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S W McCarthy

Publications and source records attributed to S W McCarthy.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1995

Sentinel lymph node status as an indicator of the presence of metastatic melanoma in regional lymph nodes.

The value of elective lymph node dissection (ELND) for melanoma patients with clinically uninvolved regional nodes remains controversial. However, it has been proposed that selective 'sentinel' lymph node biopsy reliably identifies individuals with micrometastases, who are most likely to benefit from full ELND. The aim of this study was to confirm that metastatic melanoma cells travelling in lymphatics do not bypass the sentinel node. After preoperative lymphoscintigraphy and intraoperative injection of blue dye around the primary melanoma site, sentinel node biopsy was performed in 118 melanoma patients for whom full ELND was planned as part of their definitive surgical treatment. A confidently identified sentinel node was tumour positive in 22 out of 105 regional lymph node fields (21%). In 18 cases the sentinel node was the only node found to be involved and in four cases, additional nodes were positive. In two other patients a positive node was found when the sentinel lymph node had been negative. However, in each case an avoidable error of technique had occurred and definite blue staining indicated that the positive node was in fact another sentinel node. This study thus confirms that sentinel lymph node status reliably indicates whether metastatic melanoma is present in regional lymph nodes.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1994

Ulnar adamantinoma: en bloc excision and fibular osteoseptocutaneous free flap reconstruction.

Adamantinoma is a rare tumor of the appendicular skeleton, and only six cases of ulnar involvement have been reported. We present the case of a 58-year-old man who sustained a pathologic fracture of the proximal third of this right ulna. Biopsy at the time of intramedullary fixation revealed adamantinoma, and he was referred for treatment. There was no evidence of metastatic disease. At operation, the proximal 22 cm of ulna was excised en bloc and the defect reconstructed using a vascularized fibular osteoseptocutaneous flap. The postoperative course was uneventful, and the patient has remained free of disease with very good function 3 years later.

Bone Neoplasms↗
PubMed1994

Cutaneous malignant melanoma in teenagers.

Of 57 reviewed cases of malignant melanoma in teenagers, 51 had a minimum follow-up of 5 years. The histological and some clinical features of the 51 cases were compared for diagnostic and prognostic significance with those of 19 Spitz naevi and 10 other benign naevi using the SPSS-X computer program. The overall crude survival was 71% (males 64%, females 81%). Five patients with regional metastases survived more than 5 years, three of these more than 10 years. The main statistically significant features associated with a poor prognosis were Breslow thickness, diameter of ulcer, abnormal mitoses, pushing dermal borders and marginal (deep) mitoses. In comparison with Spitz naevi, features favouring malignancy were Breslow thickness, fine dusty cytoplasmic melanin pigment, marginal or abnormal mitoses, epithelioid intra-epidermal melanocytes below parakeratosis, dermal nests larger than junctional nests and the mitotic rate in the papillary dermis. Features favouring a benign lesion were diffuse maturation, spindle cells, spindle nuclei and Kamino bodies, especially if numerous or clustered. In comparison with the atypical benign naevi, significant features favouring malignancy were marginal or abnormal mitoses, single cell epidermal invasion below parakeratosis, large nuclei and irregular nuclei.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1993

Malignant fibrous histiocytoma of bone: the experience of the New South Wales Bone Tumour Registry.

The New South Wales Bone Tumour Registry records for malignant fibrous histiocytoma were reviewed. Thirty-eight cases were available for analysis, representing 8% of the 506 malignant bone tumours reported to the Registry over 15 years (1977-91). The review confirmed that malignant fibrous histiocytoma is a high-grade primary bone sarcoma occurring in a wide age range in a bimodal distribution. Tumours mainly occurred around the knee or the ends of other long bones. Twenty-six per cent of cases arose in a pre-existing lesion, 4 cases post-radiotherapy, 3 cases in Paget's disease, 2 cases in bone infarcts and 1 case each in osteoblastoma, osteosarcoma and giant cell tumour. Thirty-two patients were treated by amputation or wide excision and in 11 patients this was preceded by intralesional curettage. Three patients had marginal resections and three had no surgery. Five year survival was 53% overall. Age at presentation significantly affected survival; patients under 55 years had a 5 year survival rate of 70%, compared with 19% for patients over 55 (P < 0.05). Survival was 86% at 5 years if the initial procedure was radical or wide, but only 30% if marginal or intralesional (P < 0.01). Adjuvant chemotherapy as an isolated factor did not affect survival. Rigorous adherence to the principles of surgical staging and biopsy was found to be the most successful way to treat malignant fibrous histiocytoma of bone.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1993

[Cutaneous malignant melanoma in New Caledonia (South Pacific) 1973-1991. A study of 97 cases].

The Cancer Registries have been operational in the South Pacific since 1958 (Papua New Guinea), Fiji (1965) and New Caledonia (1977) and complete cancer incidence rates are available, based on histologic data. We studied 97 melanomas, histologically confirmed, which were diagnosed in New Caledonia from 1973 to 1991. New Caledonia is located in the same latitude as Queensland in Australia, known for having the highest incidence of melanoma in the world. Standardised incidence rates (world population) were 9.82 and 7.65/100,000/year for European males and females, compared to 1.65 and 1.05 for Melanesian and Polynesian males and females. The European population is exposed and Melanesians/Polynesians are relatively protected as are black Americans or Africans. The mixed populations are protected, but no study is available as to the exact proportion of mixed people (20%?) in the entire population. For Europeans, among males, the main areas in which melanomas occur are the trunk (45%) the arm (13%) and the leg (13%). Among females, the main areas are the leg (27%), the trunk (20%) and the head (18%). Screening for melanoma has been more effective in the last 6 years, a period in which we diagnosed half the total cases and generally at earlier stages. Prognosis was poor for this period (1973-1991): the five year survival rates were 64% +/- 8%, not as good as in Europe or Australia, but these lesions were diagnosed between 1973 and 1985 and were generally more invasive. A better prognosis will probably be observed in a few years, and another evaluation of melanoma screening should be made in the future as well the study of precursors and early lesions.

Adult↗
PubMed1991

Immunocytochemical analysis of the cellular infiltrate in primary regressing and non-regressing malignant melanoma.

Spontaneous regression occurs in a small proportion of malignant melanomas, and it is important to understand the processes involved in its induction as this may give a guide to future therapies for this disease. We have examined 36 primary malignant melanomas (19 regressing, 17 non-regressing) and identified the cellular phenotypes and activation states of the cells infiltrating regressing and non-regressing primary melanomas by immunochemistry. We have found a significantly increased number of CD3-positive cells and an increased ratio of CD4/CD8-positive cells infiltrating regressing compared to non-regressing tumors. In addition, the expression of the interleukin 2 receptor, an activation marker for T cells, was increased. However, there were no significant differences in class II MHC, CD1, intercellular adhesion molecule 1 (ICAM1), or melanoma-associated differentiation-antigen expression in these tumors. These data are consistent with melanoma regression being induced by activated CD4 T cells and do not seem to be related to the differentiation markers we have examined on these tumors.

Antibodies, Monoclonal↗
PubMed1991

Patients with thick melanomas surviving at least 10 years: histological, cytometric and HLA analyses.

Survival for melanoma patients with thick primary tumours is notoriously short. A small number of patients with tumours greater than 5.5 mm thick do, however, have protracted survival intervals. Attempts were made to account for this phenomenon by means of histological, cytometric and HLA serotyping analyses. Patients with thick lesions surviving more than 10 years were matched--by sex, age, anatomical site of primary lesion, stage of disease and, whenever possible, by initial surgical therapy--to patients dying of their disease within 5 years. This case-control study on 13 long-term survivors and 13 short-term survivors did not show that any of the following attributes of the primary lesion were useful in predicting survival: Clark's level of invasion, ulceration, mitotic rate, host inflammatory response, tumour regression, tumour necrosis, vascular invasion, satellitosis, radial or vertical growth phase, predominant cell type, histogenetic type, borders, DNA quantification and cytomorphometry. HLA serotyping of long-term survivors showed an excess of antigen DQw1 compared with the general population, although this excess was not statistically significant.

Adult↗
PubMed1991

IIB osteosarcoma. Current management, local control, and survival statistics--the Australian experience.

Current management of osteosarcoma at the authors' institution involves intraarterial induction chemotherapy using intermittent cycles of cisplatin and doxorubicin (Adriamycin), surgical resection with limb-sparing wherever possible, and adjuvant systemic chemotherapy (high-dose methotrexate with retrieval and doxorubicin). Twenty cases treated in this way between May 1983 and May 1989 are reviewed. There were 18 Stage IIB osteosarcomas and two Stage IIB malignant fibrous histiocytomas. Chemotherapeutic effect was evaluated in the resected tumors. There was little correlation between the clinical response to the induction chemotherapy and cell necrosis present in the resected tumor mass. Wide resection margins were achieved in 17 cases, a minimal margin in two, and a contaminated margin in one. Radiotherapy was used in these three cases where resection margin was in doubt. There were two local recurrences in these three cases. Four patients have died of their disease, and there was one treatment-related death. Overall probability of survival in this group of 20 patients has been expressed by the Kaplan-Meier method as 58%.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1990

Cancer occurrence in Vanuatu in the South Pacific, 1980-86.

In order to study the occurrence of cancer in the archipelago of Vanuatu (ex-New Hebrides) within the Melanesia region in the South Pacific, a pathology based study was carried out. A total of 269 pathologically confirmed cancer cases (118 male, 151 female) were recorded over a 7 year period (1980-1986). Cervical cancer was numerically the most important malignancy in females (25.2% of all female cancers). In males, liver cancer was the most commonly observed (14.4% of all male cancers). The most interesting feature was the high proportion of thyroid cancers, especially in females. It consisted of 12.1% of all cancers in female and 5.2% in male Melanesians in Vanuatu.

Female↗
PubMed1989

Thin regressing malignant melanoma: significance of concurrent regional lymph node metastases.

We attempted to clarify the prevailing controversy regarding the significance of regression in thin (less than 0.76 mm) primary melanomas. Of 7540 patients with cutaneous melanomas treated at the Sydney Melanoma Unit, 28 first presented with a thin primary lesion and concurrent regional lymph node metastases (stage II). Major differences in tumour histology existed between these patients and stage I patients with thin lesions that subsequently recurred. Regression was present in all 28 lesions in stage II patients. In 61 stage I patients ultimately developing a recurrence, 67% of lesions displayed regression. Significantly, however, in 735 stage I patients ultimately not developing a recurrence, 61% of lesions also displayed regression. Why regression occurs so frequently in thin lesions which never recur is unclear. Our results suggest that the histology of thin primary melanomas may be influenced by the presence or absence of metastases in patients at that time.

Adult↗
PubMed1989

Cancer occurrence in Vanuatu in the South Pacific, 1980-86.

A total of 269 pathologically confirmed carcinoma cases (118 male, 151 female) were recorded in the seven year period 1980 to 1986 in Vanuatu, an island nation within the Melanesia region in the South Pacific. Cervical cancer was numerically the most important malignancy in females (25% of all female cancers). In males, liver cancer was the most commonly observed (14.4% of all male cancers). Almost one-half (44.4%) of the available paraffin blocks from liver carcinoma cases (18 cases) demonstrated positivity of HBV antigens in liver tissue. The most interesting feature was the high proportion of thyroid cancers, especially in females. It represented 12.1 percent of all cancers in female and 5.2 percent in male Melanesians in Vanuatu. These percentages were found to be even higher than among Hawaiians for whom the highest incidence rates in the world have been recorded. Since our study was based solely on pathologically diagnosed cases, the findings should be regarded as minimum estimates.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1988

Osteofibrous dysplasia of the tibia and fibula.

Osteofibrous dysplasia (ossifying fibroma of long bone) is an uncommon disorder of bone affecting the tibia and, rarely, the fibula of children and adolescents. It has been delineated from monostotic fibrous dysplasia, from which it can be distinguished by its radiological and histological characteristics and by its clinical course. We report 11 patients with osteofibrous dysplasia whose ages ranged from 10 months to 22 years. Four presented with a pathological fracture and in 2 a pseudarthrosis developed. A circumscribed area of intracortical lucency and expansion in the diaphysis is the characteristic radiological finding. Histologically there is a similarity to fibrous dysplasia but the trabeculae are lamellar or have a lamellar surface and most show osteoblastic rimming. Treatment may be difficult but more recent experience strongly favours a conservative approach wherever possible.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1987

Regional chemotherapy with the use of cisplatin and doxorubicin as primary treatment for advanced sarcomas in shoulder, pelvis, and thigh.

