Uterine fibroids with positive 18F-FDG PET/CT image and significantly increased CA19-9: A case report

Hypermetabolic Subserosal Uterine Leiomyoma With Synchronous Atypical Multiple Myeloma Mimicking Ovarian Malignancy With Multiple Bone Metastases on 18F-FDG PET/CT

ABSTRACT

Subserosal cystic myoma with intense FDG uptake can resemble malignant cystic ovarian tumor and may lead to a false-positive diagnosis. A 49-year-old woman presented with chest pain for 4 months, and the initial chest CT showed multiple bone lesions. 18F-FDG PET/CT revealed not only multiple osteolytic lesions with FDG uptake but also a highly FDG-avid mass abutting the right side of the uterus. Ovarian malignancy with multiple bone metastases was considered initially. Subsequent biopsy confirmed multiple myeloma, and a subserosal uterine myoma was diagnosed by transvaginal sonography.

Long-term vitamin D treatment decreases human uterine leiomyoma size in a xenograft animal model

OBJECTIVE

To study the effects of short- and long-term vitamin D treatment on uterine leiomyomas in vivo through cell proliferation, extracellular matrix (ECM) degradation, and apoptosis.

DESIGN

Preclinical study of human leiomyoma treatment with vitamin D in an nonhuman animal model.

SETTING

Hospital and university laboratories.

PATIENT(S)/ANIMAL(S)

Human leiomyomas were collected from patients and implanted in ovariectomized NOD-SCID mice.

INTERVENTION(S)

Mice were treated with vitamin D (0.5 μg/kg/d or 1 μg/kg/d) or vehicle for 21 or 60 days.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S)

Vitamin D effect in xenograft tissue was assessed by monitoring tumor size (¹⁸F-FDG positron-emission tomography/computerized tomography and macroscopic examination), cell proliferation (immunohistochemistry and quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction [qRT-PCR]), ECM (Western blot), transforming growth factor (TGF) β3 (qRT-PCR), and apoptosis (Westrn blot and TUNEL).

RESULT(S)

Short-term treatment with vitamin D did not appear to alter leiomyoma size, based on in vivo monitoring and macroscopic examination. However, long-term high-dose treatment induced a significant reduction in leiomyoma size. Cell proliferation was not decreased in the short term, whereas 1 μg/kg/d vitamin D in the long term significantly reduced proliferation compared with control. Although collagen-I and plasminogen activator inhibitor 1 were not modified by short-term treatment, they were both significantly reduced by long-term high-dose vitamin D. Similarly, long-term high-dose vitamin D significantly reduced TGF-β3 expression. Finally, apoptosis significantly increased with both short- and long-term high-dose vitamin D treatment.

CONCLUSION(S)

Long-term vitamin D acts as an antiproliferative, antifibrotic, and proapoptotic therapy that provides a safe, nonsurgical therapeutic option for reducing uterine leiomyoma size without side-effects.

Pulmonary sequestration associated with a synchronous elevation of carbohydrate antigen 50 and 19-9: a case report

This report describes a 37-year-old woman who experienced elevated serum carbohydrate antigen 19-9 (CA19-9) and carbohydrate antigen 50 (CA50). Intralobar pulmonary sequestration was confirmed via enhanced chest computed tomography (CT) scanning and positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT), which indicated two abnormal vessels arising from the descending thoracic aorta. Lobectomy of the left inferior lobe was performed as the optimal surgical approach and the pathological analysis met the diagnosis of intralobar pulmonary sequestration. Review of the patient's serum levels of CA50 and CA19-9 showed that these two tumor markers significantly decreased after surgery and finally went down to normal values. Therefore, the synchronically significant elevation of serum CA50 and CA19-9 was due to intralobar pulmonary sequestration.