Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0000737 (abdominal pain)
 31,184 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

A 75 year woman developed a primary malignant melanoma of the gallbladder. The patient presented with abdominal pain in the upper right quadrant typically seen in acute cholecystitis. Neither intravesical concretions nor cholestasis was seen. Ultrasound demonstrated hyperechogenic intraluminal "school of fish" reflections, which are typical for metastatic melanoma to the gallbladder. Intravesical fluid collection was not present. The tumor did not expand past the wall of the gallbladder. The main sonographic features are hyperdense intraluminal strands of tumor and the lack of fluid. Computed tomography showed solid intraluminal masses with hypodensive and partially hyperdensive reticular structure.
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PMID:[Malignant melanoma of the gallbladder]. 899 21

Malignant melanoma of the vulva is an uncommon disease, with a significant portion of cases demonstrating metastasis to inguinal lymph nodes with potential distal spread. Identification of such metastases often requires fine-needle aspiration or biopsy. The cytologic diagnosis of metastatic vulvar melanoma from peritoneal effusions has not been previously described. We present the case of a 54-yr-old woman who underwent en bloc radical vulvectomy with bilateral inguinal lymphadenectomy for melanoma of the right labium minora. No evidence of metastatic disease was identified, and all surgical margins were free of tumor. Despite chemotherapy, the patient returned approximately 2 yr later with abdominal pain and distention. Computed tomography revealed marked ascites and three hepatic lesions. Cytologic examination of the ascites revealed recurrent, metastatic melanoma. Although very rare, metastatic melanoma of the vulva may present as a malignant effusion. In such an event, the diagnosis may be rendered by exfoliative cytology.
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PMID:Metastatic melanoma of the vulva identified by peritoneal fluid cytology. 1008 39

High-dose interleukin-2 (IL-2) results in objective clinical regression in up to 17% of patients with metastatic melanoma and renal cell carcinoma, with about half of these patients experiencing a complete regression of all lesions. Gastrointestinal (GI) perforation is a rare but potentially serious complication of IL-2 administration. A retrospective review of all patients treated with IL-2 in the Surgery Branch of the National Cancer Institute (NCI) between Nov. 1, 1984, and May 1, 2002, was performed. In addition, a review of the published English literature on GI perforation in conjunction with IL-2 therapy was performed. Among the 1,797 patients treated at the NCI, there were eight (0.44%) cases of GI perforation. Seven of the eight patients were treated with high-dose (720,000 IU/kg every 8 hours) intravenous IL-2 (7/1,680, 0.42%) and one was treated with subcutaneous IL-2 (1/117, 0.85%). These patients developed various signs and symptoms of GI perforation. Six patients developed abdominal pain, yet only two of the eight patients had a fever. All six patients who underwent radiographic evaluation prior to diagnosis had free intraperitoneal air seen on the study. The location of the perforation included the stomach, small bowel, appendix, and colon. All underwent surgical treatment successfully, and four patients received further IL-2 therapy after recovering from the perforation. With the patients presented in this article, there have now been 20 cases reported in the English literature. Two of the patients at the NCI had a ruptured appendix, which has not been previously reported in the literature. The key to early diagnosis of GI perforation during IL-2 therapy is radiographic evaluation. Patients with GI perforation can be safely retreated with IL-2 if they are given adequate time to recover from their surgical intervention and if careful assessment is performed to rule out residual infection.
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PMID:Gastrointestinal perforations associated with interleukin-2 administration. 1507 43

From post-mortem case records, the small bowel is the most frequent site of metastatic melanoma in the gastrointestinal (GI) tract, with gallbladder involvement occurring in 15% of cases. However, few cases have been documented in living patients and, when found, are associated with a poor prognosis. We report a case of a Caucasian man with metastatic gallbladder and small bowel melanoma from an unknown primary. He presented with diffuse abdominal pain, vomiting and progressive asthenia; subsequently, intestinal obstruction occurred. He had no past history of malignant melanoma and the primary lesion was not found. The multiple lesions, together with the absence of mucosal involvement in both the gallbladder and small bowel, led us to believe that the lesions were metastatic deposits from a probably regressed primary melanoma. It should be emphasized that surgical resection for melanoma metastatic to the GI tract is recommended for palliative reasons and can be performed safely. The clinical presentation, diagnosis, treatment and prognosis of previously reported cases of melanoma metastatic to the gallbladder and small bowel are reviewed. The differences between primary and secondary GI tract melanomas are also discussed.
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PMID:Melanoma metastatic to the gallbladder and small bowel: report of a case and review of the literature. 1545 2

