Dermatomyositis as a paraneoplastic syndrome in carcinosarcoma of uterine origin

Paraneoplastic syndromes are a collection of disorders affecting an organ or tissue caused by cancer but occurring at a site distant from the primary or metastases. Dermatomyositis can occur in association with malignancy as a paraneoplastic phenomenon. We present a case of a patient presenting simultaneously with an advanced carcinosarcoma of the uterus and dermatomyositis. The diagnoses, pathophysiology and treatment of these two conditions are discussed and current published studies reviewed.

Anaemia in patients with transitional cell carcinoma (TCC) of the bladder treated with radiotherapy

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Background: Treatment of muscle invasive TCC of the bladder with radiotherapy allows organ preservation and is frequently used in the UK especially in patients not medically fit for cystectomy. Anaemia is known to be an indicator of poor response to radiotherapy in head and neck and cervical carcinomas. This study describes the prevalence and type of anaemia in patients with TCC of the bladder and looks at the impact anaemia has on treatment outcome. Methods: Retrospective review of notes was performed on patients treated radically between 1992 and1997. Potential patient, tumour and treatment prognostic indicators were reported. Patients were labelled as being anaemic if their pre treatment haemoglobin level was below the normal range (below 13.5g/dl for men and below 11.5g/dl for women). Time to local recurrence, metastases and overall survival was recorded. Recurrence free survival and overall survival actuarial estimations were done using the Kaplan Meier method and compared by log rank testing. Multivariate analysis was carried out using Cox Regression method, correcting for potential confounding factors. Results: Data on 100 patients were available for analysis. 52 patients were anaemic with 75% of these having a normochromic, normocytic anaemia. Univariate analysis showed no significant difference in time to local recurrence, a trend to shorter time to metastases, and a significant reduction in overall survival in anaemic patients (p = 0.04). Two year survival was 43% and 22% for non anaemic and anaemic patients respectively. Multivariate analysis using covariates tumour stage, grade, and serum creatinine found anaemia to be poor prognostic indicator for overall survival (p = 0.005) and time to metastases (p = 0.003). Conclusions: Anaemia is highly prevalent in patients with bladder cancer. This retrospective study shows anaemic patients to have a worse outcome with radiotherapy treatment than patients with a normal haemoglobin level. This is not accounted for by a difference in local control which may be expected from hypoxic radiobiological principles. Anaemia may be indicative of more aggressive malignancy or sub clinical metastases.

No significant financial relationships to disclose.