Tumor thrombus in the inferior vena cava from colon cancer detected by 18F-FDG-PET

Utility of metabolic ratios in the diagnosis of tumor Thrombus on F-18 FDG PET/CT

BACKGROUND

This study aims to predict quantitative parameter in form of metabolic ratios to diagnose tumor thrombus on F-18 FDG PET/CT.

METHODS

This is a retrospective study from Nuclear Medicine department at All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Jodhpur, India. Patients with malignancies who underwent F-18 FDG PET/CT in our department or images sent for review from February 2020 till September 2022 were screened for tumor thrombus that comprised study group. Control group had patients with malignancy and no imaging evidence of tumor thrombus. Metabolic activities (SUVmax) of tumor thrombus, liver and descending aorta in study group, and that of IVC, liver and descending aorta in control group were recorded. Metabolic ratios of tumor thrombus to liver (SUR L) and to aorta (SUR A) in study group, and IVC to liver (SUR* L) and to aorta (SUR*A) in control group were compared using receiver operator curves.

RESULTS

Of 2277 studies screened, 12 had tumor thrombus. The most common primary malignant site and vessel involved were lung and IVC respectively. The median (IQR) SUR L, SUR A, SUR* L and SUR* A were 2.5 (3.25), 2.6  (6), 0.67 (0.18) and 1 (0.17) respectively. Area under ROC for SUR L and SUR A were 0.983 [95% CI: 0.955-1.0] and 0.958 [95% CI: 0.90-1.0] respectively. The ideal cut-off for SUR L was 0.953 (sensitivity 92.3%, specificity 98.0%) and for SUR A was 1.42 (sensitivity 84.6%, specificity 98.0%).

CONCLUSION

Metabolic ratios of tumor thrombus to liver (SUR L) and aorta (SUR A) have good diagnostic performance and can be useful in studies with non-iodinated contrast CT.

Treatment of tumor thrombus in the superior mesenteric vein due to advanced colon cancer with complete surgical resection and chemotherapy: a case report

BACKGROUND

Tumor thrombus in the superior mesenteric vein secondary to colon cancer is rare. We report a case of tumor thrombus in the superior mesenteric vein and liver metastasis due to advanced colon cancer that was treated with chemotherapy and complete surgical resection.

CASE PRESENTATION

A 72-year-old man after transverse colectomy with lymph node dissection for advanced colon cancer was diagnosed with tumor thrombus in the superior mesenteric vein and liver metastasis. He underwent adjuvant chemotherapy and had complete surgical tumor resection involving tumor thrombectomy and hepatectomy. There has been no recurrence at 36 months after surgery.

CONCLUSION

Herein, we report a rare case of tumor thrombus in the superior mesenteric vein related to advanced colon cancer. The combination of chemotherapy and complete surgical tumor resection may provide long-term survival.

Ascending colon cancer accompanied by tumor thrombosis in the superior mesenteric vein: A case report

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Colorectal cancer is seldom accompanied by venous tumor thrombosis in the superior mesenteric vein and little is known about its features.

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Venous tumor thrombosis is representative of an aggressive cancer and that may be a strong risk factor for the development of liver metastasis.

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Radical resection of the primary cancer combined with venous and adjuvant chemotherapy may be one of the treatment strategies.

Introduction

Venous tumor thrombosis occasionally accompanies renal cancer, liver cancer, and pancreatic cancer. Colorectal cancer is seldom accompanied by venous tumor thrombosis in the portal vein or the superior or inferior mesenteric veins (SMV, IMV), and little is known about its features. We report a case of ascending colon cancer with tumor thrombosis in the SMV treated with right hemicolectomy and combined resection of the SMV.

Presentation of case

An 82-year-old man with chief complaints of loss of appetite was admitted to our hospital. He was diagnosed with ascending colon cancer accompanied with tumor thrombosis extending to the SMV. He underwent right hemicolectomy and combined resection of the tumor thrombosis and the SMV. Intestinal blood flow was evaluated by intraoperative indocyanine green (ICG) fluorography. He continued to recover well from surgery. No adjuvant chemotherapy was employed because of the patient’s advanced age and his own will. He was transferred to another hospital on postoperative day 39. Six months after surgery, abdominal CT showed multiple liver metastases. He died 8 months after surgery.

