Cancer
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Fifteen consecutive patients with metastatic carcinoma who demonstrated bilateral adrenal metastasis on abdominal computed tomography (CT) were evaluated by the cosyntropin challenge test. Primary sites of tumors included lung, ten; colon, two; gastric, one; ovarian, one; and unknown primary, one. Bilateral adrenal enlargement was defined as greater than 1 cm on CT scan. ⋯ Of the clinical parameters evaluated, all five patients had nausea, anorexia, and orthostatic hypotension. The clinical onset of adrenal insufficiency was insidious; no patient experienced acute adrenal crisis. We conclude that adrenal insufficiency is not a rare occurrence in patients with metastatic cancer and bilateral adrenal involvement on CT scan.
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A 1-year-old male infant developed a classic Wilms' tumor of the left kidney. Treatment consisted of a left nephrectomy, chemotherapy, and irradiation to the left flank and associated abdomen. Two years later, a mass in the right kidney was discovered; open renal biopsy demonstrated a mature Wilms' tumor consisting entirely of rhabdomyomatous elements in the biopsy specimen. ⋯ Currently, he is disease-free with normal renal function more than 20 years after diagnosis of the metachronous bilateral Wilms' tumor. This is the first reported case of an anaplastic sarcoma arising within a Wilms' tumor; this individual also is the longest surviving patient with metachronous Wilms' tumor. The various possibilities regarding the development of the anaplastic sarcoma within the Wilms' tumor of the right kidney are discussed, including the possible role of chemotherapy and irradiation in the development of a second malignancy.
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The lack of an available exteriorized permanent epidural catheter led to the application of the Broviac catheter technology to the development of an epidural catheter. The resulting three-piece silicone-rubber catheter system allows specific spinal-level location of the catheter tip from a lumbar entry site, and exteriorization for ease of self-administration. ⋯ Hospitalizations for pain control was decreased by 90% after catheter placement. Therefore, the authors recommend early placement of this silicone-rubber epidural catheter to control pain unrelieved by oral analgesics.
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The method for cancer pain relief proposed by the World Health Organization (WHO) consists of guidelines for a three-step treatment, from non-opioids to weak and then strong opioids, according to need. Adjuvant drugs can be added to each step. This report presents the 2-year experience of the WHO Collaborating Centre at the National Cancer Institute of Milan in the use of this method. ⋯ Neurolytic procedures had to be used in 29%. The authors conclude that analgesics, as proposed by WHO, are the most suitable treatment arm in controlling pain in palliative treatment for advanced cancer patients. Lack of availability or underuse of opioids constitute the real obstacle to the application of this method.
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One hundred eighty women with clinical Stage I or II operable breast carcinoma were treated by radiotherapy following local tumor excision at Yale-New Haven Hospital through 1980. With a median follow-up time of 6.9 years, the actuarial 5-year overall and disease-free survival rates were 82% and 78%, respectively. The 5-year actuarial breast-recurrence-free survival rate was 92%. ⋯ Furthermore, a decrease in overall and disease-free survival was evident when necrosis was present in the tumor or when patients had an infiltrating lobular carcinoma. Breast recurrence-free survival was also influenced adversely by the presence of these two tumor features, especially when either tumor necrosis or infiltrating lobular carcinoma was found in conjunction with clinical Stage II lesions. Other histologic features such as grade, vascular invasion, perineural invasion, or the presence of an intraductal component of carcinoma did not affect outcome, nor did the treatment techniques employed appear to have a differential effect.