Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0025202 (melanoma)
 69,561 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Cancer-related problems are seen frequently by the emergency physician. More difficult presentations are seen with premonitory symptoms, paraneoplastic syndromes, and nonspecific lesions. Dermatologic paraneoplastic syndromes are numerous, nonspecific, and consist of hamartomatous growths, texture changes, new hair growth, or changes in skin color. Alteration of skin color may be of practically any color, localized or diffuse, and of sudden or indolent onset. Hormone production by tumors may lead to acne, hirsutism, gynecomastia, or a cushingoid appearance. Pruritus may herald the onset of leukemia or lymphoma and be intolerable, as with erythroderma. All suspicious presentations require thorough investigation for underlying disease. Metastasis to skin is not common and implies a poor prognosis if seen. Most metastases are seen on the head and neck, anterior chest wall, and abdomen. Basal cell and squamous cell carcinomas commonly occur in sun-exposed areas. Basal cell is locally destructive, whereas squamous cell occasionally metastasizes to local lymph nodes. Malignant melanoma is the leading fatal illness originating in skin, with a dramatic rise in incidence. It is classically described as asymmetric with irregular borders, is elevated, and shows color variegation; however, melanoma may present atypically, particularly in non-whites. Kaposi's sarcoma lesions are well-demarcated, symmetric, smooth nodules that appear purplish-brown, particularly if below the knee (owing to venous stasis). The closely interrelated structures of the eye and orbit are easily disturbed, leading to the presenting symptoms of visual disturbances, exophthalmos, pain, and ocular motility disorders. Primary tumors are not unusual and may include retinoblastoma, rhabdomyosarcoma, and melanoma. Equally common are metastatic lesions, most commonly lung and breast carcinoma. An estimation of the malignancy of bony lesions can be made by assessing the zone of transition, periosteal reaction, and bone destruction. A malignant lesion will more likely have a broad zone of transition, irregular periosteal reaction, and moth-eaten or permeative destruction of trabeculae. Metastatic bone lesions primarily occur in sites of persistent red marrow: skull, ribs, vertebrae, pelvis, and proximal humerus and femur. Bony lesions can be blastic or lytic in nature. Solitary pulmonary nodules that have not grown for 2 years can be assumed to be benign. Calcification seen on plain films are a strong (but not absolute) indication of benignancy. Lesions that are greater than 3 to 4 cm in diameter, have irregular contours, are cavitated with thick walls, have multiple peripheral nodules, and have lack of calcification are more likely malignant.
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PMID:Visual diagnosis of hematologic and oncologic diseases. 849 Nov 9

There is evidence from previous studies of small numbers of children who received cytotoxic therapy for cancer, that they may develop increased numbers of melanocytic naevi (moles), the strongest known risk factors for melanoma. Our aim was to investigate a large number of survivors of childhood cancer in order to test the hypothesis that they have more melanocytic naevi than matched controls. Total-body naevus counts were obtained from 263 oncology patients ascertained in paediatric oncology departments in Queensland, Australia, and from 263 hospital controls matched for age and sex. Additional information was gathered from children's parents about concurrent factors influencing naevus development such as type of complexion and history of sun exposure. Matched analyses, both crude and adjusted for possible confounding factors, revealed no significant difference in overall density of naevi among oncology patients and control subjects, according to diagnosis or to duration or type of chemotherapy. However significantly more oncology patients had atypical naevi (P < 0.05) and acral naevi (P < 0.0001) than controls. One patient developed a malignant melanoma 13 years after chemotherapy and radiotherapy for rhabdomyosarcoma. These findings support an association between treatment for childhood cancer and acral naevi and suggest that atypical naevi may also be associated with chemotherapy in childhood.
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PMID:Melanocytic naevi and melanoma in survivors of childhood cancer. 849 98

We previously have reported on an experimental athymic mouse model in which regression of human Burkitt's lymphoma is induced by either coinjection with or intratumor inoculation of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)-immortalized human B cells. In the current study, we were interested in determining whether the powerful antitumor effects of EBV-immortalized B cells could be effective against a variety of human tumors grown in athymic mice, including acute lymphocytic leukemia, malignant melanoma, acute promyelocytic leukemia, neuroblastoma, lung carcinoma, colon adenocarcinoma, Wilms tumor, Hodgkin's lymphoma, rhabdomyosarcoma and breast adenocarcinoma. We report here the results of experiments in nude mice that demonstrated the potent antitumor effect of EBV-immortalized B cells against human tumors derived from a variety of different tissues.
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PMID:Regression of experimental human leukemias and solid tumors induced by Epstein-Barr virus-immortalized B cells. 853 18

