Cancer patient etiology

Around 20,000 cancer patients experience spinal cord compression in the United States every year, most of which involves the thoracic spine (approximately 70%). Cancers that inherently metastasize to bone (e.g., breast, prostate, and lung) are the most frequent etiologies identified. Most spinal cord compression occurs in patients with a known malignancy however, 8% to 34% occurs as the initial presentation of cancer, especially in patients with non-Hodgkins lymphoma, multiple myeloma, and lung cancer.17... 

A variety of other common etiologies have been proposed for the development of nausea and vomiting in cancer patients. These are presented in Table 27-3. 

Nonchemotherapy Etiologies of Nausea and Vomiting in Cancer Patients... 

The most important etiologic factor of penile cancer is the presence of an intact foreskin. Penile cancer is rarely seen in circumcised individuals (Daling et al. 2005). A history of phimosis (i.e., narrowness of the opening of the prepuce) is found in approximately 25% of penile cancer patients. Phimosis (Fig. 13.1) is strongly associated with invasive carcinoma of the penis (Tsen et al. 2001). Precancerous lesions are found in an additional 15% to 20% of patients (Maiche 1992). 

So in patients with cancer, further evaluation with MR for exact determination of the etiology of such lesions may be pivotal for defining prognosis and therapy (Ward et al. 1999). A delay in diagnosis and treatment should particularly avoided in colorectal cancer patients with small lesions, who would be candidates for liver surgery (Fig. 19.14). 

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