Metastatic differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC) represents a molecularly heterogeneous group of cancers with varying radioactive iodine (RAI) and [F]-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) uptake patterns potentially correlated with the degree of de-differentiation through the so-called "flip-flop" phenomenon. However, it is unknown if RAI and FDG uptake patterns correlate with molecular status or metastatic site. A retrospective analysis of metastatic DTC patients (n = 46) with radioactive 131-iodine whole body scan (WBS) and FDG-PET imaging between 2008 and 2022 was performed.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFContext: Patients with radioactive iodine (RAI) refractory metastatic differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC) have poor prognosis. Early identification of RAI refractoriness may improve care.
Objective: This work aimed to characterize DTC patients with distant metastases (DM) at diagnosis who presented with non-iodine-avid disease.
Inherited pathogenic succinate dehydrogenase (SDHx) gene mutations cause the hereditary pheochromocytoma and paraganglioma tumor syndrome. Syndromic tumors exhibit elevated succinate, an oncometabolite that is proposed to drive tumorigenesis via DNA and histone hypermethylation, mitochondrial expansion, and pseudohypoxia-related gene expression. To interrogate this prevailing model, we disrupt mouse adrenal medulla SDHB expression, which recapitulates several key molecular features of human SDHx tumors, including succinate accumulation but not 5hmC loss, HIF accumulation, or tumorigenesis.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAdrenal infarction is a rare event, especially in pregnancy. The diagnosis is challenging because patients present with acute abdomen and initial workup are usually unrevealing. We present a case of unilateral adrenal infarction in a pregnant young woman without any other causes of thrombophilia, who presented with acute abdominal pain and an unremarkable initial workup.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe advent of immune checkpoint inhibitors has revolutionized cancer treatment. These novel agents have provided promising treatment options in patients with different types of cancers. One of these agents is pembrolizumab, which works by blocking the binding of T-lymphocytes to programmed cell death ligand 1 receptors on tumor cells, thus enabling immune activation of T-lymphocytes against tumor cells.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWe present a case of small-cell lung cancer (SCLC) with syndrome of inappropriate antidiuretic hormone secretion (SIADH) in which serum sodium gradually normalized with the onset of hypertension, refractory hypokalemia, and chloride-resistant metabolic alkalosis due to ectopic adrenocorticotrophic hormone (ACTH) secretion (EAS). In this case report, we discuss the diagnostic challenges of dual paraneoplastic syndromes with SIADH and EAS, management of SCLC with paraneoplastic endocrinopathies, and their prognostic impact on SCLC. In addition, we discuss neuroendocrine differentiation and ectopic hormone production in relation to intratumoral heterogeneity in SCLC and propose tumor microenvironment and hormonal and metabolic dependence as important determinants of tumor growth and survival.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCatastrophic antiphospholipid syndrome (CAPS) is a rare but highly fatal clinical syndrome that occurs in up to 1% of patients with antiphospholipid syndrome (APS). The diagnosis of CAPS is often delayed because its presentation with multiple organ thromboses can be confused with other thrombotic microangiopathies and severe sepsis. We report a case of CAPS in a patient with APS and systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) presenting with thrombotic storm precipitated by trauma, cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection, and noncompliance with anticoagulation therapy.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDrug-induced thrombotic microangiopathies (DTMAs) are increasingly being recognized as an important category of thrombotic microangiopathies (TMAs). Cancer therapeutic agents including proteasome inhibitors (PIs) are among the most common medications reported to cause DTMA. PIs could cause DTMA either by an immune mechanism or dose-dependent/cumulative toxicity.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFStiff person syndrome (SPS) is a rare neuroimmunological disorder characterized by severe progressive muscle stiffness in axial and lower extremity musculature with superimposed painful muscle spasms. Although chest pain is a common reason for SPS patients presenting to the emergency room, this disorder is overlooked and not part of the differential diagnosis of chest pain. Herein, we report on a middle age male presenting with classic symptoms of SPS; however, due to the rarity of this disease, he was initially thought to have acute coronary syndrome.
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