Complete response to radiation therapy of orbital metastasis from hepatocellular carcinoma

The incidence of hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC)is increasing in the United States,and 50%-75%o patients with HCC will develop metastatic disease Orbital metastases from HCC are extremely rare.We report the case of a 52-year-old male with known metastatic HCC,who presented with severe proptosis and diplopia.An orbital mass was identified on magnetic resonance imaging(MRI)and confirmed to have hypermetabolic activity on positron emission tomography/computed tomography.He received a palliative course of external beam radiation therapy to the right orbit.Intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT)was used to allow sparing of critical norma tissues in close proximity to the tumor.One month after completion of IMRT to 58 Gray in 30 fractions delivered over 6 wk,the patient had a complete clinical,radiologic(MRI)and symptomatic response The patient continues to have local control in the orbi 1.7 years after therapy completion.All critical norma structures were kept below the tolerance dose using IMRT,and no toxicities were observed.

Telomerase expression in sebaceous carcinoma of the eyelid

Background In humans telomerase is expressed in most ca ncers and immortal cell lines, and astivation of telomerase may play important r oles in tumorigenesis and immortalization. This study was to investigate the rol es of telomerase activity (TA) and human telomerase RNA (hTR) in sebaceous carcinoma of the eyelid.Methods The telomerase repeated amplification protocal (TRAP) was used to demonstrate telomerase activity in 12 cases of sebaceous carcinoma of the eyelid. In situ hybridiza tion (ISH) was used to demonstrate the expression of hTR in 55 cases of paraffin-embedded sebaceous carcinoma of the eyelid, and the results were compared with the proliferative index determined by Mib-1 immuno-labeling, histological patterns and r ecurrence of the tumor.Results Different telomerase activity was shown in the 12 cases of sebaceous carcinoma of the eyelid. The positive expression of hTR was 85.5% (47/55) in tumor cells, but not in the adjacent tissues. The positive expression of hTR was correlated with the proliferative activity (as assessed by Mib-1 immunolabelling, r=0.942, P<0.001) and the dif ferentiation of sebaceous carcinoma of the eyelid (χ 2=17.621, P<0.001), but not si gnificantly related to tumor recurrence. The level of hTR expression increased with the de crease of differentiation of sebaceous carcinoma of the eyelid.Conclusions The results suggest that the up-regulation of telo merase expression plays some roles in tarsal gland carcinogenesis, and the express ion of hTR is a useful marker for malignant degree of sebaceous carcinoma of the eyelid.

Expression of CD44V6 and PCNA in squamous cell carcinomas

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the expression of cluster of differentiation 44 variant 6 (CD(44V6)) and proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) in ocular squamous cell carcinomas. METHODS: Streptavidin-biotin complex (SABC) immunohistochemistry was used to explore the expression of CD(44V6) and PCNA in 35 cases of ocular squamous cell carcinomas, 20 cases of papillomas, and 11 cases of normal eyelid tissue. RESULTS: The CD(44V6) positive rate was 62.9% (22/35) in ocular squamous cell carcinomas, 15.0% (3/20) in papillomas, but not detectable in the 11 cases of normal eyelid tissue. The positive expression rates of CD(44V6) in ocular squamous cell carcinomas were significantly higher than in benign tumors (chi(2) = 11.57, P