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Query: UMLS:C0677930 (primary tumor)
 20,210 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Evaluation of the patient with metastasis of unknown origin should be structured to quickly identify treatable tumors or the need for palliation while avoiding prolonged hospital stays and testing that will result in neither improved treatment nor better prognosis. The evaluation should be symptom-directed and pathologically oriented. It is the responsibility of the family physician in caring for a patient with MUO to ensure that communication is facilitated between surgeon, oncologist, pathologist, and patient. The physical examination should include thyroid, breasts, pelvic, and rectal examinations. General lab analyses should include fecal occult blood testing, complete blood count, urinalysis, serum calcium, and liver function studies. Men should have assays for prostate-specific antigen and serum prostatic acid phosphatase. Women should undergo mammography and pelvic ultrasound. Undifferentiated carcinoma is likely to originate from either small cell bronchogenic, lymphoma, or germ cell, and thus, serum should be assayed for HCG and AFP. Further radiologic studies, in the absence of specific symptoms, should be limited to chest radiographs and abdominal CT. Contrast studies should be included only if there is organ dysfunction. Biopsy of the malignant tissue should be done early, and studies should include histochemistry, immunohistology, and electron microscopy. Tissues from female patients should be studied for estrogen and progesterone receptors. When a biopsy is planned, advance communication between the family physician or surgeon and the pathologist greatly increases the chance of identifying a primary site. It is important that the surgeon obtain sufficient material to enable study, not only by standard histologic techniques, but also by electron microscopy, special stains, estrogen receptor activity, hormonal markers, and tumor markers. Treatment of patients for whom a primary tumor remains undiscovered must include toxic therapies only for those with good functional status who are likely to respond. Therapy must be pursued for palliation of symptoms when they develop. As physicians, we must control the urge to do something at those times when doing nothing is more appropriate. We must provide continuous support for both the patient and family, protecting to the best of our ability their quality of life. A physician should never convey the impression that it is "not cost-effective" to look for the source of a patient's malignancy. It can be emphasized that further search for a primary tumor carries both medical risk and expense, yet is unlikely to locate the primary tumor or improve the response to therapy or the quality of life.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)
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PMID:Metastasis of unknown origin. 146 85

The incidence of second primary tumors was studied through record-linkage in 2,968 thyroid cancer patients reported to the Swedish Cancer Registry during the period 1958-1975. The cohort was matched with the Swedish Cancer Registry between 1959 and 1984. A total of 283 second primary tumors were reported more than one year after thyroid cancer diagnosis, and the standardized incidence ratio (SIR) was 1.18 (95% confidence interval = 1.03-1.31). A significant elevated risk of cancer of the kidney, endocrine glands, and nervous system was noted. Men had a higher risk (SIR = 1.37; 95% CI = 1.06-1.70) than women (SIR = 1.11; 95% CI = 0.96-1.28). Patients who were 36-45 years at the time of the thyroid cancer diagnosis were at highest risk of developing a second primary tumor (SIR = 1.35; 95% CI = 0.99-1.81). Significantly elevated risks were seen 5-9 years after the thyroid cancer diagnosis (SIR = 1.44; 95% CI = 1:14-1.69), and the SIR was close to unity after greater than or equal to 15 years of followup. Previously described elevated risks of subsequent leukemia and breast cancer were not confirmed in this study. Close medical surveillance, thyroid cancer treatment, hereditary factors, and a high frequency of autopsy could all contribute to the elevated risk of a second primary tumor in these patients.
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PMID:Second primary tumors following thyroid cancer. A Swedish record-linkage study. 226 Dec

