Diagnostic and Therapeutic Challenges in a Patient with Synchronous Very High-Risk Prostate Adenocarcinoma and Anal Carcinoma.

A 79-year-old HIV-negative Caucasian man with a medical history of smoking 20 pack-years (quit 40 years prior), early-stage non-small cell lung cancer status post-lobectomy 13 years earlier at an outside hospital without evidence of recurrence, and benign prostatic hypertrophy was diagnosed with synchronous very high-risk prostate adenocarcinoma and early-stage anal basaloid squamous cell carcinoma. He proceeded to undergo concurrent treatment for these tumors, consisting of androgen deprivation therapy, external beam radiation therapy, and a brachytherapy boost for the prostate adenocarcinoma; for the anal carcinoma, he was treated with definitive chemoradiation. Over 3.5 years since the completion of radiotherapy, he remains in clinical and biochemical remission.

Multiple cutaneous and haemorrhagic brain metastases as the sentinel presentation of lung adenocarcinoma.

Skin is a relatively uncommon site of metastasis in lung cancer and is associated with a poor prognosis. Although, lung cancer does not uncommonly metastasise to the brain, haemorrhagic brain metastases are rarely reported. In this report, we present a dramatic presentation of a female smoker with a 3-week history of numerous cutaneous lesions over her body and two episodes of transient memory loss. Work-up demonstrated widely metastatic, poorly differentiated lung adenocarcinoma with haemorrhagic brain metastases. She proceeded with whole brain radiotherapy, but her performance status quickly declined afterwards; she succumbed to her malignancy within 6 weeks of presentation. This case presentation demonstrates that, for patients who present with cutaneous masses, especially those aged more than 60 years, and who have extensive smoking history, metastatic lung cancer should remain on the differential diagnosis. Also, the very poor prognosis of multiple metastases may influence medical and social decisions in the patient's treatment plan.

Quantitative analysis of the safety and efficacy of microvascular decompression for patients with trigeminal neuralgia above and below 65 years of age.

For medically-refractory trigeminal neuralgia (TN), microvascular decompression (MVD) is the first-line treatment, and has demonstrated the greatest efficacy and durability. However, due to potential surgical complications, a bias may exist against performing MVD in elderly patients. We sought to determine through a quantitative analysis whether MVD in the elderly is a safe and effective procedure for TN. We completed a Pubmed/SCOPUS literature search up to 12/2016 for eligible studies on MVD for TN. Only research articles with age stratification of results were included. In this quantitative analysis, we analyzed the data for the six articles identified in the literature comparing MVD for a group of patients ≥65 years with an elderly group <65 years. A total of 1483 were included. 455 patients were ≥65 years (mean 70.8 years, range 65-89 years) and 1028 patients were <65 years (mean 53.4 years, range 19-64 years). Composite mean follow-up time was 51.6 months for the elderly group, and 55.1 months for the young group. Following MVD, each group had 1 mortality (p = 0.43). There were 21 serious morbidities in the elderly group (4.62%) and 32 in the young group (3.11%) (p = 0.11). In addition, 15 patients (1.46%) in the elderly group and 24 patients (1.62%) in the young group experienced a cerebrospinal fluid leak (p = 0.23). TN recurrence rates 9.23% in the young group and 13.33% in the elderly group (p = 0.070). In conclusion, for properly-selected surgical candidates, MVD should not be ruled out on the basis of age ≥65 years.

The Outcome of Hypofractionated Stereotactic Radiosurgery for Large Vestibular Schwannomas.

