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Soft tissue sarcomas are rare tumors. They may occur in any part of the body. Early step of management are essential because they directly affect functional consequences and survival of patients. It is very important to rapidly evoke the diagnostic of soft tissue sarcoma. Multidisciplinary discussion is indispensable at different step of the management: before the diagnostic to organize radiological check up and preoperative biopsy, before resection of localized tumor to decide the surgical procedure, with anatomopathological results to discuss an adjuvant treatment, at metastatic setting to decide a systemic treatment to start or inclusion in a clinical trial.

In the seventies, limb-sparing surgery and radiation therapy appeared capable of successfully treating the great majority of adult patients with soft tissue sarcomas of the extremities. No survival benefit could be demonstrated in the patients selected for amputation. Microscopically positive surgical margins are related to a greater risk of local recurrence, whereas overall survival is compromised by high grade and large tumor size. Presurgery multidisciplinary discussion, management in reference center and management within cancer network independently predict conformity to the clinical practice guidelines. Reoperation should be a planned part of definitive management whenever the initial surgical procedure was done without a histologic diagnosis or was not planned to be a wide excision. Soft tissue flap reconstruction facilitates therapy for patients with locally advanced tumors so that patients with larger tumors can undergo resection, limiting complications and limb sacrifice. Vascular reconstruction is a feasible option in case of involvement of major vessels. Isolated limb perfusion (ILP) with TNF and chemotherapy is an efficient limb-sparing neoadjuvant therapy for locally advanced limb soft tissue sarcomas. Efficacy and safety of low-dose TNFalpha could greatly facilitate ILP procedures in the near future.

Retroperitoneal sarcomas comprise approximately 15% of all soft tissue sarcomas and 50% of all retroperitoneal tumours. Helical CT of the abdomen and pelvis, with selective use of MRI will establish the extent of the tumour, its retroperitoneal location, the degree of necrosis, and the evidence of metastasis. A CT guided core needle biopsy is the optimal pre operative tissue sampling. A complete surgical resection is the mainstay of the treatment with a rim of normal tissue that often requires removal of adjacent organs. The 5-year probability of local control is approximately 50%. The role of adjuvant therapy is evolving and at present should not be used outside the investigational setting.

Generalization of breast screening programs requires efficient double reading of mammograms, which allows reduction of false negative interpretations, but it may be difficult to achieve. CAD (Computed Aided Detection) systems are dramatically improving and can now assist in the detection of suspicious mammographic lesions, either suspicious microcalcifications, masses or architectural distortion. Characterization of the lesions is improving as well. CAD mammography might complete or substitute to "human" double reading. The aim of this review is to present the main CAD systems commercially available, review the principles of CAD and discuss the results of CAD mammography. Specifically, the role of CAD within breast screening program, according to the results of recent prospective studies will be discussed.

To describe and correlate with radiation therapy the occurrence of cerebral radiation necrosis in patients irradiated for nasopharyngeal or ethmoidal tumor. Materials and Methods. From 1986 to 1998, 1 201 patients, 981 with nasopharyngeal tumors, and 220 with ethmoidal tumors were treated by radiotherapy. Twenty eight developed cerebral necrosis. MRI were performed in all patients and CT in 18 patients. Diagnosis was considered at imaging, and confirmed by follow-up.The incidence of cerebral radionecrosis was 2.33%. The time interval between treatment and necrosis ranged from 2 months to 9 years. CT showed edema and/or focal enhancement in all cases except for 4 patients with normal CT examinations. MRI showed edema and/or abnormal focal punctate or gyriform enhancement in all patients. Lesions were localized in the temporal lobe (n=18), frontal lobe (n=9), pons (n=3) and optic nerve (n=2). The doses related to the areas of necrosis ranged from 13 to 135Gy. In 2 cases necrosis was situated at the boundaries of the radiation field. Imaging follow-up showed complete (n=3) or incomplete remission (n=1), lesion progression (n=11), cerebral atrophy (n=5) and stability (n=7).MRI is useful to diagnose cerebral necrosis. New technologies may reduce the incidence of this complication.

To assess the value of the CT guided percutaneous biopsy of renal tumors and to promote the interest of this procedure.We report a retrospective study of 67 patients (average age, 51 years) who underwent CT guided biopsy of a single renal mass. The average size of tumors was 5 centimeters. The biopsy of tumors was carried out with needles between 16 and 21 gauge by using a conventional CT. Two to three passes per tumor were obtained.Biopsy material was sufficient for diagnosis in 48 cases (72%). A renal cell carcinoma was found in 29 (43%) samples of biopsy. The remainder included 13 metastases or lymphomas (18%). A benign lesion was found in 6 cases (9%). 59 patients had a final diagnosis. Accuracy of the biopsy for histopathologic evaluation was 81%. The average lesion size of failed biopsies was 1.5 centimeters. Morbidity occurred in 13% of cases, without immediate life threatening consequence.CT-guided renal biopsy is an effective means of obtaining tissue for the diagnosis of focal renal masses. The indications are renal lesions locally advanced, multimetastatic patients, mass in patients with a single kidney and focal lesions in patients with prior history of malignancy.

