scholarly journals A LONG SURVIVAL OF A PATIENT WITH BRAIN METASTASIS OF UNKNOWN SITE OF THE PRIMARY TUMOR

2018 ◽  
Vol 40 (1) ◽  
pp. 85-87 ◽  
Author(s):  
W Ben Kridis ◽  
S Sghaier ◽  
N Toumi ◽  
Z Boudawara ◽  
A Khanfir ◽  
...  

Eighty percent of brain metastases (BM) are diagnosed in patients with known primary site of cancer. BM of unknown primary represents a difficult diagnosis. In up to 15% of patients with BM, the site of the primary tumor will not be detected despite investigations. The prognosis of this entity is very poor. We report here a case of a long survival of a patient with brain metastasis of unknown primary. The conclusion that can be drawn is that within BM of unknown primary exist patients with a very good prognosis that must be collected and published in order to base recommendations.

2000 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-5 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ajith J. Thomas ◽  
Jack P. Rock ◽  
Christine C. Johnson ◽  
Linda Weiss ◽  
Gordon Jacobsen ◽  
...  

Object It has been suggested that synchronous brain metastases (that is, those occurring within 2 months of primary cancer diagnosis) are associated with a shorter survival time compared with metachronous lesions (those occurring greater than 2 months after primary cancer diagnosis). In this study the authors used data obtained from the National Cancer Institute's Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results Program to determine the incidence of synchronous brain metastases and length of survival of patients in a defined population of southeastern Michigan residents. Methods Data obtained in 2682 patients with synchronous brain metastases treated from 1973 to 1995 were reviewed. Study criteria included patients in whom at least one brain metastasis was diagnosed within 2 months of the diagnosis of primary cancer and those with an unknown primary source. The incidence per 100,000 increased fivefold, from 0.69 in 1973 to 3.83 in 1995. The most frequent site for the primary cancer was the lung (75.4%). The second largest group (10.7%) consisted of patients in whom the primary site was unknown. The median survival length was 3.3 months. There was no significant difference in the median survival in patients with primary lung/bronchus and those with an unknown primary site (3.2 months and 3.4 months, respectively). Conclusions Patients who present with synchronous lesions have a poor prognosis, and the predominant cause of death, in greater than 90% of cases, is related to systemic disease; however, despite poor median survival lengths, certain patients will experience prolonged survival.


2014 ◽  
Vol 14 (4) ◽  
pp. 372-385 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dima Suki ◽  
Rami Khoury Abdulla ◽  
Minming Ding ◽  
Soumen Khatua ◽  
Raymond Sawaya

Object Metastasis to the brain is frequent in adult cancer patients but rare among children. Advances in primary tumor treatment and the associated prolonged survival are said to have increased the frequency of brain metastasis in children. The authors present a series of cases of brain metastases in children diagnosed with a solid primary cancer, evaluate brain metastasis trends, and describe tumor type, patterns of occurrence, and prognosis. Methods Patients with brain metastases whose primary cancer was diagnosed during childhood were identified in the 1990–2012 Tumor Registry at The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center. A review of their hospital records provided demographic data, history, and clinical data, including primary cancer sites, number and location of brain metastases, sites of extracranial metastases, treatments, and outcomes. Results Fifty-four pediatric patients (1.4%) had a brain metastasis from a solid primary tumor. Sarcomas were the most common (54%), followed by melanoma (15%). The patients' median ages at diagnosis of the primary cancer and the brain metastasis were 11.37 years and 15.03 years, respectively. The primary cancer was localized at diagnosis in 48% of patients and disseminated regionally in only 14%. The primary tumor and brain metastasis presented synchronously in 15% of patients, and other extracranial metastases were present when the primary cancer was diagnosed. The remaining patients were diagnosed with brain metastasis after initiation of primary cancer treatment, with a median presentation interval of 17 months after primary cancer diagnosis (range 2–77 months). At the time of diagnosis, the brain metastasis was the first site of systemic metastasis in only 4 (8%) of the 51 patients for whom data were available. Up to 70% of patients had lung metastases when brain metastases were found. Symptoms led to the brain metastasis diagnosis in 65% of cases. Brain metastases were single in 60% of cases and multiple in 35%; 6% had only leptomeningeal disease. The median Kaplan-Meier estimates of survival after diagnoses of primary cancer and brain metastasis were 29 months (95% CI 24–34 months) and 9 months (95% CI 6–11 months), respectively. Untreated patients survived for a median of 0.9 months after brain metastasis diagnosis (95% CI 0.3–1.5 months). Those receiving treatment survived for a median of 8 months after initiation of therapy (95% CI 6–11 months). Conclusions The results of this study challenge the current notion of an increased incidence of brain metastases among children with a solid primary cancer. The earlier diagnosis of the primary cancer, prior to its dissemination to distant sites (especially the brain), and initiation of presumably more effective treatments may support such an observation. However, although the actual number of cases may not be increasing, the prognosis after the diagnosis of a brain metastasis remains poor regardless of the management strategy.


2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (24) ◽  
pp. 13374
Author(s):  
Yen-Yu Lin ◽  
Yu-Chao Wang ◽  
Da-Wei Yeh ◽  
Chen-Yu Hung ◽  
Yi-Chen Yeh ◽  
...  

