Made by DATEXIS (Data Science and Text-based Information Systems) at Beuth University of Applied Sciences Berlin
Deep Learning Technology: Sebastian Arnold, Betty van Aken, Paul Grundmann, Felix A. Gers and Alexander Löser. Learning Contextualized Document Representations for Healthcare Answer Retrieval. The Web Conference 2020 (WWW'20)
Funded by The Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy; Grant: 01MD19013D, Smart-MD Project, Digital Technologies
Genetic counseling and genetic testing are used to confirm that somebody has this gene mutation. Once such a person is identified, early and regular screenings for cancer are recommended for him or her as people with Li–Fraumeni are likely to develop another primary malignancy at a future time (57% within 30 years of diagnosis).
A 2009 revision of the traditional Chompret criteria for screening has been proposed:
A proband who has:
- tumor belonging to the LFS tumor spectrum - soft tissue sarcoma, osteosarcoma, pre-menopausal breast cancer, brain tumor, adrenocortical carcinoma, leukemia or lung bronchoalveolar cancer - before age 46 years;
and at least one of the following:
- at least one first or second degree relative with an LFS tumour (except breast cancer if the proband has breast cancer) before age 56 years or with multiple tumours
- a proband with multiple tumours (except multiple breast tumours), two of which belong to the LFS tumour spectrum and the first of which occurred before age 46 years
- a proband who is diagnosed with adrenocortical carcinoma or choroid plexus tumour, irrespective of family history
The following are the Amsterdam criteria in identifying high-risk candidates for molecular genetic testing:
"Amsterdam Criteria (all bullet points must be fulfilled):"
- Three or more family members with a confirmed diagnosis of colorectal cancer, one of whom is a first degree (parent, child, sibling) relative of the other two
- Two successive affected generations
- One or more colon cancers diagnosed under age 50 years
- Familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP) has been excluded
"Amsterdam Criteria II (all bullet points must be fulfilled):"
- Three or more family members with HNPCC-related cancers, one of whom is a first-degree relative of the other two
- Two successive affected generations
- One or more of the HNPCC-related cancers diagnosed under age 50 years
- Familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP) has been excluded
Because of the way familial polyposis develops, it is possible to have the genetic condition, and therefore be at risk, but have no polyps or issues so far. Therefore, an individual may be diagnosed "at risk of" FAP, and require routine monitoring, but not (yet) actually have FAP (i.e., carries a defective gene but as yet appears not to have any actual medical issue as a result of this). Clinical management can cover several areas:
- Identifying those individuals who could be at risk of FAP: usually from family medical history or genetic testing
- Diagnosis (confirming whether they have FAP)—this can be done either by genetic testing, which is definitive, or by visually checking the intestinal tract itself.
- Screening / monitoring programs involve visually examining the intestinal tract to check its healthy condition. It is undertaken as a routine matter every few years where there is cause for concern, when either (a) a genetic test has confirmed the risk or (b) a genetic test has not been undertaken for any reason so the actual risk is unknown. Screening and monitoring allows polyposis to be detected visually before it can become life-threatening.
- Treatment, typically surgery of some kind, is involved if polyposis has led to a large number of polyps, or a significant risk of cancer, or actual cancer.
Genetic testing for mutations in DNA mismatch repair genes is expensive and time-consuming, so researchers have proposed techniques for identifying cancer patients who are most likely to be HNPCC carriers as ideal candidates for genetic testing. The Amsterdam Criteria (see below) are useful, but do not identify up to 30% of potential Lynch syndrome carriers. In colon cancer patients, pathologists can measure microsatellite instability in colon tumor specimens, which is a surrogate marker for DNA mismatch repair gene dysfunction. If there is microsatellite instability identified, there is a higher likelihood for a Lynch syndrome diagnosis. Recently, researchers combined microsatellite instability (MSI) profiling and immunohistochemistry testing for DNA mismatch repair gene expression and identified an extra 32% of Lynch syndrome carriers who would have been missed on MSI profiling alone. Currently, this combined immunohistochemistry and MSI profiling strategy is the most advanced way of identifying candidates for genetic testing for the Lynch syndrome.
Genetic counseling and genetic testing are recommended for families that meet the Amsterdam criteria, preferably before the onset of colon cancer.
NCBI states that "Although most individuals diagnosed with an APC-associated polyposis condition have an affected parent, the family history may appear to be negative because of failure to recognize the disorder in family members, early death of the parent before the onset of symptoms, or late onset of the disease in the affected parent." In addition around 20% of cases are a "de novo" mutation, and of those with an apparent de novo APC mutation (i.e. no known family history) 20% have somatic mosaicism. Asymptomatic individuals (and therefore asymptomatic family members) are also known to exist.