The aim of this retrospective study was to assess the advantages of free-lap reconstruction in locally advanced soft tissue sarcomas.From October 1997 to October 2000, among 256 procedures for sarcomas, 25 were associated with free-lap reconstruction. There were 16 women and nine men (mean age: 45 years). The tumor was located on inferior limbs (n = 15), superior limbs (n = 3) and trunk (n = 7), had a mean size of 12, 10 and 12 cm respectively, and was multifocal (n = 6), or recurrent (n = 10). Ten patients received a neoadjuvant chemotherapy. Tumoral excision was associated with a complementary procedure in 10 patients. Reconstruction was performed with free-laps of the latissimus dorsi (n = 21) and transverse rectus abdominis myocutaneous (TRAM) (n = 4). Early postoperative radiotherapy was associated in 15 patients.Median duration of the procedure was 6.5 hours. There were no postoperative deaths. Two free-laps necrotized and another free-lap was constructed. Tumoral excision was Ro (n = 20), R1 (n = 4) and R2 (n = 1). With a median follow-up of 20 months, there were no local recurrences in patients Ro. Ten patients developed pulmonary metastases and five of them died.With free-lap reconstruction, tumoral excision was larger, amputation of the limb was avoided in 14 patients, and early postoperative radiotherapy was possible in 15 patients. Multidisciplinary management and collaboration of the oncologist and plastic surgeon are associated with a better prognosis of locally advanced soft tissue sarcomas.

A 58 year old woman suffering from lumbalgia over 3 years is admitted for bilateral cruralgia. Ten years before, she was treated for cervix carcinoma by hysterectomy, pelvic and lumbo-aortic radiotherapy and chemotherapy. On admission, physical examination reveals L2 level hypoesthesia and abolition of deep tendon reflexes. Plain films and CT scan show a lysis of L3, L4 and L5 vertebral bodies and a cuneiform appearance of vertebral body of L2 due to a large abdominal aortic aneurysm.

Ollier's disease is a rate affliction (not more than approximately 100 cases have been reported over a 30-year period) characterized by bone dysplasia in which evolution to degenerative neoplasia has been described. Diagnosis of chondrosarcoma is delicate in these cases. It is a kind of slowly evolving low grade malignant tumor. Surgery is the primary treatment course, and can lead to remission. Prognosis, depending on the number and dimension of the lesions, their localization and metastasis prevention, is usually good, but relapses are relatively frequent: 25 to 50%. In case of relapse, radiotherapy and chemotherapy were tested but their efficacy is limited. We report here two clinical cases and discuss literature data.

To determine the accuracy of dynamic contrast-enhanced subfraction MRI to diagnose nonpalpable breast lesions in a prospective multicenter study.From June to November 1994, 72 patients had a surgical biopsy for a nonpalpable breast lesion and a preoperative dynamic MR after an informed consent was obtained. MR examinations were performed on 0.5, 1 and 1.5T MR unit. Each center underwent dynamic sequences either in spin or gradient echo in T1 weighted images obtained in less than two minutes before and after injection of Gadolinium-DOTA. The presence/absence of contrast enhancement within two minutes after injection of Gadolinium were considered as positive/negative findings respectively.These 72 women had mammographic (n = 80) or ultrasonographic lesions (n = 2). Mammograms showed mass (n = 23), asymmetrical density (n = 2), architectural distorsion (n = 8), clustered microcalcifications (n = 47) or was normal (n = 2). Dynamic Breast MR imaging showed early contrast enhancement in 44 malignant lesions (sensitivity: 89.8%) and 13 benign lesions (specificity: 60.6%). Five intraductal carcinoma of comedo (n = 1) or non-comedo (n = 4) type did not demonstrate any early contrast enhancement.This prospective mulcentric study confirms the high sensitivity of dynamic breast MRI whatever the type of MR unit or sequences.

Fourty-four CT-guided adrenal biopsies were performed on 43 patients aged 12-74 years old (mean 57 years). The results (benign adrenal tissue, malignant tissue, and nondiagnostic) were compared with outcomes. Diagnostic samples were obtained in 86% of patients. Among the 37 proved cases with diagnostic results (10 benign, 27 malignant), there were 26 true-positives, 1 false-negatives and 10 true-negatives. CT-guided adrenal biopsy had an accuracy of 82%, a sensitivity of 96%, a negative predictive value of 83%. In the 6 patients with nondiagnostic samples 1 mass proved malignant and two masses proved benign. Seven minor complications occurred in 7 patients (6 pneumothoraces and 1 retroperitoneal hemorrhage). CT-guided adrenal biopsy is a simple safe and well tolerated technique. In oncologic patients, obtaining benign adrenal tissue was highly predictive of benignity.

