Vertebral hemangioma - the current radiation therapy perspective.

Vertebral hemangiomas are benign tumors of the spine, most often detected incidentally and on other instances, when signs and symptoms of the disease arise. About 10% of the population are affected worldwide with a female to male ratio of 2:1. The majority of these cases are asymptomatic and no intervention is generally required. Less often, back pain and neurological deficit may occur. Such hemangiomas are termed aggressive by the Enneking staging and warrant treatment. In this review, staging and diagnostics are discussed in detail followed by treatment options. Treatment options entail Surgical intervention, Percutaneous ethanol injection, radiofrequency ablation and Radiation Therapy. There are no set guidelines on preference or order of the treatment options. Further, in this review, studies favouring Radiation therapy regimes and their outcomes are elaborated.

Epithelial myoepithelial carcinoma: A case report.

ABSTRACT: Epithelial myoepithelial carcinoma is a rare tumor with the parotid gland being the most common primary site of origin. The tumor may also very rarely originate in minor salivary glands of the soft palate. Due to the rarity of its occurrence and histogenesis, clear-cut therapeutic guidelines are not defined. The present report describes the case of a 56-year-old female patient who was diagnosed to have epithelial myoepithelial carcinoma (EMC) of the minor salivary gland of the soft palate, Stage T2 N0 M0 (Stage group II). The patient was treated with radical radiotherapy followed by adjuvant chemotherapy and is alive with no evidence of disease after 12 months following the end of treatment.

Cutaneous metastasis in bladder cancer.

Cutaneous manifestation of cancers is a rare occurrence, even more so for bladder cancer, with a limited number of published reports. Iatrogenic implantation has been a major cause for it. With no clear distinction pattern from other common dermatological lesions, scattered occurrence, and poor survival; no definitive strategies are present for the management of these dermal manifestations. The present article describes a case of scalp lesion consistent with metastatic urothelial carcinoma along with a review of the literature.

Carcinosarcoma of buccal mucosa: A case report.

Carcinosarcoma is an extremely rare variant of squamous cell carcinoma characterized by biphasic histology defined by epithelial and mesenchymal components. Because of the aggressive nature, early risk of metastasis, and high mortality, this tumor is associated with poor prognosis. Surgery is considered as the main modality of treatment, although radiotherapy can be discussed in inoperable cases. The present paper describes a rare case of carcinosarcoma of buccal mucosa.

Target volume coverage in clinically designed radiotherapy plan of post-mastectomy adjuvant radiotherapy of breast cancer patients in comparison with radiation therapy oncology group-based contoured plan: A dosimetric study.

Objective: Conventional field radiotherapy based on anatomical landmarks has been the traditional treatment for breast cancer. Having proven efficacy, it is still the current standard of treatment. The Radiation Therapy Oncology Group (RTOG) has published guidelines for contouring target volumes in postmastectomy patients. The impact of this guideline in the current clinical practice is less known; hence, we have analyzed dose-volume histograms (DVHs) for these plans and compared them with the proposed treatment plans to treat RTOG-defined targets. Subjects and Methods: RTOG consensus definitions were used to contour the target volumes in 20 previously treated postmastectomy patients. The prescription was 42.4 Gy in 16 fractions. DVHs were generated from clinically designed plans that had actually been delivered to each patient. For comparing dose to target volumes, new plans were generated with the goal of covering 95% of volume to 90% of prescribed dose. Results: In RTOG contoured Group, coverage improved for the supraclavicular (V90 = 83 vs. 94.9%, P < 0.05) and chest wall (V90 = 89.8 vs. 95.2%, P < 0.05). Axillary nodal coverage improved for Level-1(V90 = 80.35 vs. 96.40%, P < 0.05), Level-II (V90 = 85.93 vs. 97.09%, P < 0.05) and Level III (V90 = 86.67 vs. 98.6%, P < 0.05). The dose to the ipsilateral lung is increased (V20 = 23.87 vs. 28.73%, P < 0.05). Low dose to heart is increased in left-sided cases (V5 = 14.52 vs. 16.72%, P < 0.05) while same in right-sided cases. Conclusions: The study shows that radiotherapy using the RTOG consensus guidelines improves coverage to target volumes with a nonsignificant increase in normal organ dose compared to that based on anatomical landmarks.

