Orbital Plasmacytoma in an Elderly Patient With Multiple Myeloma.

Orbital plasmacytomas are exceedingly rare neoplasms characterized by the proliferation of monoclonal plasma cells in the orbital soft tissues. Their presentation and clinical course can be diverse, making early diagnosis and management challenging. This case report sheds light on one such instance, emphasizing the diagnostic and therapeutic aspects of this uncommon condition. We present an 81-year-old patient with a prior diagnosis of multiple myeloma and bilateral orbital plasmacytomas, highlighting the importance of imaging in diagnosis and management.

Anti-CV2/Collapsin Response Mediator Protein 5 (CRMP5) Paraneoplastic Encephalitis Induced by Small Cell Lung Cancer.

Paraneoplastic neurological syndrome (PNS) associated with anti-CV2/CRMP5 antibodies is a rare entity that can present in various clinical manifestations, from encephalitis to chorea, depending on the brain region involved. We report a case of an elderly person with small cell lung cancer who presented with PNS encephalitis associated with anti-CV2/CRMP5 antibodies which were confirmed on immunological analysis.

Subacute Combined Degeneration in a Young Female Patient After Sleeve Gastrectomy.

The neurological symptoms of vitamin B12 deficiency are variable but primarily consist of combined spinal sclerosis, peripheral neuropathy, and dementia. Movement disorders and cerebellar ataxia are reported less frequently. We present a case of a young female patient with vitamin B12 deficiency after sleeve gastrectomy, resulting in subacute combined degeneration of the spinal cord (SACD).

The role of CT imaging for management of COVID-19 in epidemic area: early experience from a University Hospital.

BACKGROUND: To evaluate the clinical value of the chest CT scan compared to the reference standard real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) in COVID-19 patients. METHODS: From March 29th to April 15th of 2020, a total of 240 patients with respiratory distress underwent both a low-dose chest CT scan and RT-PCR tests. The performance of chest CT in diagnosing COVID-19 was assessed with reference to the RT-PCR result. Two board-certified radiologists (mean 24 years of experience chest CT), blinded for the RT-PCR result, reviewed all scans and decided positive or negative chest CT findings by consensus. RESULTS: Out of 240 patients, 60% (144/240) had positive RT-PCR results and 89% (213/240) had a positive chest CT scans. The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV) and negative predictive value (NPV) of chest CT in suggesting COVID-19 were 100% (95% CI: 97-100%, 144/240), 28% (95% CI: 19-38%, 27/240), 68% (95% CI: 65-70%) and 100%, respectively. The diagnostic accuracy of the chest CT suggesting COVID-19 was 71% (95% CI: 65-77%). Thirty-three patients with positive chest CT scan and negative RT-PCR test at baseline underwent repeat RT-PCR assay. In this subgroup, 21.2% (7/33) cases became RT-PCR positive. CONCLUSION: Chest CT imaging has high sensitivity and high NPV for diagnosing COVID-19 and can be considered as an alternative primary screening tool for COVID-19 in epidemic areas. In addition, a negative RT-PCR test, but positive CT findings can still be suggestive of COVID-19 infection.

High Diagnostic Value of 18F-FDG PET/CT in Endometrial Cancer: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of the Literature.

UNLABELLED: The aim of this study was to evaluate the diagnostic performance of (18)F-FDG PET/CT for the preoperative assessment of lymph node metastases (LNM) in endometrial cancer patients and for the assessment of endometrial cancer recurrence (ECR) after primary surgical treatment. METHODS: A comprehensive search was performed on Pubmed/MEDLINE databases for studies reporting the diagnostic performance of (18)F-FDG PET/CT for assessment of LNM and ECR published up to August 15, 2015. Twenty-one studies (13 for LNM and 8 for ECR) were included in the systematic review and meta-analysis. Pooled estimates of sensitivity, specificity, positive likelihood ratio, negative likelihood ratio, and diagnostic odds ratio of the (18)F-FDG PET/CT were calculated along with 95% confidence intervals (CIs). A summary receiver-operating-characteristics curve (SROC) was constructed, and the area under the SROC curve (AUC) was determined along with Q* index. RESULTS: The overall pooled sensitivity, specificity, positive likelihood ratio, negative likelihood ratio, diagnostic odds ratio, and AUC (with 95% CI) of (18)F-FDG PET/CT for detection of LNM were 0.72 (95% CI, 0.63-0.80), 0.94 (95% CI, 0.93-0.96), 10.9 (95% CI, 7.9-15.1), 0.36 (95% CI, 0.27-0.48), 39.7 (95% CI, 21.4-73.6), and 0.94 (95% CI, 0.85-0.99), respectively, whereas the corresponding numbers for detection of ECR were 0.95 (95% CI, 0.91-0.98), 0.91 (95% CI, 0.86-0.94), 8.8 (95% CI, 6.0-12.7), 0.08 (95% CI, 0.05-0.15), 171.7 (95% CI, 67.9-434.3), and 0.97 (95% CI, 0.95-0.98), respectively. The overall diagnostic accuracy (Q* index) in LNM and ECR were 0.88 and 0.93, respectively. CONCLUSION: (18)F-FDG PET/CT has an excellent diagnostic performance for detecting LNM preoperatively and disease recurrence postoperatively in endometrial cancer patients.

