ABSTRACT
Malignant gastrointestinal neuroectodermal tumor (GNET), a rare soft tissue sarcoma, is a recently described distinct clinicopathological entity. With only a few cases reported in literature till date, there is limited knowledge about the behavior as well as diagnosis of this tumor. GNET mimics several other tumors and hence presents as a diagnostic challenge to clinicians and pathologists alike. We report a case of gastrointestinal neuroectodermal tumors with liver metastasis.
ABSTRACT
Esophageal cancer is a highly lethal and aggressive disease and a major public health problem worldwide. The incidence of esophageal cancer in the western hemisphere has increased by 400 % in the past few decades (Posner et al. 2011). Surgery is the mainstay of definitive management of esophageal cancer; however, the results of surgery alone have been dismal, with survival rates of approximately 15 to 20 % at 5 years (Hingorani et al., Clin Oncol 23:696-705, 2011). The last three decades have seen growing interest in various adjuvant and neoadjuvant treatment strategies, with an aim to improve disease control and overall survival. However, due to conflicting and often contradictory results, there was controversy on the ideal treatment paradigm. Recent evidence suggests an improvement in overall survival with neoadjuvant therapy, both chemotherapy and chemoradiotherapy, over surgery. In this review we address various issues concerning multimodality management of locally advanced esophageal cancers: Does neoadjuvant therapy offer a definite benefit over surgery alone? If so, which neoadjuvant strategy? Does the survival benefit outweigh the increased treatment related toxicity/morbidity? Finally, is neoadjuvant treatment the standard of care for locally advanced resectable esophageal cancer?
ABSTRACT
A 58-year old man with thymoma and myasthenia gravis (MG) had undergone thymectomy 8 years ago with histopathologically confirmed non-invasive WHO-type AB thymoma. After 5 years of complete remission, symptoms of MG resurfaced, and a recurrent anterior mediastinal mass was detected for which he received radiotherapy. He presented to us 3 years later with productive cough and exertional dyspnoea; the positron emission tomography-computed tomography scan revealed a metabolically active pulmonary nodule in the right lung as the only site of disease for which a right lower lobectomy was done. Microscopy established an intrapulmonary WHO-type B2 thymoma and the patient is currently asymptomatic on steroids, anticholinesterase and immunosuppressant therapy. We discuss the variable and unpredictable course of thymomas; the possibility of transformation into more aggressive types with each recurrence, association with recurrent MG post-thymectomy and presentation several years later with metastatic disease.
