Management of relapsed/refractory epithelial ovarian cancer: current standards and novel approaches

Approximately 60% to 70% of epithelial ovarian cancers are diagnosed at an advanced stage. Treatment of advanced disease involves cytoreductive surgery followed by systemic treatment with paclitaxel and platinum. Overall response rates are high, ranging from 70-80%; however, 70-80% of responders will relapse and require further systemic chemotherapy. Patients who experience disease relapse with platinum-free interval of less than 6 months are considered as platinum-refractory/resistant individuals. In this clinical setting, agents with non-cross-resistance to first-line therapy and favorable toxicity profiles are usually chosen. In the management of relapsed patients with platinum-free interval over 6 months, the generally accepted recommendation is retreatment with a platinum plus paclitaxel combination. In general, treatment of recurrent disease is palliative and is initiated with the goals of controlling disease-related symptoms, limiting treatment-related toxicity, maintaining or improving quality of life, delaying time to progression, and prolonging survival. A number of currently available and novel investigating agents in recurrent epithelial ovarian cancer will be reviewed in this context.     

Therapeutic effect of topical applications of trichloroacetic acid for vaginal intraepithelial neoplasia after hysterectomy

OBJECTIVE: We attempted to evaluate the therapeutic effect of trichloroacetic acid (TCA) for vaginal intraepithelial neoplasia (VaIN) after hysterectomy and to identify factors affecting persistence/recurrence. METHODS: Twenty-eight post-hysterectomy patients with various grades of VaIN were enrolled in this study between January 2001 and December 2003. They were managed with intravaginal 50% TCA once weekly for 1-4 weeks, and all patients were followed up every 3 months for at least 1 year. Assessments by Papanicolaou smear and colposcopy were performed, as was biopsy when indicated during the follow-up period. Cox regression analysis was used to identify independent factors predicting persistence/recurrence. RESULTS: In 20 of 28 patients (71.4%) VaIN went into remission. Treatment success was observed in all 11 patients with VaIN I, whereas only 9 out of 17 patients (53%) with VaIN II/III went into remission (P = 0.009). Severity of VaIN was the only significant independent predictor of persistence/recurrence (odds ratio = 3.5; 95% confidence interval = 1.1, 11.6; P = 0.038). The treatment was well tolerated with no major side effects. CONCLUSIONS: Based on our findings, 50% TCA was a potential agent with minimal side effects for low-grade VaIN. Further prospective controlled study is warranted to verify our statements. However, as for high-grade lesions, further investigation with different TCA concentration is compelling.     

Value of preoperative serum CA125 in early-stage adenocarcinoma of the uterine cervix without pelvic lymph node metastasis

OBJECTIVE: This investigation attempted to clarify the value of preoperative serum CA125 in predicting histopathological prognostic factors for early-stage cervical adenocarcinoma without lymph node metastasis. METHODS: This study initially surveyed 163 patients with clinical stage Ib or IIa cervical adenocarcinoma treated with radical hysterectomy and pelvic lymphadenectomy. Of the 163 patients, 116 had preoperative serum CA125 levels, and 14 had pelvic lymph node metastasis. The investigation group comprised 102 lymph node-negative patients. RESULTS: A cutoff value of 26 U/ml was obtained after the discriminant function analysis for identifying patients with positive lymph vascular space invasion (LVSI) or depth of stromal invasion > or =2/3 thickness. Multivariate analysis revealed that among the preoperative clinicopathological variables, including age, tumor size, parametrial invasion, and CA125 level, raised CA125 most significantly influenced the assessment of the LVSI (P = 0.040) and depth of cervical stromal invasion (P = 0.002). CONCLUSIONS: In early-stage cervical adenocarcinoma with negative pelvic lymph node metastasis, preoperative serum CA125 levels at the cutoff value of 26 U/ml impacted the determination of the poor histopathological prognostic factors.     

