Significant Factors For Poor Prognosis Research Articles

Prognostic Factors and Surgical Indications of Pulmonary Epithelioid Hemangioendothelioma: A Review of the Literature

Pulmonary epithelioid hemangioendothelioma is a rare vascular tumor of low-grade malignancy, the prognosis of which remains unpredictable. The purpose of this analysis based on 80 patients was to determine prognostic factors and to evaluate results of surgery. We recorded data of 75 patients from reports published in the English and French literature using the terms "intravascular bronchoalveolar tumor" or "pulmonary epithelioid hemangioendothelioma" or a combination of both. We added to this database 5 more cases of pulmonary epithelioid hemangioendothelioma operated on in our thoracic surgery department from 1989 to 2005. Univariate and multivariate analyses of prognostic factors were performed using the log rank test and the Cox model. The factors we tested were age, sex, clinical symptoms, biologic and radiologic findings, and surgical treatment. There were 49 women and 31 men with a mean age of 39.7 years (range, 7 to 72 years). The 5-year survival probability was 60% (range, 47% to 71%). Univariate analysis showed that loss of weight, anemia, pulmonary symptoms, and more particularly pleural hemorrhagic effusions were significant factors of poor prognosis, with a median survival of less than 1 year. Multivariate analysis showed a statistically worse survival in patients with hemorrhagic symptoms (hemoptysis, p < 0.0001; pleural effusion, p < 0.0001). Pulmonary epithelioid hemangioendothelioma typically occurs among young patients. Surgery can be proposed in cases of unilateral single or multiple nodules. There is no single effective treatment in cases of bilateral multiple nodules. Lung transplantation should be evaluated in patients with vascular aggressivity with pleural hemorrhagic effusion and anemia.

Radiation-associated endometrial cancers are prognostically unfavorable tumors: A clinicopathologic comparison with 527 sporadic endometrial cancers

Introduction. Previous reports have suggested that patients who have undergone pelvic radiation for cervical cancer are at risk for developing poorly differentiated endometrial cancers with poor prognoses. Materials and methods. We conducted a retrospective chart and histologic review of patients from Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and MD Anderson Cancer Center diagnosed with endometrial cancer after radiation therapy (RT) for cervical cancer from 1976 to 2000. The comparison group comprised MSKCC endometrial cancer patients whose tumors were not radiation associated (“sporadic cancers”). Results. We identified 23 patients who developed endometrial carcinoma or carcinomasarcoma after RT for cervical carcinoma and 527 sporadic endometrial cancer patients. When radiation-associated endometrial cancers (RAECs) were compared with sporadic cancers, significant differences were noted with regard to stage, grade and histologic subtype distribution. In the RAEC group, there were 16 (70%) stages III and IV cancers compared with 101 (19%) in the sporadic group ( P < 0.001). There were 20 (87%) grade 3 cancers in the RAEC group versus 161 (31%) in the sporadic group ( P < 0.001). There were 16 (70%) high-risk histologic subtypes (serous, clear cell, carcinosarcoma, undifferentiated) in the RAEC group versus 79 (15%) in the sporadic group ( P < 0.001). Median survival in the RAEC group was 24 months versus not reached in the sporadic group ( P < 0.001). Radiation remained a significant factor for poor prognosis in a stratified analysis, in which we compared sporadic and RAEC cancers controlled for age, histology, grade and stage. However, radiation lost significance in a multivariate analysis, in which stage- and grade-matched cancers from both groups were compared. Discussion. The clinicopathologic characteristics of RAECs, which include a preponderance of high-stage, high-grade and high-risk histologic subtypes, indicate that these tumors differ from sporadic endometrial carcinomas. However, patients with RAECs do not appear to have a significantly worse prognosis when compared with patients with high-stage and high-grade sporadic cancers.

Study of portal vein thrombosis in patients with idiopathic portal hypertension in Japan

The aim of this study was to elucidate the incidence and clinical manifestations of portal vein thrombosis (PVT) in patients with idiopathic portal hypertension (IPH) in Japan during long-term follow-up. Twenty-two patients with IPH were examined for PVT by sonography during a follow-up of 12+/-6 years. Clinical manifestations and patient outcome related to PVT were studied. Seventy patients with liver cirrhosis were examined by sonography as an incidence control of thrombosis. Nine IPH patients had portal thrombosis (9/22, 41%), a higher incidence than in liver cirrhosis patients (7/70, 10%). Those with thrombosis showed ascites, marked hypersplenism, and low serum albumin. Four patients with thrombosis died. Patients without thrombosis showed less clinical problems after long-term follow-up. Plasma antithrombin III and protein C activity decreased in almost half of the patients. However, there were no differences in these parameters between patients with and without thrombosis. In Japan, IPH patients had a high incidence of portal thrombosis, a significant factor for poor prognosis. Whether the management of PVT contributes to an improvement of a clinical course of IPH or not should be clarified in further study.

