Soft tissue sarcoma of the pleural cavity

Article Abstract:

Sarcomas are cancers arising in tissues that have descended from the middle portion of the developing embryo called the mesoderm. Bone sarcomas are more common than sarcomas affecting soft tissues such as muscle and connective tissue. Little is known about the factors that cause soft tissue sarcoma. Numerous factors have been implicated, including radiation, viral infection, environmental toxins, and a variety of irritating influences including burns, surgical scars, and implanted metals and ceramics. To learn more about the possible causes of soft tissue sarcoma, a study was conducted focussing on sarcoma of the pleural cavity. The pleura is a connective tissue covering of the lungs, and also lines the cavities that contain the lungs. The space between the lungs and the chest and back wall is thus surrounded by the pleura, and is therefore called the pleural cavity. In a survey of patients in 17 Japanese hospitals over a 10-year period, 17 cases of soft tissue sarcoma of the pleural cavity were identified. The most common sarcoma was the type called malignant fibrous histiocytoma. Of the 17 patients with soft tissue sarcoma of the pleural cavity, 13 were men, and only four were women. A review of the medical records indicated that in eight of the cases, almost half, there was some history of chronic inflammation of the pleura (pleuritis). This was either pleuritis resulting from tuberculosis, or pyothorax (accumulation of pus in the chest and pleural cavity). These conditions had persisted for periods ranging from 15 to 50 years. Thirteen of the patients died; the one-year survival rate after diagnosis of soft tissue sarcoma of the pleural cavity was 38.5 percent. The observations of this study suggest that chronic inflammation may be a significant contributing factor to soft tissue sarcoma of the pleural cavity, and perhaps to other soft tissue sarcomas as well. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)

Risk factors, Sarcoma

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Massive pulmonary tumor emboli in osteosarcoma: occult and fatal complication

Article Abstract:

Osteosarcoma, a malignant tumor of the bone, may metastasize to the lungs and affect the prognosis of the patient. The overgrowth of the tumor in the pulmonary artery, the major blood vessel supplying the lungs, rarely occurs. Surgery and chemotherapy have influenced the patterns of pulmonary metastasis within the lung. Two cases are described of patients with osteosarcoma that progressed to tumor overgrowth within the pulmonary artery. The tumors caused massive pulmonary emboli, the formation of blood clots. The tumor emboli were myxoid, consisted of mucus-like tissue, and differed in structure from that of the original tumor and the metastases. The original tumor and the metastases were osteoblastic (similar to bone-forming cells) in one case; and chondroblastic (similar to cartilage-forming cells) in the other case. Both patients later died as a result of the pulmonary emboli. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)

Care and treatment, Causes of, Complications and side effects, Pulmonary embolism, Osteosarcoma

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Malignant lymphomas of bone in Japan

Article Abstract:

Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) of the bone is a cancer of the lymphocytes, a type of white blood cell, which develops in bone marrow. Some studies have shown a difference in the distribution of some lymphomas between Western countries and Japan. The microscopic cell examinations and immunological properties of 34 cases of primary NHL were studied in Japan. The results indicate that there was a higher incidence of T-cell lymphoma, a malignancy of the T lymphocytes, in Japan than in Western countries. Lower grade tumors were found to have a better prognosis, but it was not statistically significant. There were no differences between Western countries and Japan with respect to age, sex and distribution of bone tumors. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)

Health aspects, Japan, Non-Hodgkin's lymphomas, Lymphomas

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