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Biomedical subjects

M Cammoun

Publications and source records attributed to M Cammoun.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1985

[The paraneoplastic syndrome in nasopharynx cancer. 32 cases].

Thirty-two cases of paraneoplastic syndrome associated with nasopharyngeal carcinoma are reported. The prevalence of the syndrome in young subjects was striking: 29 of the patients were under 25 years of age. Seventeen presented with hypertrophic osteoarthropathy, 13 with clubbing of the fingers, 1 with dermatomyositis and 1 with myelemia due to excessive production of bone marrow cells. Twenty-eight patients had metastases which involved the lung in 24. These pulmonary metastases are held responsible for the osteoarticular paraneoplastic syndrome, but in our 4 patients without metastases the syndrome was probably caused by the primary tumour itself.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1985

Breast cancer in women under 30 years of age.

Conflicting opinions exist concerning clinical and pathological presentation, as well as evolution and prognosis, of breast cancer in young women. The roles of associated pregnancy and lactation on these parameters is also unclear. These two conditions are studied in the present work through the comparison of two breast cancer patient age groups: patients under the age of 30 (Group A) and premenopausal patients aged 45-49 (Group B). Rapidly growing and/or inflammatory breast cancer (rapidly progressing breast cancer: RPBC)--a special form of Breast Cancer with a poor prognosis very frequent in the Tunisian breast cancer population--was more often present among Group A patients. This difference is a consequence of the more frequent association of this breast cancer group with pregnancy or lactation; nearly all the cases of breast cancer associated with pregnancy or lactation are RPBC. For breast cancer without the pregnancy/lactation association, the younger group generally shows poorer histological grading and more severe evolution. The number of patients in our study is not really sufficient to allow statistically significant conclusions, but it does seem clear that young age and associated pregnancy/lactation are aggravating factors in Tunisian breast cancer patients.

Adult↗
PubMed1984

Expression of HLA-DR antigens in nasopharyngeal carcinoma: an immunohistological analysis of the tumour cells and infiltrating lymphocytes.

A panel of conventional and monoclonal antibodies was used to examine the immunohistological characteristics of malignant epithelial cells and infiltrating lymphocytes in frozen sections of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) biopsies from 10 Tunisian patients. Three main categories of cells were identified. (1) Tumour cells which were positive for Epstein-Barr nuclear antigen, HLA-ABC and keratin determinants. In most samples, the tumour cells also expressed variable amounts of HLA-DR antigens. The presence of HLA-DR antigens has not been previously reported in NPC and may be a contributory factor in effecting the transfer of Epstein-Barr virus to the epithelial cells. (2) Infiltrating lymphocytes which were mainly composed of T inducer (T4+) and T suppressor/cytotoxic (T8+) cells although one sample contained predominantly immature T cells expressing the HTA-I+ cortical thymocyte phenotype. Few B cells or natural killer cells were demonstrated. (3) Large HTA-I+ dendritic cells which were invariably present within the tumour masses. These were morphologically and phenotypically similar to antigen presenting Langerhans cells which are usually located in the skin but also found in other epithelial sites. These cells may be a residual population from the normal nasopharynx or represent part of a specific immunological response to the presence of Epstein-Barr virus in the epithelial cells.

Adult↗
PubMed1978

Histological types of nasopharyngeal carcinoma in an intermediate risk area.

Between April and December 1974, 485 cases of NPC were seen at the Salah Azaïz Institute in Tunis. A histological study was carried out according to a classification that comprises four types of tumour:well-differentiated squamous-cell carcinoma, poorly-differentiated squamous-cell carcinoma, 'nasopharyngeal' type carcinoma and an anaplastic type. Some correlation between these histological types and clinical, epidemiological, virological and prognostic features was found.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1978

Nasopharyngeal carcinoma in children and adolescents in Tunisia: clinical aspects and the paraneoplastic syndrome.

Of 485 cases of NPC collected from the files of our institute between March 1969 and December 1974, 82 (17%) were in children and adolescents (0--19 years old). This relatively high frequency of NPC in young people was not suggested by reports from high-incidence areas (Southern China, for example) but appears to be a characteristic feature of areas of intermediate incidence (Uganda, Kenya, Sudan, Tunisia). NPC is the tumour that occurs most frequently in young people between 1 and 20 years old in Tunisia, showing a peak in those 16 years of age. The male:female sex ratio was 3:1. Advanced stages of the disease occured frequently; no clinical anomalies were noted in this age group. The 'nasopharyngeal' type of carcinoma was the histological form seen most frequently; poorly-differentiated squamous-cell carcinomas were not uncommon; and well-differentiated squamous-cell carcinomas were not seen in this series. The five-year survival rate was 32.5% for children and only 20% for adults. This can perhaps be explained by the fact that the 'nasopharyngeal' type of tumour has a better prognosis than other histological types, and, compared to adults, younger patients more frequently have distant metastases (37%) than local recurrences (18.5%). A paraneoplastic syndrome, consisting of hypertrophic pulmonary osteoarthropathy with occasional generalized lowering of pituitary function, was seen in 12 of the patients. This syndrome has been described only in children, and no cases were found in our series of adult NPC patients. Epidemiological, clinical and histological aspects suggest that NPC in young people is different from that found in adults.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1977

Clinical and prognostic features of a rapidly progressing breast cancer in Tunisia.

Clinical and radiographic examination of 581 patients with histologically verified breast cancer has permitted us to define a subgroup having a significantly poorer prognosis than other patients. Their condition, called "poussée évolutive" (rapidly progressing), is characterized by rapid tumor growth and/or inflammation adjacent to the tumor. Statistical analysis of the survival of M0 patients (412 of the 581) shows that the diagnosis of "poussée évolutive" provides prognostic information beyond that given by T and N classifications and after delay between initial symptoms and diagnosis have been considered. Six years of clinical experience with this condition are discussed.

Breast Neoplasms↗
PubMed1976

Mediterranean lymphomas with alpha heavy chain monoclonal gammopathy.

Nine cases of Mediterranean lymphoma with alpha heavy chain disease are described. All patients were young, aged between 11 and 22 years. Neither sex predominated in the series. The clinical presentation of the disease was either gastrointestinal, with chronic diarrhea and malabsorption, or neoplastic, with tumors frequently associated with either obstructive or perforative complications. Finger clubbing and retardation of physical growth (height and weight) and secondary sexual maturation were usually evident. The laboratory manifestations of the malabsorption syndrome were scant and generally not specific. The intestinal lesions predominated in the beginning of the small bowel, and their gross appearance varied from one case to another: diffuse thickening of the intestinal wall, alone or associated with tumors, or isolated segmentary tumors. Massive mesenteric lymph node enlargement was present in all cases; in some cases hepatic, splenic, or extra-abdominal lymph node spread was noted. Histologically, these lesions demonstrated a varied cellular morphology, but seemed to belong constantly to the B-lymphocytic line. The secretion and excretion by these cells of an abnormal IgA (devoid of light chains), which was revealed by immunoelectrophorectic study of the patients' sera, was the main biochemical abnormality of the disease. This disease presents several problems: 1) its relationship with other intestinal lymphomas; 2) the nature and the degree of malignancy of the intestinal cellular infiltrates; and 3) its identification as a clinicopathologic entity, with the possibility that infectious and genetic factors are significant in its etiology and pathogenesis.

Abdominal Neoplasms↗