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Biomedical subjects

P W Pisters

Publications and source records attributed to P W Pisters.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2001

Epithelioid sarcoma: results of conservative surgery and radiotherapy.

PURPOSE: To determine the outcome and prognostic factors for patients with localized epithelioid sarcoma treated with conservative surgery and radiotherapy (RT). METHODS AND MATERIALS: The medical records of 24 patients with nonmetastatic epithelioid sarcoma treated with conservative surgery and RT were reviewed. Preoperative RT was given to 3 patients (median 46.4 Gy) and postoperative RT to 21 patients (median 64.5 Gy). A local (limb-sparing) surgical procedure was performed in all patients. RESULTS: At a median follow-up of 131 months, 14 patients had relapsed and 13 patients had died. The actuarial overall and disease-free survival rate at 10 years was 50% and 37%, respectively. Local, nodal, and metastatic failure occurred in 7, 4, and 10 patients, respectively, yielding a 10-year actuarial local, nodal, and metastatic control rate of 63%, 81%, and 56%, respectively. Univariate analysis revealed that size < or =5 cm and extremity location were favorable prognostic factors for overall, disease-free, and metastasis-free survival. The actuarial 5-year overall, disease-free, and metastasis-free survival rate was 79% vs. 25% (p = 0.002), 51% vs. 13% (p = 0.03), and 79% vs. 13% (p <0.001), respectively, for lesion size < or =5 vs. > 5 cm. The actuarial 5-year overall, disease-free, and metastasis-free survival rate was 77% vs. 39% (p = 0.002), 56% vs. 0% (p = 0.01), and 78% vs. 17% (p = 0.01), respectively, for extremity vs. nonextremity location. Multivariate analysis of the factors correlating with the overall, disease-free, and metastasis-free survival confirmed the favorable prognostic significance of small lesion size. The prognostic significance of extremity location on univariate analysis was explained by an imbalance in the mean tumor sizes. CONCLUSIONS: Epithelioid sarcoma is an aggressive soft-tissue sarcoma, with high rates of local and distant relapse. Local control with conservative surgery and RT compares favorably to published surgical series. The poor outcome for tumors > or =5 cm in size emphasizes the need for effective systemic therapy.

Actuarial Analysis↗
PubMed2001

Concurrent ifosfamide-based chemotherapy and irradiation. Analysis of treatment-related toxicity in 43 patients with sarcoma.

BACKGROUND: The current study was performed to evaluate the toxicity profile of therapeutic doses of ifosfamide (IFX) given concurrently with full-dose external beam radiotherapy (EBRT) in patients with soft tissue and bone sarcomas. METHODS: The medical records of 43 consecutive patients with soft tissue or bone sarcomas who were treated with concurrent IFX and EBRT were reviewed. RESULTS: The median patient age was 20 years. Histologies were rhabdomyosarcoma (n = 16 patients), Ewing sarcoma (n = 10 patients), malignant fibrous histiocytoma (n = 9 patients), and other soft tissue sarcomas (n = 8 patients). Thirty-one patients (72%) had localized disease, and 12 patients (28%) had synchronous local and distant disease. Treatment consisted of EBRT (median dose, 50.4 gray [Gy]) with concomitant IFX (median dose per cycle, 10.2 g/m(2)). All patients with Ewing sarcoma or rhabdomyosarcoma received additional concurrent chemotherapy. Twenty-six patients (60%) received two or more cycles of IFX, and 17 patients (40%) were treated with one cycle of IFX and EBRT. The incidences of World Health Organization Grade 3 and Grade 4 toxicities were 29% (21 of 73 cycles) and 22% (16 of 73 cycles), respectively. Grade 4 systemic toxicities included leukopenia (n = 14 patients), neurotoxicity (suicidal ideation; n = 1 patient), and diarrhea (n = 1 patient). Confluent moist desquamation (Grade 3) occurred in nine patients in the treatment field; no patient experienced Grade 4 local toxicity. Among 14 patients who were treated preoperatively, 2 patients (14%) had a pathologic complete response, and 6 patients (43%) had a pathologic near-complete response (> or = 90% necrosis). CONCLUSIONS: Local and systemic toxicities after the administration of therapeutic doses of IFX with concomitant EBRT appear comparable to those observed with either treatment alone. These results support the design of prospective studies evaluating concurrent ifosfamide and radiation therapy for patients with sarcomas.