The aim of this study is to determine the diagnostic value of magnetic resonance imaging in the diagnosis of local recurrence of breast cancer. From 1991 to 1994, 61 women were studied prospectively using magnetic resonance imaging. All examinations were made on a 1.5 Testa machine with T1 weighted images and after gadolium-dota injection and dynamic images (T1 weighted sequences every 47 seconds during injection of a gadolinium-dota bolus). All the pre-injection, images in the dynamic series were subtracted from the images after injection. A surgical biopsy was obtained in 39 patients yielding a diagnosis of local recurrence (n = 28) or a benign lesion (n = 11). Among the 28 local recurrences, pathology examination reported invasive cancer in 22 and intra-ductal carcinoma in 6. In 22 patients with normal magnetic resonance imaging, follow-up examinations were performed every 6 months. There were no local recurrences within a delay of 6 to 36 months. Twenty-six of the 28 patients with a local recurrence, cystosteatonecrosis and surgery scar tissue less than 6 months old showed contrast uptake 1 min and 34 s after gadolinium injection during the dynamic sequence. This product uptake yielded nodular images within the invasive carcinomas and linear images in the intraductal cancers. In all cases, it is easier to visualize this contrast uptake in subtraction images. In conclusion, magnetic resonance imaging is a simple reliable method for the diagnosis of local recurrence of breast cancer.

A 40 year old male, presented with a left choroidal metastases, 2 month after a radical cystectomy for an infiltrating transitional cell carcinoma of the bladder. This localisation was associated with disseminated metastasis which failed to respond to chemotherapy. The patient died within one month. The review of the literature confirms the poor prognosis of choroidal metastases in patients with transitional cell carcinoma of the bladder.

The direct propagation of a cancer of the buccal cavity or oropharynx to the bone of a distal phalanx is demonstrated in two patients suffering from onychophagy. This exceptional way of cancer propagation must be searched for if an unusual site of metastasis is encountered.

Pulmonary mesenchymatous chondrosarcoma was revealed in two 3-year-old boys by hemi-thorax opacities on standard images and a heterogeneous mass on CT scanning. A favorable course was obtained after chemotherapy and total excision. These are the first two cases of pulmonary localizations of mesenchymatous chondrosarcoma reported.

The authors report 29 cases of primary mammary cytosteatonecrosis. Diagnosis can be difficult when clinical and radiological signs suggest a cancer, and this was the case in about half of these cases. Radiological signs suggest the diagnosis in only 10 p. cent of cases, even though the evocative signs (clear images surrounded by a border of condensation) are usually associated with suspicious shin lesions, and require histological verification. Even though lesions that are limited in extent when examined clinically and radiologically may be a cancer, the inverse position, though very much less frequent, can also apply, and a very suggestive lesion with spicules and skin retraction may be benign. Histological examination before any minor surgery is always essential.

Modern imaging of soft tissue sarcomas now includes ultrasounds, CT and MRI. These new techniques allow a better evaluation of initial local extension, of the response to treatment and are able to detect local recurrences early.

Computed tomography examinations, using a second generation Acta 200 FS apparatus, were conducted on 28 occasions in 25 patients with hepatic carcinoma. Before injection, the tumor is usually of low density, to a small degree in many cases, and is heterogeneous and has indefinite limits. The sensitivity of the method is 96 p. cent. A precise study of the localization of the tumor was possible in only 11 cases, and a definite diagnosis was made in 64 p. cent. The method was only moderately effective in assessing the degree of regional extension. When compared with other methods for the investigation of the liver (scintigraphy, ultrasonography, arteriography), computed tomography shows no superiority over ultrasonography which should be employed for the initial examination.

A retrospective study was conducted involving all case reports of patients treated for uterine cervix cancer, and investigated by a CT scan for suspected or follow up of a recurrence between Jan. 1981 and Nov. 1982. CT scan findings are described and the value of the method assessed; it appears to be very effective for diagnosis of recurrence in lumbar aortic lymph nodes, since it was the only examination enabling positive diagnosis in 13 out of 15 cases. Its diagnosis value is less in pelvic tumor recurrence, directly accessible to clinical examination (3 diagnoses only out of 9 cases). The CT scan is a reliable exploratory procedure since only 4 examinations were normal of the 38 completed. Possible therapeutic applications are discussed.

