Treatment Outcome of Carcinoma Vulva Ten-Year Experience from a Tertiary Cancer Centre in South India.

BACKGROUND: Carcinoma vulva is a rare disease accounting for 1.3% of all gynaecological malignancies. The present study is a 10-year retrospective review of our experience of the surgical options, morbidity, failure pattern, and survival for invasive carcinoma vulva. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Retrospective analysis of case records of 39 patients who underwent surgery for invasive vulval cancer between 2004 and 2013 in the Department of Surgical Oncology at the Government Royapettah Hospital, Chennai. RESULTS: The median age was 55 years. Radical vulvectomy was the preferred surgery. 31 patients underwent lymphadenectomy. Seroma formation and groin skin necrosis were the most common postoperative complications. With a median follow-up of 32 months, 8 patients (20.5%) developed recurrence (systemic = 1, regional = 4, and local = 3). The estimated 5-year disease-free survival (DFS) was 65.4% and the overall survival (OS) was 85.1%. On univariate analysis, stage and lymph node involvement significantly affected OS. Nodal involvement with extracapsular spread (ECS) significantly affected both DFS and OS. CONCLUSION: The treatment of carcinoma vulva should be individualized with multidisciplinary cooperation. The paucity of data, especially from India, necessitates the need for more studies, preferably multicentric, keeping in mind the low prevalence.

A prospective study on sentinel lymph node biopsy in early oral cancers using methylene blue dye alone.

Sentinel Lymph Node (SLN) biopsy using a combination of radioisotopes and blue dyes have a good accuracy rate in predicting subclinical neck nodal metastases in head and neck cancers. However, the limited availability of lymphoscintigraphy facilities in India requires exploration of alternative methods of SLN detection. We evaluated the feasibility of using methylene blue dye alone in detecting SLN in cN0 early oral cancers. 32 patients with cN0 early (T1, T2) oral squamous cell cancers underwent SLN biopsy using peri tumoural methylene blue dye injection. Blue dye stained (SLN) nodes were sent for frozen section analyses. Patients who had microscopic metastases in SLN underwent modified radical neck dissections and the rest underwent selective neck dissections. Paraffin sections and IHC studies were done on all nodes. SLN was identified in 29 patients (Identification rate = 90.6 %) of which SLN was positive for metastases on frozen section in 5 patients. The sensitivity, specificity and NPV of SLN with frozen section were 80 %, 95.8 % and 95.8 % respectively. IHC with cytokeratins increased the sensitivity (100 %) and NPV (100 %) at the loss of specificity (87.5 %). Methylene blue dye alone can be successfully used for SLN identification in early oral cancers with a good accuracy and sensitivity. This method will be of use especially in resource limited countries and centres where nuclear medicine facilities are not widely available. However, it has to be validated by larger randomised multi institutional trials for wider applicability. Immunohistochemistry increases the sensitivity and negative predictive value of SLN but its applicability in real time decision making is limited.

Unusual late complication following anterior pelvic exenteration and ileal conduit.

We report an unusual case of Conduit Perineal Fistula following Anterior Pelvic Exenteration and Ileal conduit, performed for cancer cervix in a patient who had post radiotherapy residual disease. Revision surgery and redo conduit with transverse colon was done. Patient tolerated the procedure well and postoperative period was uneventful. Patient was subsequently disease free for 27 months. She developed a pelvic recurrence and lived with the disease for another 36 months and was then lost to follow up.

Recurrence patterns and management options in aggressive fibromatosis.

Aggressive fibromatosis is a rare neoplasm arising from musculoaponeurotic structures. Our aim is to share our experience with this rare tumor in our institute and to discuss the more perplexing recurrence patterns and the management options. This is a retrospective study of the disease, treated in our institute for the past fourteen years. A total of 36 patients were analyzed. The demographic pattern of the disease, various treatment modalities offered and their outcome along with patterns of recurrence were studied. Our study showed a demographic pattern mostly similar to the rest of the world. But the pattern of recurrence and the multicentric and the non-random pattern of presentation observed in our study showed some difference from the other studies. We suggest surgery as the primary modality with radiation reserved for select patients with margin positivity, inoperable tumors, and multiple tumors. Since the disease has a long natural history a wait and watch policy can be observed for giving adjuvant RT. There is need for prospective multi-institutional RCTs to shed light on the unknown facts about this disease.

Morbidity and outcome of pelvic exenteration in locally advanced pelvic malignancies.

Pelvic exenteration is a technically demanding surgical procedure performed for locally advanced cancers in the pelvis. Aim of the present study was to analyze morbidity, failure pattern and survival after pelvic exenteration during a period of 15 years in a dedicated cancer centre in South India. Retrospective analysis of case records of 50 patients who underwent pelvic exenteration from 1996 to 2011 in the Department of Surgical Oncology, Government Royapettah Hospital Chennai. Forty-six patients were females and 4 were males with a mean age of 48.3 years (range 21-72). Twenty six patients had cervical cancer,14 had rectal cancer, 3 had bladder cancer,2 had endometrial cancer, 2 had vaginal cancer, 1 had uterine sarcoma, 1 had anal cancer and 1 had ovarian cancer. The postoperative morbidity was 50%. 7 patients (14%) developed recurrence of which 5 had local and 2 had distant recurrence. The estimated 5 year overall survival for all patients in our series was 53.5% and for the patients with Ca rectum and Ca cervix was 60.6% and 40.1% respectively. Adjacent organ invasion had a significant impact over survival. Pelvic exenteration provides a curative form of treatment for carefully selected locally advanced cancer in the pelvis and it can be done safely with acceptable complications in centers experienced in multivisceral resections.

Primary malignancy of seminal vesicle: A rare entity.