Adult↗
PubMed2001

Utility of chest computed tomography for staging in patients with T1 extremity soft tissue sarcomas.

BACKGROUND: National Cancer Center Network (NCCN) and Society of Surgical Oncology (SSO) practice guidelines recommend chest computed tomography (CT) as part of the staging evaluation of patients with extremity soft tissue sarcoma (STS). In the current study, the authors evaluated the use and yield of chest roentgenography (CXR) and selective chest CT to screen for pulmonary metastases in patients with T1 STS. METHODS: The utility of these staging studies was evaluated retrospectively in a cohort of 125 consecutive patients who presented to a tertiary care cancer center with T1 primary (nonrecurrent) extremity STS. Two diagnostic strategies (CXR alone vs. CXR plus chest CT) were evaluated using an incremental cost-effectiveness ratio. RESULTS: The majority of tumors (70%) were high grade. The median sarcoma size was 3.0 cm; 64 of the tumors (51%) were located deep to the investing fascia of the extremity. All patients underwent staging CXR; 1 CXR (< 1%) was suspicious for metastatic disease. Fifty-one patients (41%) also underwent chest CT; 1 chest CT, performed in the patient with a suspicious CXR, revealed metastatic disease. With a median follow-up of 76 months, 19 patients (15%) developed metachronous pulmonary metastases. The relatively low yield resulted in an incremental cost-effectiveness ratio of $59,772 per case of synchronous pulmonary metastasis detected by CXR plus chest CT. CONCLUSIONS: Less than 1% of patients with T1 primary extremity STS were found to have pulmonary metastases that were detectable using a staging algorithm that employs routine CXR with the selective use of chest CT. The findings of the current study do not support current NCCN or SSO practice guidelines for patients with high-grade T1 STS.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2001

A three-step strategy of induction chemotherapy then chemoradiation followed by surgery in patients with potentially resectable carcinoma of the esophagus or gastroesophageal junction.

BACKGROUND: Patients with locoregional carcinoma of the esophagus or gastroesophageal junction have a poor survival rate after surgery. Preoperative chemotherapy or chemoradiotherapy has not improved the outcome for these patients. Our study was designed to assess the feasibility of preoperative induction combination chemotherapy in addition to chemoradiotherapy to improve the curative resection rate, local control, and survival. PATIENTS AND METHODS Patients having histologic proof of localized carcinoma (either squamous cell carcinoma or adenocarcinoma) of the esophagus or gastroesophageal junction underwent full classification including endoscopic ultrasonography (EUS). Patients first received up to two courses of induction chemotherapy consisting of 5-fluorouracil at 750 mg/m(2)/day as continuous infusion on Days 1--5, cisplatin at 15 mg/m(2)/day as an intravenous bolus on Days 1--5, and paclitaxel at 200 mg/m(2) as a 24-hour intravenous infusion on Day 1. The second course was repeated on Day 29. This was followed by radiotherapy (45 grays in 25 fractions) and concurrent admission of 5-fluorouracil (300 mg/m(2)/day as a continuous infusion 5 days/week) and cisplatin (20 mg/m(2) on Days 1--5 of radiotherapy). After chemoradiotherapy, patients underwent surgery. The feasibility of this approach, curative resection rates, patient survival, and patterns of failure were assessed. RESULTS: Thirty-seven of 38 patients enrolled were evaluable for toxicity and survival. Adenocarcinoma and distal esophageal location of carcinoma were observed frequently. Thirty-five (95%) of the 37 patients underwent surgery, all of whom had an R0 (curative) resection. A pathologic complete response was noted in 11 (30%) of the 37 total patients. In addition, 5 patients (14%) had only microscopic carcinoma. According to EUS classification, 31 (89%) of the 35 patients who underwent surgery had a T3 carcinoma whereas according to pathologic classification only 3 (9%) had a T3 carcinoma (P </= 0.01). Similarly, according to EUS classification, 23 patients (66%) had an N1 carcinoma, whereas according to pathologic classification only 7 patients (20%) had an N1 carcinoma (P < or = 0.01). At a median follow-up of 20 months (minimum follow-up, 13+ months; maximum follow-up, 36+ months), the median survival duration for the 37 patients had not yet been reached. In addition, there were two deaths related to surgery. CONCLUSIONS: These data show that the three-step strategy of preoperative paclitaxel-based induction chemotherapy then chemoradiotherapy followed by surgery is feasible and appears quite active in patients having locoregional carcinoma of the esophagus or gastroesophageal junction. Future investigations should focus on substituting cisplatin with less toxic agents and including more systemic therapy with newer classes of agents.