In order to assess the influence that age, sex, site of the primary tumor (SPT), the extension and histology may have on the interval first symptom-diagnosis (ISD), 1.149 cases of lung, breast, stomach, colon and rectum cancer registered in the Tumor Registry of the Hospital del Mar (Barcelona) were analyzed. Overall, mean ISD was 5.7 months. 12.7% of women and 5.5% of men (p less than 0.0001) had an ISD greater than one year. Age does not appear to influence ISD in this population (r = 0.014). Among women, the ISD for each SPT was as follows: breast cancer, 9.1 months; rectal cancer, 6.5; stomach, 4.9; colon, 4.7; lung, 2.7. Men's ISD were: rectum, 6.2; stomach, 5.9; colon, 5.7; lung 3.2. Age, sex, SPT, the extension and histology jointly explain only 18% of the ISD variability (multiple r = 0.42 p less than 0.0001). SPT and histology appear to be the strongest predictors, both remaining statistically significant when adjusting for the other four factors. While only breast cancer clearly showed a positive association between ISD and tumor extension, an unexpected inverse relationship was observed in rectal cancer. In some tumors, the ISD may just be an indicator for the rate of tumor growth. ISD data registered in a Tumor Registry can contribute to the study of a part of the natural history of neoplasms. Such analyses are also relevant for studies of secondary prevention and screening programs, access to and quality of care, and psychosocial predictors of the care seeking process.
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PMID:[The symptom-diagnosis interval: a possible approximation to the natural history of neoplasms]. 263 90

To develop guidelines for the follow-up of patients with primary cutaneous melanoma (clinical Stage I), we studied 295 patients who had presented with a primary melanoma and who subsequently developed evidence of metastatic disease in the course of follow-up. Cox multivariate analysis was used to assess the influence of five variables in predicting the interval of time from the diagnosis of melanoma to the first clinical or laboratory evidence of metastatic disease (disease-free interval). The variables studied were tumor thickness, patient sex, patient age, elective lymph node dissection, and primary tumor location. Tumor thickness was found to be the major predictor of disease-free interval, which shortened progressively with increasing tumor thickness. Men had a shorter mean disease-free interval than women, although this effect did not reach statistical significance at the 0.05 level. Patient age, tumor location, and elective lymph node dissection were found not to be predictors of disease-free interval. The risk of recurrence of melanoma was tabulated, by year, for four intervals of tumor thickness. The increase in risk of recurrence associated with increases in tumor thickness above 1.5 mm was shown to occur predominantly in the early years following diagnosis-particularly in the first year. On the basis of our findings, we have suggested regimens of follow-up for melanoma.
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PMID:Frequency and duration of patient follow-up after treatment of a primary malignant melanoma. 407 70

We report here two randomized prospective clinical trials of adjuvant treatment in the management of primary malignant melanoma of Clark's level III, IV or V. All patients had curative resection of the primary tumor. In the first trial, 117 patients were randomized between control (surgery alone) systemic chemotherapy and intraarterial chemotherapy. Intraarterial chemotherapy consisted of DTIC 80 mg/m2 + 8 days prior to surgery. Systemic chemotherapy consisted of courses of vinblastine (6 mg/m2), thiotepa (6 mg/m2), rufocromycine (60 microgram/m2), methotrexate (15 mg/m2) on day 1, and procarbazine (30 mg/m12 X 7 days. Courses were repeated every 2 weeks X 6, then every 4 weeks X 15. Twenty-two of 55 patients relapsed in the control group versus 22 of 67 in the chemotherapy group (NS). For male patients, the difference in disease-free survival was significant (P less than 0.005, log rank test), though not in women. In the second trial, 352 patients were entered from July, 1976. Men were randomized between chemotherapy and chemoimmunotherapy. Women were randomized between surgery alone and chemoimmunotherapy. Chemotherapy was identical, except for the addition of DTIC (300 mg/m2) for each course. Immunotherapy consisted of BCG every 4 weeks and C. parvum every week. Immunotherapy seemed to be of no additional benefit.
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PMID:Clinical trials of chemotherapy and chemoimmunotherapy in primary malignant melanoma. 703 88

