Chondroblastoma is a rare benign cartilaginous neoplasm that accounts for approximately 1% of all bone tumors and characteristically arises in the epiphysis of a long bone, particularly the humerus, tibia, and femur. Chondroblastoma can affect people of all ages. It is, however, most common in children and young adults between the ages of 10 and 20 years. Although most chondroblastomas are cured by limited surgical procedures, occasional lesions behave more aggressively and may even metastasis. In this case a young man with pulmonary metastatic chondroblastoma on spine is presented. Unlike previously published examples of metastatic chondroblastoma, these metastasis developed before any operative manipulation of the primary tumor. And primary tumor site was also unusual. The histologic characteristics of the primary, metastatic tumors were those of a conventional chondroblastoma.
Child ; Chondroblastoma ; Epiphyses ; Femur ; Humans ; Humerus ; Lung ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Spine ; Tibia ; Young Adult

Pseudoaneurysm due to cancer is uncommon generally and is extremely rare in lung cancer. We report two cases of false aneurysms due to lung cancer that spontaneously regressed upon chemotherapy without intervention. Both patients had squamous cell carcinoma of the lung and the diagnosis of a pseudoaneurysm was made using computed tomography. There was no evidence of severe bronchial hemorrhage and the psuedoaneurysms were small and well-encased. Chemotherapy was performed and the pseudoaneurysms resolved.
Aneurysm ; Aneurysm, False ; Carcinoma, Squamous Cell ; Hemorrhage ; Humans ; Lung ; Lung Neoplasms

Desmoplastic small round cell tumor is a very rare malignancy. We report the case of a 26-year-old woman who suffered from dyspepsia and abdominal pain for 2 months. We performed an endoscopic biopsy of the duodenal mass and diagnosed her disease as desmoplastic small round cell tumor using immunohistochemical staining, fluorescence in situ hybridization, and reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction. Because the mass invaded the pancreas and superior mesenteric vein as well as duodenum and the disease was disseminated to liver and peritoneum, she received palliative chemotherapy using vincristine, doxorubicin, cyclophosphamide, ifosfamide, and etoposide. The maximal response to chemotherapy was stable disease. The patient expired 9 months after diagnosis.
Abdominal Pain ; Adult ; Biopsy ; Cyclophosphamide ; Desmoplastic Small Round Cell Tumor ; Doxorubicin ; Duodenum ; Dyspepsia ; Etoposide ; Female ; Fluorescence ; Glycogen Storage Disease Type VI ; Humans ; Ifosfamide ; In Situ Hybridization ; Liver ; Mesenteric Veins ; Pancreas ; Peritoneum ; Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Vincristine

Choriocarcinoma in the testis is very rare, and it represents less than 1% (0.3%) of all the testicular germ cell tumors. It is a particularly aggressive variant of non-seminoma tumor, which is characterized by a high serum beta-HCG level and multiple lung metastases. The optimal management for this disease remains undefined. We report here on a case of choriocarcinoma with multiple lung metastases, and the patient has achieved continuous remission for 2 years after combination chemotherapy of BEP (bleomycin, etoposide and cisplatin) and sequential high-dose chemotherapy with autologous peripheral stem cell rescue.
Choriocarcinoma ; Drug Therapy, Combination ; Etoposide ; Female ; Germ Cells ; Humans ; Lung ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Neoplasms, Germ Cell and Embryonal ; Pregnancy ; Stem Cells ; Testicular Neoplasms ; Testis

PURPOSE: The TTK gene plays a crucial role in regulation of the mitotic checkpoint. The TTK gene has an A9 mononucleotide repeat in the coding sequences, which harbors mutations in gastric (GC) and colorectal cancers (CRC) with microsatellite instability (MSI). However, there are three more repeats (the A7s) in the coding sequences that have not been analyzed. The aim of this study was to explore whether the three A7s as well as the A9 are altered in GC and CRC, and to find any association of TTK mutation with clinocopathologic characteristics of GC and CRC. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We analyzed exon 5 (A7 and A7) and exon 22 (A9 and A7) which have repeat sequences in 30 GC with high MSI (MSI-H), 15 GC with low MSI (MSI-L), 35 CRC with MSI-H, and 15 CRC with MSI-L, by single-strand conformation polymorphism (SSCP) and DNA sequencing assays. RESULTS: Overall, we detected 23 frameshift mutations in the repeat sequences of TTK in the GC with MSI-H (11/30; 36.7%) and the CRC with MSI-H (12/35; 34.3%), but not in the cancers with MSI-L. The mutations were observed in both A9 and A7 of exon 22, but in neither of the two A7s of exon 5. The mutations consisted of c.2560delA, c.2560dupA, c.2571delA and c.[2560delA(+)2571delA]. All of the mutations were frameshift mutations and would result in premature stops of TTK protein synthesis. There was no significant difference in clinopathologic parameters of the cancers with the mutations. CONCLUSION: Our data indicate that frameshift mutations of TTK are common in both GC and CRC with MSI-H, and that the mutations occur not only in the A9 repeat but also in the A7 repeat. The data suggest that frameshift mutations of TTK might alter cell cycle control in the affected cells and contribute to pathogenesis of cancers with MSI-H.
Cell Cycle Checkpoints ; Clinical Coding ; Colorectal Neoplasms ; Exons ; Frameshift Mutation ; M Phase Cell Cycle Checkpoints ; Microsatellite Instability ; Microsatellite Repeats ; Sequence Analysis, DNA ; Stomach Neoplasms ; Succinimides