Metastatic melanoma continues to be a very difficult disease to treat. Options are limited and often have very little impact on the course of the disease. The objective of the current study was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of continuously administered Apomine (SR-45023A), a novel bisphosphonate, in patients with previously treated metastatic malignant melanoma. Adult patients with previously treated metastatic melanoma received Apomine 100 mg orally, twice daily (total dose 200 mg per day) continuously for 28 days (defined as a cycle). Treatment was continued until disease progression or unacceptable toxicity. A total of 42 patients received at least one dose of Apomine. Stable disease was achieved in 2 patients (5%). No complete or partial responses were observed. Progression free survival of at least 16 weeks was observed in 6 patients (14%). The median overall survival was 6.1 months (95% CI, 4.9-9.4 months). Time to treatment failure was 1.7 months (95% CI, 1.6-1.8 months) with Apomine therapy. By cycle 2, Apomine concentrations reached steady-state. Apomine was well tolerated with only 37% of patients experiencing any drug-related event. Abdominal pain was the most frequent adverse event occurring in 26% of patients. In conclusion, Apomine, at the current dose studied, failed to produce a 30% progression free survival rate at 16 weeks considered to be a meaningful benefit for further development.
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PMID:A phase II open-label trial of apomine (SR-45023A) in patients with refractory melanoma. 1637 38

Malignant melanoma is one of the most common malignancies to metastasize to the gastrointestinal (GI) tract. Metastases to the GI tract can present at the time of primary diagnosis or decades later as the first sign of recurrence. Symptoms may include abdominal pain, dysphagia, small bowel obstruction, hematemesis, and melena. We report 2 cases of malignant melanoma metastatic to the GI tract, followed by a review of the literature. The first case is a 72-year-old man who underwent resection of superficial spreading melanoma on his back 13 years previously who presented with dysphagia. A biopsy specimen of a mucosal fold in a gastric fundus noted during endoscopy was taken and revealed metastatic malignant melanoma, which was resected 1 month later. Three weeks later, the patient was found to have an ulcerated jejunal metastatic melanoma mass, which was also resected. The second case is a 63-year-old man with an ocular melanoma involving the chorold of the left eye that had been diagnosed 4 years previously, which had been excised several times, who presented with anorexia, dizziness, and fatigue. He was found to have cerebellar and stomach metastases. He underwent adjuvant radiation therapy, chemotherapy, and surgical resection of the gastric melanoma metastasis. In patients with a history of melanoma, a high index of suspicion for metastasis must be maintained if they present with seemingly unrelated symptoms. Diagnosis requires careful inspection of the mucosa for metastatic lesions and biopsy with special immunohistochemical stains. Management may include surgical resection, chemotherapy, immunotherapy, observation, or enrollment in clinical trials. Prognosis is poor, with a median survival of 4 to 6 months.
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PMID:Metastatic malignant melanoma of the gastrointestinal tract. 1661 May 71

The gastrointestinal (GI) tract is a common site of melanoma metastases although reports of small bowel intussusception are relatively rare. Most patients with intussusception will be symptomatic and resection will provide significant palliation. In rare instances, patients will have solitary metastases to the small intestine, and resection can provide long-term palliation and chance for cure. We describe a case of a patient with a widely metastatic melanoma who presented with crampy abdominal pain and CT findings of small bowel metastases. Exploration revealed jejunojejunal intussusception and resection provided excellent palliation.
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PMID:Metastatic melanoma causing jejunal intussusception. 1761 36

