Regressão do hipocratismo digital em pacientes com câncer de pulmão tratados cirurgicamente / Reversal of digital clubbing in surgically treated lung cancer patients

OBJETIVO: Estudar, por meio de avaliações objetivas, a ocorrência de regressão do hipocratismo digital (HD) em pacientes com câncer de pulmão, tratados cirurgicamente, e revisar a literatura sobre o assunto. MÉTODOS: Sessenta e um pacientes com câncer de pulmão não-pequenas células-40 com e 21 sem HD-foram tratados por cirurgia de ressecção pulmonar. Onze deles (18 por cento) também receberam radioterapia pós-operatória. No período pré-operatório e no 7º, no 18º e no 90º dia pós-operatório, o ângulo hiponiquial (AH) e a relação entre as espessuras falangeana distal e interfalangeana (EFD/EIF) foram determinados sobre imagens da sombra dos dedos indicadores em perfil. Uma revisão da literatura sobre regressão do HD (1954-2007) também foi efetuada. RESULTADOS: Do período pré-operatório ao 90º dia pós-operatório, o AH diminuiu de 200,5 ± 5,0º para 193,3 ± 6,8º (p < 0,001), e a relação EFD/EIF, de 1,014 ± 0,051 mm para 0,956 ± 0,045 mm (p < 0,001) no grupo de 40 pacientes com HD. Em 33 (82,5 por cento), o AH e a relação EFD/EIF diminuíram, mas, em 7 (1,7 por cento), 6 com evolução desfavorável, esses valores não se reduziram. Nos 21 pacientes sem HD, tanto o AH (184,5 ± 5,5º) como a relação EFD/EIF (0,937 ± 0,046 mm) permaneceram inalterados após a cirurgia. Na literatura (1954-2007) foram encontrados 52 casos em que a regressão do HD, observada em diversas condições clínicas, foi explicitamente referida, 5 dos quais eram casos de câncer de pulmão. CONCLUSÕES: O HD em pacientes com câncer de pulmão regride na maioria dos casos após tratamento cirúrgico efetivo do tumor, o que pode também ocorrer em pacientes com outras condições.

OBJECTIVE: To objectively evaluate the reversal of digital clubbing (DC) in a series of surgically treated lung cancer patients, and to review the literature on the subject. METHODS: Sixty-one patients with non-small cell lung cancer-40 with and 21 without DC-were treated by pulmonary resection. Eleven (18 percent) received additional postoperative radiation therapy. Preoperatively, as well as on postoperative days 7, 18, and 90, the hyponychial angle (HA) and the distal phalangeal depth/interphalangeal depth (DPD/IPD) ratio were determined on profile shadow projections of the index fingers. A review of the literature on reversal of DC (1954-2007) was also performed. RESULTS: From the preoperative period to postoperative day 90, HA decreased from 200.5 ± 5.0º to 193.3 ± 6.8º (p < 0.001), and the DPD/IPD ratio decreased from 1.014 ± 0.051 mm to 0.956 ± 0.045 mm (p < 0.001) in the group of 40 patients with DC. The HA and the DPD/IPD ratio decreased in 33 (82.5 percent) but remained the same in 7 (1.7 percent), 6 with unfavorable evolution. In the 21 patients without DC, HA (184.5 ± 5.5º) and the DPD/IPD ratio (0.937 ± 0.046 mm) remained unchanged after surgery. In the literature (1954-2007), we found 52 cases, 5 of which were lung cancer cases, in which reversal of DC, observed in several clinical conditions, was explicitly reported. CONCLUSION: In most lung cancer patients, DC resolves after effective surgical treatment of the tumor, as can occur in patients with other conditions.

Aplicação do índice prognóstico de Nottingham em pacientes com câncer de mama atendidas em um hospital público / Application of the Nottingham prognosis index in breast cancer patients treated at a public hospital

Um estudo de coorte histórico foi desenvolvido incluindo 116 pacientes com câncer de mamaatendidas no Hospital Femina, Grupo Hospitalar Conceição (GHC), Ministério da Saúde (MS),entre setembro de 1997 e dezembro de 2000. Foi aplicado o índice prognóstico de Nottingham(IPN) na população em estudo e avaliada a sua associação com a recidiva da doença. O IPNconseguiu identificar um grupo com bom prognóstico, em que de 26 pacientes somente 2 (7,7%)evoluíram para recidiva, e um grupo de 32 pacientes com pobre prognóstico, em que 24 delas(75%) evoluíram para recidiva em cinco anos. Nesta amostra composta de pacientes provenientesda rede pública, a média e o desvio-padrão do tamanho tumoral foi de 3,1 ± 1,8 cm e somente25% das mulheres apresentaram tumores menores do que 2 cm na primeira consulta no hospitalterciário. Isso sugere que o diagnóstico de câncer de mama ainda está sendo realizado tardiamente,em nosso meio.