PURPOSE: Although the vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) superfamily has been identified to critically influence tumor-related angiogenesis, the prognostic significance of a VEGF expression in gastric cancer is still controversial. Accordingly, the present study analyzed the VEGF-A and VEGF-C expressions and their impact on the prognosis of patients with gastric cancer. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Three hundred seventy-five consecutive patients who underwent surgical resection for gastric adenocarcinoma with a curative intent were enrolled in the present study. Immunohistochemical staining for VEGF-A and VEGF-C was performed using the formalin fixed, paraffin embedded tumor tissues. RESULTS: Positive VEGF-A and VEGF-C expressions were observed in 337 (90.1%) and 278 (74.9%) cases, respectively. The survival analysis showed that the expression of VEGF-A and VEGF-C had no effect on the OS and DFS. On the multivariate analysis that included age, gender and the TNM stage, no significant association between the grade of the VEGF-A or VEGF-C expression and survival was observed. CONCLUSION: The current study suggests that the tissue expression of VEGF-A or VEGF-C alone is not an independent prognostic marker for patients with surgically resected gastric adenocarcinoma.
Adenocarcinoma ; Formaldehyde ; Humans ; Multivariate Analysis ; Paraffin ; Prognosis ; Stomach Neoplasms ; Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A ; Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor C

PURPOSE: Serine-threonine kinase11 (STK11) was originally identified in 1997 as the causative mutation that's responsible for Peutz-Jeghers Syndrome (PJS). Several recent studies have reported that the STK11 gene is an important human tumor suppressor gene in lung cancer. We evaluated the associations between the polymorphisms of the STK11 promoter region and the risk of lung cancer in 901 Koreans. MATERIALS AND METHODS: By direct sequencing, we first discovered three novel polymorphisms (-1,795 T>C, -981 C>T and -160 G>T) and four known polymorphisms (-1,580 C>T, -1,494 A>C, -881 A>G and -458 G>C) of the STK11 promoter region in 24 blood samples of 24 Korean lung cancer patients. Further genotype analyses were then performed on 443 lung cancer patients and 458 controls. RESULTS: We discovered three novel polymorphisms and we identified four known polymorphisms of the STK11 promoter region in a Korean population. Statistical analyses revealed that the genotypes and haplotypes in the STK11 gene were not significantly associated with the risk of lung cancer in a Korean population. CONCLUSION: This is the first study that's focused on the association of STK11 promoter polymorphisms and the risk of lung cancer in a Korean population. To evaluate the role of the STK11 gene for the risk of lung cancer, the genotypes of the STK11 promoter region (-1,795 T>C, -1,494 A>C and -160 G>T) were determined in 901 Koreans, yet the result revealed no significant difference between the lung cancer patients and the controls. These results suggest that the three promoter polymorphisms we studied are not important risk factors for the susceptibility to lung cancer in Koreans.
Genes, Tumor Suppressor ; Genotype ; Haplotypes ; Humans ; Lung ; Lung Neoplasms ; Peutz-Jeghers Syndrome ; Promoter Regions, Genetic ; Risk Factors

