[Metastatic cáncer presentation. Validation of a diagnostic algorithm with 221 consecutive patients].

Background: The use of a diagnostic algorithm for metastatic cancer presentation (MCP) might enhance the diagnosis of primary tumors amenable to treatment with considerable savings both in time and diagnostic examinations.

Materials And Methods: From January 1992 to April 1997, all patients admitted with the diagnosis of MCP were prospectively studied. From each patient, a basic study consisting in a clinical interview, complete physical examination, standard blood testing with tumoral markers and chest X-ray were obtained.

Peripheral primitive neuroectodermal tumor (PPNET) of pelvic origin: report of a case arising from an unusual location.

A peripheral primitive neuroectodermal tumor arising from the abdominopelvic cavity is reported in a 24-year-old young male without any previous remarkable pathology. He was admitted to our hospital with complaints of urinary symptoms (acute urinary retention) and mild intestinal occlusion that had been present for three months. Physical examination and CT scan revealed a pelvic mass occupying the entire pelvic cavity.

Rectal cancer recurrence after prior resection and radiotherapy: palliation following additional surgery.

Unlabelled: Patients with rectal cancer may develop local recurrence despite cancer resection plus treatment with high dose radiation therapy. In this report, symptomatic patients received benefit from repeat resection. The morbidity and mortality can be maintained at an acceptable level with meticulous dissections and consistent use of reconstructive procedures.

Clinical determinants of treatment failure in patients with pseudomyxoma peritonei.

Pseudomyxoma peritonei is a mucinous cancer of low biologic aggressiveness that disseminates widely throughout the abdominopelvic cavity prior to diagnosis. Complete control of the disease process on peritoneal surfaces should translate into long-term disease-free survival. In a series of 120 patients with pseudomyxoma peritonei, 46 were defined as treatment failures after cytoreductive surgery and regional chemotherapy.

Surgically directed chemotherapy: heated intraperitoneal lavage with mitomycin C.

This chapter reported the pharmacokinetics and the toxicities of mitomycin-c (MMC) when administered as a hyperthermic intraperitoneal lavage after surgical resection of advanced primary or recurrent gastrointestinal cancer. Pharmacologic studies were performed in 10 patients and all adverse reactions were recorded in 20 patients. These 20 patients had advanced gastrointestinal malignancies with peritoneal carcinomatosis and underwent cytoreductive surgery prior to intraperitoneal lavage.