Functional and molecular imaging in cancer drug development.

Imaging biomarkers have a potential to identify key metabolic pathways that are up-regulated in cancer cells compared to normal cells. In early drug development, they can provide valuable information on the dissemination of the drug and estimate whether the drug reaches the target and, consequently, to determine the appropriate clinical benefit. The use of imaging as an early surrogate biomarker of response is also appealing, since it allows to tailor treatment regimens in individual patients. The aim of this review is to describe various imaging biomarkers covering most important cancer hallmarks such as cell death, proliferation, metabolism, vascularity, and hypoxia. We highlight the current status of using molecular imaging such as fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG), fluorothymidine (FLT), fluoromisonidazole (FMISO), and fluoroazomycin arabinoside (FAZA) positron emission tomography (PET) as well as advanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) techniques such as dynamic contrast enhancing (DCE) and diffusion weighted (DW)-MRI, and their potential roles in cancer drug development.

Hypoxia imaging using Positron Emission Tomography in non-small cell lung cancer: implications for radiotherapy.

Tumour hypoxia is an important contributor to radioresistance. Thus, increasing the radiation dose to hypoxic areas may result in improved locoregional tumour control. However, this strategy requires accurate detection of the hypoxic sub-volume using PET imaging. Secondly, hypoxia imaging may also provide prognostic information and may be of help to monitor treatment response. Therefore, a systematic review of the scientific literature was carried out on the use of Positron Emission Tomography (PET) to image Tumour hypoxia in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). More specifically, the purpose of this review was (1) to summarize the different hypoxia tracers used, (2) to investigate whether Tumour hypoxia can be detected in NSCLC and finally (3) whether the presence of hypoxia can be used to predict outcome.

Residual ¹8F-FDG-PET uptake 12 weeks after stereotactic ablative radiotherapy for stage I non-small-cell lung cancer predicts local control.

PURPOSE: To investigate the prognostic value of [(18)F]fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (FDG-PET) uptake at 12 weeks after stereotactic ablative radiotherapy (SABR) for stage I non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). METHODS AND MATERIALS: From November 2006 to February 2010, 132 medically inoperable patients with proven Stage I NSCLC or FDG-PET-positive primary lung tumors were analyzed retrospectively. SABR consisted of 60 Gy delivered in 3 to 8 fractions. Maximum standardized uptake value (SUV(max)) of the treated lesion was assessed 12 weeks after SABR, using FDG-PET. Patients were subsequently followed at regular intervals using computed tomography (CT) scans. Association between post-SABR SUV(max) and local control (LC), mediastinal failure, distant failure, overall survival (OS), and disease-specific survival (DSS) was examined. RESULTS: Median follow-up time was 17 months (range, 3-40 months). Median lesion size was 25 mm (range, 9-70 mm). There were 6 local failures: 15 mediastinal failures, 15 distant failures, 13 disease-related deaths, and 16 deaths from intercurrent diseases. Glucose corrected post-SABR median SUV(max) was 3.0 (range, 0.55-14.50). Using SUV(max) 5.0 as a cutoff, the 2-year LC was 80% versus 97.7% for high versus low SUV(max), yielding an adjusted subhazard ratio (SHR) for high post-SABR SUV(max) of 7.3 (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.4-38.5; p = 0.019). Two-year DSS rates were 74% versus 91%, respectively, for high and low SUV(max) values (SHR, 2.2; 95% CI, 0.8-6.3; p = 0.113). Two-year OS was 62% versus 81% (hazard ratio [HR], 1.6; 95% CI, 0.7-3.7; p = 0.268). CONCLUSIONS: Residual FDG uptake (SUV(max) ≥5.0) 12 weeks after SABR signifies increased risk of local failure. A single FDG-PET scan at 12 weeks could be used to tailor further follow-up according to the risk of failure, especially in patients potentially eligible for salvage surgery.