Solitary pulmonary metastasis from primary melanoma of the oesophagus 5 years after resection of the primary tumor

Primary malignant melanoma of the oesophagus (PMME) is an uncommon tumor. PMME has an aggressive biological behavior, similar to melanomas developed elsewhere in the body. Most patients die from distant metastases, and the overall 5 year survival rate is approximately 4%. We report a rare case of a solitary pulmonary metastasis found 5 years after curative resection of primary esophageal melanoma. No other sites of metastatic disease were identified. Video-assisted lung wedge resection of the lung nodule was carried out successfully. This supports the concept that patients with primary melanoma of the oesophagus treated should be carefully followed up

Amyloid goiter.

AbstractBackground and aimAmyloidosis refers to a variety of conditions in which amyloid proteins are abnormally deposited in organs and/or tissues. Amyloidosis is a rare occurrence in thyroid gland.MethodsA systematic review of the published data on amyloid goiter was carried out by searching Medline and other online databases (such as Scopus and Endnote) for the period from 1951 to March 2008. A total of 127 publications (case series, single case reports and reviews) was found, of which 31 were case series published from February 1995 to March 2008. Six articles have been considered for our review because they regard amyloid goiter as a manifestation of both primary and secondary amyloidosis (a total of 30 cases have been analyzed). Exclusion criterion was the presence of primary thyroid cancer.ResultsThe preoperative diagnosis of amyloid goiter should be considered in patients with known systemic amyloidosis or with a long-standing predisposing disease who present a rapidly growing thyroid volume in association with a euthyroid state. Fine-needle aspiration biopsy can be performed to exclude primary malignant lesions of thyroid gland and immunohistochemical studies can identify and characterize the amyloid deposits.ConclusionAmyloid goiter has to be suspected in all patients with a progressive, rapidly growing, bilateral thyroid enlargement and a concomitant history of chronic inflammatory processes. Moreover, this should be suspected in patients who are known to have disease predisposing to amyloid deposition

Solitary intrathyroidal metastasis of renal clear cell carcinoma in a toxic substernal multinodular goiter.

INTRODUCTION: Thyroid gland is a rare site of clinically detectable tumor metastasis. CASE REPORT: A 71-year-old woman was referred to our department for an evaluation of toxic multinodular substernal goiter. She had a history of renal clear cell carcinoma of the left kidney, which had been resected 2 years previously. US confirmed the multinodular goiter. Total thyroidectomy with neuromonitoring was performed on March 2008. A histological examination revealed a solitary metastasis of a clear cell renal cancer in a diffuse multinodular goiter. No distant metastases are detected. CONCLUSION: Although uncommon, it is important for the endocrine surgeon and endocrine oncologist to be able to recognize and differentiate intrathyroid metastases from more primary common thyroid neoplasms. The diagnosis can be suspected if the patient has a thyroid tumor and a past history of extrathyroid cancer. These tumors, on the whole, tend to behave more aggressively and, in most cases, the use of multimodality therapy is recommende

Diagnosi precoce del cancro del polmone. Il progetto PRE.DI.CA. a Varese

4Tribuna Medica TicineseTribuna Medica Ticinese, 65, Luglio 2000, pp421-424.noneDominioni, L.; Imperatori, A.; Rovera, F.; Dionigi, G.Dominioni, Lorenzo; Imperatori, ANDREA SELENITO; Rovera, FRANCESCA ANGELA; Dionigi, Gianlorenz