Abdominal wall perforation in a patient with recurrent epithelial ovarian cancer after bevacizumab treatment

Bowel perforation is a rare but well-described complication of bevacizumab, a VEGF monoclonal antibody. However, bevacizumab associated abdominal wall perforation is a more serious complication. In here, a patient with recurrent epithelial ovarian cancer developing both bowel and abdominal wall perforation after bevacizumab treatment is reported with review of the literature to point out the clinical significance of this rare complication. To our knowledge, this is the first case with bevacizumab associated abdominal wall perforation

Treatment Outcomes and Prognostic Factors in N3 Stage Gastric Cancer After Curative Resection: A Real World Data

Purpose: N3 gastric cancer is characterized by a fairly high lymph node metastasis burden and poor outcome despite optimal therapy. Given the limitations of TNM classification, a comprehensive evaluation tool is necessary to predict the prognosis of patients with N3 gastric cancer who underwent curative surgery. This study aims to explore the outcomes and clinicopathologic prognostic factors affecting the overall survival (OS) of patients with N3 gastric cancer after surgery. Methods: Data on patients with N3 gastric cancer who underwent (sub)total gastrectomy and regional lymph node dissection between November 2005 and September 2018 (n = 169) were analyzed by Cox regression to determine the independent prognostic factors for OS. Results: The multivariable analysis established that gender, patient performance status, metastatic lymph node ratio (MLNR), tumor grade, and adjuvant chemotherapy are significantly associated with OS. The five-year OS of the study population was 15%. Adjuvant chemoradiotherapy was applied to 72% of the patients, which resulted in an improvement in recurrence-free survival but not OS. Recurrence occurred in 103 (75%) patients, in which the most frequent recurrence site was distant metastasis. Conclusion: Male gender, poor performance status, grade 3 tumor, MLNR > 0.37, and not receiving adjuvant chemotherapy are predictors of poor prognosis in N3 gastric cancer after curative resection. Considering the high recurrence rates of this group, prospective studies are needed to optimize treatment strategies

The assessment of incidental thyroid lesions on 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography/computed tomogrophy: A single centre experience

Objective: The aim of the present study was to evaluate the prevalence of thyroid lesions detected by 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography (18F-FDG PET/CT) incidentally, determine malignancy risk and its relationship with maximal standardized uptake value (SUVmax) and FDG uptake pattern. Methods: Between February 2009 and February 2014, a total of 12713 patients underwent 18F-FDG PET/CT. Incidental thyroid uptake was seen in 710 patients and further diagnostic evaluation was performed on 147 patients with focal or diffuse FDG uptake. The 18F-FDG PET/CT findings of these patients and their association with malignancy were retrospectively reviewed. Results: The prevalence of thyroid incidentalomas detected by 18F-FDG PET/CT was 5.6% (710/12713). Of the 147 patients who underwent biopsy or thyroid surgery, histology was benign in 99 and malign in 48 patients. The malignancy risk of incidental thyroid lesions was calculated as 32.7% (48/147). The median SUVmax was 2.9 (0.6–27.4) in benign group, whereas 11.8 (2.4–72.9) in malign group and the difference between these groups was statistically significant (p < 0.001). According to the ROC analysis, a SUVmax above 6 was more likely to be malign with statistical significance (p < 0.001). The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value and negative predictive value were 87.4%, 81.7%, 70.1% and 93% respectively. Conclusion: The malignancy risk of incidental thyroid lesions on 18F-FDG PET/CT is high. Although it is obvious that higher SUVmax values are tended to be malign, an overlap between benign and malign groups is still remaining. In case of absence of clinical contraindications, further examination should be recommended

Classic Kaposi's sarcoma: A review of 156 cases

WOS: 000451077200002Background: Kaposi's sarcoma (KS) is a reactive, multifocal, multicentric, angiogenic neoplastic proliferation that is thought to originate from endothelial cells that are infected with human herpesvirus-8 (HHV-8). This report examines a cohort of patients with classic Kaposi's sarcoma (KS) evaluated at the national institute of oncology over the 13-year period. Methods: A retrospective analysis of 156 patients with classic KS, between January 2000 and November 2013, was performed. This study focused on the clinical presentation, staging, diagnosis, and treatment of classic KS. Results: One hundred fifty-six patients (median age 69 and 115 male) were enrolled into the study. Median age at diagnosis was 69 (range: 32e95 years). Male/female ratio was 2.80. the most common location was the lower limbs. There were 75 stage I patients (48.1%), 8 stage II patients (22.4%), 31 stage III patients (19.9%) and 15 stage IV patients (9.6%). Surgery was the most common local treatment method (43%). 44 patients (28.2%) received radiotherapy (RT) at diagnosis. Cytotoxic treatment with chemotherapy or interferon-a was administered in 57 patients. Visceral involvement was observed in 10 patients (lung: nine patients, liver: one patient) and bone metastasis occurred in two patients at relapse. Conclusion: This study is one of the largest reported series. Further studies are required and it will be important to standardize the assessment of disease activity and clinical response. Copyright (C) 2018, Taiwanese Dermatological Association. Published by Elsevier Taiwan LLC

Carbonic anhydrase IX is a prognostic biomarker in glioblastoma multiforme

WOS: 000446328600001PubMed: 29952031The identification of prognostic factors in patients with glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) represents an area of increasing interest. Carbonic anhydrase IX (CA-IX), a hypoxia marker, correlates with tumor progression in a variety of human cancers. However, the role of CA-IX in GBM remains largely unknown. in the present study, we evaluated the prognostic role of CA-IX in GBM patients. in total, 66 consecutive patients with GBM who received concomitant chemoradiotherapy and adjuvant chemotherapy with temozolomide were retrospectively reviewed, and all patients received temozolomide chemotherapy for at least 3 months. Kaplan-Meier curves and log-rank tests were used for analysis of progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS), and a multivariate Cox proportional hazard model was employed to identify factors with an independent effect on survival. the median OS was longer in patients with low levels of CA-IX expression (18 months) compared to patients overexpressing CA-IX (9 months) (P = 0.004). There was not a statistically significant difference in median PFS (3.5 vs. 8 months, P = 0.054) between patients with high or low levels of CA-IX expression. in multivariate analysis, the variables that were identified as significant prognostic factors for OS were preoperative Karnofsky performance scale score (KPS) (hazard ratio (HR), 3.703; P = 0.001), CA-IX overexpression (HR, 1.967; P = 0.019), and incomplete adjuvant temozolomide treatment (HR, 2.241; P = 0.003) and gross-total resection (HR, 1.956; P = 0.034). Our findings indicated that CA-IX may be a potential prognostic biomarker in the treatment of GBM

Classic Kaposi's sarcoma: A review of 156 cases

Background: Kaposi's sarcoma (KS) is a reactive, multifocal, multicentric, angiogenic neoplastic proliferation that is thought to originate from endothelial cells that are infected with human herpesvirus-8 (HHV-8). This report examines a cohort of patients with classic Kaposi's sarcoma (KS) evaluated at the national institute of oncology over the 13-year period. Methods: A retrospective analysis of 156 patients with classic KS, between January 2000 and November 2013, was performed. This study focused on the clinical presentation, staging, diagnosis, and treatment of classic KS. Results: One hundred fifty-six patients (median age 69 and 115 male) were enrolled into the study. Median age at diagnosis was 69 (range: 32–95 years). Male/female ratio was 2.80. The most common location was the lower limbs. There were 75 stage I patients (48.1%), 8 stage II patients (22.4%), 31 stage III patients (19.9%) and 15 stage IV patients (9.6%). Surgery was the most common local treatment method (43%). 44 patients (28.2%) received radiotherapy (RT) at diagnosis. Cytotoxic treatment with chemotherapy or interferon-α was administered in 57 patients. Visceral involvement was observed in 10 patients (lung: nine patients, liver: one patient) and bone metastasis occurred in two patients at relapse. Conclusion: This study is one of the largest reported series. Further studies are required and it will be important to standardize the assessment of disease activity and clinical response. Keywords: Classic Kaposi's sarcoma, Radiotherapy, Surgery, Chemotherap

Management of brain metastases from non-small cell lung cancer

Purpose: The purpose of the following study is to evaluate the treatment modalities, clinical status and prognostic factors affecting survival rates in patients with newly diagnosed brain metastasis from non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Patients and Methods: NSCLC patients with a new diagnosis of one to four brain metastasis evaluated retrospectively for the effects of treatment regimens on local failure-relapse-free survival (LRFS) and overall survival (OS). The relationship between age, gender, performance status, recursive partitioning analysis (RPA) classification, the primary tumor under control, number of metastatic tumors in the brain and total volume of brain metastasis and prognosis is analyzed. Results: Out of a total of 138 (121 male and 17 female) patients, nearly 44.2% received only gamma-knife (GK); 24.6% were received both GK and whole brain radiotherapy (WBRT), 2.9% had GK and surgery, 3.6% received GK, surgery and WBRT, 10.9% had surgery and WBRT and 12.3% received only WBRT for treatment. Median LRFS of surgery plus WBRT group was significantly higher when compared with WBRT group (P < 0.0001). The OS was significantly longer for surgery plus WBRT group than the other treatment groups (P = 0.037). When median survival of WBRT-only group compared with surgery plus WBRT, it was significantly higher (29.6 months vs. 16.7 months, P = 0.006). Median OS of surgery plus WBRT group was significantly higher than GK plus WBRT group (29.6 months vs. 9.3 months, P = 0.007). Conclusion: WBRT is still the most effective treatment method following surgery in selected patients according to their age, performance status and spread of the primary disease with NSCLC had limited number brain metastasis. Adding WBRT treatment after surgery significantly improved OS and LRFS

Classic Kaposi's sarcoma: A review of 156 cases

Background: Kaposi's sarcoma (KS) is a reactive, multifocal, multicentric, angiogenic neoplastic proliferation that is thought to originate from endothelial cells that are infected with human herpesvirus-8 (HHV-8). This report examines a cohort of patients with classic Kaposi's sarcoma (KS) evaluated at the national institute of oncology over the 13-year period. Methods: A retrospective analysis of 156 patients with classic KS, between January 2000 and November 2013, was performed. This study focused on the clinical presentation, staging, diagnosis, and treatment of classic KS. Results: One hundred fifty-six patients (median age 69 and 115 male) were enrolled into the study. Median age at diagnosis was 69 (range: 32e95 years). Male/female ratio was 2.80. The most common location was the lower limbs. There were 75 stage I patients (48.1\%), 8 stage II patients (22.4\%), 31 stage III patients (19.9\%) and 15 stage IV patients (9.6\%). Surgery was the most common local treatment method (43\%). 44 patients (28.2\%) received radiotherapy (RT) at diagnosis. Cytotoxic treatment with chemotherapy or interferon-a was administered in 57 patients. Visceral involvement was observed in 10 patients (lung: nine patients, liver: one patient) and bone metastasis occurred in two patients at relapse. Conclusion: This study is one of the largest reported series. Further studies are required and it will be important to standardize the assessment of disease activity and clinical response. Copyright (C) 2018, Taiwanese Dermatological Association. Published by Elsevier Taiwan LLC