Neonatal clavicular fracture: clinical analysis of incidence, predisposing factors, diagnosis, and outcome

The objective of this study is to identify maternal, perinatal, and fetal risk factors for clavicular fracture in a single institution. We performed a prospective study of all deliveries during a 14-month period to identify confirmed cases of neonatal clavicular fracture. The control group consisted of the deliveries immediately preceding and following the index cases. Fifty-three cases of clavicular fracture were identified among the 4789 deliveries from October 1995 through November 1996 for an incidence of 1.11%. Three neonates in the clavicular fracture group were delivered through cesarean section. Neonates with fracture were significantly heavier at birth than those without (3564 vs. 3283 g, p <0.001), and had a lower mean head-to-abdominal circumference ratio (0.93 vs. 1.08, p <0.001), history of giving birth to a macrosomia (21 vs. 4%, p <0.05). The anterior shoulder was the predominant site of fracture (30/53). Fracture was detected mostly during the first 3 days of neonatal life (46/53). The outcome was benign, with complete recovery in all cases and no associated neurological sequelae. Neonatal clavicular fracture tended to be associated with neonatal somatometric characteristics and difficult deliveries. Considering the benign nature of this birth trauma, more invasive intrapartum management to lower its incidence is not advised.     

Leiomyosarcoma of the uterus: a clinicopathologic study of 21 cases

BACKGROUND: The purpose of the present study was to identify the prognostic factors of and to determine the most appropriate mode of treatment for uterine leiomyosarcoma. METHODS: We reviewed the hospital records, including surgical notes and pathologic reports, of 21 patients with uterine leiomyosarcoma treated at Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Kaohsiung, Taiwan, between 1987 and 1997. Univariate analysis was performed using the log-rank test. Cox regression was used to identify independent prognostic factors. RESULTS: The mean follow-up time was 30 months, and the 5-year disease-free survival rate was 55%. Evaluating the correlation between clinicopathologic parameters and survival, early stage (p = 0.0002), tumor cells without necrosis (p = 0.0026), low-grade tumor (p = 0.015), absence of vascular space involvement (p = 0.006), and tumor without atypia (p = 0.016) were associated with good prognosis. However, in a multivariate analysis using the Cox model, only advanced stage (p = 0.032) and tumor necrosis (p = 0.032) were found to be independent poor prognostic factors. The 5-year disease-free survival was only 21% in patients with the presence of any one or both of these two factors. Five of 11 patients in this group had received aggressive adjuvant therapy after surgery, and none of them survived more than 19 months. CONCLUSIONS: We found that patients with advanced stage or presence of tumor necrosis had an extremely poor prognosis. Adjuvant therapy seemed to play a limited role, and provided no survival benefit. Treatment for these patients should be palliative until effective therapeutic modalities prove otherwise.     

Multiple uterine angioleiomyomas in a woman presenting with severe menorrhagia

BACKGROUND: Angioleiomyoma is a rare benign neoplasm that originates from smooth muscle cells and contains thick-walled vessels. There were only five cases of uterine angioleiomyoma reported in the available English literatures. We present here the unique computed tomography finding in a patient with multiple uterine angioleiomyomas causing severe menorrhagia. CASE: A 50-year-old, nulligravid woman consulted us with the complaint of menorrhagia for 3 years and progressively palpable lower abdominal mass for a half year. Laboratory findings were all within normal limits except lower hemoglobin concentration (6.2 g/dl). An abdomino-pelvic computed tomography (CT) showed that a huge 30-cm heterogeneously multilobulate mass with solid and laminated configuration, with cystic and multiseptal contents was found in left lower abdomen and pelvic cavity. At laparotomy, the area beneath the left broad ligament was filled with a well-encapsulated, elastic, ovoid, and lobulate mass that connected to the uterus and measured up to 20 cm in greatest diameter. The uterus was composed of a huge intramural tumor and measured 28 x 21 x 12 cm. The uterus and huge subserosal tumor were resected completely and a frozen section was obtained. The final histopathologic diagnosis was angioleiomyoma, a definitely benign soft tissue tumor. Eighteen months after surgery there was no recurrence. CONCLUSION: Uterine angioleiomyoma should be considered when prominent tortuous vascular-like enhancing structures are noted on CT examination of a well-demarcated soft tissue mass arising from the uterus in pelvis. Either angiomyomectomy with tumor-free margins or hysterectomy proved to be an effective treatment in these cases, and resulted in a good recovery and a satisfactory outcome.