ABSTRACT
To investigate the frequency and significance of pulmonary nodules in patients with colorectal cancer [CRC]. Medical records of 1,344 patients with CRC who underwent thoracic computerized tomography scans between January 2003 and December 2009 were reviewed. Those with any distant metastatic disease or who were already known to have pulmonary malignancies were excluded. Number, size, shape and location of the nodules were evaluated. A multivariate analysis was performed to determine the predictive factors for evidence of metastases. Results: Of the 1,344 patients, 55 [4.09%] had nodules that met the criteria of an indeterminate pulmonary nodule. The mean follow-up time was 25 +/- 17.9 months and the mean time to develop pulmonary metastasis was 15.5 +/- 6.4 months. The nodules of 17 [30.9%] patients showed pro-gression at follow-up; 8 had metastasized. Multivariate analysis showed multiple indeterminate pulmonary nodules [p = 0.006] of parenchymal localization [p = 0.016] with an irregular border [p = 0.002], which is predictive of metastatic disease. Conclusion: Our study has shown that multiple indeterminate pulmonary nodules with an irregular border in a parenchymal location were more likely to represent metastatic disease. However, the frequency of the occurrence of indeterminate pulmonary metastases of CRC was low
ABSTRACT
The aim of this study was to determine the markers of prognosis in metastatic inflammatory breast cancer [IBC]. The prognostic value of patients' clinical characteristics and expression of c-erbB-2, p53, Ki-67, ER and PgR were assessed in the 45 patients with IBC who had developed distant metastasis. Immunohisto-chemical methods were used to detect the expression of c-erbB-2, p53, Ki-67, ER and PgR in surgical resection specimens of the patients' primary tumor. The median overall survival [OS] measured from the diagnosis of metastatic disease was 23 months. In the univariate analysis, p53 protein accumulation and the presence of visceral metastasis were predictive of poor survival [p = 0.01 and 0.003, respectively]. In the multivariate analysis, accumulation of p53 protein and the presence of visceral metastasis correlated with OS [p = 0.02 and 0.008, respectively]. In metastatic IBC, accumulation of p53 protein and presence of visceral metastasis are independent prognostic factors for OS. Established prognostic factors in non-IBC patients such as patient age, histologic grade, hormone receptor status and c-erbB-2 status did not have independent significance in IBC in this Study
ABSTRACT
To evaluate the efficacy, toxicity and factors affecting the survival rate of patients treated with irinotecan. Data from the medical records of 74 patients who had recurrent/metastatic colorectal cancer treated with single-agent irinotecan were analyzed. The mean age for all the patients was 56 years [range 19-77]. Forty-one [55%] and 33 [45%] patients had recurrent and/or metastatic colon cancer, respectively. All the patients were treated with irinotecan 350 mg/m[2] every 21 days. Grade 3-4 emesis, grade 3-4 diarrhea, grade 3-4 neutropenia and severe early cholinergic events developed in 7, 15, 7 and 1.3% of patients, respectively. One patient died due to acute renal failure. The overall response rate was 14% [complete response 5%, partial response 9%]; 61% had stable response while another 25% had progressive disease. Patients with multiple metastatic foci, patients