Extracorporeal irradiation in malignant bone tumors: Single institution experience and review of literature.

In the last couple of decades, the management of malignant bone tumor (MBT) has seen a sea change. With the advent in surgical technics, radiation therapy, and chemotherapy, it has moved from disabling amputation to limb salvage surgery. Extracorporeal irradiation (ECI) and re-implantation of resected bone is a useful method of limb salvage of MBTs. In our study, we analyzed and presented the results of 8 cases of MBTs treated with this modality. Between 2014 and 2017, 8 patients with primary MBT were enrolled for ECI technique who are meeting the eligibility criteria. Before taking the patient for ECI treatment, a multispecialty tumor board discussion was done for each patient. All of them received neo-adjuvant and adjuvant chemotherapy except the patients with histology of giant cell tumor. Following neoadjuvant chemotherapy bone excision surgery was performed, and the resected bone was taken for ECI with the dose of 50 Gray in a single fraction. After ECI, bone segment was re-implanted at osteotomy site in the same setting. After completion of adjuvant chemotherapy, the patients were then followed up for any sequelae, local and systemic control, ambulation, and functional outcome. Out of 8 patients, there were 5 males and 3 females with mean age of 22 (range 13-36). The involved bone was the tibia in 6 patients, ischium in 1 patient, and femur in 1 patient. Histopathologically, the malignancies included 3 osteosarcoma, 3 Giant cell tumor, 1 Ewing's sarcoma and 1 chondrosarcoma. At median follow-up of 12 months (range 6-26 months), local control rate was 87.5% and systemic control rate was 75%. Perioperative ECI and re-implantation is a useful, convenient, and inexpensive technique. The overall treatment time is reduced. The patient's own bone fits perfectly to the resection site with reduced risk of graft site infection. The risk of local recurrence due to tumor re-implantation is negligible with tumoricidal radiation doses of ECI, and it is usually associated with manageable sequelae. Recurrence rates are acceptable and salvageable with surgery.

Epidemiological characteristics of endometrial cancer patients treated at a tertiary health center in National Capital Territory of India.

Settings and Design: A retrospective study which analyzed the data of female patients attending a tertiary care center in National Capital Territory for the treatment of endometrial cancer. Materials and Methods: Eighty-six histopathologically confirmed cases of carcinoma endometrium were taken from January 2016 to December 2019. Detailed information was collected regarding patient's case history, sociodemographic data (age of presentation, occupation, religion, residence, and substance addiction), clinical presentation, diagnostic and therapeutic procedures, and known risk factors (age at menarche and menopause, parity, obesity, use of oral contraceptive pills, hormone replacement therapy, and comorbidities such as hypertension and diabetes). Statistical Analysis Used: After analysis, results were presented as mean ± standard deviation and frequency. Results: Eighty-six percent of the patients (n = 73) were in the age group of 40-70 years; the mean age of the patients at diagnosis of endometrial cancer was 54 years. Eighty-one percent (n = 70) of the patients were from urban areas. Sixty-seven percent of the females (n = 54) were Hindu. All the patients were housewives with nonsedentary lifestyles. Most patients (88%; n = 76) presented with bleeding per vaginum. Fifty-nine percent (n = 51) had stage I disease, followed by 15% (n = 13) with stage II, 14% (n = 12) with stage III, and 12% (n = 10) with stage IV disease. Eighty-two percent (n = 72) of the patients had endometrioid carcinoma. Other less common variants were mixed Mullerian malignant tumor, squamous, adenosquamous, serous, and endometrioid stromal. Forty-four percent (n = 38), 39% (n = 34), and 16% (n = 14) of the patients had grade I, grade II, and grade III tumor, respectively. 53.5% of the cases (n = 46) had >50% myometrial invasion at the time of presentation. Eighty-two percent (n = 71) of the patients were postmenopausal. The mean age at menarche and menopause was 13 years and 47 years, respectively. Fifteen percent (n = 13) of the females were nulliparous. Forty-six percent (n = 40) of the patients were overweight. Most patients (82%) had no history of addiction. Twenty-five percent (n = 22) of the patients had hypertension, and 27% (n = 23) has diabetes as comorbidity. Conclusions: The incidence of endometrium cancer is showing a steady rise in the recent past. Early age of menarche, late age of menopause, nulliparity, obesity, and diabetes mellitus are well-documented risk factors for uterine cancer. Better outcome and control of disease is possible by understanding of endometrial cancer etiology, risk factors, and its preventive measures. Thus, a robust screening program is warranted to detect the disease in early stage and for increased survival.

