Bilateral para-aortic lymphadenectomy is routine prior to radical surgery in cancer of the cervix. A pregnant patient with invasive cancer of the cervix and ectopic decidual cell reaction in para-aortic and pelvic nodes is presented. A decidual cell reaction in frozen sections of para-aortic lymph nodes could be confused with metastatic disease. Pathogenesis of ectopic decidual cell reaction is discussed.

IntroductionMediastinal lymphadenopathy in cancer patients can be of both malignant and non-malignant (including infectious) etiology. Tuberculosis (TB) is an important differential in this regard, particularly in regions with high TB endemicity. ObjectivesTo determine the incidence and clinical characteristics of mediastinal tuberculous lymphadenitis (MTBLA) in cancer patients of a TB-endemic region, and the diagnostic role of endobronchial ultrasound (EBUS) guided transbronchial needle aspiration (TBNA) in such patients, utilizing both cytopathological and microbiological parameters for diagnosing TB. Materials and methodsWe retrospectively analyzed the relevant clinical data of all cancer patients diagnosed with MTBLA after undergoing EBUS-TBNA at our center, between July 2013 till July 2018 (total five years). The diagnostic yield, sensitivity and specificity of cytopathological and microbiological investigations (including TB culture and Mycobacterium tuberculosis Gene Xpert assay) for diagnosis of MTBLA were determined. ResultsOf the total 493 cancer patients, MTBLA was diagnosed in 54 (11%), with mean age of 48 ± 12 years, and predominantly male gender (59.3%). Thirty-three (61.1%) patients were clinically asymptomatic at the time of presentation, while cough was reported by 13 (24.7%) patients and weight loss, shortness of breath and fever by only six (11.1%), six (11.1%) and five (9.2%) patients, respectively. Total 53% had an underlying gastrointestinal malignancy. Chest imaging revealed bilateral versus unilateral hilar lymph node enlargement in 32 (59.3%) against 22 (40.7%) patients, respectively, while only 14 (25.9%) had accompanying lung parenchymal findings. Granulomatous TBNA cytology was detected in 41 (77.3%) patients, giving a diagnostic yield of 70.3% for MTBLA, with an estimated sensitivity and specificity of 79.2% and 99%, respectively. TB culture and Gene Xpert had a respective sensitivity of 48% and 53%, with the combined diagnostic yield of 64.8%. Treatment response was achieved in 51 (94%) patients, based on which EBUS was estimated to have sensitivity and specificity of 89% and 99% respectively, with no reported complications. ConclusionMediastinal TB can have diverse manifestations among cancer patients and can often be clinically occult, with overlapping radiological impressions. EBUS-TBNA can serve as a safe and reliable diagnostic tool in this regard.

Melioidosis, which is caused by a soil saprophyte, Burkholderia pseudomallei, is most prevalent in the south-west coast of India. Although it is frequently seen in immunocompromised patients, melioidosis can occur in apparently normal individuals. Melioidosis can involve almost any organ. A relapse of melioidosis is usually associated with a poor adherence to the eradication therapy, a multifocal involvement and bacteraemia. A relapsing melioidosis is usually known to follow a similar pattern of organ involvement in the first and second episodes of the infection. We are discussing here, a rare case of melioidosis in a 38-year-old construction-worker, with no risk factors, who presented initially with a pericardial effusion. It relapsed 6 months after he completed the prescribed eradication therapy for 3 months, as an anterior chest wall abscess. The author recommends a high index of suspicion for the relapsed melioidosis cases, inspite of the primary episode being non-bacteraemic and compliant with the recommended therapy, in order to avoid further complications.

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CONTEXT: Malignant pleural effusion (MPE) is a common comorbid condition in advanced malignancies with variable survival. AIMS: The aim of this study was to predict the survival in patients with MPE undergoing indwelling pleural catheter (IPC) insertion. SETTINGS AND DESIGN: This was a cross-sectional study conducted at Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital and Research Centre, Lahore, Pakistan. METHODS: One hundred and ten patients with MPE who underwent IPC insertion from January 2011 to December 2019 were reviewed. Kaplan–Meier method was used to determine the overall survival (OS) of the patient's cohort with respect to LENT score. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS USED: The IBM SPSS version 20 was used for statistical analysis. RESULTS: We retrospectively reviewed 110 patients who underwent IPC insertion for MPE, with a mean age of 49 ± 15 years. 76 (69.1%) patients were females, of which majority 59 (53.6%) had a primary diagnosis of breast cancer. The LENT score was used for risk stratification, and Kaplan–Meier survival curves were used to predict the OS. The proportion of patients with low-risk LENT score had 91%, 58%, and 29% survival, the moderate-risk group had 76%, 52%, and 14% survival, and in the high-risk group, 61%, 15%, and 0% patients survived at 1, 3, and 6 months, respectively. In addition, there was a statistically significant survival difference ( P = 0.05) in patients who received chemotherapy pre- and post-IPC insertion. CONCLUSIONS: LENT score seems to be an easy and attainable tool, capable of predicting the survival of the patients with MPE quite accurately. It can be helpful in palliating the symptoms of patients with advanced malignancies by modifying the treatment strategies.

