Rising CA-125 (Cancer Antigen 125) Levels: Cancer Recurrence or a Vaccine Reaction?

Cancer antigen 125 (CA-125) is a transmembrane glycoprotein, and it is known to be an essential biomarker in detecting treatment response and recurrence of ovarian cancer. It may also be used in monitoring colorectal cancer. It tends to rise in states of inflammation.

Almost a Near Miss: Hairy Cell Leukemia.

Hairy cell leukemia (HCL) is an infrequently encountered chronic B-lymphocyte hematological malignancy, which is found to be more prevalent in males. HCL can present with a myriad of nonspecific symptoms involving the reticuloendothelial system. Usually, patients are diagnosed after an incidental finding of pancytopenia.

A Case of IgG4-related Sclerosing Mesenteritis.

A 60-year-old African-American male presented to the emergency department with abdominal pain and distention associated with decreased appetite and weight loss for several weeks. A computed tomography (CT) scan of the abdomen and pelvis showed an 8 cm mesenteric mass with surrounding stranding and poorly defined borders. The patient underwent exploratory laparotomy and complete resection of the mass since the frozen section could not give a definite diagnosis.

Difficult Diagnosis of Colon Adenocarcinoma Metastasis to Retina: A Case Report and Literature Review.

Intraocular metastatic tumors have been increasingly reported in the recent past. Unlike choroidal metastasis, metastasis to retina is very rare and so far has been reported in very few case reports only. A 56 year-old male who presented with a history of adenocarcinoma of the cecum and underwent lap colectomy for the primary cecal tumor, received adjuvant chemotherapy for a year after surgery and decided to stop.