Role of radiotherapy in sarcoma of the breast--a retrospective review of the M.D. Anderson experience.

Background: The role of adjuvant radiotherapy for sarcoma of the breast, based on local extension of disease and patterns of failure, remains undefined because of the rarity of the disease presentation.

Methods: Fifty-nine cases of soft tissue sarcoma of the breast were retrospectively reviewed. Cystosarcoma phylloides was excluded from analysis.

Can genetic instability be studied at the single chromosome level in cancer cells? Evidence from human melanoma cells.

We evaluated whether genetic instability, which is the hallmark of cancer cells, can be investigated at the single chromosomal level. We established in culture and examined a human malignant melanoma cell line and its 11 distinct clones as well as peripheral blood cultures from the original patient by G-banding, C-banding, and silver-staining (AgNOR) techniques. There were six marker chromosomes common to most of the 11 clones and eight or nine additional marker chromosomes found in only one or in very few clones.

Effect of tuftsin on human Kupffer cell.

Background/aims: Kupffer cells are the most important category of reticuloendothelial cells which are critical for host defense in the liver. We investigated the effects of tuftsin (Thr-Lys-Pro-Arg) on human Kupffer cells.

Methodology: Human Kupffer cells were obtained from the livers of patients with colon cancer.

Total sacrectomy and Galveston L-rod reconstruction for malignant neoplasms. Technical note.

Although radical resection is the best treatment for malignant sacral tumors, total sacrectomy for such tumors has been performed in only a few instances. Total sacral resection requires reconstruction of the pelvic ring plus establishment of a bilateral union between the lumbar spine and iliac bone. This technique is illustrated in two patients harboring large, painful, sacral giant-cell tumors that were unresponsive to prior treatment.

Solid and papillary tumor of the pancreas: ultrastructural observations on two contrasting cases.

Two papillary and solid tumors of the pancreas are reported which differed in their clinical features, ultrastructure, and biologic behavior. Both tumors contained papillary and solid areas by light microscopy. One tumor followed the more usual indolent course.

Chondrosarcoma of the pelvis. Prognostic factors for 67 patients treated with definitive surgery.

Background: Chondrosarcoma (CS) most commonly involves the pelvis. Local and systemic failures often result in poor outcome. Prognostic factors that determine patient outcome remain ill-defined.

Soft-tissue sarcomas of the shoulder girdle: factors influencing local recurrence distant metastases, and survival.

Background: Prognostic factors and the role of radiotherapy have not been well characterized for soft-tissue sarcomas (STS) of the shoulder girdle.

Methods: The cases of 70 patients with primary shoulder STS were reviewed for the following information: size, grade and histology of tumors, extent of resection, and use of adjuvant radiotherapy. The influence of these factors on local disease-free survival (LDFS), distant disease-free survival (DDFS), and overall survival (OS) rates was analyzed using univariate analysis.

Sarcoma of the breast: implications for extent of therapy. The M. D. Anderson experience.

Background: Sarcoma of the breast is a rare clinical entity for which there are no prospective data about extent of surgery indicated or role of multimodality therapy. The purpose of this study was to examine one of the largest single institutional experiences to shed light on these clinical issues.

Methods: This study retrospectively reviewed 60 cases of sarcoma of the breast (cystosarcoma phyllodes excluded).

Comparison of charges related to radiotherapy for soft-tissue sarcomas treated by preoperative external-beam irradiation versus interstitial implantation.

Background: We compared treatment-related charges associated with external beam irradiation and interstitial implantation for soft-tissue sarcoma of the extremity.

Methods: Charges related to radiotherapy in 35 patients with soft-tissue sarcoma of the extremity were reviewed. Preoperative external beam irradiation (EB) delivering 50 Gy in 25 fractions with 6 MV photons was administered to 12 of the patients evaluated.

Stimulation of phagocytic activity of murine Kupffer cells by tuftsin.

Tuftsin (Thr-Lys-Pro-Arg) is a natural immunomodulating peptide. We have investigated for the presence of a specific tuftsin receptor on murine Kupffer cells using fluorescein-labeled tuftsin, which retains full biological activity. After incubation with fluorescein-labeled tuftsin, Kupffer cells displayed clear binding of this compound on the plasma membrane.

Influence of surgical margins on outcome in patients with preoperatively irradiated extremity soft tissue sarcomas.

Background: Limb-sparing surgery for soft tissue sarcomas of the extremities may result in microscopically positive surgical margins. The consequences of these microscopically positive margins are unknown. We have analyzed the influence of surgical margins on local disease control and overall survival in patients with extremity soft tissue sarcomas who received preoperative radiation therapy followed by limb-sparing surgery.

Late complications of postoperative radiation therapy for cancer of the rectum and rectosigmoid.

Purpose: We retrospectively examined the surgical, medical, radiotherapeutic and technical factors associated with late small bowel and nonsmall bowel morbidity.

Methods And Materials: The medical records of 224 patients with cancer of the rectum and rectosigmoid treated mainly with abdominoperineal resection or anterior resection and postoperative radiotherapy at the University of Texas M.D.