Genetic detection for hematogenous micrometastasis in patients with various types of malignant tumors using Uroplakin II derived primers in polymerase chain reaction

The presence of circulatory metastasis is one of the most significant factors for poor-prognosis in patients with several types of cancer. To establish a sensitive reverse transcription PCR assay to detect micrometastasis in blood containing several cancer types, we first investigated Uroplakin II (UP II), a novel molecular marker for human transitional cell carcinoma of the bladder, in 25 types of normal organs. In our study, UP II mRNA was detected in 10 types of organs, including bladder, kidney, lung and pancreas, but was not detected in normal lymph nodes or leukocytes. The data indicated evidence of UP II expression in various types of normal tissues by RT-nested PCR analysis. UP II mRNA was detected in 2 of 11 (18.2%) peripheral blood samples from lung cancer patients with no metastasis, and in 5 of 12 (41.7%) peripheral blood samples of lung cancer patients with metastasis. UP II was also detected in 6 of 16 (37.5%) peripheral blood samples of patients with pancreatic cancer. The data are particularly important in that the molecular detection of micrometastasis in the blood by means of UP II mRNA identification is feasible for UP II-positive neoplasms, including lung and pancreatic cancers.

Expression of cathepsin D, stromelysin-3, and urokinase by reactive stromal cells on breast carcinoma prognosis.

Current literature suggests that several proteases act in a cascade to mediate remodeling of the extracellular matrix and favor cancer progression. Others and the authors of this study recently identified cathepsin D, stromelysin-3, and urokinase plasminogen activator (uPA) expression by reactive stromal cells as significant factors of poor prognosis in breast carcinoma. The authors evaluated the joint effect of protease expression on cancer aggressiveness. Protease expression was analyzed by immunohistochemistry (cathepsin D) and in situ hybridization (stromelysin-3 and uPA) on formalin fixed paraffin embedded specimens from 557 breast carcinomas without distant metastasis at diagnosis and with an average of 10 years of follow-up. Of the 557 breast carcinomas, 80 (14.3%) expressed all 3 proteases, and 134 (24%) expressed none of them. An adjusted Cox model revealed significantly worse distant metastasis free survival (DMFS) with expression of all three proteases (P < 0.0001). The DMFS of patients whose tumor lacked at least one of the three proteases was similar to that of patients without any protease expression, irrespective of the type or number of proteases missing. This study suggests that proteases expressed by reactive stromal cells are interdependent and that a breach in the protease pathway may impair breast carcinoma progression.

THE EXPERIENCE OF A HAEMATEMESIS AND MELAENA UNIT A REVIEW OF THE FIRST 513 CONSECUTIVE ADMISSIONS

This report is of the results of management in a haematemesis and melaena unit at Prince Henry's Hospital, Melbourne. The unit was established in October, 1972, in response to unpublished data for the decades 1950 to 1959 and 1960 to 1969, which showed a mortality of about 15%. In the 39 months to December, 1975, 513 patients were received into a semi-intensive care setting. The unit staff consisted of a group of four surgeons and four physicians working a weekly roster. Primary care and liaison were the responsibility of the gastroenterology registrar. The basic diagnostic measure taken was the routine early use of fibreoptic duodenoscopy. The unit was set up with an agreed policy of management of the common causes of haematemesis and melaena, and data were prospectively recorded in a form suitable for computer analysis in every case. Of the 513 admissions, 378 were of males and 135 were of females. Forty-five patients died, giving an overall admission mortality of 8-8. There were 143 admissions for bleeding duodenal ulceration, 102 for acute peptic ulceration, 47 for chronic gastriculceration, 43 for oesophageal varices, 33 for Mallory-Weiss syndrome and 45 for less common causes of upper gastrintestinal bleeding. In 100 cases the source of bleeding was not discovered. Of the 143 patients admitted for chronic duodenal ulcer, either patients died, giving a mortality of 5-6%; 72 patients underwent operation, with an operative mortality of 9-7%. Of the 47 admitted with bleeding gastric ulcer, nine died (19-1%), while 26 came to operation; the operative mortality was 26-9%. There were 102 admissions for acute peptic ulceration, with an overall mortality of 11-7% (12 patients); 16 patients came to operation, with an operative mortality of 43-7%. Eleven deaths occurred in the 43 patients admitted for bleeding oesophageal varices (25-6%), with 10 patients coming to operation; the operative mortality was 30-0%. An age of greater than 50 years and shock on admission were the most significant factors for poor prognosis in this group of patients.