Squamous Cell Carcinoma of the Palm in Nigeria.

OBJECTIVE: To document six cases of squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) of the palm. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A review of patients' records seen from 1986 to 1998, at the Plastic Surgical Unit of the National Orthopaedic Hospital, Enugu was undertaken. The accumulated data were analyzed with the reference to those diagnosed as SCCs. RESULTS: Four males and two females with a mean age of 61.3 years were afflicted with SCC of the palm. All but one of these patients farmed. There were long delays before presentation, and extents of the lesions reflected that. CONCLUSION: The Public health education is indicated in our community, if the patients are to recognize the nature of this lesion and report early.

Prevalence of endobronchial metastases in lung cancer in Scotland.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Endobronchial metastases are reported in patients suffering from lung cancer. The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of this lesion in patients in Scotland. DESIGN AND SETTINGS: Lung cancer patients autopsied personally at the Western Infirmary, Glasgow, Scotland, were examined regarding the primary lesion and its secondaries with special reference to the submucosa of the bronchus. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A total of 100 patients had full records of their illness and the autopsy findings. RESULTS: Four patients had lobectomy and were excluded from the series. Of the remaining 96 patients, 53 showed no endobronchial metastases, 26 exhibited bronchial sheathing, 10 manifested submucosal metastases, and the remaining 7 had both sheathing and submucosal metastases. CONCLUSION: This study demonstrated that Scottish patients dying with lung cancer displayed endobronchial metastases at autopsy. This lesion and its benign counterparts are increasingly undergoing therapeutic management.

Nature's necrosis factor when associated with erythrocytes may not only explain the surprises in lung cancer metastases but also suggest target therapy.

Lung cancer is so strategically situated as regards the heart and aorta that it ought to scatter its metastasizing cells far and wide. However, at careful autopsy, instead of giant opportunities, only dwarf deposition may be detected. Indeed, up to seven patterns of its metastases demonstrate surprises. What explains these surprises? Consider the thoracic duct. When this 45 cm long duct was obtained in its entirety, coiled in the Swiss-roll manner, processed in the usual way, and examined on a single microscope slide, necrosis of some transported lung cancer cells was found to be very intimately associated with the erythrocytes. Therefore, let this underlying natural mechanism be named as the "erythrocyte associated necrosis factor", i.e., EANF. It is argued that this Factor operates differently from the suspected roles of both anoikis and stem cells. Accordingly, it is hypothesized that, if intravital video microscopy is used to obtain subsets of both necrotic and lively cancer cells from the thoracic duct of consenting lung cancer patients, the underlying EANF will definitely materialize. It is predicted that the manipulative replication of this Factor in leading centers will ensure progress. In sum, EANF would not only aid in our understanding of the outlined highly inefficient metastatic processes but also effect a breakthrough in the realms of target therapy.

Tubercular endometritis detected through Pap smear campaign in Enugu, Nigeria.

In a series of 3,267 cervical smears examined in Enugu, Nigeria, from 1993 through 2010, there was a single positive case of tuberculosis (TB). It was found in a 55-year-old, Para 7, postmenopausal woman. Treatment for tuberculosis was instituted successfully.

Spontaneous regression of breast carcinoma: review of English publications from 1753 to 1897.

Regression is an important phenomenon in oncology. Two reviews in 2011 dealt at length with what in modern parlance may be called its permutations and combinations. Specifically, in both 1982 and 1987, when its occurrence in breast cancer was presented from two centers, the oldest accounts of it were dated back to 1900. Therefore, a search for much older English literature was undertaken in order to widen current knowledge of this important problem. Consequently, a published long case dating back to 1897 is abridged and a short 1846 case is also noted. Furthermore, general etiological concepts are exemplified as far back as 1753. It is concluded that the history of cancer regression is like fishing in an ocean of this illness. However, the findings are deemed to complement what modern historical accounts lack.

Lymphangiogenesis may explain adrenal selectivity in lung cancer metastases.

The 'seed and soil' hypothesis of organ selectivity in cancer metastasis dated back to the 1870s. A century later, a review of significant selectivity data revealed that the adrenals featured in 11 of 12 classes of it, thus promoting these two organs for research. Fortunately, two discoveries have also occurred, namely, (a) that cancer stimulates lymph vessel formation, i.e., lymphangiogenesis, and (b) that lymph and blood vessels are differentially stainable. Accordingly, these interesting ideas should be exploited with a hypothesis. Therefore, it is proposed that, at autopsy in lung cancer cases, the tissues between the primary lung tumor and the adrenal secondary should be meticulously serially sectioned and disjunctively stained because they must reveal what naturally occurs in this zone during life. It is predicted that this maneuver will identify lymphangiogenesis as the phenomenon responsible for the age-old puzzle of adrenal selectivity. Indeed, it may explain other puzzles such as intracranial lymphatic connectivity.

Epidemiology of skin cancer arisen from the burn scars in Nigerian Ibos.

During the period 20 February 1970-19 February 2000, burns resulting in squamous cell carcinoma of the skin were documented by using a histopathology data pool of surgical specimens kept by the author as regards his Ibos ethnic group in Nigeria, West Africa. There were 21 cases. The males outnumbered the females in the ratio of 3:1. The youngest patient was aged 8 years and the oldest 75 years (mean age 39 years). Most of the antecedent injuries occurred during childhood. The two etiologic agents of albinism and burns were combined in one patient while another rarity was the presentation of the cancer within keloids. In conclusion, in dark skinned races, research should be directed on the comparative role of burns in predisposing to squamous cell carcinoma in individuals whose skin is compromised by either albinism or keloids.

Breast fibroadenoma in teenage females.

Over a period of 30 years, the author received surgical specimens of fibroadenoma from doctors who had operated on 530 teenage females of the Igbo ethnic group, who inhabit southeastern Nigeria, West Africa. The peak age was 18 years. The right breast (51.3%) was involved more often than the left (48.7%). There were 58 bilateral cases, i.e., 10.9% of the entire series. Seven teenagers had undergone previous operations for fibroadenoma and five growths were infarcted. The teenagers showed awareness of breast disease as manifested by (a) rising incidence trend during the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s, (b) little delay in presenting for treatment and (c) smallness of the excised tumors.