Brain metastases are a leading cause of morbidity and mortality for patients with systemic cancer and are among the most common intracranial tumors in adults. Its incidence increases as cancer therapies improve, and patients live longer, providing new challenges to the multidisciplinary teams that manage these patients. The contemporary neurosurgical treatment of intracranial metastases has become gradually more complex as the available therapeutic options increase. For the past 50 years, whole brain radiotherapy and systemic corticosteroids have been considered as the standard of care for patients with brain metastases. However, in recent years, stereotactic radiosurgery is spotlighted as an alternative therapeutic modality for these patients because of its relatively short, convenient, and non-invasive treatment course. Stereotactic radiosurgery is a radiation therapy technique in which multiple focused radiation beams intersect over a target, which results in the delivery of highly conformal, high-dose of radiation to the target and minimal radiation to surrounding normal parenchyma. The purpose of this review is to provide an overview of stereotactic radiosurgery as a treatment modality for patients with brain metastases.
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Orbital metastases are rare and predominantly unilateral occurrences. Bilateral metastases affecting the extraocular muscles are extremely rare. A few case reports of bilateral metastases to extraocular muscles described binocular diplopia with conspicuous bilateral external ophthalmoplegia as an initial symptom. We report a case in which unilateral ptosis was an initial symptom and bilateral incomplete ophthalmoplegia was found on initial neurologic examination in invasive ductal carcinoma of the breast. The patient had hormone receptor-positive breast cancer, and so was treated by hormonal therapies and closely monitored. The presence of a secondary orbital lesion presents many difficulties of differential diagnosis and treatment. A thorough neurologic examination to detect ocular manifestations is most important for localization and broad differential diagnosis including mechanical orbital metastatic lesion.
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A 56-year-old man was diagnosed with cancer of the ascending colon along with retroperitoneal lymph node and peritoneal metastases. After six cycles of palliative chemotherapy, he presented with acute-onset jaundice. Imaging examinations did not show abnormal liver findings other than a periportal linear hypoattenuating area, and endoscopic retrograde cholangiography revealed a tight stricture of the proximal common bile duct. Total bilirubin continued to increase after endoscopic sphincterotomy and biliary stent insertion. Blind liver biopsy revealed tumor infiltration along liver lymphatics, but ruled out tumor involvement of hepatic parenchyma and sinusoids. Tumor cells were predominantly confined to within the lymphatic vessels and were not observed in the arteries or veins. Although one loading dose of cetuximab and two fractions of palliative radiotherapy were administered, the patient succumbed to acute liver injury 30 days after the development of jaundice.
Alveolar soft part sarcoma (ASPS) is a rare form of soft tissue sarcoma, and frequently, metastases are found at diagnosis. In patients with metastatic or unresected ASPS, systemic treatment is extremely limited, because conventional chemotherapeutic agents have not been effective in most cases. A novel agent inhibiting angiogenesis, pazopanib, has been proven to be effective for metastatic soft tissue sarcoma in a second-line setting. However, the efficacy of pazopanib in ASPS has not yet been reported. A 22-year-old man presented with right calf ASPS and multiple lung metastases. Pazopanib as a second-line treatment showed significant tumor response. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of the effectiveness of pazopanib in ASPS.
Pulmonary mucoepidermoid carcinoma (MEC) is a rare form of lung cancer that originates from submucosal glands of tracheobronchial tree. Unlike low-grade tumor with benign nature, high-grade case is even rarer and has aggressive clinical features with no definite treatment option. Here, we report a case of high-grade pulmonary MEC with fulminant clinical course. A 74-year-old man presented with cough, sputum and mental change. Chest imaging showed massive mediastinal lymphadenopathy with obstructive pneumonia, and multiple metastases in lung and adrenal gland. Bronchoscopy showed polypoid masses obstructing right main bronchus and bronchus intermedius. Histopathology revealed a mixture of glandular structure lined with mucussecreting cells and nests of squamoid cells with nuclear atypia and pleomorphism, which is compatible with high-grade MEC. We intensively treated the patient with combination antibiotics and ventilator care. However, the patient did not respond to the treatment and rapidly deteriorated, and finally expired a month after diagnosis.
Currently D2 lymph node dissection is considered as minimal extent of dissection in curative resection of gastric cancer. This study was conducted to investigated the patterns of lymph node metastasis of gastric cancer and to validate extent of lympn node dissection.
Among 117 patients with gastric cancer, 35 patients with early gastric cancer and 45 with advanced gastric cancer underwent curative gastric resection were enrolled in this study. Removed lymph nodes were classified as N1(1~6), N2(7~11), N3(12~16) and the boundary of dissection was classified as D1, D2, D3, D3+α according to classification of stomach cancer research association in Korea.
The priportion of early gastric cancer was 30%(35/117). Average number of metas-tatic lymph nodes was 2 in stage II, 6 in stage IIIa, 13 in stage IIIb, 21 in stage IV(p<0.05). 2 patients with early gastric cancer had metastatic lymph node(N1) and their lesions were over 3.0cm in size, depressed in shape. In terms of differentiation, 25(62%) patients with stage I, D1 dissection was carried out in two(5%), D2 dissection in eleven(28%), D3 or D3+α dissection in twenty seven (67%). In the patients with over stage II, there was no D1 dissection, D2 dissection was performed only in 3(7%), D3 or D3+α dissection in 37(92%). Extended lymph node dissection was significantly much higher in advanced cases than in early cases. The average number of resected positive lymph nodes were higher in BORRMANN type III or type IV than in type II(p<0.01, p<0.05 respectively). All patients with positive N2 or N3 lymph nodes revealed the positive N1 lymph nodes. There were 2(25%) skipped metastasis among 8 patients with positive N3 lymph nodes.