Microsatellite instability in colon cancer: A single center experience from North India.

Background: Due to the defects of mismatch repair (MMR) genes MLH1, PMS2, MSH2, and MSH6, the mutations which occur in microsatellite region are not repaired during deoxyribonucleic acid synthesis, leading to microsatellite instability (MSI). MSI is one of the major molecular changes that occur in colorectal carcinoma (CRC). Studies have shown that MMR deficient CRC has different clinicopathological characteristics and a better stage adjusted survival when compared to microsatellite stable tumors. Materials and Methods: We have retrospectively analyzed the cases of colon cancers treated in our institute for 3 years from 2017 to 2019. Most of the patients underwent surgery and received adjuvant chemotherapy. MSI testing was done in surgical specimen with immunohistochemistry. The clinical details of the patients were tabulated in Microsoft Excel, and statistical analysis was done using IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows, version 21 (IBM Corp., Armonk, NY, USA). Results: A total of 52 patients who were treated in our institution from 2017 to 2019 were analyzed. The mean age was 46.8 ± 13.5 (19-72) years. The male-to-female ratio was 8:5. No significant association in patient demographics and clinicopathological parameters was observed between MSI stable and unstable disease. However, lymphovascular invasion showed a significantly higher trend in MSI unstable patients (P = 0.052). The median progression-free survival (PFS) of the entire cohort was 27.8 months (95% confidence interval = 22.7-32.9) and the median overall survival (OS) is not reached. The median PFS is 21.3 months in MSI stable patients whereas it is not reached in MSI unstable patients (P = 0.049). The median OS is 27.1 months in MSI stable patients, but it is not reached in MSI unstable patients and the difference shows a trend towards statistical significance (P = 0.061). Conclusion: MSI unstable tumors were found to have higher PFS and higher OS in our study. It needs prospective validation in larger studies in Indian scenario.

Highly aggressive gastric adenocarcinoma with multiple skin nodule and supraclavicular node in a 19-year-old patient: A rare presentation in such young age.

Although gastric adenocarcinoma is common in middle- and old-aged population, it is rare in young people. Development of cutaneous metastasis during presentation is even rarer in any age group. We report the case of a 19-year young man with gastric adenocarcinoma who had multiple skin nodules over the trunk during presentation. Fine-needle aspiration cytology of the nodule revealed it to be metastasis from gastric adenocarcinoma. Cutaneous metastasis may be the first presentation of internal malignancies even with a short history of disease in young patients. Atypical presentation of a malignancy in atypical age group must be evaluated with prompt assessment, active intervention, and close follow-up.

Dermatofibrosarcoma protuberans: Clinicopathological spectrum with emphasis on lymph node metastasis and fibrosarcomatous transformation.

Introduction: Dermatofibrosarcoma protuberans (DFSP) is an uncommon skin tumor with a low-to-intermediate grade of malignancy, characterized by progressive growth and a propensity for local recurrence. In this series, we are analyzing the clinicopathological spectrum of DFSP cases. Materials and Methods: A retrospective study of 12 patients with DFSP who were diagnosed at our institute over the last 2 years (2018-2020) was performed. Results: The clinicopathological spectrum and immunohistochemistry of DFSP cases were studied with one case with lymph node metastasis, which is a rare entity, and two cases of the fibrosarcomatous DFSP were also diagnosed and warrant a special mention. Conclusion: Pathologists should be aware of metastasis and unusual variants while reporting dermatofibrosarcoma.

Dosimetric impact of dwell time deviation constraint on inverse brachytherapy treatment planning and comparison with conventional optimization method for interstitial brachytherapy implants.

