Rodrigo Menezes Jales

Ultrasound criteria and CA 125 as predictive variables of ovarian cancer in women with adnexal tumors

To evaluate the capacity to predict malignancy in women with adnexal tumors using CA 125 measurement and ultrasound criteria.

Simple rules for ultrasonographic subcategorization of BI-RADS ® -US 4 breast masses

OBJECTIVES To evaluate an objective method for ultrasonographic (US) subcategorization of BI-RADS(®)-US 4 breast masses based on clear and simple rules in order for woman to benefit from a more complete and homogeneous breast mass analysis. METHODS In this cross-sectional study, we selected 330 women, with 339 US breast masses, classified as BI-RADS(®)-US 4. Three physicians experienced in breast imaging independently reviewed all US images, assessing mass shape, margins, orientation, echo texture and vascularity. These experts further subdivided the masses into subcategories 4a, 4b and 4c, according to simple US rules. Inter-observer agreement was calculated for US features categories and for final subcategory assessment. We also estimated the positive predictive value (PPV) for BI-RADS(®)-US subcategories 4a, 4b and 4c assigned by each of the three observers. RESULTS Pathological examination of all masses confirmed 144 (42%) malignant and 195 (58%) benign tumors. Moderate agreement was obtained for mass shape, margins, vascularity and for final BI-RADS(®)-US 4 subcategory. Substantial agreement was obtained for the description of mass orientation and echo texture. The PPV for subcategories 4a, 4b and 4c were, 17%, 45% and 85%, respectively, for the first observer and 20%, 38% and 79% and 17%, 40% and 85% for the other two observers. CONCLUSION Standardization of a US subcategorization of BI-RADS(®)-US 4 breast masses seems to be feasible, with substantial inter-observer agreement and progressive increase in the PPV in the subcategories 4a, 4b and 4c, provided that clear and simple classification rules are defined.

Performance of the IOTA ADNEX model in preoperative discrimination of adnexal masses in a gynecological oncology center

To evaluate the performance of the International Ovarian Tumor Analysis (IOTA) ADNEX model in the preoperative discrimination between benign ovarian (including tubal and para‐ovarian) tumors, borderline ovarian tumors (BOT), Stage I ovarian cancer (OC), Stage II–IV OC and ovarian metastasis in a gynecological oncology center in Brazil.

Natural Killer Cells Response to IL-2 Stimulation Is Distinct between Ascites with the Presence or Absence of Malignant Cells in Ovarian Cancer Patients

Peritoneal ascites are a distinguishable feature of patients with advanced epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC). The presence of different lymphocyte subsets has been reported in EOC-associated ascites, which also can or not contain malignant cells. The goal of this study was to analyze the functional characteristics of natural killer (NK) cells from EOC-associated ascites in terms of their expression of activating receptors and ascites’ contents of lymphocyte subtypes, cytokine profile and presence of EOC cells. NK cell function was evaluated by the expression of the degranulation marker CD107a in resting and interleukin (IL)-2 stimulated NK cells from ascites and blood. Degranulation of NK cells from EOC cell-free ascites was significantly (p < 0.05) higher than all the other groups, either in their resting state or after IL-2 stimulation, suggesting a previous local stimulation. In contrast, treatment with IL-2 had no effect on NK cells from ascites with EOC cells. The amount of regulatory T cells was significantly higher in ascites with EOC cells compared to EOC cell-free ascites. Ascites with EOC cells also had higher levels of tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, suggesting inflammation related to the malignancy. In conclusion, the functional performance of NK cells was distinct between EOC cell-free ascites and ascites with EOC cells. The impairment of NK cell response to IL-2 in ascites with EOC cells was consistent with an immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment.

Performance of the Risk of Malignancy Index for Discriminating Malignant Tumors in Women With Adnexal Masses

We examined the performance of 4 risk of malignancy index (RMI) variants in a medium‐resource gynecologic cancer center.

Complex Breast Masses Assessment of Malignant Potential Based on Cyst Diameter

The purpose of this study was to assess whether cyst diameter might contribute to the prediction of malignancy in complex breast masses.

