Tapesh Bhattacharyya

Carcinoma lung presenting with choroidal metastasis as initial presentation: a rarity.

Diminished vision due to choroidal metastasis as the primary symptom of lung cancer is very uncommon. Here, we report such a presentation in a 54-year-old male patient of small cell lung cancer. The outcome is usually dismal with this kind of presentation. The patient received systemic chemotherapy as well as intravitreal bevacizumab but with no improvement in vision. The patient had been given external beam radiotherapy and showed subjective improvement in his ocular symptoms.

Penile metastasis secondary to bladder cancer: A report of two cases

Penile metastasis secondary to primary bladder cancer is a rare entity and represents a challenging problem. The common mode of spread to the penis is by retrograde venous route. The overall outcome is dismal and most patients will die within 1 year even after optimum treatment. Here, we report two such cases.

Outcome of neoadjuvant chemotherapy in locally advanced breast cancer: A tertiary care centre experience.

Background: Introduction of neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NACT) has dramatically changed the management of locally advanced breast cancer (LABC). However, very few randomized trials of NACT have been carried out specifically in LABC patients in our country. In this retrospective analysis, we presented our experience with NACT in LABC patients. Materials and Methods: Medical records of 148 patients of stage III LABC patients treated with NACT, followed by surgery and radiotherapy from January 2006 to December 2010 were reviewed. Clinical and pathological responses to different chemotherapy regimens were assessed according to World Health Organization criteria. Various factors influencing response to NACT and clinical outcome were identified and analyzed. Results: A total of 90 (60.8%) patients received anthracycline-based chemotherapy and 52 (35.1%) patients received mixed anthracycline and taxane-based chemotherapy.119 patients (80.4%) responded to NACT either in the form of complete or partial response (PR). Complete response was seen in 27 (18.2%) patients and 92 (62.2%) patients showed PR after NACT. Pathological complete response was seen in 24 (16.2%) patients-. At a median follow-up period of 44 months 36 patients (24.3%) developed relapse of which six patients developed locoregional recurrence, while 28 (18.9%) patients developed distant metastasis. Nodal status, response to chemotherapy, pathological tumor size <3 cm and extracapsular extension (ECE) came out to be important prognostic factors in this study. Conclusion: Neoadjuvant chemotherapy is a reasonable alternative to upfront surgery in the management of LABC. Clinicopathological variables such as nodal status, response to chemotherapy, pathological tumor size and presence of ECE had significant impact on disease free survival.

A systematic review of management of neuroendocrine tumors: An experience from a tertiary care centre from India

Neuroendocrine tumors (NETs) encompass a heterogeneous group of tumors demonstrating varied clinical behavior. The field has recently witnessed several important developments stemming from improvements in the histopathological classification schemes, advanced imaging techniques, and a deeper understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying tumor progression. These tumors have indolent clinical courses, with long survival rates even for the patients with metastatic disease. The mainstay of treatment is surgery. Somatostatin analogs play a key role in controlling the symptoms; however, they are seldom associated with tumor regression. Traditional cytotoxic chemotherapies have a very limited role in well differentiated NETs, but platinum based chemotherapy is highly effective in neuroendocrine carcinomas. Recently, the biological targeted agents have shown promise in patients with metastatic disease. Evolving modalities like peptide receptor targeted therapies and radioembolization have opened up new avenues in refractory and advanced disease.

Primary adenoid cystic carcinoma of lung: A case report and review of the literature

Primary adenoid cystic carcinoma of lung is an unusual thoracic neoplasm, which is considered as a slow-growing low-grade malignancy. The primary treatment for this tumor is surgery. The role of radiotherapy, chemotherapy, and targeted agents is less well defined. Here we report a case of inoperable adenoid cystic carcinoma of the lung in a 42-year-old male, presenting with an unusual aggressive behavior. The patient received radiotherapy and oral tyrosine kinase inhibitor imatinib with effective palliation.

Palliative radiation in primary squamous cell carcinoma of thyroid: A rare case report

Primary squamous cell carcinoma of the thyroid is an extremely rare neoplasm with aggressive behavior. Until date, only around 60 cases have been reported in the literature. Primary treatment of the patient is radical surgery. With optimum treatment survival is not more than 6 months in this aggressive malignancy. However in our patient surgery it was not possible because of unresectability of the mass due to encroachment of major vessels. Hence, we have delivered radiotherapy alone, with which effective palliation could be achieved and patient is leading a good quality-of-life for last 1 year.