PURPOSE: High-dose rate remote afterloading brachytherapy machine and advanced treatment planning system help in getting optimum dose to tumor and low dose to normal structures. Inverse planning simulated annealing (IPSA) optimization technique has a unique feature of dwell time deviation constraint (DTDC). In this study, six IPSA-based plans having different DTDC values with routinely practiced geometric plus graphical optimization (GO + GrO) have been compared using various dosimetric parameters. MATERIALS AND METHODS: For this retrospective study, we have generated IPSA-optimized interstitial brachytherapy plans for ten cancer cervix patients. Routinely practiced GO + GrO-based plans were compared with six different IPSA plans having varying DTDC values from 0.0 to 1.0 using different dosimetric indices. RESULTS: Conformity index and homogeneity index (HI) were higher in GO + GrO plans, compared to IPSA-optimized plans. However, HI of IPSA plans was increasing with increasing DTDC values. High-dose volumes were well controllable using DTDC parameter in IPSA-optimized plans. Dose to the rectum and bladder was smaller for IPSA-optimized plans than GO + GrO plans. CONCLUSIONS: One of the benefits of applying DTDC in IPSA-optimized plan is that it reduces high-dose volumes. Another advantage is the reduction in rectum and bladder dose.

Complete androgen insensitivity syndrome with intra-abdominal seminoma in a phenotypic female: A rare presentation.

Androgen insensitivity syndrome (AIS) is a rare, X-linked recessive disorder which causes alterations in androgen receptor gene leading to hormone resistance, which may present clinically under three phenotypes: complete AIS (CAIS), partial AIS, or mild AIS. The symptoms range from phenotypically normal males with impaired spermatogenesis to phenotypically normal women with primary amenorrhea. We report a case of a 35-year-old woman who was diagnosed with CAIS and presented with malignant transformation of the undescended testis. The histopathology confirmed the presence of seminoma. In this case report, we reviewed the literature which describes the biochemical and endocrinological abnormalities leading to the syndrome. It also highlights the potential for malignant changes of the undescended testes, diagnosis, and therapeutic management.

"Christie Regimen" palliative radiotherapy in advanced head-and-neck cancer: A single-center experience.

BACKGROUND: Relevance of aggressive treatment in advanced head neck squamous cell cancers(HNSCC) is debatable in view of expected poor outcome. Long treatment duration only adds up to the cost of treatment without any improvements in outcomes. AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: To assess the outcomes of hypofractionated "Christie" palliative radiotherapy regimen in advanced HNSCC. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Patients of advanced HNSCC registered from June 2015 to June 2019 were treated by parallel pair field technique on Cobalt60 machine (Theatron 780E) to total dose of 50 Gray/16 fractions over 3.2 weeks. Toxicity was scored using Radiation Therapy Oncology Group (RTOG) criteria and response was evaluated as per WHO criteria. RESULTS: Records of 110 patients of HNSCC with mean age of 56.19 years were analysed. Evaluation at 4-8 weeks after radiotherapy resulted in a complete response (CR) in 19.1%, partial response (PR) in 32.7%, stable disease (SD) in 29.1% and progressive disease (PD) in 3.6%, while 15.5% patients did not report for post treatment evaluation. Median progression free survival was 9.52 months (95% CI 5.9 - 13.1 months). The median overall survival was 12.7 ± 2.2 months (95% CI 8.2 - 17.2). Median time to progression after completion of radiotherapy was 84 days. Grade IV dermatitis and mucositis was encountered in 2.7% and 1.8% cases respectively, requiring hospitalization. CONCLUSION: Christie regimen for advanced HNSCC is a clinically viable option with acceptable outcomes in a resource constrained setting.

Demographic and clinicopathological profile of patients of gastrointestinal stromal tumor from a tertiary care center of North India: An observational study.

BACKGROUND: Gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST) is the most common mesenchymal tumor of the gastrointestinal system. This study was aimed to analyze the demographic and clinicopathological data of the patient with a primary diagnosis of GIST, who were treated at our center. MATERIALS AND METHODOLOGY: Patients of GIST registered at our center from September 1, 2008, to August 31, 2016, were enrolled for this study. Patient's demographic and clinicopathological data were collected from clinical records. The data were represented as absolute number, percentage, and median (range: minimum to maximum), whichever applicable. RESULTS AND OBSERVATIONS: The analysis of 27 patients revealed that pain was the most common clinical feature. The stomach was the most common primary site. Most of the patients underwent upfront radical surgery (92.6%) followed by adjuvant imatinib. Histopathological data revealed that most tumors were >10 cm in size, 51.8% of patients had low mitotic index, and all these patients were either immunohistochemical positive for cluster differentiation 117 or KIT. The median duration of tyrosine kinase inhibitors therapy (imatinib) in our study individual was 2.5 years with a range of 4.8 months-3 years. Response assessment revealed 74.1% complete remission, 11.1% stable disease, and 3.7% progressive disease. Median overall survival in study individuals was 2.63 years (range: 0.1-8.6 years). Patient- and tumor-related factors were analyzed for prognostic significance using univariate survival analysis; however, none was found to have a significant prognostic correlation. CONCLUSIONS: Patients who underwent upfront surgery followed by adjuvant imatinib has shown good response to the treatment. However, the limitation of the small sample size and short follow-up in this study may not be a true data representation of the entire population.

