The role of neoadjuvant chemoradiation therapy in locally advanced pancreatic cancer (LAPC) is still controversial. The aim of this study was to evaluate surgical downstaging after concurrent chemoradiation therapy (CCRT) for LAPC by measuring the objective changes after treatment. From January 2003 through July 2011, 54 patients with LAPC underwent neoadjuvant CCRT. Computed tomography findings of the tumor size, including major vessel invasion, were analyzed before and after CCRT. Among the total recruited patients, 14 had borderline resectable malignancy and another 40 were unresectable before CCRT. After CCRT, a partial response was achieved in four patients. Stable disease and further disease progression were achieved in 36 and 14 patients, respectively. Tumor size showed no significant difference before and after CCRT (3.6 +/- 1.1 vs. 3.6 +/- 1.0 cm, P = 0.61). Vessel invasion showed improvement in two patients, while 13 other patients showed further tumor progression. Thirty-nine patients with unresectable malignancy and 11 patients with borderline resectable malignancy at time of initial diagnosis remained unchanged after CCRT. Four patients with borderline pancreatic malignancy progressed to an unresectable stage, whereas one unresectable pancreatic malignancy improved to a borderline resectable stage. Only one patient with borderline resectable disease underwent operation after CCRT; however, curative resection failed due to celiac artery invasion and peritoneal seeding. The adverse events associated with CCRT were tolerable. In conclusion, preoperative CCRT in LAPC rarely leads to surgical downstaging, and it could lower resectability rates.
Adenocarcinoma/radiography/therapy ; Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Antimetabolites, Antineoplastic/therapeutic use ; Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols/therapeutic use ; Capecitabine/therapeutic use ; Carcinoma, Pancreatic Ductal/*radiography/*therapy ; Chemoradiotherapy/adverse effects/*methods ; Combined Modality Therapy ; Deoxycytidine/analogs & derivatives/therapeutic use ; Disease Progression ; Female ; Fluorouracil/therapeutic use ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Neoadjuvant Therapy ; Neoplasm Staging ; Pancreas/blood supply/pathology ; Pancreatic Neoplasms/*radiography/*therapy ; Retrospective Studies ; Treatment Outcome

Pulmonary tumor embolism is commonly discovered at autopsy, but is rarely suspected ante-mortem. Microangiopathy is an uncommon and distinct form of simple tumor pulmonary embolism. Here, we present a 52-year-old male with tumor thrombotic microangiopathy and pulmonary infarction, which might have originated from intraductal papillary mucinous tumor of the pancreas. Multiple wedge-shaped consolidations were found initially and aggravated with cavitation. These CT features of pulmonary infarction were pathologically confirmed to result from pulmonary tumor thrombotic microangiopathy.
Adenocarcinoma, Mucinous/pathology/radiography ; Humans ; Lung/pathology/*radiography ; Lung Neoplasms/pathology/radiography ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Pancreas/pathology ; Pancreatic Neoplasms/*complications/pathology ; Papilloma, Intraductal/pathology/radiography ; Pulmonary Embolism/pathology/*radiography ; Pulmonary Infarction/pathology/*radiography ; Thrombotic Microangiopathies/diagnosis/*radiography ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed

Colonic wall thickening is frequently encountered in various conditions, from acute or chronic inflammatory disease to colorectal carcinoma. Colonic wall thickening may be accompanied by calcifications in mucinous adenocarcinoma of the colon, leiomyosarcoma of the colon, schistosomiasis japonica, and phlebosclerotic colitis. Phlebosclerotic colitis is a rare entity of chronic ischemic colitis associated with sclerosis and fibrosis of mesenteric veins. Although its development is usually insidious, and, thus its diagnosis can be delayed, characteristic findings in phlebosclerotic colitis are calcifications of mesenteric veins as well as colonic wall thickening with calcifications. We report on a 71-year-old woman who presented with chronic diarrhea and intermittent hematochezia, who was first misdiagnosed as mucinous adenocarcinoma of the colon, but finally diagnosed as a rare entity of chronic ischemic colitis, phlebosclerotic colitis. Differential points of phlebosclerotic colitis from other diseases, including leiomyosarcoma and schistosomiasis japonica, are also described.
Adenocarcinoma, Mucinous/diagnosis ; Calcinosis/pathology ; Chronic Disease ; Colitis, Ischemic/*diagnosis ; Colonic Neoplasms/diagnosis ; Colonoscopy ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Female ; Humans ; Intestinal Mucosa/pathology ; Mesenteric Veins/pathology ; Radiography, Abdominal ; Sclerosis ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed

No abstract available.
Adenocarcinoma, Mucinous/diagnosis ; Colonoscopy ; Crohn Disease/complications/*pathology ; Humans ; Intestinal Neoplasms/*diagnosis/pathology/radiography ; Lymphatic Metastasis ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Neoplasm Recurrence, Local ; Positron-Emission Tomography ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to report on the long-term results of transabdominal ultrasound guided conformal brachytherapy in patients with cervical cancer with respect to patterns of failures, treatment related toxicities and survival. METHODS: Three hundred and nine patients with cervical cancer who presented to Institute between January 1999 and December 2008 were staged with magnetic resonance imaging and positron emission tomography and treated with external beam radiotherapy and high dose rate conformal image guided brachytherapy with curative intent. Follow-up data relating to sites of failure and toxicity was recorded prospectively. RESULTS: Two hundred and ninety-two patients were available for analyses. The median (interquantile range) follow-up time was 4.1 years (range, 2.4 to 6.1 years). Five-year failure free survival and overall survival (OS) were 66% and 65%, respectively. Primary, pelvic, para-aortic, and distant failure were observed in 12.5%, 16.4%, 22%, and 23% of patients, respectively. In multivariate analysis, tumor volume and nodal disease related to survival, whereas local disease control and point A dose did not. CONCLUSION: Ultrasound guided conformal brachytherapy of cervix cancer has led to optimal local control and OS. The Melbourne protocol compares favorably to the more technically elaborate and expensive GEC-ESTRO recommendations. The Melbourne protocol's technical simplicity with real-time imaging and treatment planning makes this a method of choice for treating patients with cervical cancer.
Adenocarcinoma/pathology/radiography/secondary/ultrasonography ; Adult ; Aged ; Brachytherapy/adverse effects/*methods ; Carcinoma, Squamous Cell/pathology/radiography/secondary/ultrasonography ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Kaplan-Meier Estimate ; Lymphatic Metastasis ; Middle Aged ; Neoplasm Staging ; Prognosis ; Prospective Studies ; Radiation Dosage ; Radiotherapy, Conformal/adverse effects/*methods ; Treatment Failure ; Ultrasonography, Interventional/*methods ; Uterine Cervical Neoplasms/pathology/*radiography/ultrasonography

Synchronous primary lung cancers are relatively rare. The accurate diagnosis remains challenging, despite of the routine use of bronchoscopy and computed tomography (CT) of the chest. Herein we report a case of synchronous triple primary cancers of the right lung in a 72-year-old male patient in whom each tumor presented distinct CT imaging findings.
Adenocarcinoma/*diagnosis/pathology/radiography ; Adenocarcinoma, Mucinous/*diagnosis/pathology/radiography ; Aged ; Bronchoscopy ; Carcinoma, Squamous Cell/*diagnosis/pathology/radiography ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Humans ; Lung Neoplasms/*diagnosis/pathology/radiography ; Male ; Neoplasm Staging ; Neoplasms, Multiple Primary ; Positron-Emission Tomography ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed

Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) with mucin production is extremely rare. We present the case of a previously healthy 76-year-old woman who underwent a robotic-assisted laparoscopic right nephrectomy for a 5-cm heterogeneously enhancing right renal mass. Pathology revealed mucin-producing epithelial RCC. We discuss the presentation and pathological features of this case and comment on its definitive treatment.
Adenocarcinoma, Mucinous/*pathology/radiography/surgery ; Aged ; Carcinoma, Renal Cell/*pathology/radiography/surgery ; Female ; Humans ; Kidney Neoplasms/*pathology/radiography/surgery ; Nephrectomy/methods ; Robotic Surgical Procedures/methods ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed

OBJECTIVE: To describe computed tomography (CT) features of metastatic gallbladder (GB) tumors (MGTs) from various primary tumors and to determine whether there are differential imaging features of MGTs according to different primary tumors. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Twenty-one patients who had pathologically confirmed MGTs and underwent CT were retrospectively enrolled. Clinical findings including presenting symptoms, type of surgery, and interval between primary and metastatic tumors were recorded. Histologic features of primary tumor and MGTs including depth of invasion were also reviewed. Imaging findings were analyzed for the location and morphology of MGTs, pattern and degree of enhancement, depth of invasion, presence of intact overlying mucosa, and concordance between imaging features of primary and metastatic tumors. Significant differences between the histologies of MGTs and imaging features were determined. RESULTS: The most common primary tumor metastasized to the GB was gastric cancer (n = 8), followed by renal cell carcinoma (n = 4) and hepatocellular carcinoma (n = 3). All MGTs (n = 21) manifested as infiltrative wall thickenings (n = 15) or as polypoid lesions (n = 6) on CT, similar to the features of primary GB cancers. There were significant differences in the morphology of MGTs, enhancement pattern, enhancement degree, and depth of invasion according to the histology of primary tumors (p < 0.05). Metastatic adenocarcinomas of the GB manifested as infiltrative and persistently enhancing wall thickenings, while non-adenocarcinomatous metastases usually manifested as polypoid lesions with early wash-in and wash-out. CONCLUSION: Although CT findings of MGTs are similar to those of primary GB cancer, they are significantly different between the various histologies of primary tumors.
Adenocarcinoma/pathology/radiography/secondary ; Adult ; Aged ; Carcinoma, Hepatocellular/pathology/radiography/secondary ; Carcinoma, Renal Cell/pathology/radiography/secondary ; Carcinoma, Squamous Cell/pathology/radiography/secondary ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Female ; Gallbladder Neoplasms/pathology/*radiography/*secondary ; Humans ; Kidney Neoplasms/pathology ; Liver Neoplasms/pathology ; Male ; Melanoma/pathology/radiography/secondary ; Middle Aged ; Neoplasm Invasiveness/radiography ; Retrospective Studies ; Stomach Neoplasms/pathology ; *Tomography, X-Ray Computed

Metastasis to the primary thyroid carcinoma is extremely rare. We report here a case of colonic adenocarcinoma metastasis to medullary thyroid carcinoma in a 53-yr old man with a history of colon cancer. He showed a nodular lesion, suggesting malignancy in the thyroid gland, in a follow-up examination after colon cancer surgery. Fine needle aspiration biopsy (FNAB) of the thyroid gland showed tumor cell clusters, which was suspected to be medullary thyroid carcinoma (MTC). The patient underwent a total thyroidectomy. Using several specific immunohistochemical stains, the patient was diagnosed with colonic adenocarcinoma metastasis to MTC. To the best of our knowledge, the present patient is the first case of colonic adenocarcinoma metastasizing to MTC. Although tumor-tumor metastasis to primary thyroid carcinoma is very rare, we still should consider metastasis to the thyroid gland, when a patient with a history of other malignancy presents with a new thyroid finding.
Adenocarcinoma/pathology/surgery ; Biopsy, Fine-Needle ; Carcinoma, Medullary/diagnosis/radiography/*secondary ; Colonic Neoplasms/*pathology/surgery ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Neoplasms, Second Primary/*diagnosis ; Thyroid Gland/pathology ; Thyroid Neoplasms/diagnosis/radiography/*secondary ; Thyroid Nodule/diagnosis

No abstract available.
Adenocarcinoma/*diagnosis/radiography/secondary ; Adult ; Antineoplastic Agents/therapeutic use ; Breast Neoplasms/*diagnosis/drug therapy/pathology ; Carrier Proteins/metabolism ; Doxorubicin/therapeutic use ; Drug Therapy, Combination ; Endoscopy, Digestive System ; Female ; Glycoproteins/metabolism ; Humans ; Mastectomy, Modified Radical ; Positron-Emission Tomography and Computed Tomography ; Stomach Neoplasms/*diagnosis/radiography/secondary ; Taxoids/therapeutic use ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed