Bone Cancer Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Bone Cancer, including details on symptoms, types, treatment.

Primary intraspinal primitive neuroectodermal tumor treated with autologous stem cell transplantation: case report and review of the literature.

Nutman A, Postovsky S, Zaidman I, Elhasid R, Vlodavsky E, Kreiss Y, Ben Arush MW

Israel Defense Forces, Medical Corps, Haifa, Israel.

The authors describe the case of a 19-year-old female patient with a primary primitive neuroectodermal tumor (PNET) of the thoraco-lumbar spinal cord, who presented with acute urinary retention and back pain for 2 months. Magnetic resonance imaging revealed an intradural extramedullary tumor, 6.5 cm long, in the region of the conus medullaris. Histological examination disclosed a small round cell tumor with immunohistochemical characteristics of a peripheral PNET. Metastatic workup showed no evidence of an intracranial tumor or metastases outside the neuroaxis. The patient received multidisciplinary treatment, including surgical excision, irradiation of the entire cranio-spinal axis, and high-dose chemotherapy with autologous stem cell rescue. Presently, 24 months after diagnosis, the patient remains in complete remission.

Published 28 November 2006 in Pediatr Hematol Oncol, 24(1): 53-61.
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