Multiple Splenic Infarctions Complicating Granulomatosis with Polyangiitis.

BACKGROUND: A 57-year-old patient was admitted for high-grade fever, asthenia, sweating, dry cough and diffuse arthro-myalgias. Two years earlier, elevated titers of anticytoplasmic antibodies (ANCA) of anti-proteinase 3 specificity and renal biopsy led to a diagnosis of granulomatosis with polyangiitis (GPA) with lung and renal involvement. GPA was treated by steroids, cyclophosphamide and rituximab with subsequent clinical and biological remission. The current chest CT scan was performed for a lung opacity that eventually was proved to be an organising pneumonia. CT also showed an unsuspected pattern of the spleen that was compared with a previous chest CT.

Whole body PET-CT: M staging in non small-cell lung cancer.

FDG PET has been used for years in the diagnosis and recurrence of non small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). It has an important impact on patient management, and its coupling with CT for immediate fusion allows immediate localization and characterization of uptake. This article reviews the role of FDG PET-CT in the staging of NSCLC for the detection of metastatic disease.

Tumour response and safety of cetuximab in a window pre-operative study in patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck.

BACKGROUND: To investigate the safety and activity of cetuximab in the pre-operative treatment of squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (SCCHN). PATIENTS AND METHODS: Cetuximab was administered for 2 weeks before surgery to 33 treatment-naïve patients selected for primary surgical treatment. Tumour biopsies, 2-[fluorine-18]-fluoro-2-deoxy-d-glucose positron emission tomography ((18)FDG-PET) and imaging were carried out at baseline and before surgery. The primary aim of the study was safety and the secondary aims included metabolical, radiological and pathological tumour response. Five untreated patients were included as controls. RESULTS: Cetuximab given 24 h before surgery was safe. Ninety percent of patients had (18)FDG-PET partial response (EORTC guideline) in the cetuximab group versus 0% in the control group. Delta maximal standardized uptake values (ΔSUVmax) were correlated with tumour cellularity on the surgical specimens (P < 0.0001). For patients with ΔSUVmax less than -25% or less than -50%, Ki67 was significantly decreased by cetuximab (P = 0.01 and 0.003). Cetuximab induced down-regulation of pEGFR (P = 0.0004) and pERK (P = 0.003). CONCLUSIONS: Short-course pre-operative administration of cetuximab is safe and shows a high rate of (18)FDG-PET response. (18)FDG-PET response was correlated with residual tumour cellularity suggesting that (18)FDG-PET deserves further investigation as a potential early marker of cetuximab activity in SCCHN.