Solitary Tibial Osteolytic Lesion

We report an unusual case of solitary osteolytic tibial metastasis from a primary endometrial cancer in a 62-year-old woman. The primary cancer was treated with total abdominal hysterectomy and bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy combined with postoperative external beam radiotherapy, while the tibial metastasis was treated with an above knee amputation. The rarity of the case lies on the fact that metastases distally to the elbow and knee are uncommon and endometrial cancer rarely gives distal bone metastases and particularly solitary to the extremities

Curcumin and Radiotherapy Exert Synergistic Anti-Glioma Effect In Vitro

Curcumin, a bioactive polyphenol, is known to have anticancer properties. In this study, the effectiveness of curcumin pretreatment as a strategy for radio-sensitizing glioblastoma cell lines was explored. For this, U87 and T98 cells were treated with curcumin, exposed to 2 Gy or 4 Gy of irradiation, and the combined effect was compared to the antiproliferative effect of each agent when given individually. Cell viability and proliferation were evaluated with the trypan blue exclusion assay and the 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay. The synergistic effects of the combination treatment were analyzed with CompuSyn software. To examine how the co-treatment affected different phases of cell-cycle progression, a cell-cycle analysis via flow cytometry was performed. Treatment with curcumin and radiation significantly reduced cell viability in both U87 and T98 cell lines. The combination treatment arrested both cell lines at the G2/M phase to a higher extent than radiation or curcumin treatment alone. The synergistic effect of curcumin when combined with temozolomide resulted in increased tumor cell death. Our results demonstrate for the first time that low doses of curcumin and irradiation exhibit a strong synergistic anti-proliferative effect on glioblastoma cells in vitro. Therefore, this combination may represent an innovative and promising strategy for the treatment of glioblastoma, and further studies are needed to fully understand the molecular mechanism underlying this effect

Prevention of heterotopic ossification in high-risk patients with total hip arthroplasty: the experience of a combined therapeutic protocol

The combination of radiotherapy and indomethacin for the prevention of heterotopic ossification (HO) in high-risk patients undergoing total hip arthroplasty (THA) has not been reported. The aim of the present study was to present the experience of our department with this combined therapeutic protocol. Fifty-four patients who underwent THA received a single dose of 7 Gy of postoperative radiotherapy and 75 mg of indomethacin for 15 days. Patients were analyzed for clinical and radiographical evidence of HO development at 1 year postoperatively. The overall radiographical incidence of HO was 20.4% (95% CI 10.6–33.5%), while only 1 patient with clinically significant HO was seen. Patients with secondary arthritis due to congenital hip disease had a statistically significantly higher incidence of HO compared with those with osteoarthrosis. The clinical assessment with the Merle d’Aubigné score showed that patients with radiographic documentation of HO had a lower mean score compared with those with no evidence of HO. No treatment-related side effects were seen. Combined radiotherapy and indomethacin was effective in preventing heterotopic ossification after total hip arthroplasty. The evaluation of this efficacy compared with radiotherapy or NSAIDs alone should be the future target of larger randomized designs