Intramuscular myxoma: sonographic appearance and sonographically guided needle biopsy.

The sonographic appearances of four intramuscular myxomas were reviewed. These tumors appeared as well-defined, ovoid masses surrounded by normal muscle. The echogenicity was decreased in all cases, and the presence of small fluid-filled clefts and cystic areas was noted in three of the four lesions.

Parachordoma.

Parachordoma is a soft tissue tumor that has a light microscopic appearance similar to that of chordoma, and the immunostaining properties of the two tumors are alike. The clinical findings and light microscopy of one case of parachordoma are presented together with ultrastructural observations on this tumor and parachordomas from five additional patients.

Immediate versus delayed free-tissue transfer salvage of the lower extremity in soft tissue sarcoma patients.

Background: Free tissue transfer (FTT) can extend the limits of limb salvage in patients with soft tissue sarcoma (STS), but few data exist on the efficacy and morbidity in this patient population.

Methods: We prospectively examined 19 patients who underwent resection of STS and an immediate or a delayed FTT reconstruction between November 1989 and May 1992.

Results: There were 11 immediate and eight delayed FTT reconstructions (mean age 52 years).

Radiation therapy for alveolar soft-part sarcoma.

A clinical experience with radiotherapy in 18 patients with alveolar soft-part sarcoma is presented. Adjuvant radiotherapy was associated with prolonged local control in six of six patients without metastatic disease at diagnosis; later one patient relapsed systematically. Meaningful palliation was achieved in all patients with extra-skeletal (and possibly skeletal) metastatic disease.

Inferior vena cava leiomyosarcoma.

Leiomyosarcoma of the inferior vena cava is a rare malignancy, and radical resection with negative margins remains the only hope for cure. In this report we cite four cases of this tumor treated at The University of Texas M.D.

Prognostic factors in 227 patients with malignant fibrous histiocytoma.

Malignant fibrous histiocytoma, the major subset of soft tissue sarcomas, was examined for prognostic factors that could influence clinical management and research. Two hundred twenty-seven patients with localized disease, having surgery as the principal modality, were reviewed retrospectively to identify clinical outcomes. The mean age of the patients was 54 years.

Prognostic implications of patterns of failure for gastrointestinal leiomyosarcomas.

One hundred ninety-one patients with gastrointestinal leiomyosarcomas were analyzed to determine the prevalence in patterns of failure and the factors predicting those at higher risk of relapse at specific sites. Of 100 assessable patients who died of disease, 89% were found to have peritoneal tumor, 78% had liver metastases, and 32% had extraabdominal metastases. Of 132 patients (69%) with initial complete resection of the primary tumor, only 10% (n = 13) remained free of disease as of the last follow-up.

Prognostic factors influencing survival in gastrointestinal leiomyosarcomas. Implications for surgical management and staging.

The appropriate surgical therapeutic options for either localized or more advanced disease in patients with gastrointestinal leiomyosarcomas remain unclear. A staging classification for this disease has not been adopted nor risk factors identifying patients at risk for recurrence defined. To address these issues, this study evaluated the influence of various clinicopathologic variables on overall and disease-free survival.

Extremity epithelioid sarcoma. Amputation vs local resection.

Amputation has traditionally been advised for extremity epithelioid sarcoma because of its pattern of innocuous presentation and relentless soft-tissue and nodal metastasis. To assess the role of amputation in extremity epithelioid sarcoma, we reviewed our experience with 42 patients treated between 1961 and 1986. On presentation with localized primary tumor (n = 18), nine of 11 patients who underwent wide local excision and four of six patients who underwent excisional biopsy were free of disease, and one patient who underwent amputation died.

Results of mastectomy and postoperative irradiation in the management of locoregionally advanced carcinoma of the breast.

Between 1955 and 1984, 376 patients with locoregionally advanced breast carcinoma were treated at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center with mastectomy and irradiation and without adjuvant chemotherapy.

Salvage treatment for loco-regional recurrence following breast conservation therapy for early breast cancer.

We reviewed the management of 55 cases of loco-regional recurrence after limited surgery and irradiation for breast cancer. Forty-three patients had disease localized to the breast, with axillary involvement in seven. Four had axillary relapse without tumor recurrence in the breast.

Conservative surgery and radiation therapy for soft tissue sarcoma of the wrist, hand, ankle, and foot.

Seventy-eight patients with soft tissue sarcoma (STS) arising in the distal extremities--wrist, hand, finger, ankle, foot, and toe--who were treated with conservation surgery and radiation therapy were studied retrospectively with respect to survival, local recurrence, functional limb preservation, complications, and distant metastasis. After a median follow-up of 7.9 years, actuarial 5-year and 10-year survival rates were 80% and 69%, respectively, and disease-free rates were 61% and 51% at the same times.

Desmoid tumors: a 20-year radiotherapy experience.

From 1964 through 1984, 45 patients were referred for radiation therapy for desmoid tumor. Fourteen patients had inoperable lesions, or gross residual disease after incomplete resection. Thirty-one patients received postoperative XRT for positive margins or concern about the adequacy of the margin.