Pseudomyogenic hemangioendothelioma with bone and soft tissue involvement with favorable response to pamidronate: a case report and systematic review of the literature.

Pseudomyogenic hemangioendothelioma (PMH) can be a challenge for diagnosis and might be confused with other tumors, such as epithelioid sarcoma. Here we present a case and a systematic review of the literature to identify and discuss PMH treatment in primary bone involvement. A 25-year-old woman was referred for bone pain (10/10) in the left lower limb. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showed multiple bone lesions (left femur, tibia, patella, ankle, and foot) with well-defined borders without signs of local aggressiveness. Positron Emission Tomography-Computed Tomography (PET-CT) showed multiple metabolic musculoskeletal lesions in the left lower limb. A CT scan-guided biopsy was performed. Histological and immunohistochemical findings confirmed the diagnosis of PMH. After treatment with intravenous pamidronate (90 mg/monthly), the patient had clinical improvement, mild pain 2/10 without the use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs or opiates. Follow-up was assessed by MRI and PET-CT. PET-CT showed metabolic resolution of most of the bone and muscular lesions and a significant improvement of the femoral lesion. MRI showed that the lesions in the left femur, tibia, and foot had a marked decrease in size without intravenous post-contrast enhancement and smaller lesions had disappeared. After a 3-year follow-up, PET-CT showed no metabolically active images. Literature review identified 31 records including 58 clinical cases of PMH with primary bone involvement and treatment description for qualitative analysis. Most lesions (69%) were treated by local excision or curettage. In addition, amputations were performed in a significant percentage of cases (20.7%). In the last years, mTOR inhibitors (n = 7) and anti-resorptive treatments (n = 4) were considered as alternative treatment options, especially in multifocal lesions.

Soft Tissue Sarcomas: Is Pre-operative Radiotherapy Associated With More Acute Wound Complications?

INTRODUCTION: Increased wound complication rates are attributed to the use of pre-operative radiotherapy. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the incidence of complications with or without pre-operative radiotherapy in our institution. METHODS: We retrospectively evaluated 48 adult patients with high-grade extremity soft tissue sarcoma. Twenty-two patients received pre-operative radiotherapy (group A) while 26 patients underwent initial surgery (group B). Complications were defined as major wound complications if they were severe enough to delay the delivery of adjuvant treatment (chemotherapy or radiotherapy) more than eight weeks after surgery or if their resolution required a new surgical intervention. RESULTS: Mean follow-up in group A and group B was 44.3 and 53.8 months, respectively. The incidence of complications of any grade in group A was 45.5% and 53.8% in group B (p: 0.566). Major wound complications in group A and group B occurred in 18% and 23% of the patients (p=0.630), respectively. All patients in group A completed local treatment - radiotherapy and surgery - in 66 days on average. In contrast, in group B post-operative radiotherapy was either delayed or suspended in four patients due to wound complications. This determined that 15.4% of the patients in group B did not receive the local treatment - surgery + radiotherapy - as planned. CONCLUSIONS: An increased risk of severe acute wound complications with the administration of pre-operative radiotherapy was not observed in patients with soft tissue sarcomas of the extremities. In addition, local treatment completion was not jeopardized with preoperative radiotherapy, as opposed to post-operative radiotherapy.

A comparison of optic nerve dosimetry in craniospinal radiotherapy planned and treated with conventional and intensity modulated techniques.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Some CNS tumours present leptomeningeal dissemination. Craniospinal radiotherapy is complex and recurrences may occur at sites of target volume underdosage. IMRT, being highly conformal to the target, could theoretically underdose the optic nerves if they are not specifically targeted leading to optic nerve recurrences. We analyzed optic nerve dosimetry when they are not specifically targeted. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We designed 3D-conformal and tomotherapy plans for our last five patients treated to the craniospinal axis, not including the optic nerves in the target volume. We analyzed the dose delivered to the optic nerves, to the anterior and posterior half of the optic nerves, and to a theoretical optic nerve-PTV. RESULTS: The dose delivered to the optic nerves was similar for both plans in all patients (V95% close to 100%) except one in whom tomotherapy considerably underdosed the anterior optic nerves. The dose to the optic nerve-PTV was lower with tomotherapy in all patients. CONCLUSION: Despite not intentionally targeting the optic nerves, the dose to the optic nerves with IMRT was similar to 3D-conformal plans in most cases but left no margin for setup error. In individual cases the anterior half of the optic nerves could be significantly underdosed.

Hypofractionated radiotherapy for favorable risk prostate cancer.

PURPOSE: Since the recognition that prostate cancer probably has a low alpha/beta ratio, hypofractionated radiotherapy has become an attractive treatment option for localized prostate cancer. However, there is little experience with the use of hypofractionation delivering a high biologically equivalent dose. We report our experience with high-dose hypofractionated radiotherapy. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A total of 129 patients with favorable risk prostate cancer were treated with three-dimensional conformal radiotherapy treatment plans to the dose of 66 Gy in 22 fractions, prescribed at the isocenter. Planning target volume consisted of the prostate plus a uniform 7-mm margin, including the rectal margin. No patient received hormonal therapy. Toxicity was prospectively graded by the Common Toxicity Criteria version 3. Biochemical relapse was defined as postradiotherapy nadir prostate-specific antigen + 2 ng/mL. RESULTS: With a median follow-up of 51 months, the 5-year actuarial biochemical control rate is 98%. The only 3 cases with biochemical failure did not have a clinical local relapse. More than 50% of patients did not develop acute toxicity. For late toxicity, the worst crude rate of Grade >or=2 genitourinary (GU) and gastrointestinal (GI) toxicity seen at any time during follow-up were 32% and 25%, respectively. There was no Grade 4 or 5 toxicity. At the last follow-up, persistent Grade >or=2 late GU and GI toxicity were 2% and 1.5%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: This hypofractionated regimen provides excellent biochemical control in favorable risk prostate cancer with an acceptable rate of late toxicity. Further studies exploring this hypofractionation regimen are warranted.