[Generalized bullous pemphigoid induced by radiotherapy]. / Pemphigoïde bulleuse généralisée induite par une radiothérapie.

BACKGROUND: There have been a very small number of reported cases of radiotherapy-induced autoimmune bullous disease. We describe a case of generalised autoimmune sub-epidermal bullous pemphigoid (BP) induced by radiotherapy in a female patient presenting squamous cell carcinoma of the vulva. CASE REPORT: In June 2008, a 48-year-old woman underwent vulvectomy with lymph node curettage for squamous cell carcinoma of the vulva. Following surgery, adjuvant radiotherapy was indicated. At the 16th session (dose of 32 Gy), erythema occurred on the irradiation field. At the 23rd session (46 Gy), the patient presented bullous lesions that became generalised after four days with involvement of the oral mucosa. Skin biopsy revealed sub-epidermal bullae and direct immunofluorescence showed continuous linear deposits of IgG and of C3 along the dermal-epidermal junction. Indirect immunofluorescence revealed the presence of antibodies directed against the basement membrane. A favourable outcome was achieved under systemic corticosteroids. No immunotransfer analysis of serum or any other immunological investigations were performed. DISCUSSION: The clinical and histological features of this autoimmune bullous disease were evocative of BP, despite the absence of any formal proof. Radio-induced BP is extremely rare, with only 28 cases being described to date in the literature. The trigger mechanism is poorly understood; radiotherapy appears to cause changes in the antigenic properties of proteins in the dermal-epidermal junction resulting in production of autoantibodies. The radio-induced nature of BP does not affect therapeutic response. The case we report is novel in terms of both generalisation of the eruption and mucosal involvement.

[Efficacy of first-line radiation for non-resectable carotid paraganglioma]. / Efficacité de la radiothérapie en première intention d'un paragangliome carotidien non résécable.

BACKGROUND: Carotid paragangliomas are rare. Surgical resection is the primary treatment. However, when surgery is impossible, radiation therapy is an alternative potentially enabling local control with less morbidity. We report a case of good local control of an unresectable paraganglioma after external beam radiation. CASE REPORT: A 72-year-old-woman, had a 4-year history of right facial palsy associated with pulsatile tinnitus, episodic ear bleeding and ipsilateral hearing loss. Physical examination revealed a retro-mandibular and sub-mastoid pulsatile mass. Magnetic resonance imaging showed a large carotid paraganglioma involving the temporal bone. Since surgical resection was impossible, our patient was given external beam radiation therapy at a dose of 60 Gy. At 12 months follow-up, local control was good without significant toxicity. CONCLUSION: External beam radiation therapy seems to be a good alternative therapy for local control of carotid paragangliomas if surgical resection is impossible.

[Phyllodes tumors of the breast: analysis of 53 patients]. / Tumeurs phyllodes du sein à propos de 53 cas.

PURPOSE: Phyllode tumors of the breast are fibroepithelial tumors similar to fibroadenomas but with a predominant conjunctive tissue component. These are composed of a connective tissue stroma and epithelial elements. They are rare with an incidence of 0.3-0.9% of all breast neoplasms. The present study demonstrates the recent experiences in diagnosis, therapeutical management and clinical follow-up of this disease. PATIENTS AND METHODS: This is a retrospective study of the experience of the Institut National d'Oncologie (INO, Rabat) from 1998 to 2006. RESULTS: We included 53 patients. Median age was 37.2 years (15-67), tumor size was 1-30cm (median 10.25cm). The histological diagnosis was based on the biopsy in (7.8%) cases and extemporany in 22% cases, distant metastasis occurred in two patients; the treatment consisted of a surgery. The median follow-up was three years. Local recurrence occurred in ten patients. Distant metastasis occurred in two patients and five patients have died. CONCLUSION: The confrontation of our results to the data of the international literature shows that the diagnosis of the phyllodes tumours is histological. The basis of the treatment is surgery. The adjuvant radiotherapy is very important in patients at high risk for local recurrence; chemotherapy has a badly defined place. The prognostic is based on the histological characters of the tissue conjunctive component of these tumours.