7-year-old boy with prodrome of right-sided and right face weakness, gait ataxia, and intermittent headaches. Head computed tomography demonstrated a tumor at the brainstem/posterior fossa, and then MRI confirmed a diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (a typical brainstem glioma). Following initiation of dexamethasone (Decadron, steroid for vasogenic edema), the child has started experimental treatment with the medicine nimotuzumab to be followed with conventional radiotherapy.
75-year-old male with a cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma resected from the right eyebrow in 2003. In 2006, the patient underwent resection of an ipsilateral squamous cell carcinoma in the parotid bed that was presumably a nodal metastasis. He then experienced local relapse treated with resection and adjuvant radiotherapy. There was recurrent disease involving the right cheek excised in 2008. In 2009, another recurrence led to resection with orbital exenteration. Pathology showed squamous cell carcinoma, with perineural invasion, and extension into the orbital muscles.
38-year-old female was diagnosed with stage I uterine leiomyosarcoma with high mitotic count and infiltrative-type growth margins. The expert recommends to give her adjuvant chemotherapy after the surgery - 6 courses of Adriamycin + Ifosfamide chemotherapy and consider radiotherapy afterwards for local control. An alternative treatment is with the combination of Gencitabine + Taxotere. Her prognosis depends on recurrence.
74-year-old female suffers from recurrent episodes of paroxysmal atrial fibrillation (PAF) and has been recommended oral anti-coagulant therapy with warfarin (Coumadin). She has mitral regurgitation, and on the other hand was diagnosed as suffering from congenital bronchiectasis with several episodes of significant bleeding (hemoptysis). Following these hemoptoic episodes she underwent series of diagnostic as well as therapeutic pulmonary intervention (bronchoscopy, angiography, embolization).
A 61 year old male who presented with an epileptic episode was evaluated. A temporo-parietal-occipito mass was detected on MRI and PET CT. A follow-up MRI one year later showed progression of the lesion. One month later he had a craniotomy and what seems to be a partial removel of the mass. The pathology revealed glioblastoma. He was scheduled for radiotherapy two months later. The post operative MRI showed post operative changes including blood at the surgical cavity. However, there is a significant residual tumor present which is enhancing following administration of contrast.
55-year-old female was diagnosed with glioblastoma after suffering increasing headaches, and was treated with radiation with concurrent Temodal. MRI exam that was performed after 2 additional cycles of CCNU showed tumor progression. The expert recommends different further treatment options.
5-year-old boy was diagnosed with neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) eight months after birth. He has displayed café-au-lait spots, axillary freckling, macrocephaly, sphenoid dysplasia, brain hamartomas, right temporal arachnoid cyst, and optic glioma. Visual evoked potentials showed evidence of bilateral functional deficit.
A 55 years old female was diagnosed with infiltrating ductal carcinoma of the right breast 7 years ago. The patient underwent a right quadrantectomy and axillary lymph nodes removal, adjuvant chemotherapy and radiation therapy. 5 years ago, after diagnostic finding of reappearance of infiltrating ductal carcinoma of the right breast, the patient underwent right mastectomy and revisional surgery of axillary armpit, and another adjuvant chemotherapy.
2-year-old girl was diagnosed with pleuropulmonary blastoma (PPB). She presented with cough and fever which was treated as pneumonia. When her symptoms did not improve, a chest X-ray showed a right lower lobe infiltrate with pleural effusion and a cystic lesion superiorly. She was further treated with antibiotics and improved clinically, but follow-up with chest CT showed a persistent cystic area in the right lower lobe and pneumothorax. She thus underwent pleural drainage and thoracoscopic biopsy, revealing a diagnosis of "cystic pleuropulmonary blastoma".
65-year-old male experienced loss of consciousness, and a CT scan showed a left temporal mass which was confirmed by MRI. The patient underwent Stereotacti biopsy of mass, and Histological examination gave a diagnosis of anaplastic astrocytoma. He started chemoradiation with fotemustine (nitrosourea alkylating agent). Repeated MRI showed progression with mass effect, mild uncal herniation and enlarging ventricles. He has stable expressive aphasia and hemisyndrome, lethargy and decreased motivation. His treatment was switched from phenobarbital to levetiracetam.
51-year-old female was diagnosed with stage I, Grade I infiltrating duct carcinoma of the breast. Estrogen receptors were highly positive and Progesterone receptors negative. Based on these findings the expert advises that she receive adjuvant radiotherapy and hormonotherapy. The adjuvant hormonotherapy consist of initial treatment by Tamoxifen for 2 years, thereafter switched to an Aromatase Inhibitor. The expert also informs the patient about potential side effects of Tamoxifen treatment, which are not frequent and generally mild.
A 66 year old man that was diagnosed with prostate cancer underwent radical prostatectomy 2 years ago. Pathology result of the surgical specimen revealed poorly differentiated prostate carcinoma with positive surgical margins. He was treated with antiandrogens and adjuvant radiation therapy. Since the beginning of the last year and under hormonal monotherapy with Casodex his PSA levels doubled. PET CT of the abdomen and the pelvis revealed hepatic lesion.
78-year-old male was diagnosed with possible mild Alzheimer’s disease. Medical history suggests a condition running a slow but steadily deteriorating course characterized by apathy as well as by impairment of memory, word finding difficulties and reduced vocabulary, impaired ability to make calculation and handle finances and difficulties in managing house work and going outside unsupervised. An episode with characteristics of delirium in the past is described as well. The neuropsychological evaluation describes moderate dementia.
58-year-old male suffers from advanced metastatic colon cancer with weakness, severe anemia and synchronic liver metastases. A good partial response has been accomplished by the combination chemotherapy and the antiangiogenic antibody Avastin. In the meantime, the patient has been started on a therapeutic protocol based on hyperthermia. In the expert's opinion, There is no evidence that hyperthermia is of any benefit in this patient.
39-year-old male was diagnosed to have a neuroendocrine tumour with synchronic liver metastases. The disease was treated with an etoposide-carboplatin combination, Interferon A, somatostatin analogue and Zebra fish egg derived dietary supplements. In early 2008, a tumour progression was noted in that the disease started to produce the epithelial tumour markers CEA and CA 19-9.
57-year-old male who was found to have back pain and hyperglobulinemia approximately. Marrow biopsy was consistent with IgG myeloma. He was treated with steroids and local radiotherapy with improvement in symptoms and a modest reduction in the M-component. He received melphalan-based autologous stem cell transplantation, which was complicated by reversible respiratory failure. Unfortunately, he relapsed and was treated with bortezomib and steroids for 6 cycles followed by thalidomide. The disease has responded to therapy.
2-year-old female had been diagnosed with Pleuropulmonary Blastoma. The disease extent included the lung and pleura with no signs of metastatic spread. It was decided to start with 3 cycles of chemotherapy and afterwards to carry out a CT scan reassessment and surgical operation. The expert agrees that patients treated with combination of chemotherapy and complete surgical resection do better. Achieving total resection of the tumor results in a significantly better prognosis, whereas extrapulmonary involvement at diagnosis results in worse prognosis.
1.5-year-old male suffered from eye swelling. His MRI revealed expansive lesion of left lateral orbital wall origin, with compression on the lateral rectus muscle. Later he was hospitalized due to fever and vomiting in left orbital lesion, suspecting a metastatic neuroblastoma. His eye examination revealed exophthalmus of the eye with exophoria and light dysfunction of the lateral rectus. His biopsies were indicative of stroma-poor neuroblastoma.