Discussion and conclusions

Radical resection of the primary tumor and surgical thrombectomy should be considered for the treatment of colorectal cancer without distant metastasis accompanied by tumor thrombosis. However, venous tumor thrombosis is representative of an aggressive cancer and that may be a strong risk factor for the development of liver metastasis. Adjuvant systematic chemotherapy in addition to complete surgical resection may be one of the treatment strategies.

Ascending Colon Cancer with Pathologically Confirmed Tumor Thrombosis of Superior Mesenteric Vein: A Case Report

Colon cancer is very rarely accompanied by tumor thrombosis of the superior mesenteric vein (SMV). A 46-year-old patient had been diagnosed with SMV tumor thrombosis related to colon cancer without hepatic metastasis and underwent right hemicolectomy with SMV tumor thrombectomy. Tumor thrombosis was pathologically confirmed as metastatic colon cancer. There has been no recurrence for 12 months with 12 cycles of adjuvant-chemotherapy.

A case of ascending colon cancer accompanied with tumor thrombosis in the superior mesenteric vein treated with right hemicolectomy and greater saphenous vein grafting

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The occurrence of colorectal cancer with tumor thrombosis in the mesenteric vein is very rare.

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Complete resection of the primary cancer with tumor thrombosis is essential.

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Combined surgery and chemotherapy should be performed to prevent recurrence.

Introduction

The occurrence of colorectal cancer with tumor thrombosis in the mesenteric vein is very rare. Here, we report a case of ascending colon cancer with tumor thrombosis in the superior mesenteric vein (SMV) that was treated by complete resection.

Presentation of case

A 48-year-old woman was initially admitted due to anemia. Ascending colon cancer coinciding with tumor thrombosis in the SMV was detected. Right hemicolectomy, tumor thrombectomy, and greater saphenous vein grafting of the SMV were performed. She underwent neoadjuvant chemotherapy with capecitabine plus oxaliplatin and did not have any recurrence.

Discussion

Due to the high incidence of liver metastasis, the presence of venous tumor thrombosis may influence the patient’s length of survival.

Conclusion

Complete resection of the primary cancer with tumor thrombosis and systemic chemotherapy should be considered for better prognosis.

Characteristics of the portal vein thrombosis recurrence pattern without liver parenchymal invasion from colorectal cancer: a case report

Background

Portal vein tumor thrombosis from colorectal cancer is rare, and this recurrence pattern was mainly reported in patients with renal cell carcinoma and hepatocellular carcinoma. Furthermore, the recurrence pattern of portal vein tumor thrombosis without liver parenchymal invasion from colorectal carcinoma has not been previously reported. Herein, we present a patient with progressive portal vein tumor thrombosis without liver parenchymal invasion following curative resection.

Case presentation

A 61-year-old man with a chief complaint of constipation with abdominal pain associated with rectal carcinoma was admitted to our hospital. Computed tomography (CT) showed that the rectosigmoid colon wall was thickened, regional lymph nodes were swollen, and the light space-occupying lesion (SOL) was detected at segment 8 (S8). Neoadjuvant chemotherapy was performed, which was followed by laparoscopic anterior resection. The final diagnosis was stage IIIb (SS, N2, M0). After operation, systemic adjuvant chemotherapy was introduced. At first, tumor marker levels were within the normal range and there were no accumulations on positron emission tomography (PET). Tumor marker levels were elevated, and contrast-enhanced CT demonstrated that the portal vein SOL slowly extended from S8 to S5. Additionally, PET showed that the standardized uptake value was abnormally high at 5.8. Based on the diagnosis of portal vein tumor thrombosis, right hepatectomy was performed. On pathological analysis, tumor thrombosis was associated with rectal carcinoma, and there was no invasion toward the liver parenchyma. Additionally, the surgical cut end was tumor free. Six months after the hepatectomy, the paraaortic lymph nodes showed swelling. The patient is currently undergoing systemic chemotherapy.

Conclusion

Aggressive surgical resection should be considered in cases of portal vein tumor thrombosis. A good long-term prognosis could be obtained by a combination of curative resection and systemic chemotherapy.

