Mohammad F. Shaikh

Palliative Surgery for Advanced Cancer: Identifying Evidence-Based Criteria for Patient Selection: Case Report and Review of Literature.

BACKGROUND Criteria for selecting patients with advanced cancer for palliative surgery (PS) remains poorly defined. Decision making for PS requires realistic treatment goals with well-defined criteria. Here we discuss a 71-year-old Jehovahs Witness with advanced stage renal cell carcinoma (RCC) who presented with profound anemia due to intractable bleeding from gastric metastasis. After repeated attempts with endoscopic and angiographic management, she underwent surgical palliation. Through this case, we developed 10-item evidence-based criteria for selecting patients for PS. OBJECTIVE The study objective was to provide a review of pertinent literature for PS and identify evidence-based criteria for patient selection. These criteria were relevant for selecting this patient with metastatic RCC and may prove beneficial for selecting advanced cancer patients for PS. METHODS A MEDLINE search revealed 175 publications relevant to PS. Among these, 17 articles defining patient selection criteria (PSC) were reviewed. A frequency-based analysis of each criterion was performed. Another search returned 30 cases of RCC gastric metastases from 25 published reports. Outcome analysis was determined by the Kaplan-Meier actuarial method. RESULTS Ten criteria were identified: symptom control, prognosis, preoperative performance status, quality of life (QoL), tumor burden amenable to palliation, procedure-related morbidity and mortality, feasibility of nonsurgical therapies, anticipated hospitalization, requirement for additional palliation, and cost. This patient met all inclusion criteria and underwent a successful gastrectomy. Median survival for patients with RCC gastric metastasis was 20 months. CONCLUSIONS This report illustrates an example of implementation of evidence-based criteria for selecting advanced cancer patients for PS. Validation of these criteria is warranted.

Retroperitoneal Castleman's disease: advocating a multidisciplinary approach for a rare clinical entity

BackgroundCastleman’s disease is a rare and poorly understood disease entity that may resemble more common conditions and represents a clinical challenge to the treating surgeon.Case presentationIn this report, we describe a case of a 61-year-old Caucasian woman with a symptomatic retroperitoneal mass. The specimen obtained from her resection contained a protuberant encapsulated mass, exhibiting microscopic features consistent with localized, unicentric Castleman’s disease. These characteristics included architectural features and immunohistochemical findings consistent with the hyaline vascular variant of Castleman’s disease.ConclusionWe report a very rare case of a retroperitoneal hyaline vascular type of Castleman’s disease. We discuss the diagnostic dilemma Castleman’s disease may present to the surgeon, with an emphasis on multidisciplinary management of these patients. We also review current data on pathogenesis, treatment and outcomes.

Pancreatic mucinous cystic neoplasm in a transgender patient.

BackgroundCystic pancreatic lesions are increasingly more frequent detected clinical entities. Mucinous cystic neoplasm (MCN) is a hormone-related pancreatic tumor (HRTP) with a strong predominance in young and middle-aged females.Case presentationHere, we present the case of a 31-year-old surgically transgendered female-to-male patient with a history of alcoholic pancreatitis, on chronic testosterone therapy. He was found to have a pancreatic MCN and underwent distal pancreatectomy and splenectomy.ConclusionTo our knowledge, this is the first reported case of a transgender patient with a history of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) and pancreatic MCN. We consider possible mechanisms for the pathogenesis to explain this patient’s neoplasm.