Efficacy of radical radiotherapy alone for functional preservation of larynx in laryngeal carcinoma: A retrospective analysis

PURPOSE Concurrent chemoradiation is the current standard of care in locally advanced head and neck cancer. But, in our setup, many patients of carcinoma larynx are treated with only radical radiotherapy because of poor general condition of the patients. This study was performed to assess the influence radical radiotherapy alone on functional preservation of larynx. MATERIALS AND METHODS 110 previously untreated patients with invasive squamous cell carcinoma of larynx were treated with radical radiotherapy alone between January 2006 and June 2009. Conventional one daily fraction of 2 Gy with total doses of 60-66 Gy was used. Voice preservation and local control at median follow-up period of 2 years were analyzed. Several host, tumor, and treatment parameters were also analyzed. RESULTS Among 110 patients, preservation of larynx was possible in 78 patients (71%). With radical radiotherapy alone, excellent preservation of larynx was achieved in stage I (88.9%) and stage II (75%) disease, while in advanced stages, results were not so encouraging. In stage III and stage IVA, larynx preservation was only 72.4% and 65.3%, respectively. Patients without any cartilage invasion had significantly better laryngeal preservation rate as compared to patients with cartilage invasion. (78.9% vs. 35.3%; P = 0.008). CONCLUSION Though concurrent chemoradiation is the standard of care in preservation of voice in laryngeal cancer, definitive radiotherapy alone may also be a good option in terms of preservation of larynx in patients of laryngeal cancer in community practice in the developing world where most of the patients cannot tolerate concurrent chemoradiation.

Impact of changing trends of treatment on outcome of cerebral gliosarcoma: A tertiary care centre experience

Aim: To assess clinicopathological features and outcomes in patients of primary gliosarcoma with changing trends of treatment. Materials and Methods: Medical records were reviewed and data collected on primary gliosarcoma over a 5-year period (2009-2013) from the departmental case files. Results: A total 27 patients were included in this study. The median age of presentation was 54 years. There was a slight male preponderance, with male to female ratio of 1.25:1. The most common location of the tumor was temporal lobe (44.4%). Gross total resection was possible in 19 cases, near total excision was done in five cases, and only partial excision with decompression in three cases. Of the 27 patients, 80.8% patients received post-operative radical external beam radiotherapy of 60 Gy/30#/6 weeks. Concurrent and adjuvant temozolomide was used in 42.3% cases, depending on affordability and tolerance. Median overall survival was 9 months. On subgroup analysis, median overall survival in the radiotherapy plus temozolomide group was 10 months as compared to 9 months in the radiotherapy alone group; however, this was not statistically significant.(P = 0.244). Conclusion: Treating Gliosarcoma is a major therapeutic challenge for a clinician because of its poor prognosis, aggressive clinical behavior, rarity, and limited clinical experience. With surgery and concurrent chemoradiation, we were able to achieve a median overall survival of 9 months. Addition of temozolomide has shown a better trend in survival though it is not statistically significant.

Hypofractionated radiotherapy in carcinoma breast: What we have achieved?

Healthy breast tissue is sensitive to radiation fraction size, such that small changes in fraction size can lead to larger changes in radiation effects on these tissues. Conventional breast and/or chest wall irradiation uses 2 Gy daily fractions, for 5-6 weeks. Such a long treatment schedule has major implications on both patient quality of life and burden of radiotherapy (RT) departments. Some investigators have hypothesized that breast cancer is as sensitive as normal breast tissue to fraction size. According to the hypothesis, small fraction sizes of 2.0 Gy or less offer no therapeutic advantage, and a more effective strategy would be to deliver fewer, larger fractions that result in a lower total radiation dose. This short (hypofractionated) RT schedule would be more convenient for patients (especially those coming from remote areas to RT facilities) and for healthcare providers, as it would increase the turnover in RT departments. This thought has prompted us to write a systematic review on role of hypofractionated RT in breast cancer in a developing country like ours where patient burden is an alarming problem.

Rhabdomyosarcoma of vulva in a young lady: A rare case report with review of literature.

A 21-year-old lady presented with a rapidly progressive vulvar swelling with inguinal lymphadenopathy for 7 months. Pathological evaluation revealed it as a case of rhabdomyosarcoma. The disease behaved aggressively and she was treated with multimodality treatment.