We report a rare case of seminal vesicle malignancy (primitive neuro ectodermal tumor) in a 40-year-old male patient. He was treated with enbloc resection of the tumor and ureteric reimplantation. In view of the rarity of this entity, management of these tumors should be individualized.

Approach to carcinoma cervix with pelvic kidney.

To study the management of carcinoma cervix when the patient has an associated pelvic kidney. The simultaneous occurrence of carcinoma cervix and pelvic kidney is rare. It is an interesting scenario where surgery is technically challenging and radiation is difficult since the pelvic kidney lies within the field of radiation. In our department, we treated three cases of cervical carcinoma with pelvic kidney. First case was FIGO IIB treated with external beam radiotherapy followed by radical hysterectomy; second case stage IB1 treated with radical hysterectomy, third case was referred to us after panhysterectomy with carcinoma detected in postoperative histopathological report, and she was treated with external beam radiotherapy. We made an online database search and found few case reports of gynecological malignancies associated with pelvic kidney and reviewed their management. All the three patients are alive and disease free in the last follow up. None of the patients developed uremia. The pelvic kidney of the patients treated with radiotherapy has shrunken in size. Surgery is preferred over radiotherapy in early stages of carcinoma cervix with pelvic kidney to avoid radiation-induced damage to pelvic kidney.

Limb conservation in extremity soft tissue sarcomas with vascular involvement.

BACKGROUND: The major neurovascular involvement and large primary tumors are indication of amputation. The present study is an attempt to explore the feasibility of a limb salvage surgery in extremity sarcoma cases with major vessel involvement. Oncological outcomes and surgery-related morbidities are compared with those reported in literature. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A retrospective review of all limb salvage surgeries done in our department between 2005 and 2008 was done and four cases of extremity sarcoma of lower limb involving femoral vessels analyzed. Interpretation of data from these cases, along with review of literature, is done. RESULTS: In all these cases a wide monobloc excision was done adhering to oncological principles. This required resection of superficial femoral artery alone in two cases, resection of superficial femoral artery along with common femoral vein and femoral nerve in another, and of common femoral vein alone in yet another. Reconstruction was done in all these cases with reversed long saphenous vein graft. Histopathology of resected margins was free of tumor in all the four patients. One patient developed local recurrence and one developed distant metastsis. Two were disease free for one year with good functional limb, one has been disease-free for three years and another was disease-free at two years, after which he defaulted further follow-up. One patient developed arterial blowout which required ligation of common femoral artery which resulted in gangrene of the limb. He underwent amputation. CONCLUSION: Major neurovascular involvement in extremity sarcoma is not considered a contraindication for limb salvage surgery. Review of literature also supports our view. Post-operative wound related complications are more in this group of patients. However, long term functional outcome is good. Literature suggests a good long term local control after vascular resection and reconstruction.

Staged sacrectomy--an adaptive approach.

Object Sacral tumors are commonly diagnosed late and therefore present at an advanced stage. The late presentation makes curative surgery technically demanding. Sacrectomy is fraught with a high local recurrence rate and potential complications: deep infection; substantial blood loss; large-bone and soft-tissue defects; bladder, bowel, and sexual dysfunction; spinopelvic nonunion; and gait disturbance. The aim of this study was to analyze the complications and morbidity of sacrectomy and the modifications meant to reduce the morbidity. Methods This is a retrospective study of the patients who underwent sacrectomy between February 1997 and September 2008 in the Department of Surgical Oncology, Government Royapettah Hospital, Kilpauk Medical College, in Chennai, Tamilnadu, India. Sacrectomy was performed using 1 of the following approaches: posterior approach, abdominolateral approach, or abdominosacral approach, either as sequential or staged operations. The morbidity rate after the sequential and staged abdominosacral approaches was analyzed. Functional assessment was made based on the Enneking functional scoring system. The results were analyzed and survival analysis was done using the Kaplan-Meier method (with SPSS software). Results Nineteen patients underwent sacrectomy, of which 12 operations were partial, 3 were subtotal, and 4 were total sacrectomy. Histological diagnosis included giant cell tumor, chordoma, chondroblastoma, adenocarcinoma of rectum, and retroperitoneal sarcoma. The giant cell tumor was the most common tumor in this series, followed by chordoma. The patients' mean age at diagnosis was 32 years. There were 10 male and 9 female patients. Fortyseven percent of patients had bowel and bladder disturbances postoperatively, and 57.89% of patients had wound complications. The median follow-up duration was 24 months (range 2-140 months). The 5-year overall survival rate was 70.4%, and the 5-year disease-free survival rate was 65% (based on the Kaplan-Meier method). The local recurrence rate (5 cases) was 26.32%. The median duration for first recurrence was 12 months (range 3-17 months). Distant metastasis occurred in 1 patient (5.26%), and 4 patients died, 1 of them due to pulmonary thromboembolism, in the postoperative period. Based on the Enneking system of functional evaluation, 5 patients (26.32%) had excellent outcome, 6 (31.57%) had good outcome, 5 (26.32%) had fair outcome, and 3 (15.78%) had poor outcome. Spinopelvic reconstruction was not performed in any of the patients, and all were ambulatory postoperatively. The staged abdominosacral approach has markedly reduced patient morbidity in terms of reduction of operating time, blood loss, anesthesia complications, and wound complications. Conclusions Sacrectomy, a dreaded operation that often results in morbidity, is now feasible with modifications and improvement in surgical technique. The staged abdominosacral approach reduces the immediate postoperative morbidity. Use of a gluteal advancement flap reduces the incidence of wound complications. With modern surgical facilities and postoperative care, sacrectomy is feasible via the staged abdominosacral approach.