Minimally invasive esophagectomy is becoming the routine procedure for resectable esophageal cancer. The aim of this retrospective study is to analyze the oncologic adequacy of these two procedures at our Centre. Out of 1252 registered esophageal cancer patients at our institute from 2006 to 2015, 206 patients who underwent a surgical resection with curative intent and a complete medical record were retrospectively evaluated thru hospital medical record system (HIS). Patients were allocated into the conventional open OE, and minimally invasive MIE and Hybrid esophagectomy groups. Primary outcomes are tumor recurrence and disease-free survival over a minimum follow-up of 1 year along with assessment of adequacy of pathological specimen in terms of lymph nodes harvested and clear longitudinal <1 cm and circumferential (≥1 mm) resection margins for patients with post-neo-adjuvant residual disease. Secondary endpoint is to look for trends in the adequacy of oncologic clearance in each group over the study period. Overall, there was no statistically significant difference (p > 0.05) between groups (OE vs. MIE vs. Hybrid) for median number of lymph nodes retrieved (13 vs.14 vs.15), resection margin positive disease (55.8 vs. 35.7 vs. 44 % of patients with any residual disease N = 103,50 %), or tumor recurrence (45.2 vs. 37.3 vs. 25 %). Disease-free survival over a mean follow-up of 2.3 years was higher in the conventional group (13.8 months vs. 9.7MIE and 11.8hybrid) without any statistical significance. Learning curve for MIE to achieve a comparable mean lymph nodes harvest to OE was 1 year, while pathological complete resection stayed persistently better with minimally invasive approach. Minimally invasive esophagectomy is found to be oncologically adequate and gives results matching their conventional analogue with an increasing experience.

BACKGROUND:There has been an increasing inclination towards minimally invasive esophagectomies (MIEs) at our institute recently for resectable oesophageal cancer.OBJECTIVES:The purpose of the present study is to report peri-operative and long-term procedure specific outcomes of the two groups and analyse their changing pattern at our institute.METHODS:All adult patients with a diagnosis of oesophageal cancer managed at our institute from 2005 to 2015 were included in this retrospective study. Patients’ demographic and clinical characteristics were recorded through our hospital information system. The cohort of esophagectomies was allocated into two groups, conventional open esophagectomy (OE) or total laparoscopic MIE; hybrid esophagectomies were taken as a separate group. The short-term outcome measures are an operative time in minutes, length of hospital and Intensive Care Unit (ICU) stay in days, post-operative complications and 30 days in-hospital mortality. Complications are graded according to the Clavien-Dindo classification system. Long-term outcomes are long-term procedure related complications over a minimum follow-up of 1 year. Trends were analysed by visually inspecting the graphic plots for mean number of events in each group each year.RESULTS:Our results showed no difference in mortality, length of hospital and ICU stays and incidence of major complications between three groups on uni- and multi-variate analysis (P > 0.05). The operative time was significantly longer in MIE group (odds ratio [OR]: 1.66, confidence interval [CI]: 2.4–11.5). The incidence of long-term complication was low for MIE (OR: 1.0, CI: 133–1.017). However, all post-operative surgical outcomes trended to improve in both groups over the course of this study and stayed better for MIE group except for the operative time.CONCLUSION:MIE has overall comparable surgical outcomes to its conventional counterpart. Furthermore, the peri-operative outcomes tend to improve in our centre with the maturation of program and experience.

Background Non-malignant conditions, including infections (such as tuberculosis [TB]), can mimic malignancy with regards to their uptake of 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose ( 18 F-FDG) tracer utilized for positron emission tomography-computed tomography (PET-CT) scan, as part of the diagnostic and staging workup of cancer patients. This poses a diagnostic challenge, for which tissue sampling is decisive. In this study, we aimed to determine the underlying etiologies of 18 F-FDG-avid mediastinal lymph nodes among cancer patients in a TB-endemic demographic using endobronchial ultrasound-guided transbronchial needle aspiration (EBUS-TBNA) and the respective sensitivity and specificity of PET-CT and EBUS in diagnosing malignancy. Methodology In this retrospective cross-sectional study, we analyzed the data of all cancer patients with 18 F-FDG-avid mediastinal lymphadenopathy on diagnostic PET imaging, who later underwent EBUS-TBNA between July 2013 and December 2018 at our center. Logistic regression analysis was used to determine the relative risk of lymph node characteristics with malignant TBNA cytology, based on which a risk stratification model was formulated. Results A total of 178 patients were included in this study, comprising predominantly males (60.7%). The primary malignancy was lung cancer in 33 (18.5%) patients, while 145 (81.5%) had non-lung cancer. A total of 214 18 F-FDG lymph nodes were sampled, out of which TBNA revealed malignant cytology in only 44 (20.6%). The final diagnosis was malignancy, TB, and sarcoidosis in 42 (23.6%), 16 (9%), and 12 (6.7%) patients, respectively. Among the remaining, 98 (55%) patients were determined to have only reactive lymphadenopathy, of which 24 (24.5%) had nodal anthracosis, while TBNA was inadequate for the diagnosis in 10 (5.6%) patients. An increased risk of malignancy was associated with the size of lymph node [odds ratio (OR): 1.58 (confidence interval (CI): 1.19, 2.11; p = 0.001], the standard uptake value (SUV) of the lymph node on PET-CT [OR: 1.30 (CI: 1.15, 1.45); p = 0.001], and with primary lung malignancy [OR: 4.44 (CI: 1.96, 10.06); p = 0.001]. At an SUV cut-off value of 6.0, PET-CT had the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value of 73%, 70%, 49.3%, and 91.8%, respectively, for diagnosing malignancy, while the same for EBUS was estimated to be 93.3%, 100%, 100%, and 97%, respectively. Conclusions In addition to TB, benign etiologies including nodal anthracosis and sarcoidosis predominate as causes of 18 F-FDG-avid mediastinal lymphadenopathy in cancer patients of a TB-endemic demographic. The predictable risk of malignancy on PET imaging increases with nodal size, SUV, and lung primary malignancy; however, EBUS clearly demonstrates a higher sensitivity.