PURPOSE: To determine whether the biopsy core number and time interval between prostate biopsy and radical prostatectomy affect the operative and oncologic outcome of robot assisted laparoscopic radical prostatectomy (RALP). MATERIALS AND METHODS: From January 2008 to April 2009, a single surgeon performed 72 RALPs after an initial learning period of 30 cases. The relationship between time from biopsy to prostatectomy and biopsy core number with operative time and estimated blood loss (EBL) were initially evaluated with a linear regression model. These patients were classified into groups according to whether the interval from biopsy to RALP was within four weeks or not, and whether there were less than or greater than 10 core specimens removed. RESULTS: RALP was performed in 34 patients within four weeks of biopsy, and in 38 patients more than 4 weeks after biopsy. According to the number of core specimens removed, less than 10 cores were performed in 10 patients, and more than 10 cores were performed in 62 patients. Using an interval of 4 weeks as the cutoff point, early surgery was associated with longer operating time (232.6 vs 208.8 min) and increased estimated blood loss (305.1 vs 276.9 mL). For cases with more than 10 biopsy cores, there was a slight increase in operative time (229.2 vs 210.3 min). None of these differences were statistically significant by multivariate analysis. CONCLUSION: Our data suggests that there is no reason to delay RALP to more than 4 weeks after prostate biopsy. It also revealed that the number of biopsy cores (up to 14) did not influence operative outcome. Thus, RALP is a feasible procedure regardless of the biopsy related prostate state.
Biopsy ; Humans ; Learning ; Linear Models ; Multivariate Analysis ; Operative Time ; Prostate ; Prostatectomy ; Robotics

PURPOSE: This is an ad hoc analysis of two phase II studies which compared the efficacy and safety of two taxanes (paclitaxel and docetaxel) combined with 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) and leucovorin (LV) in advanced gastric cancer. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Patients with advanced gastric adenocarcinoma who were untreated or had only received first-line chemotherapy, were treated with either paclitaxel (PFL; 175 mg/m2) or docetaxel (DFL; 75 mg/m2) on day 1, followed by a bolus of LV (20 mg/m2 days 1~3) and a 24-hour infusion of 5-FU (1,000 mg/m2 days 1~3) every 3 weeks. The primary endpoint was overall response rate (ORR) and the secondary endpoint included survival and toxicity. RESULTS: Sixty-six patients received DFL (first-line [n=38]; and second-line [n=28]) and 60 patients received PFL (first-line [n=37]; and second-line [n=23]). The ORRs were not significantly different between the 2 groups (DFL, 26%; PFL, 38%). With a median follow-up of 9.5 months, the progression free survival was 5.2 months (95% confidence interval [CI], 4.2~6.5 months) for DFL and 3.3 months (95% CI, 1.3~5.5 months) for PFL (p=0.17). The overall survival was also comparable between the patients who received DFL and PFL (10.0 months [95% CI, 7.2~12.5 months] and 13.9 months [95% CI, 10.9~19.2 months], respectively; p=0.37). The most frequent grade 3~4 adverse event was neutropenia (DFL, 71%; PFL, 62%). DFL and PFL had different non-hematologic toxicities; specifically, grade > or =3 mucositis (5%) and diarrhea (3%) were common in DFL, while nausea/vomiting (15%) and peripheral neuropathy (5%) were common in PFL. CONCLUSION: Thus, the two taxanes had similar efficacy in the treatment of advanced gastric cancer, but different toxicity profiles. Prospective comparative studies are required to further clarify the role of taxanes in the treatment of advanced gastric cancer.
Adenocarcinoma ; Diarrhea ; Disease-Free Survival ; Fluorouracil ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Leucovorin ; Mucositis ; Neutropenia ; Paclitaxel ; Peripheral Nervous System Diseases ; Prospective Studies ; Stomach Neoplasms ; Taxoids

A 50-year-old woman was admitted to our hospital due to multiple lung nodules detected incidentally on a chest X-ray. A video-assisted thoracoscopic lung biopsy revealed low-grade endometrial stromal sarcoma (LG-ESS). She had undergone a simple hysterectomy 1 year earlier owing to a diagnosis of adenomyosis. A review of her previous hysterectomy specimen showed not endometriosis but LG-ESS. According to the patient's levels of serum follicle stimulating hormone and estradiol, she was in the premenopausal state with retained and normally functioning ovaries. She then underwent ovarian ablation by radiotherapy, after which she was administered 2.5 mg of letrozole once per day. Three months later, the size of the metastatic nodules in both lungs had decreased. The patient was followed up for 24 months while continuing on letrozole, and maintained a partial remission. We report herein on a case of metastatic LG-ESS treated with letrozole after ovarian ablation by radiotherapy.
Adenomyosis ; Biopsy ; Diagnosis ; Endometrial Stromal Tumors ; Endometriosis ; Estradiol ; Female ; Follicle Stimulating Hormone ; Humans ; Hysterectomy ; Lung ; Middle Aged ; Ovary ; Radiotherapy* ; Sarcoma, Endometrial Stromal* ; Thorax