Adenocarcinoma↗
PubMed2001

Up-regulation of vascular endothelial growth factor in breast cancer cells by the heregulin-beta1-activated p38 signaling pathway enhances endothelial cell migration.

Heregulin (HRG) belongs to a family of polypeptide growth factors that bind to receptor tyrosine kinases ErbB3 and ErbB4. HRG binding induces ErbB3 and ErbB4 heterodimerization with ErbB2, activating downstream signal transduction. Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is a primary regulator of physiological angiogenesis and is a major mediator of pathological angiogenesis, such as tumor-associated neovascularization. In this study, we demonstrate that HRG-beta1 increased secretion of VEGF from breast cancer cells in a time- and dosage-dependent manner and that this increase resulted from up-regulation of VEGF mRNA expression via transcriptional activation of the VEGF promoter. Deletion and mutational analysis revealed that a CA-rich upstream HRG response element located between nucleotide-2249 and -2242 in the VEGF promoter mediated HRG-induced transcriptional up-regulation of VEGF. While investigating the downstream signaling pathways involved in HRG-mediated up-regulation of VEGF, we found that HRG activated extracellular signal-regulated protein kinases, Akt kinase, and p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK). However, only the specific inhibitor of p38 MAPK (SB203580), not extracellular signal-regulated kinase inhibitor PD98059 nor the inhibitor of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase-Akt pathway (Wortmannin), blocked the up-regulation of VEGF by HRG. The HRG-stimulated secretion of VEGF from breast cancer cells resulted in increased migration of murine lung endothelial cells, an activity that was inhibited by either VEGF-neutralizing antibody or SB203580. These results show that HRG can activate p38 MAPK to enhance VEGF transcription via an upstream HRG response element, leading to increased VEGF secretion and angiogenic response in breast cancer cells.

Breast Neoplasms↗
PubMed2001

Alveolar soft part sarcoma: clinical course and patterns of metastasis in 70 patients treated at a single institution.

BACKGROUND: Alveolar soft part sarcoma (ASPS) is a rare form of soft tissue sarcoma. Brain metastases have been reported to be a common feature of Stage IV ASPS, and recent practice guidelines recommend routine intracranial imaging as part of the staging evaluation in all patients who present with ASPS. METHODS: The authors performed a comprehensive retrospective review of the clinical presentation, treatment, outcome, and patterns of failure in a consecutive series of patients with localized (American Joint Committee on Cancer [AJCC] Stages II/III) or metastatic (AJCC Stage IV) ASPS who presented to a tertiary care cancer center between 1959 and 1998. RESULTS: Seventy-four patients were identified from the database searches. The anatomic distribution of their primary tumors included: extremities, 44 patients (60%); trunk, 15 patients (20%); head and neck, 9 patients (12%); and retroperitoneum, 6 patients (8%). The median tumor size was 6.5 cm (range, 1.2-24 cm). The AJCC stage at presentation was Stage II or III in 35% of the patients and Stage IV in 65% of the patients. The 5-year actuarial local recurrence free, distant recurrence free, disease free, and overall survival rates among the 22 patients with localized ASPS were 88%, 84%, 71%%, and 87%, respectively. At a median follow-up of 9 years, 2 of 22 patients with localized disease had developed local recurrences and 3 had developed metastatic disease (all to the lung only). Brain metastases were noted in 9 of 48 patients who presented with Stage IV (M1) disease (19%) and always were noted in association with metastasis to other sites. The median survival of patients with M1 disease was 40 months, with a 5-year survival rate of 20%. CONCLUSIONS: Long term follow-up of patients with localized ASPS reveals a relatively indolent clinical course with relatively low rates of local and distant recurrence. In patients with Stage IV ASPS, brain metastases were observed only as part of more disseminated disease. The observations of the current study do not support current practice guidelines for the staging of patients with ASPS and suggest that selective rather than routine intracranial imaging should be used in patients presenting with ASPS.

