Surgical management of giant skin tumor - A case report.

INTRODUCTION: Malignant non-melanoma skin cancers (NMSC) are of two main types: basal cell carcinoma (BCC) and squamous cell carcinoma (SCC). In rare occasions, some of the malignant skin lesions show histopathological characteristics of both BCC and SCC and are known as basosquamous carcinomas (BSC). In some cases of large tumors, extensive reconstructive surgery might be needed to correct the skin defect after the primary excision. PRESENTATION OF CASE: We report a case of a 76-year-old Bulgarian male patient who presented with a neglected giant cutaneous tumor with more than a 15-year history of a growing mass in the right deltoid area. On physical exam an enormous exophytic ulcerated and crusted skin lesion measuring around 11×11cm was found. Wide local excision of the lesion with 10-mm resection margins and partial resection of the underlying deltoid muscle were performed due to signs of infiltration. A full-thickness total skin graft from the left inguinal area was harvested to cover the skin defect. Final histopathological examination showed metatypical carcinoma with mixed characteristics of SCC and BCC - BSC, with infiltration of the fatty tissue, deltoid muscle and clear margins of resection, staged as T4R0. Two and a half years after surgery there are no signs of upper arm motor dysfunction and no evidence of local recurrence and distant metastasis on a follow-up PET/CT. DISCUSSION: Following current National Comprehensive Cancer Network's guidelines for primary treatment of BCC, surgical candidates should undergo standard excision with wider surgical margins, postoperative margin assessment and second intention healing, linear repair, or skin graft. Therapeutic strategy for non-operable cases includes administration of radiotherapy or system therapy in the face of Hedgehog pathway inhibitors and programmed cell death protein 1 inhibitor. They can provide an alternative solution to unresectable or difficult-to-treat locally advanced cases of BSC. CONCLUSION: Similarly to BCC and SCC, the first-line treatment option for BCS is surgical excision, but surgical margins should be wider than those for low-risk BCC due to the infiltrative growth pattern of this tumor. Favorable esthetic outcome requires precise planning of the reconstructive technique.

[Firs Case Report of Intraoperative Radiotherapy (IORT) for Early Breast Cancer in Bulgaria].

The intraoperative radiotherapy (IORT) is an innovative method for treatment of breast cancer, which can be used as a substitute of postoperative external beam radiotherapy )EBRT), or boost treatment to EBRT (1). Radiobiological advantages of IORT compared to EBRT are higher relative biologic effectiveness of low-dose radiation therapy and the presence of high dose in the tumor bed (where the possibility of remaining vital tumor cells is the highest), as this dose reduces rapidly with the distance from the applicator (2). Important feature of IORT alone is that it can be applied as a single fraction during the surgical intervention and spares 3 to 5 weeks of following radiation therapy. This means less time spent in hospital for the patients and for the radiotherapeutical units - reduced waiting lists and more machine time for other patients. Prolonged operative time as well as the need of additional staff are assumed as relative flaws of IORT (3). The INTRABEAM® system (Carl Zeiss Surgical Gmbh, Oberkochen, Germany) uses a single high dose of low-energy X-rays (mas 50kV), applied to the tumor bed immediately after the surgical excision of the tumor. These rays have high degree of absorption and low penetrating ability. This determines their advantage in comparison to EBRT to protect the surrounding healthy tissues (2). The data from the Targeted Intraoperative radioTherapy (TARGIT-A) and the Intraoperative radiotherapy versus external radiotherapy for early breast cancer (ELIOT): a randomized controlled equivalence trial show that when following the recommendations of The Groupe Européen de Curiethérapie-European Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology (GEC-ESTRO) Breast Cancer Working Group (2009) for an accelerated partial breast irradiation (APBI), IORT can be used as an equivalent of the postoperative radiotherapy (1,4,5,6). The purpose of this article is to show the results of the performed on 15 December 2015 for the first time in Bulgaria breast conserving surgery with intraoperative radiotherapy on a patient with early breast cancer.

Recurrent perineal hernia -- case report and review of the literature.

Perineal hernia is the protrusion of intra-abdominal viscera through the pelvic floor. We present a patient with recurrent perineal hernia - 12x9 cm with a palpable soft, hardly adjustable in the pelvic tunnel formation and attenuated skin over it. The patient was operated by abdominoperineal approach. We performed two layer Titanium mesh plasty of the pelvic floor with the use of the omentum and the pelvic muscles.