Study of the effects of dwell time deviation constraints on inverse planning simulated annealing optimized plans of intracavitary brachytherapy of cancer cervix.

PURPOSE: High Dose Rate (HDR) remote afterloading brachytherapy machine and advanced treatment planning system have made it possible to make variations in individual dwell times across a catheter according to tumour density and for sparing normal structures. New inverse planning technique such as Inverse Planning Simulated Annealing (IPSA) has also been introduced. But very few institutions are venturing towards volume based IPSA optimised intracavitary brachytherapy. This study focuses on dwell time deviation constraint (DTDC) feature of IPSA based optimization which restricts the large variation of dwell time across the catheter. METHODS AND MATERIAL: For this retrospective study we have generated IPSA optimised intracavitary brachytherapy plans for 20 cancer cervix applications. The initial DTDC value of each IPSA plan was kept 0.0. Later on gradual increment was made in DTDC values in step of 0.2. Plan modulation index (M) defined by Ryan L. Smith et al was used for characterising the variation of dwell time modulation with respect to gradual increase in DTDC parameter. RESULTS: Plan modulation index gradually decreases with increasing value of DTDC from 0.0 to 1.0. There was the 83% decrease in M value from IPSA of DTDC 0.0 to fully constrained IPSA of DTDC1.0. There is reduction of 8.26% and 6.95% for D2cc values of rectum and bladder respectively for DTDC 1.0 compared to DTDC 0.0. CONCLUSIONS: One of the benefits of applying DTDC constrained in IPSA plan is that, it removes local hot spots. It's another advantage is the reduction in rectum and bladder dose.

Osteosarcoma with cutaneous metastases. A case report.

BACKGROUND: Osteosarcomas, despite their aggressive nature and propensity to metastasize, only rarely give rise to skin deposits. CASE: We report a case of a femoral osteosarcoma in which cutaneous scalp and neck metastases developed 3 years after treatment of the primary disease. Fine needle aspiration was pivotal in diagnosing the secondary disease. CONCLUSION: Only 8 instances of cutaneous metastases from an osteosarcoma have been previously reported. We recommend early investigation of such nodules with fine needle aspiration cytology and inclusion of multiagent chemotherapy as part of the treatment protocol in all patients with osteosarcoma.

Host and risk factors for gestational trophoblastic disease: a hospital-based analysis from India.

BACKGROUND: Gestational trophoblastic disease (GTD) adversely affects pregnancy by the development of Hydatidiform mole and placental site gestational tumor. GTD is a discrete pool of epidemiological and clinicopathological entities. Therefore, every geographical region should be studied separately. The Indian subcontinent is under-reported for this disease. This paper analyses the data from a large hospital. MATERIAL/METHODS: 92 patients with GTD were analyzed in the period from 1995 to 1999. RESULTS: The incidence of GTD was 1.31 per 1000 live births and one per 967 pregnancies irrespective of outcome. 93.5% of the patients had moderate to severe vaginal bleeding as presenting symptom, while routine antenatal ultrasonography revealed GTD in 6.5% completely asymptomatic patients. Among the major risk factors were age over 30 (p=6.3 x 10(-3), RR=2.7), previous abortion (p<0.001, RR=3.9) and multigravida (p=4.9 x 10(-6), RR=4.1). Early detection and treatment on established lines can achieve 95.7% complete response and 6.5% partial response. 17 out of 21 invasive moles (80.9%) were found with multiple abortions and mechanical interference in form of check curettage, which probably implicates repeated mechanical interference in the conversion of a mole into an invasive one. CONCLUSIONS: The present study explores the status of established host-related risk and prognostic factors in the Indian context. In cases of invasive mole, the role of repeated mechanical interference in the form of check curettage needs further evaluation.