Colorectal cancer with venous tumor thrombosis

Colorectal cancer is seldom accompanied by venous tumor thrombosis, and little is known about the features of venous tumor thrombosis in colorectal cancer. However, some reports show that colorectal cancer patients can develop venous tumor thrombosis and warn clinicians not to overlook this complication. In this report, we perform a review of 43 previously reported cases and investigate the characteristics of colorectal cancer accompanied by venous tumor thrombosis. The histological type of more than half of the cases was moderately differentiated adenocarcinoma, which is known to be aggressive. Among 41 cases with available data on liver metastasis, eight patients had synchronous liver metastasis, and liver metastatic recurrence after surgical resection was indicated in 10 patients. This liver metastatic rate was high compared to general colorectal cancer. However, 11 of 43 patients with venous tumor thrombosis could survive for more than 2 years after the diagnosis, although five of the 11 patients had liver metastasis. A long survival can be anticipated for patients following complete tumor resection and adjuvant chemotherapy. A greater accumulation of cases will help elucidate the characteristics of colorectal cancer with venous tumor thrombosis and improve the treatment strategy.

IV Leiomyomatosis on FDG PET/CT

A 48-year-old woman presented with a 2-month history of right lower extremity edema. Clinical examination only showed right lower limb swelling. Routine laboratory examination revealed no abnormal results. Abdominal ultrasonography identified uterine leiomyoma and soft tissue masses. An abdominal CT demonstrated a continuous mass extending from the right internal and external iliac vein into the common iliac vein and inferior vena cava. To distinguish the mass from malignancy, the patient underwent PET/CT scan which showed increased FDG activity in the mass. However, histopathological examination proved the mass to be IV leiomyomatosis.

The role of 18F-FDG PET/CT in differentiating malignant from benign portal vein thrombosis

AIMS

In this retrospective study, we evaluated the role of (18)F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography ((18)F-FDG PET/CT) in differentiating malignant from benign portal vein thrombosis (PVT) in patients with known malignant tumors.

METHODS

Seventy-two patients with histologically or clinically confirmed PVT and who had undergone (18)F-FDG PET/CT were included. Visual and semiquantitative analyses of PET/CT scans were performed. Metabolic activity was measured using the maximum standardized uptake value (SUVmax) by drawing the region of interest at the site of thrombosis. Receiver operating characteristic analysis was conducted to identify the optimal cutoff of SUVmax for detecting neoplastic thrombosis. Malignancy was defined using the following criteria: (1) visual analysis and (2) SUVmax >3.35. PET/CT results were confirmed with histopathological results and clinical and imaging follow-up.

RESULTS

The SUVmax of tumor thrombus (6.37 ± 2.67) was significantly higher than that of bland thrombus (2.87 ± 1.47; P < 0.01). The sensitivities, specificities, and accuracies for the two criteria were 91.5 % and 93.6; 64.0 and 80.0 %; and 81.9 % and 88.9 %, respectively.

CONCLUSION

(18)F-FDG PET/CT is a promising new method for distinguishing between portal venous neoplastic thrombosis and bland thrombosis using semiquantitative analysis, with the optimal cutoff value of SUVmax >3.35 as a criterion.

Incidental diagnosis of tumor thrombosis on FDG PET/CT imaging

OBJECTIVE

Clinical data are presented on patients with tumor thrombosis (TT) incidentally detected on FDG PET/CT imaging, as well as determining its prevalence and metabolic characteristics.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Out of 12,500 consecutive PET/CT examinations of patients with malignancy, the PET/CT images of 15 patients with TT as an incidental finding were retrospectively investigated. A visual and semiquantitative analyses was performed on the PET/CT scans. An evaluation was made of the pattern of FDG uptake in the involved vessel as linear or focal via visual analyses. For the semiquantitative analyses, the metabolic activity was measured using SUVmax by drawing the region of interest at the site of the thrombosis and tumor (if any).

RESULTS

The prevalence of occult TT was 0.12%. A total of 15 patients had various malignancies including renal (1 patient), liver (4), pancreas (2), stomach (1), colon (1), non-Hodgkin lymphoma (1), leiomyosarcoma (1), endometrial (1), ovarian (1), malign melanoma (1) and parotid (1). Nineteen vessels with TT were identified in 15 patients; three patients had more than one vessel. Various vessels were affected; the most common was the inferior vena cava (n=7) followed by the portal (n=5), renal (n=3), splenic (n=1), jugular (n=1), common iliac (n=1) and ovarian vein (n=1). The FDG uptake pattern was linear in 12 and focal in 3 patients. The mean SUVmax values in the TT and primary tumors were 8.40±4.56 and 13.77±6.80, respectively.

