Ureteropelvic junction obstruction caused by metastatic cholangiocarcinoma

ABSTRACT We describe the rare case of a 61-year-old female with right ureteropelvic junction (UPJ) obstruction caused by metastatic cholangiocarcinoma. Her past medical history was notable for cholangiocarcinoma treated with neoadjuvant chemoradiation and two orthotopic liver transplants six years earlier. Urology was consulted when she presented with flank pain and urinary tract infection. Diagnostic workup demonstrated right UPJ obstruction. She was managed acutely with percutaneous nephrostomy. She subsequently underwent robotic pyeloplasty and intrinsic obstruction of the UPJ was discovered. Histological examination revealed adenocarcinoma, consistent with systemic recurrence of the patient's known cholangiocarcinoma.

Extraneural metastases in medulloblastoma / Mestástases extraneurais em moduloblastoma

Medulloblastoma is the most common childhood malignant tumor of central nervous system, but it may also occur in adults. It presents high invasive growth with spreading of tumor cells into the leptomeningeal space along the neuroaxis early in the course of the disease. Extraneural metastases are rare but frequently lethal, occurring only in 1 to 5 percent of patients, and are related, in the most of cases, to the presence of ventriculoperitoneal shunt. Here we characterize the clinical profile of five cases of medulloblastoma with systemic spreading of tumor cells, also comparing them to cases already described in the literature.

O meduloblastoma é o tumor maligno mais frequente do sistema nervoso central na infância, mas também pode ocorrer em adultos. Ele apresenta crescimento altamente invasivo com disseminação de células tumorais ao longo do neuroeixo precocemente no curso da doença. Metástases extraneurais são raras mas frequentemente letais, ocorrendo apenas em 1 a 5 por cento dos pacientes, e estão relacionadas, na maioria dos casos, a presença de derivação ventriculperitoneal. Neste artigo ,apresentamos o perfil de cinco casos de meduloblastoma com disseminção sistêmica das células tumorais, comparando-os com os casos já descritos na literatura.

Analysis of the clinicopathological characteristics of patients with upper urinary tract transitional cell carcinoma

OBJECTIVE: To describe the clinicopathological characteristics of patients with upper urinary tract transitional cell carcinomas who are treated surgically and to analyze the occurrence of bladder tumors as well as the development of metastases outside the urinary tract. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study comprised a retrospective analysis of 25 patients treated between February 1994 and August 2006. The variables analyzed were: patient age, gender, and clinical presentation; diagnostic methods; pathologic characteristics at the primary site of the tumor (pelvis or ureter); tumor stage and grade; and presence of carcinoma in situ, microvascular invasion and squamous differentiation. The Kaplan-Meier method and the Log-Rank test were used for statistical analysis of bladder recurrence-free survival. RESULTS: Eighty-four percent of patients were male, and macroscopic hematuria was the most common clinical presentation. The majority of cases (56 percent) were infiltrative (T2-T3) and high-grade (76 percent) tumors. Synchronous or metachronous bladder tumors were found in 72 percent of cases. Five (20 percent) patients had a history of bladder tumor before the diagnosis of upper urinary tract transitional cell carcinomas. The mean follow-up period was 36 months (range: 1.5 to 156). During the follow-up period, eleven (44 percent) patients developed bladder tumors. After five years, the probability of being free of bladder tumor recurrence was 40 percent. No pathological variable was predictive for bladder tumor recurrence. Four patients presented disease recurrence outside the urinary tract. CONCLUSIONS: The presence of metachronous bladder tumors is more often observed after the diagnosis of upper urinary tract transitional cell carcinomas. All of these patients should undergo rigorous follow-up during the postoperative period. Only patients with infiltrative and high-grade tumors developed metastases outside the urinary tract.

Fatores de risco não habituais para metástase linfonodal no câncer do colo do útero / Unusual risk factors for lymph node metastasis in cancer of the uterine cervix

