate predictors for biliary stricture formation were preoperative and postoperative percutaneous biliary drainage. The development of a biliary stricture in patients who have undergone PD for malignant disease is usually benign and should not be automatically attributed to anastomotic tumor recurrence.     

Neuroblastoma with intraspinal (dumbbell) extension

Twenty-three patients with neurogenic tumors having extradural extension (dumbbell tumors) were treated over a 30-year period. Three had ganglioneuroma, 6 had ganglioneuroblastoma, and 14 had neuroblastoma. Nineteen patients with malignant tumors had symptoms of spinal-cord compression; three patients with ganglioneuroma and one with a malignant tumor had no neurologic symptoms. Delays in diagnosis were frequent ranging from 6 weeks to 3 years in 10 patients. Sixteen patients had abnormal x-rays of the spine. All patients with malignant tumors had positive myelograms. Three patients with ganglioneuroma and 13 with malignant tumors are alive and free of disease. Seven patients with malignant tumors died: five with stage IV and 1 with stage III tumors from disease, and 1 with stage II tumor during laminectomy. Age and stage were important prognostic factors; location was not. Treatment consisted of excision and radiation or radiation only. Patients receiving lower-dose (less than 2000 rad) radiation did as well as those receiving much larger doses. Morbidity in patients with malignant tumors was high; 4 have spinal deformity (3 severe) and 8 of 13 surviving patients have residual neurologic deficits. Earlier diagnosis, a surgical approach which does not introduce morbidity, and low-dose radiation in younger patients are important factors in reducing morbidity.