[Economical and social effectiveness of one day surgical treatment in patients with hernial defects of anterior abdominal wall - results of 7 year study].

A hernia is a protrusion of a tissue, structure or part of a organ through the muscular tissue or the membrane by which it is normally contained. Most frequently hernial deffect is seen in anterior abdominal wall. Usually contents of hernial sac are abdominal organs or portion of organs. Hernia is classified according to the operating methods combining with type and grading of hernia. Recent surgical treatment of hernia can be divided in to 3 major groups: 1) Hernioplasty with double breasting techniques ( Bassini, McVay, Schouldice, Halsted). 2) Hernioplasty using tension free techniques (Lichtenstein, Gilbert-Rutkow). 3) Laparoscopic hernioplasty. One day surgery is a diagnostic and operative procedure in hospitalized patients in a single day, without night stay in hospital.

[Clinical experience and current aspects of treatment of abdominal actinomycosis].

Actinomycosis is an uncommocn inflammatory entity caused by the universally distributed anaerobic bacterium, Actinomyces Israeli. The most common sites of the abdominal form of the disease are the transverse colon and the cecum with the appendix. Actinomycosis can mimic other abdominal diseases as diverticulitis, abscesses, inflammatory bowel disease and malignant tumors, presenting a diagnostic challenge. In most cases surgical intervention is performed. Antibiotic administration should be a part of the complex treatment of the disease.

Simultaneous bilateral breast carcinoma: Histopathological characteristics and CD44/catenin-cadherin profile.

AIMS: Family history of breast carcinoma, multicentric tumor foci in one breast, and in situ lobular carcinoma increase the risk of bilateral breast cancer (BBC), synchronous or metachronous. Synchronous tumors are designated as simultaneous breast carcinoma if they appear at the same time. The CD44 family and cadherin/catenin immunophenotype of this group of BBCs has not yet been evaluated. The aim of this study was to compare clinicopathological characteristics and immunohistochemical profiles of simultaneous BBC and corresponding lymph node metastases in eight patients. METHODS AND RESULTS: In toto 15 primary and 9 metastatic tumors were evaluated. The expression of CD44 variant isoforms, beta-catenin, E, P and N-cadherin were evaluated by immunohistochemistry. Rare types of breast carcinoma were frequent in this group of patients. There were 6 pleomorphic lobular, 5 invasive ductal of usual type, 3 atypical medullary carcinomas, 2 mucinous and one invasive micropapillary carcinoma. The expression CD44v6 was most frequent, followed by CD44v3-10, CD44v5, and CD44v3. CD44v4 was generally not expressed. E-cadherin was expressed in 80% primary tumors, 40% expressed N-cadherin, and 66% expressed P-cadherin. CONCLUSIONS: Generally, simultaneous carcinomas had different morphology and different immunophenotype. Each primary tumor was more similar to its corresponding metastatic tumor than to the contralateral primary tumor.

[Phyllodes tumors of the breast]. / Filoidni tumori na mlechnata zhleza.

Phyllodes tumors are mixed tumors of the mammary gland. They account for 0.3 to 0.5 per cent of all breast tumors. This is a report on nineteen cases presenting phyllodes tumors. Depending on the number of mitoses, growth pattern and atypism degree, the neoplasms are classified as benign (12 cases), borderline (2) and malignant (5). Fourteen of them (9 with benign and 5 with malignant phyllodes tumors) undergo clinical follow-up study. A case with bilateral location of the neoplasm exhibiting strongly expressed susceptibility to relapse is described. The basic methods of preoperative diagnosis and the operative treatment procedures used are outlined.

Alterations in rat alveolar surfactant system induced by treatment with carbicron (O-[(2-butenoic acid)-N,N-dimethylamide-3-yl]-O,O-dimethylphosphate).

1. Intoxication of rats with carbicron (O-([2-butenoic acid)-N,N-dimethylamide-3-yl]-O,O-dimethylphosphate) induced a reduction of the total phospholipids and phosphatidylcholine in lung alveolar surfactant. 2. The lipid transfer protein activity was inhibited due to carbicron treatment. 3. No alterations were observed in phospholipase A2 activity in the alveolar surfactant of intoxicated animals. The structural order parameter (SDPH) of bilayer liposomes, prepared from surfactant phospholipids of carbicron-treated rats also remained unchanged.