OBJECTIVES: Stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) for large vestibular schwannomas (VS) remains controversial. We studied the tumor local control and toxicity rates after hypofractionated SRS for VS > 3 cm. METHODS: A total of 587 patients with VS treated with SRS between 1998 and 2014 were reviewed retrospectively, and 30 Koos grade IV VSs were identified. There were 6 patients with neurofibromatosis 2 (NF2), 8 with cystic tumors, 22 with solid tumors, 19 who underwent primary CyberKnife (CK), and 11 with >3 cm after previous resection. Patients were treated by a median of 3 fractions at 18 Gy. RESULTS: After a median 97 months, the 3- and 10-year Kaplan-Meier estimates of local control were 85% and 80%, respectively, with 20% requiring salvage treatment. For patients who had previous tumor resection rather than primary CK, the estimates were 46% and 5%, respectively, with progression, and 3-year control rates of 71% and 94% (P = 0.008). Tumor control was also lower among NF2 versus non-NF2 patients (40% vs. 95%; P = 0.0014). Among patients with good clinical baselines before CK, 88% were functionally independent (modified Rankin Scale score, 0-2), 88% had good facial function (House-Brackmann grade I-II), and 38% had serviceable hearing (Gardner-Robertson grade I-II) at last follow-up. Hearing worsening was more likely among patients treated with primary CK (33% vs. 90%; P = 0.04). CONCLUSIONS: Overall, 80% of large VSs were adequately controlled by CK with 97 months of median follow-up. Patients with previous surgery and NF2 also appeared to have higher rates of tumor progression, and less favorable functional outcomes.

CyberKnife radiosurgery for brainstem metastases: Management and outcomes and a review of the literature.

To our knowledge this paper is the first to use recursive partitioning analysis (RPA) for brainstem metastasis (BSM) patient outcomes, after CyberKnife radiosurgery (CKRS; Accuray, Sunnyvale, CA, USA); nine similar previous publications used mainly Gamma Knife radiosurgery (Elekta AB, Stockholm, Sweden). Retrospective chart reviews from 2006-2013 of 949 CKRS-treated brain metastasis patients showed 54 BSM patients (5.7%): 35 RPA Class II (65%) and 19 Class III (35%). There were 30 women (56%) and 24 men (44%). The median age was 59 years (range 36-80) and median follow-up was 5 months (range 1-52). Twenty-three patients (43%) had lung carcinoma BSM and 12 (22%) had breast cancer BSM. Fifty-four RPA Class II and III BSM patients had a median overall survival (OS) of 5 months, and for each Class 8 and 2 months, respectively. Of 36 RPA Class II and III patients with available symptoms (n=31) and findings (n=33), improvement/stability occurred in the majority for symptoms (86%) and findings (92%). Of 35 cases, 28 (80%) achieved BSM local control (LC); 13/14 with breast histology (93%) and 10/13 with lung histology (77%). All six RPA Class II and III patients with controlled extracranial systemic disease (ESD) experienced LC. Median tumor volume was 0.14 cm(3); of 34 RPA Class II and III cases, 26 LC patients had a 0,13 cm(3) median tumor volume while it was 0.27 cm(3) in the eight local failures. Of 35 cases, single session equivalent dosages less than the median (n=13), at the 17.9 Gy median (n=5) and greater than the median (n=17) had BSM LC in 10 (77%), four (80%) and 14 cases (82%), respectively. Univariate analysis showed Karnofsky Performance Score, RPA Class and ESD-control predicted OS. CKRS is useful for RPA Class II and III BSM patients with effective clinical and local BSM control.

Review of chemoradiotherapy for high-risk prostate cancer.

While most newly-diagnosed prostate cancers are well-differentiated tumors that have high probability of cure, there is a subset of patients that present with aggressive malignancies that have significant potential for recurrence and metastasis. Single-modality treatment approaches have demonstrated relatively high failure rates, and multimodality therapy (radiation therapy and hormonal ablation therapy) has become standard of care for these patients. These treatments are not without toxicity, and a significant percentage of patients will become refractory to hormonal therapy. Historically, radiation therapy of prostate cancer was associated with significant genitourinary and gastrointestinal morbidity. With advances in radiation therapy techniques and delivery, the potential for safe dose-escalation has emerged. Further, there is an opportunity for chemotherapeutic agents to play an important syngergistic role in radiosensitizing the tumor cells at the primary site while also addressing micrometastatic disease. Concurrent chemoradiation therapy has become standard treatment for many types of locally advanced tumors, including lung, cervical, esophageal, rectal, and anal malignancies. We present a review of clinical trials examining the role of chemoradiation therapy in high-risk prostate cancer.