The role of serum osteoprotegerine in metastatic prostate cancer - a case control study.

INTRODUCTION: Prostate cancer is one of the most common malignant neoplastic diseases in men. Early control of the disease progression contributes significantly to survival rates and patients' quality of life. Osteoprotegerin is a dimeric glycoprotein, which affects bone metabolism and inhibits osteoclastogenesis. In the present study, we evaluated the expression of osteoprotegerin in the serum of prostate cancer patients with or without skeletal metastases. METHODS: The expression of serum osteoprotegerin, as measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, has been studied in 82 patients with locally controlled prostate cancer, in 49 patients with metastatic bone disease and in a control group of 41 healthy males. At sampling time 65/131 of included patients were newly diagnosed, while 66/131 patients were already under hormonal therapy. All eligible prostate cancer patients had histologically confirmed malignancy. Serum total prostate-specific antigen (PSA) was determined by an immunoradiometric assay. We investigated the expression of osteoprotegerin in hormone-dependent and hormone-refractory prostate cancer and its relation to disease progression. RESULTS: Among the 131 patients with prostate cancer, higher osteoprotegerin and PSA concentrations have been observed in metastatic bone patients' sera (p <0.001). ROC analysis between the metastatic and locally controlled prostate cancer patients has shown a statistically significant area curve (p <0.001) and a cut-off limit of 89.6 pg/ml. Moreover, 15.3 % of patients became hormone-resistant, with osteoprotegerin values significantly increased compared with hormone-sensitive prostate cancer patients (p <0.001). CONCLUSIONS: It seems that elevated levels of serum osteoprotegerin in patients with prostate cancer reflect the bone metastatic extent and may potentially be used in metastatic patients' follow-ups. Hippokratia 2016, 20(2): 133-138.

Spontaneous intracranial hypotension: clinical and neuroimaging findings in six cases with literature review.

Spontaneous intracranial hypotension (SIH) is an uncommon but increasingly recognized syndrome. Orthostatic headache with typical findings on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) are the key to diagnosis. Delayed diagnosis of this condition may subject patients to unnecessary procedures and prolong morbidity. We describe six patients with SIH and outline the important clinical and neuroimaging findings. They were all relatively young, 20-54 years old, with clearly orthostatic headache, minimal neurological signs (only abducent nerve paresis in two) and diffuse pachymeningeal gadolinium enhancement on brain MRI, while two of them presented subdural hygromas. Spinal MRI was helpful in detecting a cervical cerebrospinal fluid leak in three patients and dilatation of the vertebral venous plexus with extradural fluid collection in another. Conservative management resulted in rapid resolution of symptoms in five patients (10 days-3 weeks) and in one who developed cerebral venous sinus thrombosis, the condition resolved in 2 months. However, this rapid clinical improvement was not accompanied by an analogous regression of the brain MR findings that persisted on a longer follow-up. Along with recent literature data, our patients further point out that SIH, to be correctly diagnosed, necessitates increased alertness by the attending physician, in the evaluation of headaches.

Dosimetry in translation total body irradiation technique: a computer treatment planning approach and an experimental study concerning lung sparing.

PURPOSE: To describe and evaluate a method that uses a 3-dimensional (3D) treatment planning system (TPS) to determine the relative dose to the lung, and to study the beam filtration required for lung sparing in translation total body irradiation (TBI). Special dosimetric problems related to moving couch were also considered. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The irradiation technique employed in our hospital is that of patient translation. The patient is positioned on a moving couch passing under a stationary Co-60 beam so that his/her entire body is irradiated. Measurements of basic data at source-skin distance (SSD)=150 cm were used to implement the Co-60 TBI unit to TPS (THERAPLAN plus), which was then used in dose computations. Two stationary, opposed anterior-posterior (40 x 40 cm) fields were employed to irradiate the Alderson phantom. The midline dose to either lung was computed and correction factors (CFs) were obtained that depend on the anatomy and densities of the tissues involved. These factors give the midline lung dose increase relative to the midline dose at the level of the mediastinum. Once the required lung dose was decided, the computed CF was used to estimate the filtration required from the measured broad beam attenuation data. The shielded lung dose distribution could be obtained from the TPS using a transmission corresponding to narrow beam geometry. To verify the TPS computations, measurements using a dosimeter and a diode system were carried out, employing solid water phantoms and the Alderson phantom. RESULTS: For the TPS employed, the computed midline CFs were lower than those measured in simple geometry phantoms for lung densities of 0.2-0.35 g/cm(3), by no more than 2%. For the Alderson phantom studied (lung density of 0.32 g/cm(3)), the computed CF was 1.11, which was 2% higher than the measured value. CONCLUSION: The advantages of a 3D TPS (dose distribution inside the lung, lung dose volume histograms [DVH], accurate attenuator shape from patient's anatomy etc.) allowed to study the lung dose in the Alderson phantom and to estimate the beam filtration required for lung sparing in TBI. The accuracy in lung dose computations, excluding the soft-tissue/lung interface was < or = 5%, which is within the clinical dose requirements. This procedure has been applied to a number of patients prior to their irradiation. Computations and in vivo measurements were in good agreement.