There are major differences between tumors in children and adults, viz. the incidence of tumor types, the predisposition of certain organs and tissues (e.g. sympathetic nervous tissue, kidney, and soft tissues) to develop tumors, problems related to tumor classification, and the biologic behavior of childhood malignancies, which are usually characterized by high rates of proliferation activity. A large number of new entities, especially in soft tissue tumors, have been published over the past years, including nodular mesothelial hyperplasia, which is a tumor-like lesion derived from peritoneal macrophages; infantile myofibromatosis, which can mimic leiomyosarcoma; intermediate grade fibrohistiocytic tumors, like dermatofibrosarcoma protuberans-related giant-cell fibroblastoma, plexiform fibrohistiocytic tumor and angiomatoid malignant fibrous histiocytoma displaying evidence of myogeneous differentiation; finally, the high-grade intraabdominal desmoplastic small cell tumor. With modern methods we can gain better insights into the biology of tumors. For example, tumors of the Ewing's sarcoma family have in common a characteristic t(11; 22) chromosomal translocation, the Ewing's sarcoma (EWS) (22q12) gene rearrangement, and the MIC2 gene. The EWS gene rearrangement is not restricted to tumors of the Ewing's sarcoma family (classic Ewing's sarcoma and malignant peripheral neuroectodermal tumor), however, but occurs in malignant melanoma of the soft tissue and in intraabdominal desmoplastic small cell tumor. Rhabdomyosarcomas (RMS) can be divided into two basic types with different prognoses: embryonal RMS, including botryoid and spindle-cell variants, and alveolar RMS, including the solid variant. The prognosis of alveolar RMS is poorer than that of classic embryonal RMS, mainly due to early tumor dissemination in alveolar RMS. The prognosis of neuroblastoma is mainly based on chromosomal and molecular biologic findings. Structural chromosome 1 abnormalities, double minute chromosomes, homogeneously staining regions, N-myc amplifications, and DNA diploidy are indications for an unfavorable outcome. Despite progress in childhood solid tumor pathology, many questions remain open, including those relating to basic chromosomal defects in germ cell tumors and the obscure nature of tumor heterogeneity.
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PMID:New entities, concepts, and questions in childhood tumor pathology. 854 1

The relationship between duration of a period of vascular occlusion and magnitude of pH decrease in tumour and normal tissue was investigated in rats. To acidify tissue pH further, moderate dose glucose (2.4-3.0 g.kg(-1).hr(-1)) was administered intravenously through a catheter positioned in a tail vein, immediately after the clamp was released. This sequence of pH modifying modalities was chosen since it is employed in clinical regional isolation perfusion for recurrence of malignant melanoma of the limbs. Tumour pH in rat rhabdomyosarcoma BA1112 decreased more than normal tissue pH under 10, 20, 30 or 60 min of temporary vascular occlusion. Administration of glucose following any period of clamping always decreased tumour pH further. The largest pH decrease (0.29 pH units) was obtained after 30 min of clamping followed by 60 min glucose and 60 min saline infusion. In the clinic the combination of a maximum of 30 min of clamping followed by moderate dose glucose infusion, which can decrease tumour pH effectively, can be easily achieved in the setting of regional isolation perfusion. It can be used for treatment modalities that are known to be enhanced at lowered tissue pH, such as hyperthermia and certain chemotherapeutic drugs. These results form the basis for studying the therapeutic gain which can be obtained with this model.
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PMID:Temporary vascular occlusion and glucose: effects on tumour and normal tissue pH in animal experiments. 858 4

Metastasis to the breast is uncommon, with an incidence of 0.5-3%. Alveolar soft part sarcoma is rare, accounting for < 1% of malignant soft tissue tumors, which are themselves unusual. Excluding contralateral breast and hematologic malignant disease, the primary lesion in most cases of metastasis to the breast is melanoma, small cell carcinoma of the lung, or ovarian carcinoma, although rhabdomyosarcoma is the most common primary tumor in children. We describe a 26-year-old woman with no history of malignant disease who presented with two masses in the right breast that clinical evaluations and ultrasonography indicated were fibroadenomas. Pathological studies after excisional biopsy, however, indicated alveolar soft part sarcoma. Subsequent computed tomography showed the primary tumor in the anterior left thigh and multiple bilateral lung metastases. Because of the presence of distant metastases, the patient was treated with chemotherapy.
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PMID:Alveolar soft part sarcoma metastatic to the breast. 860 50

MAGE-1 and MAGE-3 or -6 are genes encoding melanoma-rejection antigens recognized by cytotoxic T lymphocytes in an HLA-A1 restriction manner. MAGE-1 and MAGE-3 or -6 were expressed in 5/14 (36%) and 6/14 (43%) neuroblastoma (NB) cell lines, and in 20/41 (49%) and 24/41 (59%) clinical NB-related tumors, respectively. Additionally, they were also expressed in pediatric tumors of other types such as rhabdomyosarcoma and Wilms' tumor. MAGE-1 expression at a functional level in tumor cells was confirmed by the cytotoxicity assay using MAGE-1-specific tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TIL). In clinical NB-related tumors, MAGE-3 or -6 expression demonstrated an inverse correlation to clinical stage. Furthermore, although the sample number was small, the incidence of MAGE-1 and/or MAGE-3 or -6 expression was significantly correlated to the absence of metastasis and a more favorable clinical outcome (p < 0.05). These results may suggest that NB cells silent for the expression of MAGE genes escape from the host anti-tumor immune response and consequently retain a growth advantage. Finally, NB-related tumors could be reliable candidates for immunotherapy targeted towards MAGE gene products.
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PMID:MAGE-1 and MAGE-3 or -6 expression in neuroblastoma-related pediatric solid tumors. 890 Mar 70

