Factores procoagulantes en pacientes con cáncer / Procoagulant factors in patients with cancer

El objetivo del presente estudio fue determinar los niveles de factor tisular (FT) y procoagulante del cáncer (PC) en pacientes con enfermedades neoplásicas para intentar establecer: 1) si existe asociación entre la presencia de estos marcadores y el origen del tumor; 2) si los niveles de estas proteínas procoagulantes se correlacionan con los estadíos I/II o III/IV de la enfermedad; 3) si los tratamientos con quimioterapia modifican los niveles séricos del FT y PC y, finalmente 4) evaluar si estos procoagulantes podrían comportarse como marcadores predictivos en el desarrollo de trombosis. Se incluyeron 61 pacientes con diferentes tipos de cáncer: pulmón (n=14), mama (n=19), digestivo (n=13), y génitourinario (n=12) y controles normales (n=20). Los resultados demostraron una sensibilidad y especificidad del 87,9% y 85%, respectivamente, para el PC y del 72,4% y 100% para el FT. Los pacientes con cáncer génitourinario presentaron los valores más altos de ambos procoagulantes coicidiendo con la mayor prevalencia de trombosis objetiva clínica y radiológicamente. Ninguno de los procoagulantes evaluados permitió difenciar estadío I-II de III-IV de la enfermedad. Por otra parte, el tratamiento con quioterapia no modificó con significancia estadística, los niveles de ambos procoagulantes. Un seguimiento clínico y de laboratorio en función del tiempo y del tratamiento sería importante para establecer el valor pronóstico de los niveles de estos procoagulantes y su propensión a desarrollar trombosis en pacientes con cáncer.

Indications for percutaneous nephrostomy in patients with obstructive uropathy due to malignant urogenital neoplasias

INTRODUCTION: Urogenital neoplasias frequently progress with obstructive uropathy due to local spreading or pelvic metastases. The urinary obstruction must be immediately relieved in order to avoid deterioration in these patients. The percutaneous nephrostomy is a safe and effective method for relief the obstruction; however the indications of such procedures have been questioned in patients with poor prognosis. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A retrospective study was performed with 43 patients (29 female and 14 male) with urogenital neoplasias who were undergoing percutaneous nephrostomy during a 54-month period. The median age was 52 years. The primary tumoral site was the uterine cervix in 53.5 percent of patients, the bladder in 23.3 percent, the prostate in 11.6 percent and other sites in 11.6 percent. RESULTS: Postoperative complications occurred in 42.3 percent of the patients. There was no procedure-related mortality. Thirty-nine per cent of the patients died during the hospitalization period due to advanced neoplasia. The mortality rate was higher in patients with prostate cancer (p = 0.006), in patients over 52 years of age (p = 0.03) and in those who required hemodialysis before the procedure (p = 0.02). Thirty-two per cent of the patients survived long enough to undergo some form of treatment focused on the primary tumor. The survival rate was 40 percent at 6 months and 24.2 percent at 12 months. The percentage of the lifetime spent in hospitalization was 17.7 percent. The survival rate was higher in patients with neoplasia of the uterine cervix (p = 0.007) and in patients with 52 years of age or less (p = 0.008). CONCLUSION: Morbidity was high in this patient group; however, the majority of patients could be discharged from hospital and followed at home. Patients under 52 years of age and patients with neoplasia of the uterine cervix benefited most from the percutaneous nephrostomy when compared to patients with hormone therapy-refractory prostate cancer, bladder cancer or over 52 years of age.