Prognosis and adequate therapy of lymphnodal metastases from unknown tumors are still uncertain. At the Milan Cancer Institute 71 patients with neoplastic adenopathies of unknown origin were hospitalized between 1965 and 1979. Men were 45 and women 26 with a M/F ratio of 1.7: 1. Most of patients were aged 51-70 years. Laterocervical adenopathies were the more frequent, followed by supraclavicular, axillary, inguinal, submandibular and retroperitoneal ones. In 11 cases the primary tumor was subsequently found (3 cases in tongue, 3 in rhinopharynx. 2 in lung. 2 in breast and 1 in thyroid). Of the remaining 60 cases, only histologic diagnosis of the metastasis was available and the primary tumor has never been found. Squamous cell carcinoma was the most frequent histologic type, followed by adenocarcinoma, undifferentiated carcinoma and malignant melanoma. No significant relationship between histologic types and lymphnodal sites could be demonstrated. In different cases treated with all possible combined therapies (surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy), no correlation between survival and therapy was possible. 35 patients (58.3%) were dead 18 months after diagnosis. No significant correlation between survival and histology was either shown. The natural history of these tumors remains unclear and any specific therapy cannot be proposed to be scheduled in such cases.
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PMID:Lymphnodal metastases from unknown primary tumors. 717 53

Between 1965 and 1988 there were 2953 patients with papillary carcinoma treated at Noguchi Thyroid Clinic. Among them 761 patients were excluded because the primary tumor was < 10 mm in maximum diameter, the patient's age was > 80, or the patient underwent noncurative surgery. The remaining 2192 patients, 192 men and 2000 women, were analyzed. The mean follow-up period was 12.5 years. Total thyroidectomy, subtotal thyroidectomy, lobectomy with or without isthmectomy, and less than lobectomy were performed in 2.3%, 40.3%, 44.2%, and 13.2%, respectively. Modified radical neck dissection, partial node excision, and no node excision were performed in 77.8%, 6.4%, and 15.8%, respectively. Men and women were separately analyzed because their risk factors and prognosis were significantly different. Multivariate analysis was carried out according to Cox's regression hazard model. Independently significant factors affecting prognosis in men were aged and gross nodal metastasis; and age, gross nodal metastasis, tumor size, and number of adhered tissues or organs were the factors in women. Based on those risk factors patients were classified into three groups. For men, 65.6% were classified in the excellent group and their 10-year survival was 98.4%; 17.2% were classified as intermediate and 17.2% as poor with survival rates of 90.1% and 74.4%, respectively. For female patients 69.6% were classified in the excellent group, 18.6% in the intermediate group, and 11.9% in the poor group with 10-year survivals of 99.3%, 96.4%, and 88.8%, respectively.
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PMID:Classification of papillary cancer of the thyroid based on prognosis. 772 44