Between April and September 1986, 60 patients with osteosarcoma have been treated according to the T10 protocol in the Pediatrics Department of the Gustave Roussy Institute in Villejuif, France. Limb sparing could be achieved in 49 patients and amputation was necessary in 11. The necrosis of the primary tumor was total or subtotal in 33 cases and incomplete in the 27 others. With a median follow-up of 28 months, the actuarial survival is 85% at 48 months and the actuarial disease-free survival is 58%; the disease-free survival of "good responders" is 75% and 32% for "bad responders".

Thirty seven children with neuroblastoma were investigated by CT-scan. Twenty three of them underwent surgery allowing anatomical correlation. CT-scan was of little diagnostic help but proved very helpful in assessing the extent of the tumor: CT-scan and surgery were in agreement in 73% of the operated cases. CT is therefore an accurate means of predicting the operability of neuroblastoma.

We studied nine cases of endometrial carcinoma and twenty of cervix carcinoma. Correlation with histology is made after curietherapy in 8 cases of endometrial carcinoma. Tumor is not always seen and particularly when there is no mass effect on macroscopic examination. Myometrial invasion is not seen with accuracy: the interruption of "junctional zone" is not a good sign. The cervix tumors are well seen on T2 sequences before any treatment. There extra uterine extension is difficult to appreciate. The best results of RMI were in the follow-up after radiotherapy. Therefore it appears actually to us the best indication of RMI.

Radiological study of bone sarcomas has been improved for the last ten years. Standard X-ray analysis is now more precise. CT and MRI are presently playing an important role for pretreatment local evaluation, assessment of treatment effectiveness and detection of recurrences.

The aim of pre-operative radiologic localization is to facilitate surgery by reducing operation time and by limiting the size of excision of a benign lesion. The detection technique, the so-called "crochet" method, is described and compared with others reported in the literature. Using this method, 33 nonpalpable lesions were detected over a 6 month period and 15% of these cases had malignant tumors.

20 patients with a primary musculo skeletal tumor were investigated by MRI to assess the efficacy of Gd DOTA. The essential contribution is that it distinguishes the active parts of the lesion, intratumoral necrosis or sequelae cavities that do not take up the contrast medium. The injection does not allow for differentiation between tumor recurrence and treatment-induced inflammatory abnormality.

Bone metastases are very frequent. Some are sensitive to the action of anticancer drugs. However, there is as yet an unsolved methodological problem in the evaluation of response to these drugs. The uniquely radiological UICC criteria are quite insufficient, in as much as they appear with a long delay and sometimes give erroneous results. In this work we give a brief review of biological and clinical knowledge about bone metastases, and we attempt to give an array of the possible evaluation criteria and their respective value. We propose as a working hypothesis a classification of responses taking into account the criteria: the urinary hydroxyproline to urinary creatinine ratio, the serum dosage of bone isoenzyme of alkaline phosphatase and propeptide of type III procollagen (P III NP), and as an essential element, an analysis of all available imaging techniques. A visual study of bone scintillation scans must precede that of radiographs and, when possible, it must be associated to computerized scintillation scanning. When metastasis are located to the pelvis, the vertebral column, or the sternum, a CT scan or better, a nuclear magnetic resonance study (IRM), is indispensable in order to have a direct measure of the tumor extension to soft tissues. Furthermore, in the case of isolated metastases, one of these imaging techniques allows a diagnostic biopsy. Finally an analysis of response at the bone level will always be associated with a measure of their duration and an evaluation of metastases to other sites.

CT scans were performed in 16 children with undifferentiated epitheliomas of the cavum nasopharyngis type. The CT scan provided the most precise data during initial investigations, especially clear information being obtained on any intra-orbital or intracranial extension, which may occur without clinical signs. The scan is also a valid method for determining efficacy during treatment, and for the early detection of recurrences.

Though seen with diminishing frequency, psoas abscesses of tuberculous origin are usually secondary to vertebral lesions. The absence of radiologically detectable bone lesions should not exclude the diagnosis, however, as these abscesses can be associated with sub-ligamentary spinal lesions. A case is reported of a psoas abscess of tuberculous origin revealed by a voluminous retroperitoneal mass, without visible signs of any bone lesion. The results of the different examinations conducted are presented.

Retrospective study of 10 patients followed for fibromatosis after initial treatment by magnetic resonance imaging. There is a close correlation between an intense signal on weighted T2 images and tumour recurrence. Inversely, a low signal on the weighted T2 image indicated fibrotic sequelae without tumour recurrence. The examination should commence with the weighted T2 sequence. The injection of contrast medium may be an alternative.

Diagnosis of a left subphrenic abscess after splenectomy is often difficult. C.T. scanning was used to establish the diagnosis in 5 patients with subphrenic abscesses. The examination is simple and gives valid results. Needle aspirations, controlled by scanning, can confirm the diagnosis or be used for drainage of the abscess.