Synovial metastases are a rare occurrence. Only 28 cases have been reported in the literature, 10 of which were diagnosed by fluid cytologic evaluation. We discuss 2 additional cases in which the diagnosis was made by fine-needle aspiration cytologic investigation. The first case is of a 47-yr-old man with small-cell carcinoma of the lung metastatic to the right knee joint; the second is of a 71-yr-old man with non-Hodgkin's mixed-cell nodular lymphoma also involving the right knee joint. The clinical features of these cases are similar to previously published instances of secondary synovial tumor, namely in regard to sex distribution (14 male and 16 female patients), age range (13-96 yr, mean 59 yr), and histologic types (adenocarcinoma, 13 cases; squamous-cell carcinoma, 4; lymphoma, 3; renal clear-cell carcinoma, 3; unknown origin, 2; rhabdomyosarcoma, 1; melanoma, 1; chordoma, 1; pulmonary clear-cell carcinoma, 1; and Ewing's sarcoma, 1). The condition usually has poor prognosis, with average patient survival of < 5 mo.
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PMID:Synovial metastasis: diagnosis by fine-needle aspiration cytologic investigation. 898 91

A new human metastatic rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS) model was established and analyzed for a number of biologic, cytogenetic and molecular parameters. Consistent with previous studies, the metastatic capacity of different RMS cell variants did not correlate with their tumorigenic or proliferative capacities. Interestingly, a highly metastatic variant was diploid, while a nonmetastatic variant was tetraploid, which parallels previous clinical observations. Genes whose expression had been found to be associated with either low- or high-metastatic capacity in carcinoma or melanoma did not show a similar association with different metastatic variants of RMS, derived from a mesenchymal tumor. We also found, in transient reporter gene assays, that several promoters had higher transcriptional activity in highly metastatic than in nonmetastatic RMS cell variants. This novel human RMS metastatic model may be instrumental for a better understanding of the regulatory pathways that control the metastatic phenotype of tumors of mesenchymal origin.
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PMID:Metastatic human rhabdomyosarcoma: molecular, cellular and cytogenetic analysis of a novel cellular model. 903 Feb 43

Eighteen examples of an unusual malignant soft-tissue neoplasm, the morphology of which ranged from that of "atypical" epithelioid sarcoma to that of a rhabdoid tumor or undifferentiated carcinoma (with transitional forms) are described. Patients included 11 males and seven females; their median age was 35.5 years with most patients aged 20 to 40 years. Development of a mass was the main presenting symptom. Six tumors developed in the pelvis and perineal region, four in the pubic region and vulva, three in the buttocks, one in the deep soft tissues of the left hip, one on the penis, one in left forearm, one in left axilla, and one on the occiput. Tumor size ranged from 1 to 20 cm (median, 4 cm). On microscopic examination, the tumor cells invaded the subcutaneous or deep soft tissues, had prominent epithelioid or rhabdoid features, had marked cytologic atypia, and grew in a multinodular pattern in half of the cases. Areas of necrosis were often seen. A granuloma-like pattern reminiscent of that observed in classic epithelioid sarcoma was observed in only two cases. Immunohistochemically, positivity for cytokeratin, epithelial membrane antigen, and vimentin was seen in all but one of the cases. Of 16 cases, 10 and eight tumors reacted with desmin and CD34, respectively; five of 15 reacted at least focally with smooth-muscle actin, whereas three of 13 and one of 10 reacted for HMB-45 and carcinoembryonic antigen, respectively. S-100 protein and CD31 yielded negative results. Seven tumors were investigated at the ultrastructural level, four of which showed prominent intracytoplasmic intermediate filament aggregates, often accumulating into paranuclear whorls, which is in keeping with the rhabdoid phenotype. Five tumors showed features of epithelial differentiation (i.e., tonofilament-like structures or desmosomes or both), whereas one tumor displayed features of myofibroblastic differentiation. Differential diagnoses include mainly conventional epithelioid sarcoma, extrarenal malignant rhabdoid tumor, epithelioid malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumor, melanoma, rhabdomyosarcoma, and undifferentiated carcinoma. Follow-up information on 14 patients (range, 4 months to 8 years; median, 19 months) revealed local recurrence in one case and metastatic dissemination in six patients, leading to death in five. In our opinion, the above-described neoplasms represent a usually "proximal-type" of epithelioid sarcoma. In contrast to the conventional, "distal-type" epithelioid sarcoma, the proximal variant is characterized by a predominantly large-cell, epithelioid cytomorphology, marked cytologic atypia, frequent occurrence of rhabdoid features, and lack of a granuloma-like pattern in most cases. It appears to be somewhat more aggressive (or at least metastasizes earlier) than usual epithelioid sarcoma.
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PMID:"Proximal-type" epithelioid sarcoma, a distinctive aggressive neoplasm showing rhabdoid features. Clinicopathologic, immunohistochemical, and ultrastructural study of a series. 904 79


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