Lung adenocarcinoma has a strong propensity to metastasize to the brain. The brain metastases are difficult to treat and can cause significant morbidity and mortality. Identifying patients with increased risk of developing brain metastasis can assist medical decision-making, facilitating a closer surveillance or justifying a preventive treatment. We analyzed 27 lung adenocarcinoma patients who received a primary lung tumor resection and developed metastases within 5 years after the surgery. Among these patients, 16 developed brain metastases and 11 developed non-brain metastases only. We performed targeted DNA sequencing, RNA sequencing and immunohistochemistry to characterize the difference between the primary tumors. We also compared our findings to the published data of brain-tropic and non-brain-tropic lung adenocarcinoma cell lines. The results demonstrated that the targeted tumor DNA sequencing did not reveal a significant difference between the groups, but the RNA sequencing identified 390 differentially expressed genes. A gene expression signature including CDKN2A could identify 100% of brain-metastasizing tumors with a 91% specificity. However, when compared to the differentially expressed genes between brain-tropic and non-brain-tropic lung cancer cell lines, a different set of genes was shared between the patient data and the cell line data, which include many genes implicated in the cancer-glia/neuron interaction. Our findings indicate that it is possible to identify lung adenocarcinoma patients at the highest risk for brain metastasis by analyzing the primary tumor. Further investigation is required to elucidate the mechanism behind these associations and to identify potential treatment targets.


2000 ◽  
Vol 93 (6) ◽  
pp. 927-931 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ajith J. Thomas ◽  
Jack P. Rock ◽  
Christine C. Johnson ◽  
Linda Weiss ◽  
Gordon Jacobsen ◽  
...  

Object. It has been suggested that synchronous brain metastases (that is, those occurring within 2 months of primary cancer diagnosis) are associated with a shorter survival time compared with metachronous lesions (those occurring more than 2 months after primary cancer diagnosis). In this study the authors used data obtained from the National Cancer Institute's Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results program to determine the incidence of synchronous brain metastases and length of survival of patients in a defined population of southeastern Michigan residents.Methods. Data obtained in 2682 patients with synchronous brain metastases treated between 1973 and 1995 were reviewed. Study criteria included patients in whom at least one brain metastasis was diagnosed within 2 months of the diagnosis of primary cancer and those with an unknown primary source. The incidence per 100,000 population increased fivefold, from 0.69 in 1973 to 3.83 in 1995. The most frequent site for the primary cancer was the lung (75.4%). The second largest group (10.7%) consisted of patients in whom the primary site was unknown. The median length of survival was 3.2 months. There was no significant difference in the median survival of patients with primary lung/bronchus and those with an unknown primary site (3.3 months and 3.2 months, respectively).Conclusions. Patients who present with synchronous lesions have a poor prognosis, and the predominant cause of death, in more than 90% of cases, is related to systemic disease; however, despite poor median survival times, certain patients will experience prolonged survival.


Haigan ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 61 (2) ◽  
pp. 119-124
Author(s):  
Ryoko Ohnishi ◽  
Tatsuo Kato ◽  
Koichi Asano ◽  
Toshitaka Suzuki ◽  
Yoshihiko Matsuno ◽  
...  

1993 ◽  
Vol 79 (5) ◽  
pp. 321-324 ◽  
Author(s):  
José Ignacio Mayordomo ◽  
Juan Manuel Guerra ◽  
Carlos Guijarro ◽  
María Dolores García-Prats ◽  
Antonio Gómez ◽  
...  

Background Malignant neoplasms of an unknown primary site (NUPS) remain a diagnostic and therapeutic challenge in clinical practice. With this in mind, we have reviewed all autopsies performed in patients with NUPS in a single institution. Patients and methods By reviewing 1656 autopsies performed on adults in our Institution (1974-1990), 43 cases of NUPS were found. (NUPS was defined as histologically proven malignant tumor for which a primary site could not be found after anamnesis, complete physical examination, chest X-ray and routine chemistries.) Results There were 24 men (56 %) and 19 women. Mean age was 62 years (76 % of patients were aged 40-75). Clinical presentation included general deterioration (73 %), digestive symptoms (58 %), liver enlargement (58 %) abdominal pain (56 %), respiratory symptoms (45 %), ascites (26 %) and node enlargement (16 %). Abnormalities in analysis and image tests were frequent but nonspecific. Median time from admission to death was 42 days (range, 4-135). Pathologic diagnoses at autopsy were: 23 adenocarcinomas (53 %), arising from pancreas (6), biliary tree (6), lung (3), prostate (2), stomach (1), kidney (1) and unknown (4); 3 squamous carcinomas (5 %) (1 renal pelvis, 1 biliary tree, 1 stomach); 5 undifferentiated carcinomas (1 lung, 4 unknown); and 12 miscellaneous tumors (including 3 lymphomas, 3 neuroendocrine tumors, 3 hepatocarcinomas, 2 mesotheliomas and 1 melanoma). There was a tendency towards a metastatic pattern different from that expected from the primary tumor. Image tests were of little usefulness in the search for the primary tumor. Conclusions 1) Adenocarciomas were the most frequent tumor presenting as NUPS, especially from the pancreas and biliary tree. 2) In this series, at least 11 % of patients were amenable to standard systemic therapies (3 lymphomas and 2 prostatic adenocarcinomas) if a correct pathologic diagnosis could have been established when alive. 3) Presenting symptoms and metastatic pattern differed from those expected for the primary neoplasm eventually found. 4) Image tests were often misleading as regards the primary site, although they were useful to quantify the dissemination of the tumor.


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