From a pathology perspective, several tumors need to be considered in the differential diagnosis, including paraganglioma, ceruminous adenoma, metastatic adenocarcinoma, and meningioma.
It is important to exclude a tumor which is directly extending into the ear canal from the parotid salivary gland, especially when dealing with an adenoid cystic or mucoepidermoid carcinoma. This can be eliminated by clinical or imaging studies. Otherwise, the histologic differential diagnosis includes a ceruminous adenoma (a benign ceruminous gland tumor) or a neuroendocrine adenoma of the middle ear (middle ear adenoma).
A recommend surveillance program for Multiple Endocrine Neoplasia Type 1 has been suggested by the International Guidelines for Diagnosis and Therapy of MEN syndromes group.
Surgical excision is the preferred method of treatment for benign glomus tumors.
The purpose of radiologic imaging is to locate the lesion, evaluate for signs of invasion and detect metastasis. Features of GIST vary depending on tumor size and organ of origin. The diameter can range from a few millimeters to more than 30 cm. Larger tumors usually cause symptoms in contrast to those found incidentally which tend to be smaller and have better prognosis. Large tumors tend to exhibit malignant behavior but small GISTs may also demonstrate clinically aggressive behavior.
Plain radiographs are not very helpful in the evaluation of GISTs. If an abnormality is seen, it will be an indirect sign due to the tumor mass effect on adjacent organs. On abdominal x-ray, stomach GISTs may appear as a radiopaque mass altering the shape of the gastric air shadow. Intestinal GISTs may displace loops of bowel and larger tumors may obstruct the bowel and films will show an obstructive pattern. If cavitations are present, plain radiographs will show collections of air within the tumor. Calcification is an unusual feature of GIST but if present can be visible on plain films.
Barium fluoroscopic examinations and CT are commonly used to evaluate the patient with abdominal complaints. Barium swallow images show abnormalities in 80% of GIST cases. However, some GISTs may be located entirely outside the lumen of the bowel and will not be appreciated with a barium swallow. Even in cases when the barium swallow is abnormal, an MRI or CT scan must follow since it is impossible to evaluate abdominal cavities and other abdominal organs with a barium swallow alone. In a CT scan, abnormalities may be seen in 87% of patients and it should be made with both oral and intravenous contrast. Among imaging studies, MRI has the best tissue contrast, which aids in the identification of masses within the GI tract (intramural masses). Intravenous contrast material is needed to evaluate lesion vascularity.
Preferred imaging modalities in the evaluation of GISTs are CT and MRI, and, in selected situations, endoscopic ultrasound. CT advantages include its ability to demonstrate evidence of nearby organ invasion, ascites, and metastases. The ability of MRI to produce images in multiple planes is helpful in determining the bowel as the organ of origin (which is difficult when the tumor is very large), facilitating diagnosis.
Patients treated with complete surgical excision can expect an excellent long term outcome without any problems. Recurrences may be seen in tumors which are incompletely excised.
There is a risk of development of cancer with fundic gland polyposis, but it varies based on the underlying cause of the polyposis. The risk is highest with congenital polyposis syndromes, and is lowest in acquired causes. As a result, it is recommended that patients with multiple fundic polyps have a colonoscopy to evaluate the colon. If there are polyps seen on colonoscopy, genetic testing and testing of family members is recommended.
In the gastric adenocarcinoma associated with proximal polyposis of the stomach (GAPPS), there is a high risk of early development of proximal gastric adenocarcinoma.
It is still unclear which patients would benefit with surveillance gastroscopy, but most physicians recommend endoscopy every one to three years to survey polyps for dysplasia or cancer. In the event of high grade dysplasia, polypectomy, which is done through the endoscopy, or partial gastrectomy may be recommended. One study showed the benefit of NSAID therapy in regression of gastric polyps, but the efficacy of this strategy (given the side effects of NSAIDs) is still dubious.
The tumor must be removed with as complete a surgical excision as possible. In nearly all cases, the ossicular chain must be included if recurrences are to be avoided. Due to the anatomic site of involvement, facial nerve paralysis and/or paresthesias may be seen or develop; this is probably due to mass effect rather than nerve invasion. In a few cases, reconstructive surgery may be required. Since this is a benign tumor, no radiation is required. Patients experience an excellent long term outcome, although recurrences can be seen (up to 15%), especially if the ossicular chain is not removed. Although controversial, metastases are not seen in this tumor. There are reports of disease in the neck lymph nodes, but these patients have also had other diseases or multiple surgeries, such that it may represent iatrogenic disease.
CT scanning is often undertaken (see the "radiology" section).