CONCLUSION

Occult TT from various malignancies and locations was found incidentally in 0.12% of patients. Interesting cases with malign melanoma and parotid carcinoma and with TT in ovarian vein were first described by FDG PET/CT. Based on the linear FDG uptake pattern and high SUVmax value, PET/CT may accurately detect occult TT, help with the assessment of treatment response, contribute to correct tumor staging, and provide additional information on the survival rates of oncology patients.

Thrombosis of the inferior vena cava and malignant disease

BACKGROUND

Inferior vena cava thrombosis (IVCT) is a rare event, and studies detailing its underlying aetiologies are scarce.

METHODS

One hundred and forty-one IVCT patients (57% females, median age 47 years) were analysed with a focus on malignancy-related thrombosis and compared with 141 age- and sex-matched control patients with isolated lower-extremity deep vein thrombosis.

RESULTS

Malignancies were more prevalent among IVCT patients compared with the control group (39% vs. 7.8%; P<0.001). Malignancy-related IVCT more frequently involved the suprarenal and hepatic segments of the IVC and extended more often to the right atrium than IVCT did in non-cancer patients. Among IVCT patients with malignancies, renal cell carcinoma (38%) and other malignancies of the genitourinary tract (25%) were the most common tumours. Analysis of the underlying pathological mechanisms of malignancy-related thrombosis identified external compression of the IVC by tumour masses in 9 cases (16%), and progression of malignancy into the IVC (so-called "tumour thrombosis") in 24 cases (44%). The remaining 22 cases (40%) were attributed to malignancy-related hypercoagulability and the presence of additional venous thromboembolism risk factors, such as previous surgery, immobilisation, or chemotherapy.

CONCLUSIONS

Malignancies substantially contribute to the risk of thrombosis involving the IVC. Tumour invasion, especially in cases of renal cell cancer and malignancy-related hypercoagulability are major triggering factors for thrombogenesis.

Migrating tumor thrombus trapped within the greenfield filter of the inferior vena cava and depicted by FDG PET/CT

A 72-year-old woman with leiomyosarcoma of the left thigh underwent a whole-body FDG PET/CT for staging, which demonstrated a large FDG-avid tumor in the left thigh and tumor thrombosis involving the profunda femoris artery/vein and superior femoral vein. A Greenfield filter was placed in the inferior vena cava before the radical resection of the tumor and thrombosis. Postoperative PET/CT showed an FDG-avid embolus trapped within the solid apical cap of the filter in the inferior vena cava. It was unknown if the tumor embolus migrated to the inferior vena cava before or during the surgical procedure of radical resection.

Extensive tumor thrombus in a case of carcinoma lung detected by F18-FDG-PET/CT

Tumor thrombus is a rare complication of solid cancers, mainly seen in cases of renal cell carcinoma, wilm's tumor, testicular carcinoma, adrenal cortical carcinoma and hepatocellular carcinoma.[1] Tumor thrombus in inferior vena cava is a rare complication of primary carcinoma lung. It should be identified so as to rule out venous thromboembolism and avoiding unnecessary anticoagulant therapy. We describe a case where F18-Fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) positron emission tomography - computed tomography (PET/CT) helped to identify extensive tumor thrombus.

Recurrent Ascending Colon Cancer Manifesting as Inferior Vena cava Thrombus

We report an extremely rare case of recurrent ascending colon cancer manifesting as inferior vena cava (IVC) thrombus. A 77-year-old woman previously diagnosed with ascending colon cancer underwent right hemicolectomy with lymph node dissection. Though the tumor invaded the retroperitoneum and involved the right ovarian artery and vein, curative operation was performed. The patient took 5-FU p.o. Two and a half years later, tumor thrombus in the IVC extending into the right atrium was incidentally found and diagnosed as recurrence of colon cancer by biopsy. RF-induced hyperthermia using 5-FU and CDDP i.v. was immediately performed, but she died after 6 months because of multiple liver and pulmonary metastases. In treating colon cancers invading the retroperitoneum, it should be recalled that some cases recur as tumor thrombus in the IVC and that close follow-up is therefore necessary.