Enteropathy-associated T-cell Lymphoma (EATL) with intracranial metastasis : a rare and dismal condition

BACKGROUND

Enteropathy-associated T-cell lymphoma (EATL) is a rare type of gastrointestinal non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma. EATL with intracranial metastasis is even rarer. We report a case of EATL with intracranial metastasis.

CASE PRESENTATION

A 36-years old man presented with five weeks history of intractable diarrhea. Colonoscopy was normal, but abdominal computed tomography (CT) scan revealed mural thickening at duodenojejunal junction, and subsequent jejunofiberoscopy showed a circumferential ulceration at the jejunum. Histo-immunopathology confirmed the diagnosis of enteropathyassociated T-cell lymphoma (EATL) type II. His disease course proved to be aggressive and refractory to standard front-line chemotherapy, and eventually progressed through second-line salvage regimen with CNS and intracranial involvement. He died nine months after the initial diagnosis.

CONCLUSION

EATL with brain metastasis is a very rare occurrence with dismal prognosis.

Racial disparities in stage IV prostate cancer outcomes in the Veterans Affairs hospital system

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Background: Epidemiological studies have demonstrated that African-American (AA) men with prostate cancer have lower overall survival and cancer-specific survival rates than Caucasian (CA) men with prostate cancer. We aim to assess whether racial disparities exist for prostate cancer within an equal access health care system like the Veterans Affairs (VA) hospitals.

Methods: A retrospective analysis of AA and CA with metastatic prostate adenocarcinoma diagnosed between 1995 to 2007 via the Veterans Affairs Central Cancer Registry was conducted. Age, Race and type of treatment received were studied with respect to overall survival by using log-rank and Kaplan-Meier analysis.

Results: A total of 8,195 patients with advanced prostate cancer were analyzed, majority of them where CA (66.32%), 30.8% were AA and 2.8% belonged to other races. The median survival for AA was 2.71 years, 2.88 years in CA and 4.02 years in other races (P value <0.0001). Subgroup analysis based on treatment modality used showed the following median survival rates in years: No treatment (CA: 1.73, AA: 1.39, other races: 3.79, P<0.816), Hormonal therapy alone (CA: 2.51,AA: 2.45, Others:3.72, P<0.022), Radiation therapy alone (CA: 2.2, AA: 2.7, Others: 2.26, P<0.832), combined hormone and radiation therapy (CA: 2.71, AA: 2.31, Others: 6.64, P<0.029). However when CA and AA survival were compared excluding other races there was no statistically significant difference in survival irrespective of type of therapy received.

Conclusions: In advanced prostate cancer, AA and CA have uniformly poor prognosis. Type of therapy received did not influence the survival of both races. The numbers for other races is too small to make a definitive conclusion regarding their prognosis.

No significant financial relationships to disclose.

Primary signet ring cell carcinoma of colon: Retrospective analysis of VACCR database

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Background: Signet ring cell carcinoma accounts for less than 1% of all colon cancers. We examined the clinical pathological features and prognosis of signet ring cell carcinoma of colon and compare it with mucinous and non-mucinous adenocarcinoma of colon.

Methods: A total of 206 patients diagnosed with signet ring cell carcinoma from 1995 to 2009 were identified from the VA Central Cancer Registry (VACCR) database. Age, race, histology, grade, lymph node status, stage and type of treatment received data were collected.

Results: Out of 206 patients, 173 (83.9%) were white, 31 (15%) were black, and 2 patients were listed as unknown. Median age of diagnosis was 67 years as compared to 70 years for both mucinous and non-mucinous adenocarcinoma of colon. Pathological T-stages were as follows: T1 = 2.9%, T2=5.3%, T3=33.9%, T4= 25.7%, and unknown 32%. Of the total, 22.3% were located in caecum, 21.8% in ascending colon, 15.5% in sigmoid colon, 7.7% in appendix and hepatic flexure of colon, 11.1% in transverse colon, 2.9% in splenic flexure and 4.4% in descending colon. 33.5% were lymph node positive, 34.6% were lymph node negative, and 31.8% were unknown. Histologically grade 3 (55.4%) was most commonly reported followed by grade 2 (7.3%), grade 1 (2.5%), grade 4 (1.9%)and in 33% grade was unknown. 41.3% patients received only surgery while 34% received surgery with adjuvant chemotherapy, 7.3% received chemotherapy alone and 7.8% patients received either chemotherapy, radiation or hormonal therapy alone, 9% did not receive any therapy. 1 year, 3 year and 5 year survivals for signet ring cell cancer compared to adeno carcinoma was 60% vs 80%, 33% vs 60%, and 24% vs 47% respectively. Median survival of signet ring cell carcinoma compared to mucinous and non mucinous adenocarcinoma was 19 months, 48 months and 62 months respectively.

Conclusions: Signet ring cell carcinoma of colon has poor survival rates than the other histological subtypes. Signet ring cell carcinoma presents at an earlier age, higher tumor grade and advanced stage at diagnosis when compared to mucinous and non-mucinous adenocarcinoma of colon. Due to rarity of this disease further multi-institute studies are required for in-depth understanding and analysis of this disease.

No significant financial relationships to disclose.

