Solitary Fibrous Tumor That Developed in the Thigh

A solitary fibrous tumor (STF) is a relatively unusual neoplasm first described as a distinctive tumor arising from pleura. Some reports have shown that STF also affect extrathoracic regions. A 70-year-old woman was referred to our hospital for surgical treatment of an incidentally discovered thigh mass. We performed complete removal of the tumor. It was a soft tissue tumor with muscle indentation but without invasion to the surrounding muscles. The resected specimen was 7.0x6.3x5.2 cm. Histologically, the tumor was composed of a haphazard proliferation of spindle cells and epitheloid cells with hypercellularity and high mitotic activity. Immunohistochemistry showed positive immunoreactivity for CD34, CD99, bcl-2 protein, CD117, vimentin, smooth muscle actin and epithelial membrane antigen. We report, herein, on a rare case of malignant SFT in the thigh region along with a review of the literature.

The Prognostic Value of CA19-9 in Patients with Colorectal Cancer

PURPOSE: There has been much debate about the significance of the CA19-9 level for predicting the prognosis of colorectal cancer patients. This study aimed to evaluate the prognostic value of the preoperative serum CA19-9 level and the CA19-9 expression in the tumor tissues of colorectal cancer patients METHODS: One hundred patients with colorectal cancer and who had been treated by resection were studied. We assessed the correlations of the preoperative serum CA19-9 level and the status of the CA19-9 immunohistochemical staining with the clinicopathologic features, including the prognosis of the patients. RESULTS: The preoperative serum CA19-9 level had significant correlation with the status of CA19-9 immunohistochemical staining. The presence of distant metastasis was significantly correlated with an elevated level of serum CA19-9. The depth of tumor, the presence of lymph node metastasis, the TNM stage and tumor cell differentiation were significantly correlated with the status of the CA19-9 immunohistochemical staining. In addition, the gross morphology, depth of tumor, the presence of lymph node metastasis, the TNM stage, the status of the CA19-9 immunohistochemical staining and the serum CEA level were correlated with survival on univariate analysis. However, multivariate analysis did not validate the status of CA19-9 immunohistochemical staining as a significantly independent predictor of the prognosis. CONCLUSION: The CA19-9 expression was frequently observed in advanced stage tumor tissue, yet its expression in tumor tissue or the preoperative CA19-9 serum level did not show independent prognostic value for colorectal cancer patients.

Clinical Significance of Thrombocytosis in Patients with Colorectal Cancer

PURPOSE: Thrombocytosis is commonly associated with various tumors, including stomach, ovarian, lung, liver and pancreas cancers. Some clinical reports have shown thrombocytosis to be associated with the disease stage and prognosis. This study investigated the prevalence of the thromobocytosis in patients with colorectal cancer, and its association with the prognosis. METHODS: Two hundreds ninety-six patients with colorectal cancer who had been surgically treated at our hospital between 1997 and 2004 were enrolled in this study. The incidence, relationship with other clinicopathological factors, and the prognostic value of thrombocytosis were evaluated retrospectively. RESULTS: Thirty-seven of the 290 (12.8%) patients had thrombocytosis. The incidence of thrombocytosis was examined with regard to gender (P=0.018), tumor location (P=0.021), and T stage of tumor (P or =5 ng/ml) to be associated with both the disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS). Multivariate analysis revealed thrombocytosis to be significantly associated with the disease-free survival (P=0.026). CONCLUSION: Preoperative thrombocytosis appears to be an independent prognostic indicator of the DFS in patients with colorectal cancer.