RESUMO
BACKGROUND: The incidence of testicular tumors in Poland accounts for 2.4 new cases per 100.000 men a year. When investigating the incidence with regard to age, we may notice three age ranges with the highest incidence rate: babyhood, 25-40 years of age, and age of about 60 years. A routine examination in patients with testicular cancer after the first course of chemotherapy is computed tomography of the retroperitoneal space which aims to exclude the presence of residual masses and to assess the effectiveness of the treatment. AIM OF THE STUDY: The assessment of the effectiveness of computed tomography in the intraoperative investigation of patients with nonseminoma testicular tumors after chemotherapy. MATERIAL/METHOD: This detailed retrospective analysis included 182 men with nonseminoma testicular tumor treated at the Center of Oncology in Cracow, between the yeas 1990-1999. Men with tumors in stage from IA to IIC made up 79.68% of the patients. Twenty patients after chemotherapy, with residual masses in the retroperitoneal cavity revealed in computed tomography, underwent retroperitoneal lymphadenectomy. The investigation was carried out with GE CT spiral scanner before and after intravenous contrast administration. CONCLUSIONS: Computed tomography is a method of a satisfactory sensitivity in the assessment of residual masses in the retroperitoneal cavity in postchemotherapy patients, as concerns the location of the tumor, its size, number of foci, and the fact whether it can be operated on or not. Together with tumor markers, it allows for a precise qualification to retroperitoneal lymphadenectomy of residual masses in postchemotherapy patients.
RESUMO
OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to identify those trace elements which can be used to distinguish between normal and malignant tissue in renal cell cancer (RCC) kidney and to assess changes in trace elements concentration in tissue with progressing malignant disease. METHODS: In case control study, 36 cases of RCC were analyzed by Synchrotron Radiation Induced X-ray Emission (SRIXE) in order to establish the concentration of 19 elements. Patients with RCC were examined to obtain staging of disease after radical nephrectomy, which was performed in each case. Results were compared with 15 control kidney cortex tissue obtained during autopsy in which cause of death was trauma. RESULTS: The most relevant decrease was detected in Cd content: from 81 +/- 39.2 ppm in normal control samples to 16.6 +/- 22.2 ppm concentration in RCC. We found that the concentrations of Ti, Pb and Rb were also lower in RCC tissue. On the other hand, the RCC tissue was rich in iron and zirconium. With the progress of malignant disease, assessed by TNM (UICC 1997) scale, lower concentration of S and higher concentration of Ca in both RCC and neoplastic kidney cortex can be seen. The same tendency is observed in Zn and Se concentrations. Cadmium shows raising concentration with progress of RCC only in cortex of neoplastic kidney. In all cases it was shown that the relatively high tissue concentration of iron in both investigated tissues is decreasing with the progress of disease. The zirconium has shown raising tissue concentration in advanced disease. CONCLUSION: Trace elements concentration is different in malignant tissue and surrounding macroscopically unchanged kidney cortex. Progress of the disease is connected with changes in trace elements concentration. This may reflect different biology of compared tissue with potential practical implication.