Breast cancer is the most frequent malignant tumor in women, whereas it is rare in men. In our own case series the ratio is 175:1. The present paper deals with an evaluation of clinical and morphological findings from a series of 54 de novo male breast cancers observed in our institution from 1978 to 1996 and a comparative discussion of 528 female breast cancers from the same geographic area. We should like to focus on the following observations: At the time of histopathological diagnosis, male patients with breast cancer were on average 67 (34-87) years old and thus 5 years older than women. Below the age of 40, breast cancer is very rare in men. The lag time between first symptoms and surgery was on average 42 weeks, i.e. twice as long as in women. In the vast majority of cases palpation of a retromamillary nodule was the leading diagnostic symptom. Mamillary secretion appeared to be an early symptom with favorable relation to prognosis by tumor size whereas diffuse breast swelling was an unfavorable late symptom. Bilateral carcinoma and double cancer (breast and prostatic cancer) was observed in one case each. Three patients (3/51 = 6%) had a positive family history (breast cancer in 1st and 2nd degree relatives). The average invasive tumor size was nearly identical with 23 mm (s11.02) in men and 25 mm (s13.48) in women. Men presented more frequently with regional lymph node metastases (53% versus 45%), which tended to develop earlier. pT4 cancers were twice as frequent in men compared to women. In situ cancers were found in 2% (1/54) in men and 4% in women. Similar to females, male breast cancers are predominantly of ductal histological type (NOS-cancers), classical lobular carcinoma with LCIS-components were not observed; special forms (tubular, papillary, mucinous) are slightly more common in men. When reviewing our series, need for revision of the origin of tumor was not found in any of the cases. Metastases of prostatic cancer were never misinterpreted as primary breast cancer. In case of isolated NSE-reaction, cancers with carinoid differentiation pattern are to be found in nearly every second tumor. However, when multiple markers were used (chromogranin A or synaptophysin) only 10% displayed such pattern, which corresponded to a positive hormone receptor status in each case. Quantitative (enzyme immunoassay) and semiquantitative (immunohistochemistry) analysis of steroid hormone receptor status was positive in 86% of 35 cases in men and in 75% in women. In contrast to female breast cancer, hormone status proved to be independent of age in males. The average levels of estrogen and progesterone were higher in men. Overlapping results were found only when cases were compared with postmenopausal women. The Nottingham prognostic index, a product of primary tumor size, axillary lymph node status and grading allows an approximative estimate of the course of the disease; its predictive value is higher than that of isolated tumor markers.
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PMID:[Breast carcinoma in the man. Current results from the viewpoint of clinic and pathology]. 915 4

For men with penile carcinoma, surveillance strategies may be tailored to the risks of local and regional recurrence, which vary according to the pathologic characteristics of the primary tumor and the modalities employed for local therapy (phallus sparing or extirpative) and regional therapy (surveillance or lymphadenectomy). Men at a higher risk for local or regional recurrence who should have more rigorous follow-up include those (1) treated with phallus-sparing strategies such as laser ablation, topical therapies, or radiotherapy; (2) patients with clinically negative inguinal lymph nodes who are managed without lymphadenectomy despite high-risk primary tumors (pT2-3, grade 3, vascular invasion); and (3) those with lymph node metastases after lymphadenectomy. Good candidates for less-stringent surveillance include patients with low-risk primary tumors (pTis, pTa, pT1, grades 1-2) and those with negative inguinal nodes after lymphadenectomy whose primary tumors were managed with partial or total penectomy.
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PMID:Natural history, management, and surveillance of recurrent squamous cell penile carcinoma: a risk-based approach. 1468 Mar 20

Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) is more common in men than women although the relationship between sex and histologic sub-type of RCC is unknown. The Columbia University Urologic Oncology Database of 1,105 patients who underwent nephrectomy from 1990-2005 was reviewed. 1,018 patients were included who underwent renal surgery with complete demographic data and post-operative pathologic information; 49 with incomplete information and 36 with "granular" histology were excluded. Differences in histology, size and volume of primary tumor, laterality, chief complaint, age, pathologic stage and status were evaluated by sex using ANOVA techniques. The cohort included 671 (66.1%) men and 344 (33.8%) women. There were no differences in age (61.0 vs. 60.7 years, P = 0.36), size (6.22 vs. 5.53 cm, P = 0.08) or volume (305 vs. 129cc, P = 0.07) of primary tumor. Men were more likely to have bilateral tumors (9.6 vs. 3.5%, P = 0.003). A greater percentage of men had malignant pathologic histology at nephrectomy (90.9 vs. 84.0%, P = 0.002). The rate of malignancy for women increased from 44.5% for tumors < 1 cm to 92.7% for tumors greater than 10 cm; there was no trend noted in men. Women had a greater percentage of conventional RCC (77.2 vs. 70.5%, P = 0.04). When analyzed by histologic sub-type, men were more likely to have papillary histology than women (17.4 vs. 4.5%), women were more likely to have chromophobe histology (11.2 vs. 5.0%; P = 0.006). Differences in demographics, pathologic parameters and histologic sub-typing are observed between men and women treated for renal masses.
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PMID:Gender discrepancies in the diagnosis of renal cortical tumors. 1706 64


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