Magnetic resonance imaging in 120 patients with intractable partial seizures: a preoperative assessment.

The aim of this study was to describe magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) findings in patients with medically intractable epilepsy and to compare different magnetic resonance (MR) sequences in order to establish a dedicated and shorter scan time imaging protocol of choice. One hundred and twenty patients with seizures that were refractory to medical treatment were assessed by MRI with spin-echo (SE) T1, fast spin-echo (FSE) T2, fluid-attenuated inversion recovery (FLAIR), inversion recovery (IR) and contrast-enhanced T1 SE sequences. Pathological scans were acquired in 78 patients. Hippocampal sclerosis was detected in 30 patients (25%), cerebral, tumoral, mass lesions in 12 patients (10%), vascular malformations in nine patients (7.5%), cortical infarcts in eight patients (6.7%), cerebral infections in four patients (4.2%) and developmental disorders in 15 patients (12.5%). The most common location of the lesions was the temporal lobe (60%). Coronal, thin (slice thickness 4-5 mm) images have proven to be the most useful in the assessment of the hippocampus. FLAIR and IR are particularly useful in the detection of lesions abutting cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) spaces and developmental disorders, respectively, while T1 SE sequences before and after the intravenous administration of gadolinium offer great facility in identifying space-occupying lesions and infections. MRI is the most important diagnostic tool for the assessment of epileptogenic foci, thus playing the primary role in indicating the type of treatment to be applied.

Hemangiopericytoma in an adolescent girl: a case report.

Hemangiopericytoma (HPC) is a rare soft tissue tumor The few published reports account for the little information available on its clinical management. Here the authors report the successful treatment of an adolescent girl with rare HPC of the tongue. After incomplete surgical excision of the tumor she was admitted to the Hematology-Oncology Department and was treated with a 3-drug combination regimen (ifosfamide, actinomycin D, vincristine) for 8 weeks. She achieved partial remission in week 9 based on the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)findings. Conventional radiation therapy was initiated at week 9 and continued until week 16. At week 20, according to the MRI findings, she achieved complete remission and continuation therapy was initiated. The young girl has been alive without evidence of the disease for the last 3 years of follow-up. In conclusion, the current report indicates that in cases of incomplete surgical excision of the tumor, chemotherapy and radiotherapy seem to be effective.

A case of mucinous adenocarcinoma arising in long-standing multiple perianal and presacral fistulas.

Chronic anal fistulas are not rare; however, the development of a carcinoma in long-standing, perianal fistulas is rare. We describe a case of an 85-year-old man with multiple, recurring, perianal fistulas, extending to the natal cleft. The patient underwent en bloc resection of the fistulas which were in direct continuity with the middle rectum. Histological examination revealed a mucinous colonic adenocarcinoma. Abdominal CT and colonoscopy revealed an extramural residual rectal mass. The patient refused a radical colorectal operation. Three years later, because of fistula recurrence, he underwent loop sigmoidostomy and radical en bloc excision of the perianal fistula and rectum, with immediate reconstruction by bilateral gluteal flaps. The patient was discharged on the 12th postoperative day, refusing adjuvant radiotherapy. We present this rare malignant entity, successfully treated by staged operations and without any adjuvant therapy.

Induction chemotherapy with cisplatinum, 5-fluorouracil, bleomycin, mitomycin C and hydroxyurea for previously untreated locally advanced squamous cell carcinomas of the head and neck.

Fifty-three patients with locally advanced squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (SCCHN) were treated with a combined modality treatment consisting of three cycles of induction chemotherapy before definitive surgery and/or radiotherapy. Two additional cycles of the same chemotherapy were given after local-regional therapy. The chemotherapeutic regimen included cisplatinum 100 mg/m2 on day 1, 5-fluorouracil 1000 mg/m2 as a continuous infusion on days 2-6, bleomycin 15 units i.m. on days 15 and 29, mitomycin C 4 mg/m2 i.v. on day 22 and hydroxyurea 1000 mg/m2 p.o. on days 23-27. Each cycle was repeated every 42 days. Forty-nine patients are evaluable for response. There were 37 men and 12 women, with a median age of 58 years (range 18-75 years) and performance status of 80 (range 40-90). Sixteen patients (33%) demonstrated a complete response, 20 (41%) a partial response, yielding a 74% response rate to induction chemotherapy; 12 (24%) patients had stable disease and 1 (2%) progressive disease. The actuarial survival of those patients who completed the whole treatment program was 65% at 2 years and 47% at 3 years. Toxicities included nausea and vomiting (66%). anemia (34%), leukocytopenia (54%), thrombocytopenia (22%), stomatitis (36%), diarrhea (10%), alopecia (78%), hear impairment (4%) and transient creatinine elevation (2%). The results of the present study showed that induction chemotherapy with the above regimen produced a high rate of complete responses and can be safely combined with local-regional therapy to improve local tumor control and increase disease-free survival in patients with locally advanced SCCHN.