Prognostic significance of positive lymph node ratio in resected esophageal cancer

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Background: Nodal involvement in esophageal cancer is associated with poor survival. We aim to determine whether the ratio of metastatic to examined lymph nodes (the lymph node ratio [LNR]) is a better predictor of survival as compared to the number of positive lymph nodes in resected esophageal cancer.

Methods: 1,149 patients with resected esophageal cancer from 1995 to 2009 were identified from the VA Central Cancer Registry (VACCR) database. The patients were further characterized to 3 lymph node quartiles based on LNR and their median survivals were calculated using the Kaplan-Meier method.

Results: Out of 1149 patients 26.4% patients (303) had squamous cell carcinoma and 73.6% (846) were of adenocarcinoma histology. Median age of diagnosis is 63 years. 353 (31%) are stage 1, 384 (33%) are stage 2, and 412 (36%) are stage 3. Majority of them 71% arise in lower third of esophagus followed by 13% in middle third, 4% in upper third and 12 % had unknown site of origin. The group was subdivided into 3 quartiles with 62.7% in LNR1 (0.0-0.1), 25.6% in LNR2 (0.1-0.5) and 11.7% in LNR3 (0.5-1.0). 13.7% had less than 2 nodes removed, 29.3% had 3-6 nodes and 57% had >7 nodes examined. 28% of them had tumor invading sub mucosa, 23.5% had tumor invading muscularis mucosa, 43.2% had involvement of adventitia and 5.3% had penetrating tumor at the time of diagnosis The 5 year survivals based on number of lymph nodes examined, number of positive lymph nodes and positive lymph node ratio are listed in the table. The median overall survival for resected esophageal cancer based on LNR quartiles was 37 vs 14 vs 11.5 months (p<0.0001).

Conclusions: Number of positive lymph nodes and positive lymph node ratio correlated with survival outcomes but number of lymph nodes retrieved did not predict any survival differences. However LNR was a better predictor of survival when compared to number of positive nodes. Further validation of this observation needs to done in large multicenter studies.

[Table: see text]

No significant financial relationships to disclose.

Primary non-Hodgkin lymphoma of the colon among patients in the Veterans Affairs Health System

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Background: Primary non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) of the colon is rare. There are no randomized controlled trials describing treatment outcomes for this tumor. We provide the largest descriptive study of this tumor to date.

Methods: Retrospective analysis of 109 patients diagnosed with primary non-Hodgkin lymphoma of the colon from 1995 to 2008 was done via the Veteran's Affairs Central Cancer Registry. By definition, all cases presented with a lymphomatous involvement of the colon as the first manifestation of their disease with no previous diagnosis of NHL of any type or site. Demographic, staging, histology, treatment, and outcome data was recorded. Lymphomas were classified as aggressive versus indolent based on their histology.

Results: There were 36,260 colon cancers diagnosed in 1995-2008 of which 109 (0.3%) were primary non-Hodgkin colon lymphomas. The median age of diagnosis was 67 years. 55 pts had aggressive disease, 27 pts had indolent disease, and 27 pts had inadequate histological data. Diffuse large B cell lymphoma (73%) was the most common aggressive lymphoma whereas it was marginal zone (56%) in the indolent group. The indolent group had 5- year survival rate of 76.9% compared to 48.6% for the aggressive group. Both groups had received different treatment regimens as seen in the Table with variable mean survival outcomes.

Conclusions: Our data suggests addition of postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy appears superior to surgery alone in the treatment of aggressive disease whereas it does not appear to provide any benefit in the treatment of indolent disease. However, patient numbers are too small to draw definite conclusions and warrant future investigation in multinational randomized fashion.

[Table: see text]

No significant financial relationships to disclose.

Laparoscopically assisted vaginal hysterectomy for large uterus: a comparative study

OBJECTIVE

To examine the safety and feasibility of laparoscopically assisted vaginal hysterectomy (LAVH) for uteri weighing 500 g or more as compared to uteri weighing less than 500 g in the management of benign gynecological diseases.

METHOD

In this prospective comparative study, 189 women with different benign gynecological diseases were scheduled for laparoscopically assisted vaginal hysterectomy. They were divided into two groups, with uterine weight greater than 500 g and uterine weight less than 500 g. Outcome measures for both the groups were studied comparatively in terms of length of operative time, amount of blood loss, requirement of blood transfusion and length of hospital stay.

RESULTS

Length of operation and amount blood loss were significantly greater in the uteri >o r = 500 g group than in the <500 g at 91.1 +/- 28.7 min versus 77.4 +/- 26.6 min (P < 0.01), and 570.5 +/- 503.6 ml versus 262.5 +/- 270.0 ml (P < 0.001), respectively. However, there was no difference in length of hospital stay and overall incidence of operative complications between the two groups. None of the women had any major complications though 17 minor complications were noted. There was no incidence of switching to abdominal laparatomy during the operation except for one patient who required "minilaparotomy" for removal of large surgical specimen (2400 g). Extreme intra-operative hemorrhage of more than 1000 ml occurred in five patients, however, they made full recovery after blood transfusion. Rate of blood transfusion was significantly lower in the uteri <500 g group (4.8% versus 34.9%, (P < 0.001).

CONCLUSION

This study demonstrates that despite the increased operating time and blood loss, LAVH can be safely performed for large uterus. However, surgeons need to be aware of the high risk of blood transfusion in these patients.