Adenocarcinoma, Bronchiolo-Alveolar↗
PubMed2001

Neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy for adenocarcinoma of the pancreas: treatment variables and survival duration.

BACKGROUND: For patients with potentially resectable pancreatic cancer, the poor outcome associated with resection alone and the survival advantage demonstrated for combined-modality therapy have stimulated interest in preoperative chemoradiotherapy. The goal of this study was to analyze the effects of different preoperative chemoradiotherapy schedules, intraoperative radiation therapy, patient factors. and histopathologic variables on survival duration and patterns of treatment failure in patients who underwent pancreaticoduodenectomy for adenocarcinoma of the pancreatic head. METHODS: Data on 132 consecutive patients who received preoperative chemoradiation followed by pancreaticoduodenectomy for adenocarcinoma of the pancreatic head between June 1990 and June 1999 were retrieved from a prospective pancreatic tumor database. Patients received either 45.0 or 50.4 Gy radiation at 1.8 Gy per fraction in 28 fractions or 30.0 Gy at 3.0 Gy per fraction in 10 fractions with concomitant infusional chemotherapy (5-fluorouracil, paclitaxel, or gemcitabine). If restaging studies demonstrated no evidence of disease progression, patients underwent pancreaticoduodenectomy. All patients were evaluated with serial postoperative computed tomography scans to document first sites of tumor recurrence. RESULTS: The overall median survival from the time of tissue diagnosis was 21 months (range 19-26, 95%CI). At last follow-up, 41 patients (31%) were alive with no clinical or radiographic evidence of disease. The survival duration was superior for women (P = .04) and for patients with no evidence of lymph node metastasis (P = .03). There was no difference in survival duration associated with patient age, dose of preoperative radiation therapy, the delivery of intraoperative radiotherapy, tumor grade, tumor size, retroperitoneal margin status, or the histologic grade of chemoradiation treatment effect. CONCLUSION: This analysis supports prior studies which suggest that the survival duration of patients with potentially resectable pancreatic cancer is maximized by the combination of chemoradiation and pancreaticoduodenectomy. Furthermore, there was no difference in survival duration between patients who received the less toxic rapid-fractionation chemoradiotherapy schedule (30 Gy, 2 weeks) and those who received standard-fractionation chemoradiotherapy (50.4 Gy, 5.5 weeks). Short-course rapid-fractionation preoperative chemoradiotherapy combined with pancreaticoduodenectomy, when performed on accurately staged patients, maximizes survival duration and is associated with a low incidence of local tumor recurrence.

Adenocarcinoma↗
PubMed2001

A pilot study of preoperative chemoradiotherapy for resectable gastric cancer.