At least D2 lymph node dissection is needed for curative resection of gastric cancer in the patients with possible metastasis of N1 lymph nodes, even in the those we early gastric cancer. D3 or D3+α dissection should be performed in the patients with possible metastasis of N2 lymph nodes among advanced gastric cancer, even in the patients without metastasis of N2 lymph nodes selectiely because of skipped metastasis.
Choriocarcinonla is very rare malignancy, accounting for less than 1% of all testicular germcell tumor. However, it is an important disease in the field of oncology, as it represents ahighly curable malignancy. and one in which the incidence is focused on young patients attheir peak of productivity. In nonserninomatous germ cell testis tumor, assessment of prognosticfactors is related to develop a basis for more rational therapy for each individual patient.Along with prognostic staging, appropriate treatment shoud be applied to each patient to improve disease-free survival. And. surgical resection of residual masses after cisplatin-based chemotherapy is an established adjuvant to chemotherapy, because complete remission can be improvedabout 10% with appropriately timed complete resection of residual diseases. So, we reporta case of a 27-year old male patient with testicular choriocarcinoma who presented with multiplelung metastases after radical orchiectomy. He recieved lung wedge resection after 8 cycles ofcisplatin, etoposide, ifosfamide combination chemotherapy. and complete remission was confirmed and maintained.
Although the role of surgical management of metastatic disease from primary carcinoma of the coln and recutm is still controversial, resection of hepatic metastasis improves survival rate of patients with primary colorectal carcinoma treated locally. The lung is the most common site of extra-abdominal metastasis following resection of a prymary colorectal tumor and not amenable to curative therapy.
It is possible to resect the pulmonary metastasis in selected patients following resection of colorectal cancers, but the 5-year survival rates are ranged from 9% to 57%. Authors report a case of resection of pulmonary metastasis occured 3 years after resection of primary colon carcinoma.
Metastatic tumors of the spine often cause severe pain and paralysis because of deformity and neural encroachment. As oncology now extends the life expectancies of these patients, spinal decompression and stabilization are necessary.
2 patients who had vertebral metastases of hepatocarcinoma were operated on by decompressive corporectomy and firm stabilization. They had significant neural recovery and pain relief immediately.
Now, 2 cases are presented with a brief review of literatures.
Ovarian cancer is generally primary cancer and less frequently originates from metastasis from non-gynecological cancer. Ovarian metastasis from lung cancer represents only 2~4% of all ovarian metastatic cancers. We report a case of ovarian metastasis of non-small cell lung cancer with epidermal growth factor receptor mutation. The patient underwent cytoreductive surgery for the ovarian mass and erlotinib therapy for the metastatic lung cancer. Erlotinib therapy markedly decreased the size of lung mass.
Gastric metastasis from breast cancer is rare and only six cases have been reported in Korea. Colon metastasis is more rare than gastric metastasis. We report a 63-year-old woman with gastric and colon metastases of invasive lobular carcinoma of breast. She was diagnosed as right breast cancer, received right modified radical mastectomy 10 years ago and has been treated with chemotherapy and hormone therapy. Investigating for melena and a small caliber of stool, we found gastric and colon metastases. The diagnosis of metastatic breast cancer was made through gross pathologic and immunohistochemistry staining. We report a case with gastric and colon metastases from breast cancer and a review of the associated six case reports in Korea.
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The aim of this study is to verify the status and the clinical significance of
Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification and direct sequencing were performed for the analysis of melanoma samples (n=22) for the detection of mutations in exon 15 of the
Incidence of somatic mutations within the
The incidence of
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Small cell lung cancer accounts for about 20% of all lung cancers. At the time of diagnosis, the majority of patients already have metastasis. The liver is one of the most common sites of distant metastasis of lung cancer. Small cell lung cancer arises from neuroendocrine cells which produce hormone, hormone producing granules can be seen under electron microscope . A 65-year-old male was admitted to hospital because of jaundice and right upper quadrant pain. The chest roentgenogram and chest computed tomography(CT) scan showed a 3 cm mass in right upper lobe with bilateral mediastinal lymphadenopathy and right pleural effusion. The abdomen CT scan revealed multiple masses in the liver with heterogenous pattern suggesting metastatic orgin. Though the immunohistochemistry and electron miscroscopy, he was diagnosed as metastatic small cell lung cancer of liver. We report a case of the Immunohistochemical and Electron Microscopic Observation of Metastatic Small Cell Lung Cancer of Liver.
To determine the computed tomographic findings of cervical lymphadenopathy which distinguish tuberculous lymphadenitis from metastatic lymphadenopathy.
We retrospectively analyzed the CT findings of 21 patients with tuberculous lymphadenitis and 19 with metastatic lymphadenopathy in terms of location, size, shape, presence and shape of necrosis, and presence of extranodal extension.
The tuberculous lymphadenopathy was predominantly located in spinal accessory chain(level V)(42%), but metastatic lymphadinopathy was predominantly located in internal jugular chain(level II)(37%). Of the 21 patients with tuberculous lymphadenitis, the shape was conglomerated lesion with irregular margin in 13 cases. Of the 19 patients with metastatic lymphadenopathy, conglomerated lesion in 4 cases, which were statistically significant(p<0.05). The presence of central necrosis was more frequent in tuberculous lymphadenitis(n=20) than metastatic lymphadenopathy(n=11)(p<0.05). The presence of extranodal extension was significantly different between tuberculous(n=19) and metastatic lymphadenopathy(n=1)(p<0.05).
Cervical tuberculous lymphadenitis frequently involves the spinal accessory chain in young woman. The irregular conglomerated lesion with irregular central necrosis and extranodal extension on CT scan is suggestive of cervical tuberculous lymphadenitis, which is useful in differentiating from metastatic lymphadenopathy.