Intussusception has been considered an operative indication in adults as a result of the risk of ischemia and the possibility of a malignant lead point. Computed tomographic (CT) scans can reveal unsuspected intussusception. All CT reports from July 1999 to December 2005 were scanned electronically for letter strings to include the keyword intussusception. Identified CT scans were analyzed to characterize the intussusception and associated findings. Clinical, laboratory, pathological, and follow-up variables were gleaned from medical records. Findings were analyzed by treatment and findings at operation. Review of 380,999 CT reports yielded 170 (0.04%) adult patients (mean age, 41 years) with intussusceptions described as enteroenteric in 149 (87.6%), ileocecal in eight (4.7%), colocolonic in 10 (5.9%), and gastroenteric in three (1.8%). Radiological features included mean length of 4.4 cm (range, 0.8-20.5 cm) and diameter of 3.2 cm (range, 1.6-11.5 cm). Twenty-nine (17.1%) had a lead point, and 12 (7.1%) had bowel obstruction. Clinically, 88 (48.2%) patients reported abdominal pain, 52 (30.6%) had nausea and/or vomiting, and 74 (43.5%) had objective findings on abdominal examination. Thirty of 170 (17.6%) patients underwent operation, but only 15 (8.8%) patients had pathologic findings that correlated with CT findings. Seven had,enteroenteric intussusceptions from benign neoplasms (two), adhesions (one), local inflammation (one), previous anastomosis (one), Crohn's disease (one), and idiopathic (one). Three had ileocolic disease, including cecal cancer (one), metastatic melanoma (one) and idiopathic (one; whereas five patients had colocolonic intussusception from colon cancer (three), tubulovillous adenoma (one), and local inflammation (one). Of the 15 without intussusception at exploration, five had pathology related to trauma, four had nonincarcerated internal hernia after Roux-en-Y gastric bypass, four had negative explorations, one had adhesions, and one had appendicitis that did not correlate with CT findings. No patient in the observation group required subsequent operative exploration for intussusception at mean 14.1 months (range, 0.25-67.5 months) follow up. All operative patients demonstrated gastrointestinal symptoms versus 55.3 per cent of the observation group (P < 0.006). Analysis of CT features demonstrated differences among patients observed without operation, those without intussusception at exploration, and confirmed intussusception with regard to mean intussusception length 3.8 versus 3.8 versus 9.6 cm, diameter 3.0 versus 3.2 versus 4.8 cm, lead point 12.1 per cent versus 30 per cent versus 53.3 per cent, and proximal obstruction 3.8 per cent versus 0 per cent versus 46.7 per cent, respectively. Intussusceptions in adults discovered by CT scanning do not always mandate exploration. Most cases can be treated expectantly despite the presence of gastrointestinal symptoms. Close follow up is recommended with imaging and/or endoscopic surveillance. Length and diameter of the intussusception, presence of a lead point, or bowel obstruction on CT are predictive of findings that warrant exploration.
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PMID:Approach to management of intussusception in adults: a new paradigm in the computed tomography era. 1809 41

Choroidal melanoma represents the primary intraocular malignancy in adults with a reported incidence of about 4000 cases per year. The liver is the sole site of metastases in more than 80% of cases and is affected in up to 90% of patients who develop metastatic disease. Patients with metastatic melanoma have usually a median survival of 6 months. In the present paper, the case of a 42-year-old woman with choroidal melanoma who underwent surgery and was followed up for 7 years with no evidence of relapse is reported. Eight months later she had a car accident and was admitted to the hospital complaining of abdominal pain, lack of appetite and asthenia. At physical examination, jaundice and hepatomegaly were found. Abdominal ultrasonography revealed the presence of several hypoechoic lesions, and liver function was compromised due to coagulation deficiency. Thus, the diagnosis of metastatic choroidal melanoma was obtained by video-assisted laparoscopy that showed disseminated darkly pigmented lesions on the surface of the liver. The patient died of liver failure three months later. At autopsy, histopathological examination of the liver confirmed the diagnosis, excluding local recurrence of the choroidal melanoma.
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PMID:Late liver metastases of choroidal melanoma detected by laparoscopy. 1918 Oct 11

We report the case of a 74-year-old man with metastatic melanoma of the small bowel. Melanoma metastasizing to the small bowel is a rare but well described presentation of the disease, detected clinically in only 2% to 5% of these patients. Its presentation is similar to other gastrointestinal tract tumors, with symptoms of abdominal pain or anemia prevailing. Recent studies have implicated the chemokine receptor CCR9 and its ligand CCL25 as signals that allow malignant melanoma cells to preferentially metastasize to the small bowel. Common imaging modalities used to detect these small bowel lesions include contrast-enhanced computed tomography (CT) scans and upper gastrointestinal series with small bowel follow-through. Given the low sensitivity of these modalities, newer helical CT scanners, 18F-2-fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose-positron emission tomography (FDG PET)/CT, and capsule endoscopy are now being recommended to replace the older imaging techniques. Current treatment modalities include surgical resection, which has been shown to increase overall survival, and adjuvant immunotherapy, whose efficacy is currently being questioned. A review of the current literature describing this rare occurrence is included to compare with our patient's presentation, diagnosis, and management.
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PMID:A patient with metastatic melanoma of the small bowel. 1928 29


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