BACKGROUND: The goals of this study were to assess the feasibility and toxicity of a regimen of preoperative chemoradiotherapy, surgery, and intraoperative radiotherapy in the treatment of patients with potentially resectable gastric cancer. A secondary objective was to assess pathologic response to chemoradiotherapy in the treated tumors. METHODS: Twenty-four patients were entered in the protocol. Treatment regimen consisted of 45 Gy of external beam radiotherapy with concurrent 5-FU given as a continuous infusion at a dose of 300 mg/m2. Patients were restaged 4-6 weeks after chemoradiotherapy and then underwent surgical resection and intraoperative radiotherapy to a dose of 10 Gy. RESULTS: Twenty-three patients (96%) completed chemoradiotherapy in accordance with the study protocol. Nineteen (83%) of 23 patients who completed chemoradiotherapy underwent surgical resection with D2 lymphadenectomy. Four patients (17%) had progressive disease and were not resected. The morbidity and mortality rates were 32% and 5%, respectively. Of the resected patients, two (11%) had complete pathologic responses while 12 (63%) had pathologic evidence of significant treatment effect. CONCLUSIONS: Preoperative chemoradiotherapy for gastric cancer can be delivered safely and is well tolerated. The rate of surgical complications is consistent with that of other recently reported prospective trials of gastrectomy alone. Preoperative chemoradiotherapy resulted in significant pathologic responses in the majority of treated tumors, and complete pathologic responses were achieved in some patients.

Adenocarcinoma↗
PubMed2001

Spermatic cord sarcoma: outcome, patterns of failure and management.

PURPOSE: We evaluate the outcome, clarify the patterns of failure and suggest treatment strategies for sarcoma in the spermatic cord. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Between 1956 and 1998, 32 patients with spermatic cord sarcoma were treated at M. D. Anderson Cancer Center. A retrospective review of disease outcome, patterns of relapse and patient survival was performed. RESULTS: Histological subtypes of sarcoma were malignant fibrous histiocytoma in 12 patients, leiomyosarcoma in 6, liposarcoma in 8 and other subtypes in 6. All except 2 patients underwent radical orchiectomy with or without additional resection to achieve negative margins. Margins were microscopically negative in 29 cases and positive in 3. There were 3 patients who received adjuvant radiation to the surgical site. With a median followup of 9 years the 10 and 15-year actuarial local control, distant metastasis-free and overall survival rates were 72% and 61%, 85% and 85%, and 63% and 52%, respectively. The major pattern of failure was local recurrence that occurred in 8 of the 12 patients in whom disease relapsed and was the sole site of relapse in 7. Pelvic nodes had relapsed in 2 patients and para-aortic nodes in 1. Hematogenous metastases had developed in 4 patients. Of the 7 cases of disease that recurred locally only 3 were salvaged. No relapse occurred in the 3 patients treated with combined surgery and radiation. CONCLUSIONS: Spermatic cord sarcoma has a high propensity for local recurrence after surgery. Nodal relapse is less frequent than commonly believed. Because of the relatively high local failure rate seen in surgery alone and durable local control noted in 3 patients treated with surgery plus radiotherapy, combined modality treatment should be considered in those with spermatic cord sarcoma who are believed to be at high risk for local failure.

Actuarial Analysis↗
PubMed2001

Adult prostate sarcoma: the M. D. Anderson Cancer Center Experience.

PURPOSE: Sarcoma of prostate origin is rare. Historically, long-term survival rates for adult patients with prostate sarcoma are poor. We analyzed the experience of 1 institution with prostate sarcoma during the last 3 decades. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The records of 21 patients with prostate sarcoma were reviewed to identify symptoms at presentation, diagnostic procedures, presence and development of metastases, staging evaluation, histological subtype, grade and size of the primary tumor, and treatment sequence, including surgery, and preoperative and postoperative therapies. Several clinicopathological variables were assessed for prognostic importance. RESULTS: Most patients presented with urinary obstruction. The diagnosis of prostate sarcoma was usually established with ultrasound guided biopsy or transurethral resection. Histological subtypes were leiomyosarcoma in 12, rhabdomyosarcoma in 4, malignant fibrous histiocytoma in 1 and unclassified sarcoma in 4 patients. At last followup, 8 patients had no evidence of disease after a median of 81.5 months (range 10 to 197). The remaining 13 patients died of sarcoma (median survival 18 months, range 3 to 94). The 1, 3 and 5-year actuarial survival rates for all 21 patients were 81%, 43% and 38%, respectively. Factors predictive of long-term survival were negative surgical margins (p = 0.0005) and absence of metastatic disease at presentation (p = 0.0004). Tumor size and grade, and the histological subtype of prostate sarcoma had no significant influence on actuarial survival. CONCLUSIONS: The long-term disease specific survival rate for adults with prostate sarcoma is poor. Early diagnosis and complete surgical resection offer patients the best chance for cure.