Power Doppler Ultrasonography and Shear Wave Elastography as Complementary Imaging Methods for Suspected Local Breast Cancer Recurrence: Doppler Ultrasonography and Elastography for Suspected Breast Cancer Recurrence

To prospectively investigate the diagnostic accuracy and clinical consequences of power Doppler morphologic criteria and shear wave elastography (SWE) as complementary imaging methods for evaluation of suspected local breast cancer recurrence in the ipsilateral breast or chest wall.

Panhypopituitarism Without GH Replacement: About Insulin Sensitivity, CRP Levels, and Metabolic Syndrome

A complete deficiency of anterior pituitary hormones from several etiologies characterizes Panhypopituitarism (PH). Despite advances in treatment, patients with PH maintain high rates of morbidity and mortality, a reason to investigate some insulin sensitivity, metabolic and inflammatory parameters that could be related to the increase of these indicators. This was a cross-sectional study comprising 41 PH patients under hormonal replacement, except for growth hormone, and 37 individuals in a control group (CG) with similar age, gender and body mass index (BMI). We assessed clinical data as age, sex, BMI, waist circumference, waist/hip ratio (WHR), history of hypertension, diabetes mellitus and dyslipidemia as well as fasting glycaemia, insulin, HOMA-IR, HbA1c, high-sensitivity CRP (hs-CRP), and lipid profile. PH patients presents lower values of glycaemia, insulin, HOMA-IR (0.88 vs 2.1) and WHR, but higher levels of hs-CRP (0.38 vs 0.16mg/dl) when compared with the CG. Although the occurrence of dyslipidemia was higher in patients with PH, the frequency of metabolic syndrome was similar between the groups. In multivariate linear regression analysis, the PH group independently predicted lower HOMA-IR and WHR values. In conclusion, this study demonstrated that patients with PH without GH replacement have lower HOMA-IR and WHR values and higher levels of hs-CRP than a CG paired by age, gender and BMI. The diagnosis of dyslipidemia was more frequent in patients with PH, but the occurrence of MS was similar to CG. Further studies are needed to confirm our findings and to better understand the metabolic characteristics of patients with PH.

Clinical, mammographic and histopathological correlation of breast cancer in women aged between 50 and 70 years

Objetivo: Correlacionar os achados clínicos, mamográficos e histopatológicos de mulheres na faixa etária entre 50 e 70 anos que tiveram diagnóstico de câncer mamário e foram atendidas, entre 1998 e 2013, no Ambulatório de Mastologia do Centro de Atenção Integral à Saúde da Mulher da Universidade Estadual de Campinas (CAISM-Unicamp). Métodos: Trata-se de um estudo de corte transversal e retrospectivo, no qual foram analisados os prontuários e as mamografias de 160 mulheres, tamanho amostral suficiente para a análise estatística. As variáveis usadas para comparação foram os achados clínicos, mamográficos e histopatológicos, analisados por meio da estatística descritiva e associativa. Resultados: Entre os 160 casos analisados, 76,9% eram sintomáticos e os principais achados clínicos incluíram nódulo palpável (68,1%) e alterações de pele (30%). As apresentações mamográficas prevalentes nas mulheres assintomáticas foram microcalcificações (48,7%), nódulos (43,2%) e distorção arquitetural (8,1%). Com relação ao tipo histológico, 81,3% apresentaram carcinoma ductal invasivo (CDI) e 10,7%, carcinoma ductal in situ (CDIS). Conclusão: O presente trabalho evidenciou que houve uma predominância de mulheres sintomáticas, com apresentação mamográfica de nódulos espiculados e tipo histológico de CDI. Já nas demais pacientes com lesões detectadas no exame de rastreamento predominaram as microcalcificações pleomórficas como o principal achado do CDIS. A mamografia diagnóstica foi a principal forma de detecção do câncer mamário, podendo representar a falta de acesso dessas mulheres aos exames de rastreamento ou à não detecção precoce das lesões malignas, o que revela a necessidade de melhorar as ações de controle e os protocolos de atendimento dessas pacientes.

Variations in the sonographic measurement techniques of BI-RADS 3 breast masses: Measurements of BI-RADS 3 Masses

To evaluate the differences in sonographic (US) distance and volume measurements from different sonologists and identify the optimal parameters to avoid clinically relevant variations in the measurement of BI‐RADS 3 breast masses.