The definitive diagnosis is made with a biopsy, which can be obtained endoscopically, percutaneously with CT or ultrasound guidance or at the time of surgery. A biopsy sample will be investigated under the microscope by a pathologist physician. The pathologist examines the histopathology to identify the characteristics of GISTs (spindle cells in 70-80%, epitheloid aspect in 20-30%). Smaller tumors can usually be confined to the muscularis propria layer of the intestinal wall. Large ones grow, mainly outward, from the bowel wall until the point where they outstrip their blood supply and necrose (die) on the inside, forming a cavity that may eventually come to communicate with the bowel lumen.
When GIST is suspected—as opposed to other causes for similar tumors—the pathologist can use immunohistochemistry (specific antibodies that stain the molecule CD117 [also known as "c-kit"] —see below). 95% of all GISTs are CD117-positive (other possible markers include CD34, DOG-1, desmin, and vimentin). Other cells that show CD117 positivity are mast cells.
If the CD117 stain is negative and suspicion remains that the tumor is a GIST, the newer antibody DOG-1 (Discovered On GIST-1) can be used. Also sequencing of Kit and PDGFRA can be used to prove the diagnosis.
Urine catecholamine level can be elevated in pre-clinical neuroblastoma. Screening asymptomatic infants at three weeks, six months, and one year has been performed in Japan, Canada, Austria and Germany since the 1980s. Japan began screening six-month-olds for neuroblastoma via analysis of the levels of homovanillic acid and vanilmandelic acid in 1984. Screening was halted in 2004 after studies in Canada and Germany showed no reduction in deaths due to neuroblastoma, but rather caused an increase in diagnoses that would have disappeared without treatment, subjecting those infants to unnecessary surgery and chemotherapy.
The diagnosis of SCLC, TC and AC can be made by light microscopy without the need for special tests in most cases, but for LCNEC it is required to demonstrate NE differentiation by immunohistochemistry or electron microscopy.
While there is a wide age range at clinical presentation (12–85 years), most patients come to clinical attention at 55 years (mean). There is no gender difference.
Multiple endocrine neoplasia type I (MEN1)can be found in carcinoid tumor patients, but not those with LCNEC and SCLC.
Wide, radical, complete surgical excision is the treatment of choice, with free surgical margins to achieve the best outcome and lowest chance of recurrence. Radiation is only used for palliation. In general, there is a good prognosis, although approximately 50% of patients die from disease within 3–10 years of presentation.
The diagnosis of urachal cancer can be difficult and usually requires a multidisciplinary approach. A calcification in the midline can be detected in some patients in abdominal imaging studies. A cystoscopy is helpful in most cases. For diagnosis evaluation of a tissue biopsy is needed, which is usually obtained by transurethral resection (TURBT). Measurement of serum concentrations of CEA, CA19-9 and CA125 can be helpful in monitoring urachal cancer
The most common presentation is gastrointestinal bleed (~45% of cases), followed by abdominal pain (~43% of cases) and anemia (~15% of cases).
CT-scans, MRIs, sonography (ultrasound), and endoscopy (including endoscopic ultrasound) are common diagnostic tools. CT-scans using contrast medium can detect 95 percent of tumors over 3 cm in size, but generally not tumors under 1 cm.
Advances in nuclear medicine imaging, also known as molecular imaging, has improved diagnostic and treatment paradigms in patients with neuroendocrine tumors. This is because of its ability to not only identify sites of disease but also characterize them. Neuronedocrine tumours express somatostatin receptors providing a unique target for imaging. Octreotide is a synthetic modifications of somatostatin with a longer half-life. OctreoScan, also called somatostatin receptor scintigraphy (SRS or SSRS), utilizes intravenously administered octreotide that is chemically bound to a radioactive substance, often indium-111, to detect larger lesions with tumor cells that are avid for octreotide.
Somatostatin receptor imaging can now be performed with positron emission tomography (PET) which offers higher resolution, three-dimensional and more rapid imaging. Gallium-68 receptor PET-CT is much more accurate than an OctreoScan.
Imaging with fluorine-18 fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) PET may be valuable to image some neuroendocrine tumors. This scan is performed by injected radioactive sugar intravenously. Tumors that grow more quickly use more sugar. Using this scan, the aggressiveness of the tumor can be assessed.
The combination of somatostatin receptor and FDG PET imaging is able to quantify somatostatin receptor cell surface (SSTR) expression and glycolytic metabolism, respectively. The ability to perform this as a whole body study is highlighting the limitations of relying on histopathology obtained from a single site. This is enabling better selection of the most appropriate therapy for an individual patient.
A gangliocytic paraganglioma, abbreviated GP, is a rare tumour that is typically found in the duodenum and consists of three components: (1) ganglion cells, (2) epithelioid cells (paraganglioma-like) and, (3) spindle cells (schwannoma-like).
The main treatment modalities are surgery, embolization and radiotherapy.