Multimodality management of a case of primary osteogenic sarcoma of the zygoma

Craniofacial osteogenic sarcomas are rare primary malignant bone tumors and very few cases involving zygomatic bone were reported in literature. We present our experience of multimodality management of a case of primary osteogenic sarcoma of zygoma. Wide radical excision of the tumor including the parotid gland was done followed by three cycles of adjuvant chemotherapy and fifty Gy of external radiotherapy. The patient is disease-free at two years follow-up. Till 1970s, craniofacial osteogenic sarcomas were managed mainly by radical surgery with a high local failure rate. With the advances made in the field of radiotherapy and chemotherapy, multimodality therapy is playing a major role in the treatment of these aggressive tumors with better overall and disease-free survival.     

Effect of aluminium impurities in the generator-produced pertechnetate-99m ion on thyroid scintigrams

Cases of reduced uptake of pertechnetate-99m ion in the thyroid gland due to the presence, in the injected solution, of aluminium species at concentrations higher than 4 g/cm³ are reported. This inconvenience can be avoided either by injecting chromatographically pure pertechnetate-99m ion or by allowing the eluate of high aluminium content to stand for about 4 h.     

Lifestyle, parity, menstrual and reproductive factors and risk of gallbladder cancer.

Together with thyroid cancer, cancer of the gallbladder is the only non-sex hormone-related cancer displaying a female preponderance, with incidence being 3-4 times more common among women. We carried out this study to evaluate the role of menstrual, reproductive and lifestyle factors in gallbladder carcinogenesis. A case-control study involving 64 newly diagnosed cases of gallbladder cancer and 101 cases of cholelithiasis was carried out. A detailed menstrual and reproductive history was illustrated beside detailed lifestyle history, in particular consumption of betel nut, tobacco and alcohol and smoking, odds ratio was calculated. Mean age of the patients with cancer was 51+/-1.2 years while it was 40.9+/-1.2 years for gallstones; 69% of cancer patients and 90% of gallstones patients were females. More than half of the cancer patients (53%) and 43% of the gallstone patients were illiterate. A past history of typhoid was present in 22% of cancer patients and 13% of gallstone patients, while 35% of cancer and 25% of gallstone patients were chewers, 18.1 and 9.9% were smokers, and 10% of cancer and 2% of gallstone patients consumed alcohol. Mean age of menarche was 13.4+/-1.2 years among female patients with cancer while it was 14.0+/-1.4 years for gallstone patients. Higher age at menarche (>13 years, OR 2.48, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.16-5.3), higher number of childbirths(>3 births, OR 3.92; 95% CI 1.4-10.3), higher number of pregnancies (>3 pregnancies, OR 6.66, 95% CI 1.8-23.4), and higher age at last childbirth (>25 years, OR 2.97, 95% CI 1.04-8.5) were found to have significantly higher risk of developing gallbladder cancer. In conclusion, tobacco chewing and smoking are associated with increased odds of gallbladder cancer. Similarly early menarche, late menopause, multiple pregnancies and childbirth increased the risk of gallbladder cancer.     

Chemopreventive Effects of Black Tea Polyphenols in Mose Skin Model of Carcinogenesis

In the present investigations,the antitumorigenic effect of black tea polyhenols(BTP)in two-stage mouse skin model of carcinogenesis was studied.The animals were initated with a single“subcarcinogenic”topical dose(52μg/200μl acetone)of 7,12-dimethylbenzanthracene(DMBA).To evaluate the anti-tumour initiating activity,BTP was topically appied twice a week for three weeks prior to DMBA applications,followed by topical treatment with 12-o-tetradecanoyl phorbol-13-acetate(TPA)(5μg/200μl acetone,2x/wk.)as promoter.For eveluation of antitumor prmotin activity,BTP was applied prior to each treatment of TPA.BTP application showed marked inhibitory effect as antitumour initiator as well as antitumour promoter in mouse skin model o two-stage carcinogenesis.Since initiation involves genetic pathway and tumour prmotion involves epigenetic pathway,it seems that BTP exerts its antitumorigenic effect by altering both genetic and epigenetic pathways.     

Allogeneic stem-cell transplantation using a reduced-intensity conditioning regimen has the capacity to produce durable remissions and long-term disease-free survival in patients with high-risk acute myeloid leukemia and myelodysplasia.

PURPOSE: The toxicity of allogeneic stem-cell transplantation can be substantially reduced using a reduced-intensity conditioning (RIC) regimen. This has increased the proportion of patients with myeloid malignancies eligible for allogeneic transplantation. However, the capacity of RIC allografts to produce durable remissions in patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and myelodysplasia (MDS) has not yet been defined, and consequently, the role of RIC allografts in the management of these diseases remains conjectural. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Seventy-six patients with high-risk AML or MDS received an allograft using a fludarabine/melphalan RIC regimen incorporating alemtuzumab. The median age of the cohort was 52 years (range, 18 to 71 years). RESULTS: The 100-day transplantation-related mortality rate was 9%, and no patient developed greater than grade 2 graft-versus-host disease. With a median follow-up of 36 months (range, 13 to 70 months), 27 patients were alive and in remission, with 3-year actuarial overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS) rates of 41% and 37%, respectively. The 3-year OS and DFS rates of patients with AML in complete remission at the time of transplantation were 48% and 42%, respectively. Disease relapse was the most common cause of treatment failure and occurred at a median time of 6 months after transplantation. All but one patient destined to relapse did so within 24 months of transplantation. CONCLUSION: The extended follow-up in this series identifies a high risk of early disease relapse but provides evidence that RIC allografts can produce sustained DFS in a significant number of patients with AML who would be ineligible for allogeneic transplantation with myeloablative conditioning.     

Possible role of endothelin-1 in the rabbit urinary bladder hyperplasia secondary to partial bladder outlet obstruction

OBJECTIVES: Urinary bladder hypertrophy and hyperplasia are common features of bladder outlet obstruction (BOO). The urinary bladder is known to synthesize endothelin-1 (ET-1), which is a potent vasoconstrictor peptide with mitogenic properties. Using an animal model of partial BOO, we investigated the potential role of ET-1 and its receptor subtypes (ET(A) and ET(B)) in bladder smooth muscle cell (SMC) proliferation. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Partial BOO was produced in adult male New Zealand White rabbits. After 3 weeks, the bladder was removed and SMCs from the dome and bladder neck were grown using standard explant methodology. At passage 2, the cells were made quiescent and then further incubated in foetal calf serum (FCS), control age-matched rabbit serum (CRS) or partial BOO serum (BRS) in the presence or absence of ET(A)-antagonist (BQ123) or ET(B)-antagonist (BQ788). SMC proliferation was then measured 24 h later with 5-bromo-2'deoxy-uracil and by cell counting using a haemocytometer at 48 h. Immunostaining for alpha-actin was performed on detrusor and bladder neck cells to confirm the presence of smooth muscle cells. RESULTS: BQ123 and BQ788 did not influence detrusor or bladder neck SMC proliferation in FCS or CRS. However, in the presence of BRS, BQ123 and BQ788 (100 nmol/L) significantly (p = 0.008) inhibited detrusor and bladder neck SMC proliferation. Cell counts were significantly reduced from the detrusor (p = 0.03, p = 0.01 with BQ123 and BQ788, respectively) and bladder neck (p = 0.01 for both BQ123 and BQ78). CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that ET antagonists may have a role in preventing SMC hyperplasia associated with partial BOO.