Humans↗
PubMed2001

Preoperative chemoradiation therapy for pancreatic cancer.

The authors present a critique of a fellow surgeon's version of multimodality therapy for patients with adenocarcinoma of the pancreas. Citing follow-up studies, the authors prescribe adjustments in therapeutic specifics to foster a more efficient approach to patients that results in lower toxicity and shorter treatment periods.

Adenocarcinoma↗
PubMed2001

Laparoscopy in the staging of pancreatic cancer.

BACKGROUND: Over the past decade, laparoscopy has emerged as a popular method of detecting extrapancreatic metastatic disease in patients presumed to have localized pancreatic cancer. METHODS AND RESULTS: The English language literature on laparoscopic staging of pancreatic cancer was reviewed. Interpretation of this literature on staging laparoscopy is difficult because (1) there has been inconsistent use of high-quality computed tomography (CT) in prospective studies, (2) many studies have included patients with locally advanced disease, and (3) the R0/R1/R2 resection rates among patients staged by laparoscopy have not been reported, making it impossible to correlate laparoscopic findings with the R0 resection rate. Laparoscopy may prevent unnecessary laparotomy in a proportion of CT-staged patients presumed to have resectable pancreatic cancer. However, routine laparoscopy is performed on patients judged to have resectable disease by high-quality CT, this fraction of patients is between 4 and 13 per cent. CONCLUSION: When state-of-the-art CT is available, the routine use of staging laparoscopy may not be easily justified from the data in the recent literature. Selective use of laparoscopy may be more appropriate and will probably be a more cost-effective staging approach. Criteria are presented for the selective use of laparoscopy in the staging of patients with localized pancreatic cancer.

Cost-Benefit Analysis↗
PubMed2001

Combining gemcitabine with radiation in pancreatic cancer: understanding important variables influencing the therapeutic index.

We compared and evaluated available laboratory and clinical data on the use of concurrent gemcitabine (Gemzar; Eli Lilly and Company, Indianapolis, IN) and radiation in pancreatic cancer to provide guidance for subsequent prospective research initiatives. Preclinical data suggest that the timing of administration of gemcitabine with respect to radiotherapy is important, but this issue has not yet been confirmed by clinical data. Phase I clinical data indicate that the amount of acute toxicity from the combination of gemcitabine and radiotherapy is strongly related to the dose and schedule of administration of gemcitabine, as well as to the radiation field size. There also appears to be an inverse linear relationship between the maximum tolerated gemcitabine dose and radiation dose. Also important, but less clear, is the infusion rate of gemcitabine as it relates to the systemic efficacy of the drug. The combination of additional agents with gemcitabine and radiation appears to be feasible. Finally, the addition of radioprotectors may enable chemotherapy dose escalation, but safe escalation of the radiotherapy dose with newer techniques has not been established. Semin Oncol 28 (suppl 10):25-33.

Antimetabolites, Antineoplastic↗
PubMed2001

Nonfunctioning islet cell carcinoma of the pancreas: survival results in a contemporary series of 163 patients.

BACKGROUND: The natural history of nonfunctioning islet cell carcinoma of the pancreas is poorly defined. We therefore reviewed our institutional experience during a period of 12 years to define more clearly the natural history of this disease as a basis for individual therapeutic recommendations. METHODS: The records of all patients who had histologically or cytologically confirmed nonfunctioning islet cell carcinoma of the pancreas were retrospectively reviewed. Patients were grouped by extent of disease at diagnosis and by initial treatment. Survival distributions were estimated by Kaplan-Meier analysis. RESULTS: One hundred sixty-three patients with nonfunctioning islet cell carcinoma of the pancreas were identified. The overall median survival duration was 3.2 years. The median survival was 7.1 years in patients with localized disease who underwent a potentially curative resection and 5.2 years in those with locally advanced, unresectable, nonmetastatic disease (P = .04). Patients with metastatic disease that could not be resected had a median survival of 2.1 years. CONCLUSIONS: Patients with completely resected localized disease had a long median survival. Patients with nonmetastatic but unresectable locally advanced disease also had a surprisingly long median survival; major treatment-related morbidity may be hard to justify in this subgroup. The short median survival in patients with metastatic disease suggests that the frequent practice of observation in this patient subgroup needs to be reexamined and that continued investigation of regional and systemic therapies with novel agents is warranted.

Adult↗
PubMed2001

Evaluation and surgical resection of adrenal masses in patients with a history of extra-adrenal malignancy.

BACKGROUND: Adrenal abnormalities are often identified on imaging studies performed during the staging of patients presenting with a new malignancy or restaging of patients with a history of a malignancy. METHODS: We reviewed the records of patients who underwent surgical resection of an adrenal mass identified in the setting of previously or newly diagnosed extra-adrenal malignancy. RESULTS: Eighty-one patients with an adrenal mass and recently diagnosed malignancy (n = 24) or history of a malignancy (n = 57) underwent adrenalectomy. In 42 patients (52%) the adrenal mass was a metastasis. In 39 patients (48%) the adrenal mass was an additional primary adrenal tumor process: 19 pheochromocytomas, (14 syndrome-associated, 5 sporadic), 13 cortical adenomas, 3 adrenocortical carcinomas, 2 ganglioneuromas, and 2 cases of nodular hyperplasia. CONCLUSIONS: In this series nearly half of the patients with cancer and an adrenal mass had adrenal pathologic condition independent of their primary malignancy. Despite the presence of a newly diagnosed malignancy or history of malignancy, all patients with an adrenal mass should undergo a standard hormone evaluation to confirm that the mass is not a functional neoplasm. An assumption that the adrenal mass is metastatic disease will be wrong in up to 50% of such patients.

Adrenal Gland Neoplasms↗
PubMed2001

Pilot study of concurrent 5-fluorouracil/paclitaxel plus radiotherapy in patients with carcinoma of the esophagus and gastroesophageal junction.

Preoperative concurrent chemotherapy and radiotherapy can be highly effective but are often associated with significant rates of morbidity and even mortality. We studied the toxicity of continuous infusion of 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) and weekly paclitaxel combined with radiotherapy. Patients had histologic proof of local-regional carcinoma of the esophagus or gastroesophageal (GE) junction, a Karnofsky performance status of 70 or greater, and normal liver, renal, and bone marrow functions. Chemotherapy consisted of continuous infusion of 5-FU (300 mg/m2/d) for 5 days a week for 5 weeks, plus paclitaxel (45 mg/m2) given during 3 hours every week for 5 weeks. Based on the tumor location and its resectability, the total dose of concurrent radiation varied between 45 Gy and 50.4 Gy. Nine men and one woman, with a median age of 61 years, were evaluated. One had GE junction cancer, six had distal esophageal cancer, and three had midesophageal cancer. Weight loss, nausea, vomiting, and dysphagia of grades I and II were noted. The hematologic toxicity was mild. No patients required transfusion. There was no leukopenia or thrombocytopenia. None of the patients was hospitalized during chemoradiation; all patients completed treatment as outpatients. Five patients had subsequent surgical resections: one had a pathologically complete response, and two had a partial response (>90% necrosis). Continuous infusion of 5-FU plus paclitaxel given concurrently with radiotherapy was well tolerated. We plan to study this regimen further in upper gastrointestinal cancers.

Adenocarcinoma↗