Cervical spinal extradural meningioma: Case report

A Case of Five-Year Survival After Combined-Modality Treatment for Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer With Intraspinal Metastasis

This case report describes the treatment approach and outcome in a 69-year-old female patient with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) diagnosed with T4 N2 M1b (intraspinal) disease. The two most common targets for tyrosine kinase inhibitors (epidermal growth factor receptor and anaplastic lymphoma kinase) were not expressed. Programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) was expressed in <50% of the tumor cells. In 2016, initial guideline-concordant treatment with carboplatin/vinorelbine chemotherapy was initiated. Between the first two cycles, all positron emission tomography (PET) positive lesions were irradiated with 30 Gy in 10 fractions (lung, nodes, thoracic spinal manifestation). After nine months with excellent response (at least partial remission, possibly fibrosis only), bilateral lung metastases were diagnosed. The patient was started on nivolumab monotherapy (later atezolizumab due to a change in National practice) and completed two years of treatment. She is currently in continued complete remission with regular follow-up examinations. This case illustrates that outcomes comparable to those observed in patients with limited brain metastases may be observed in patients with localized intraspinal disease and that immune checkpoint inhibitors play an important role in the management of metastatic NSCLC.

Multiple Extradural Spinal Meningiomas in a Patient with Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome: Case Report and Literature Review

BACKGROUND

Purely extradural spinal meningiomas are uncommon. Due to their typical location in the neural foramen, they are often mistaken for schwannomas, neurofibromas, and epidural metastases. In addition, comorbid conditions such as immunodeficiency may obscure the diagnosis. We present a case of extradural spinal meningiomas in a patient with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). This is the first reported case of multiple extradural spinal meningiomas in 2 separate regions of the spine.

CASE DESCRIPTION

A 40-year-old male with a past medical history of HIV and hepatitis B infection presented with a 2-month history of progressive back pain radiating to the left flank and thigh. Magnetic resonance imaging of the thoracic and lumbar spine with intravenous gadolinium contrast revealed 2 extramedullary masses in the left neural foramina of T6 and L1. The patient underwent laminectomy, which revealed that the 2 lesions were entirely extradural. Both lesions were resected, and the histological diagnosis for both lesions was meningioma, World Health Organization grade I.

CONCLUSIONS

Our experience with this 40-year-old male with AIDS who presented with radicular symptoms due to multiple purely extradural meningiomas underscores the importance of considering meningioma as a possible diagnosis in patients with tumors of the neural foramina. In addition, a wide differential diagnosis should be made for patients with spinal lesions and history of HIV, including illnesses that are related to immunodeficiency and those that are not.

Epidemiological trends of histopathologically WHO classified CNS tumors in developing countries: systematic review

BACKGROUND

Many developing countries are lagging behind in reporting epidemiological data for individual central nervous system (CNS) tumors. This paper aimed to elicit patterns for the epidemiology of individual World Health Organization (WHO) classified CNS tumors in countries registered by WHO as "developing".

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Cyber search was carried out through 66 cancer networks/registries and 181 PubMed published papers that reported counts of CNS tumors for the period of 2009-2012. The relationship between the natural log of incidence Age Standardized Rate (ASR) reported by Globocan and Latitude/ Longitude was investigated.

RESULTS

Registries for 21 countries displayed information related to CNS tumors. In contrast tends for classified CNS tumor cases were identified for 38 countries via 181 PubMed publications. Extracted data showed a majority of unclassified reported cases [PubMed (38 countries, 45.7%), registries (21 countries, 96.1%)]. For classified tumors, astrocytic tumors were the most frequently reported type [PubMed (38 countries, 1,245 cases, 15.7%), registries (21 countries, 627 cases, 1.99%]. A significant linear regression relationship emerged between latitudes and reported cases of CNS tumors.

CONCLUSIONS

Previously unreported trends of frequencies for individually classified CNS tumors were elucidated and a possible link of CNS tumors occurrence with geographical location emerged.