A history cohort study that included 116 breast cancer patients treated at the Femina Hospital, GrupoHospitalar Conceição (GHC), Health Ministry (HM), between September 1997 to December 2000 wasconducted. The Nottingham Prognostic Index (NPI) and its association with the disease recidivationwas assessed in the study population. The NPI identified two groups; good prognosis group (n = 26) with7.7% recidivation and a poor prognosis group (n = 32) with 75% recidivation at 5 years. The tumorsize in our study population was 3.1 ± 1.8 cm and it was less than 2 cm in only 25% of the patients atthe first consultation at a tertiary hospital. These observations suggested that the breast cancer diagnosis isperformed late in our environment.

Prognostic factors in irradiated patients with locally advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC)

Over the last 20 years the prognostic factors in NSCLhave been studies predominantly in surgical series. Their importance in clinically staged patients submitted to radiation therapy (RT) alone have not been sufficiently substantiated. We analyzed clinicoanatomical factors in 43 prospectively studied patients with inoperable tumors treated with definitive irradiation (60 GY/6 weeks). The only significant factors were the chest ivasion and response to RT. The median survivals for patients with and without chest wall invasion were 5.5 and 11.0 months, respectively (p=0.04), with corresponding 1 and 2-years survival rates of 33 and 0 percent, and 54 and 16 percent, respectively. Measurable responses were partial in 24 (55.8 percent) and complete in 7 patients (16.3 percent). The median survivals for responders and nonresponders were 13.0 and 5.0 months, respectively, with 2-year survival of 21 percent and 0 percent, respectively (p=0.00001). The local control rate was 11.6 percent respectively. These data suggest that irradiation is not an useful treatment for patients with chest wall invasion, and that responders have longer survival.

Respiratory disease in neutropenic patients: diagnosis and treatment

The associations between malignancy, immunossupression and infectious morbidity and mortality have been established, and the use of more intensive chemotherapic regimens have produced a higher number of immunosuppressed oncologic patients. Thus, the benefits of the antineoplastic therapy can be limited by the mortality associated with the complications of life-threatening infection. This have raised the necessity of empiric therapy, which main goal is to prevent the death in the carly stage, until a more specific choice can be determined based on the results of the bacteriological examination and the patient's response. Pulmonary infiltrates, which are generally the first manifestation of respiratory infection in immunocompromised patients, can be classified as localized (early, refractory or late) or diffuse. this classification helps to establish more directed empiric approaches. The choices of the initial empiric antibiotic therapy include (a) aminoglycoside + extended-spectrum beta-lactam, (b) complication of 2 beta-lactams, or (c) extended-spectrum monotherapy. It is also possible to coadministrate speciffically oriented. The optimal duration of empiric therapy and empiric antifungal therapy are also discussed in this review. The prevention of pulmonary infections is justified by the reduction in the morbidity, mortality, and hospital costs. Selective decontamination with the use of agents that preserve the anaerobic flora have had variable results, being SMZ/TMP the agent more commonly used for this purpose. Hemotopoietic growth factors have shown to be effective in reducing the duration and the severity, but not the incidence of the chemotherapy-associated neutropenia, the number of infection episodes, or the mortally associated to infection.

Marcadores tumorais / Tumor markers

Os autores apresentam os marcadores tumorais mais utilizados na pratica da clinica, associando-os ao diagnostico e seguimento de doencas malignas

Growth factors and differentiation - a new concept in the evaluation of germ cell tumor biological behavior

Fatores de crescimento e oncogenes tem sido recentemente associados a alteraçöes biológicas relacionadas a transformaçäo neoplásica. Hipóteses sugerindo um modelo autócrino tem sido propostas por vários autores. Os fatores de crescimento aparecem estar também relacionados com a regulaçäo da embriogenese precoce. Estudos recentes tem indicado que as células de carcinoma embrionário se assemelham bastante aos grupos celulares internos do embriäo precoce normal. Essa estreita relaçäo entre célula embrionárias normais e células de teratocarcinoma sugere uma funçäo reguladora similar dos fatores de crescimento com ambos os casos

Tumor de Wilms / Wilms' tumor

Säo relatados 4 casos de pacientes tratados no Hospital de Clínicas por tumor de Wilms que apesar de apresentarem grandes volumes, foi realizada a cirurgia primariamente com posterior radioterapia e quimioterapia

Carcinoma brônquico avenocelular em portadora de handeníase com dapsona / Bronchogenic carcinoma oat cell in carriers of hanseniasis treated with Dapsona

Os autores relatam o caso de uma paciente de 49 anos, tabagista, portadora de carcinoma brônquico avenocelular e hanseniase, em uso de dapsona há 4 anos. Procuram estabelecer as possíveis correlaçöes entre o carcinoma brônquico avenocelular, a hanseníase e a falência da imunidade celular, acrescidas do eventual efeito carcinogênico da dapsona