Eight patients who had large sarcomas in the hip, thigh, or shoulder girdle have been described. Three had osteogenic sarcomas, and one each had Ewing's sarcoma, biphasic synovial sarcoma, pleomorphic liposarcoma, undifferentiated spindling sarcoma, and malignant fibrous histiocytoma. All eight tumors showed evidence of regression after intraarterial infusion of cisplatin and Adriamycin (doxorubicin) given over 48 hours at 3-week intervals, for a total of between three and seven courses. Tru-cut needle biopsy specimens of five of the lesions were normal after chemotherapy. However, after resection of the regressed fibrotic tumor in seven of the patients, four contained foci of probably viable malignant cells. These cell foci were intraosseous in three cases and in the wall of a cyst in one case. In the remaining case, tumor in the distribution of the infused artery regressed, but tumor in a region supplied by an artery that was not infused continued to enlarge. In one patient with osteogenic sarcoma in the pelvis, despite a good response to intraarterial chemotherapy that was followed by surgical resection and radiotherapy, tumor recurred in an adjacent area in tissues supplied by an artery not infused. A hindquarter amputation subsequently was required. With the exception of the two cases in which adequate tumor arterial infusion was not achieved, local primary tumor control was accomplished by intraarterial infusion chemotherapy followed by local resection or radiotherapy and local resection in all patients. Four patients are well without evidence of residual or metastatic sarcoma 3.5 years after presentation in the case of an osteogenic sarcoma of shoulder, 2.5 years after presentation in the case of a large pleomorphic liposarcoma of thigh and groin, 20 months after presentation in the case of lower-thigh malignant fibrous histiocytoma, and 1 year after presentation in a child with an osteogenic sarcoma of lower femur.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1987

Thin malignant melanomas and recurrence potential.

Of 846 patients with stage I malignant melanoma that was less than 0.76-mm thick who were followed up for two to 31 years, 61 (7.2%) developed a recurrence. For those patients who did not initially undergo an elective lymph node dissection, the majority of first recurrences were at regional lymph nodes. Attempts have been made to identify those patients at risk of relapsing. Axial lesions, particularly those on the scalp, had the highest recurrence rate, with 15% of all thin scalp lesions recurring compared with only 4% of all thin extremity lesions. Three histological features proved to be useful prognostic indicators when analyzed by single-factor analysis. Evidence of ulceration in the primary lesion increased the recurrence rate from 6.7% to 26.1%. While only 4.3% of lesions displaying low mitotic activity recurred, this rate rose to 23.8% for those lesions of a high mitotic grade. Only 5% of Clark's level II lesions recurred, compared with about 12% of lesions at either level III or IV. Evidence of regression in thin lesions had no deleterious effect on prognosis. This study defines a small subset of patients who may benefit from elective lymph node dissection.

Adult↗
PubMed1987

Treatment of advanced and inaccessible sarcomas with continuous intra-arterial chemotherapy prior to definitive surgery or radiotherapy--a possible alternative to amputation or disabling radical surgery.

Four patients with advanced and inaccessible soft tissue sarcomas were treated with a regimen of intra-arterial chemotherapy followed by radiotherapy and/or surgical excision. Two of the patients had advanced sarcomas in the buttock and thigh regions which would otherwise have required hindquarter amputation in one case or disarticulation of the hip in the other case. These sarcomas responded significantly to intra-arterial chemotherapy to the extent that subsequent local surgery was effective in eradicating the residual tumours. No viable tumour cells were found in the resected specimens. In both patients amputation was avoided and local tumour eradication was achieved. In the other two patients, advanced and non-resectable sarcomas in the head were first treated with a similar regimen of intra-arterial chemotherapy. In both cases the tumours regressed in size prior to administration of local radiotherapy. After completion of chemotherapy and radiotherapy no viable tumour cells were detected in either lesion. In one case (originally a very extensive sarcoma of the jaw in a 5 year old child) a residual lump was resected but no viable tumour was detected in the resected specimen. These four patients represent our total experience with this plan of management. All responded well and there has been no evidence of local disease recurrence in any of the four patients. One patient (Case 2) did develop pulmonary and bone metastases from which she died 2 years later but the other three patients remain well with no evidence of residual disease, 11 years, 4 years and 20 months after presentation.

Adult↗
PubMed1985

Cyclosporin, a new treatment for autoimmune chronic active hepatitis.

A 51-year-old man whose aggressive autoimmune chronic active hepatitis had been treated with prednisone for five years, was treated with cyclosporin for 12 months. The disease had become unresponsive to high doses of prednisone and the side-effects had become disabling. Azathioprine could not be used because of drug hypersensitivity. With cyclosporin therapy the patient's symptoms disappeared for the first time since the onset of his illness, his liver enzyme levels fell almost to normal values and virtually no side-effects occurred. We suggest that cyclosporin be used on a clinical trial basis in patients with autoimmune chronic active hepatitis that is resistant to prednisone and azathioprine therapy.

Alanine Transaminase↗