Myeloid sarcoma of the thoracic spine: A case report.

Background: Myeloid sarcoma is an uncommon malignant neoplasm that typically arises at extramedullary sites and is associated with a diagnosis of acute myeloid leukemia. While myeloid sarcoma can involve any organ, central nervous system involvement is rare, particularly in the adult population. Case Description: An 87-year-old female presented with progressive paraparesis of 5 days' duration. The magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) revealed an epidural tumor from T4 to T7 with cord compression. When she underwent a laminectomy for tumor resection, the pathology revealed a myeloid sarcoma with monocytic differentiation. Although she improved postoperatively, she elected to pursue hospice care and expired 4 months later. Conclusion: Myeloid sarcoma is an uncommon malignant spinal neoplasm rarely seen in adults. For this 87-year-old female, MRI-documented cord compression warranted decompressive surgery. Although this patient did not opt for adjuvant therapy, other patients with such lesions may undergo additional chemotherapy or radiation therapy. Nevertheless, optimal management for such malignant tumor is still undefined.

Flat epithelial atypia with and without atypical ductal hyperplasia: to re-excise or not. Results of a 5-year prospective study.

Flat epithelial atypia (FEA) of the breast have a tendency to calcify and, as such, are becoming increasingly detected by mammography. There is no consensus yet on whether to excise these lesions or not after diagnosis on core needle biopsies (CNB). We reviewed 3,948 cases of breast CNB between June 2004 and June 2009 correlating histomorphologic, radiological, and clinical features. There were 3.7 % (145/3,948) pure FEA and 1.5 % (58/3,948) concomitant FEA and atypical ductal hyperplasia (ADH). In the pure FEA population, 46.2 % (67/145) had microcalcifications on mammography with 65.5 % (95/145) of patients undergoing subsequent excisional biopsies with the following findings: benign 20 % (19/95), ADH 37.9 % (36/95), ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) 1.1 % (1/95), and DCIS and invasive ductal carcinoma (IDC) 2.1 % (2/95). In the concomitant FEA and ADH group, 86.2 % (50/58) patients had microcalcifications on radiograph with 74.1 % (43/58) of patients undergoing subsequent excisions with: benign 23.3 % (10/43), DCIS 9.3 % (4/43), DCIS and IDC 4.7 % (2/43), DCIS + lobular carcinoma in situ + invasive lobular carcinoma 2.3 % (1/43), and tubular carcinoma 2.3 % (1/43). The incidence of carcinoma in the FEA + ADH group is 18.6 % (8/43) and 3.2 % (3/95) for the pure FEA group. This difference is statistically significant (p = 0.0016). The relative risk of carcinoma in the ADH + FEA group versus the pure FEA group is 6.4773, with 95 % CI of 1.8432 and 22.76 24. Five-year mean follow-up in the unexcised pure FEA did not show any malignancies. These findings suggest that pure FEA has a very low association with carcinoma, and these patients may benefit from close clinical and mammographic follow-up while the combined pure FEA and ADH cases may be re-excised.

Prostate angiosarcoma: is there any association with previous radiation therapy?

What's known on the subject? and What does the study add? Angiosarcomas are histological subtype of sarcomas and rarely involve the prostate gland. Only ten cases of prostate angiosarcoma have been reported in the literature to date. Occurrence of post-irradiation prostate angiosarcoma is rare considering the frequency of radiotherapy used for treatment of prostate adenocarcinoma. We provide a brief review of all cases of prostate angiosarcoma and describe the epidemiology, etiology, clinical presentation, histopathology, prognostic factors and current treatment options for prostate angiosarcoma. For the current review a literature search was carried out using Pubmed, EmBase, and Cochrane databases. All cases of prostate angioscaroma reported to date and observational studies evaluating the radiation associated cancer occurrence were reviewed. Despite the rarity, prostate angiosarcomas display remarkable clinical and pathological heterogeneity, and a treatment challenge. We found the association of prostate angiosarcoma with radiation therapy to be weak based upon the results from observational studies and case reports. Although radiation exposure has been suggested etiology of prostate angiosarcomas, assumption of such association is not supported by the current literature.

Prostate angiosarcoma: a case report and literature review.

Angiosarcomas are a relatively rare histological subtype of sarcomas and represent <1% of all sarcomas. Prostate angiosarcoma is extremely rare and displays remarkable clinical and pathological heterogeneity. Despite the rarity, it usually presents with dysuria, hematuria, or pelvic pain and represents a treatment challenge. Only nine cases have been reported in the literature, and we report the 10th case of prostate angiosarcoma and the first case of prostate angiosarcoma with recurrent adenocarcinoma.

Solitary extramedullary plasmacytoma of the bladder: a case report and literature.

Plasmacytoma is a rare B-lymphocyte neoplastic disorder that usually presents as the generalized disease multiple myeloma. Less than 5% of the cases present as a solitary mass of monoclonal plasma cells in the bone or soft tissue. Although solitary extramedullary plasmacytoma (SEP) may arise in any organ, it rarely involves the urinary bladder. A 67-year-old male without a history of multiple myeloma presented with urinary frequency and nocturia; he was later diagnosed with SEP of the bladder. The patient was initially treated with a course of radiation therapy without symptomatic improvement; therefore a chemotherapy regimen consisting of lenalidomide and dexamethasone was subsequently given for six cycles. SEP usually carries a better prognosis and higher cure rate than solitary plasmacytoma of bone, as SEP is radiation sensitive. The role of adjuvant chemotherapy in the treatment of SEP that is resistant to radiation therapy is not clear, since most of the recommendations have been derived from the experience of head and neck SEP. The literature also lacks recommendations for choice of a chemotherapy regimen and surveillance of isolated bladder plasmacytoma. Here we present the first case of a radiation-resistant solitary plasmacytoma of the bladder that was successfully treated with lenalidomide and dexamethasone with successful clinical remission.

An uncommon etiology of cholestatic jaundice: intraductal mucinous papillary tumor of the bile duct.

Intraductal papillary mucinous tumors (IPMT) are known to occur in the pancreas but rarely can occur in the bile ducts. These tumors secrete mucin that may form mucous plugs resulting in biliary stasis, biliary duct obstruction and dilation. We report a case of IPMT of the biliary tract that presented with fatigue and a persistent cholestatic pattern of liver enzyme elevation and required a high index of suspicion to make the final diagnosis. The early recognition and treatment of these tumors is important, as unlike other bile duct tumors, these have a good prognosis.