OBJETIVO: Verificar as variáveis associadas às metástases nos linfonodos pélvicos em pacientes com carcinoma do colo do útero nos estádios IB e IIA. MÉTODOS: Estudaram-se 289 pacientes admitidas no Departamento de Ginecologia do Centro de Tratamento e Pesquisa Hospital do Câncer A. C. Camargo com carcinoma invasor do colo do útero (IB e IIA) no período de 1980 a 1999 e que foram submetidas à cirurgia radical. A coleta de dados foi realizada a partir dos prontuários e da revisão de cortes histológicos dos colos de útero e dos linfonodos, sendo registrados dados sociodemográficos (idade ao diagnóstico, cor da pele), clínicos (estádio da doença, taxa de hemoglobina pré-operatória e índice de massa corpórea) e histopatológicos (tipo histológico, grau histológico, índice mitótico, embolização em capilares linfáticos e/ou sangüíneos, invasão perineural, profundidade de invasão do tumor no estroma cervical, intensidade da reação inflamatória no colo do útero, necrose tumoral, tamanho do tumor, invasão dos ligamentos cervicais laterais e do corpo do útero e status linfonodal). A associação entre a presença de metástase linfonodal e as diversas variáveis foi avaliada pelo teste de Qui-quadrado, pelo teste exato de Fisher e pela regressão logística múltipla. RESULTADOS: Encontrou-se metástase nos linfonodos pélvicos em 65 pacientes (22,5 por cento). Foram identificados os seguintes fatores de risco para metástase linfonodal na análise multivariada: taxa de hemoglobina < 10,0 g por cento (OR=3,6; IC95 por cento:1,210,7), invasão tumoral do terço médio (OR=3,3; IC95 por cento:1,110,7) e profundo do colo do útero (OR=5,4; IC95 por cento:1,717,3), reação inflamatória ausente ou de intensidade leve no colo do útero (OR=2,4; IC95 por cento:1,15,2) e carcinoma epidermóide queratinizante (OR=3,3; IC95 por cento:1,47,6). CONCLUSÕES: Este estudo identificou quatro fatores de risco para metástase nos linfonodos pélvicos em pacientes com carcinoma do colo...

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the variables associated with pelvic lymph node metastasis in patients with carcinoma of the uterine cervix at stages IB and IIA. METHODS: The study was carried out with 289 patients with invasive carcinoma of the uterine cervix (IB and IIA) who underwent radical surgery, admitted to the Gynecology Department of the Treatment and Research Center of the Hospital do Câncer A. C. Camargo, between 1980 and 1999. Data were collected from patient's records and from review of the histological sections from the uterine cervices and the lymph nodes, including sociodemographic data (age at diagnosis, skin color), clinical data (disease stage, preoperative hemoglobin level, body mass index) and histopathological data (histological type, histological grade, blood and/or lymphatic capillary embolization, perineural invasion, depth of tumor invasion into cervical stroma, intensity of inflammatory reaction in the uterine cervix, tumor necrosis, tumor size, invasion of the lateral cervical ligaments and uterine body, and lymph node status). Associations between lymph node metastasis and the different variables were evaluated by means of the chi-square test, Fisher's exact test and multiple logistic regression. RESULTS: Pelvic lymph node metastasis was found in 65 patients (22.5 percent). The following risk factors for lymph node metastasis were identified by multivariate analysis: hemoglobin level <10.0 g percent (OR = 3.6; 95 percent CI: 1.210.7), tumor invasion of the middle third (OR = 3.3; 95 percent CI: 1.110.7) and deep third of the uterine cervix (OR = 5.4; 95 percent CI: 1.717.3), absent or slight inflammatory reaction in the uterine cervix (OR = 2.4; 95 percent CI: 1.15.2) and keratinizing squamous cell carcinoma (OR = 3.3; 95 percent CI: 1.47.6). CONCLUSIONS: This study identified four risk factors for pelvic lymph node metastasis in patients with carcinoma of the uterine cervix at stages IB and IIA. Of these, three...

Laparoscopic resection of metastatic pelvic liposarcoma

We report a pelvic liposarcoma originating from the left spermatic cord that recurred following inadequate excision. In our case, the tumor was resected without performing orchiectomy previously. The patient was managed by laparoscopic resection, before undergoing radical orchiectomy in the left inguinal region. To our knowledge, no case of laparoscopic resection for the recurrent liposarcoma has been described. In addition, the present case serves to demonstrate that radical orchiectomy with wide excision is needed for paratesticular tumor.

Decisiones ético-clínicas en el caso de un paciente terminal con cáncer metastásico: el problema de la eutanasia / Ethical and clinical decisions in a terminal patient with metastasic cancer: the euthanasia problem

The easiness of medical technology to prolong life in patients with severe cognitive or biological deterioration, the existence of cultural tendencies that underscore the importance of patient's self determination and economical considerations have posed the problem of euthanasia among patients, their families, society and medical teams. A propos of an exemplary patient, the ethical principles that allow the distinction between passive euthanasia and with drawal of life support measures ane analysed. The analysis of active euthanasia, leads to the conclusion that it is not comptible with the ethical principles that classically have inspired medical actions

Valor de la tomografia computada en la recidiva del cáncer rectal / Value of the tomography in rectal cancer recidivation

La certeza de una recidiva perineal en un paciente operado de un cáncer de recto, se hace muy difícil a través de la clínica o de los métodos convencionales de diagnóstico. La tomografía computada de periné puede suministrar información sobre tamaño, altura y relación del tumor con las estructuras vecinas. Pero fundamentalmente su importancia es asegurar sobre la existencia o no de la enfermedad recurrente, evitando muchas veces intervenciones quirúrgicas o tratamientos que en nada beneficiarían al paciente