Sebaceous carcinoma of the skin of the breast: a case report

Ahmed Alzaraa*1, Imran Ghafoor1, Andrew Yates2 and Alhad Dhebri1

Abstract

Introduction: Sebaceous gland tumours are rare and their presence should be considered as a
marker for Muir-Torre Syndrome, alerting to search for an occult malignancy.
Case presentation: A 43-year-old Caucasian female patient underwent excision of a sebaceous cyst. Histopathology confirmed a sebaceous carcinoma. Further investigations revealed multiple intra-abdominal malignancies. She has been under regular follow-up in the relevant clinics.
Conclusion: Sebaceous carcinoma should be excised completely and followed-up for the
detection of possible metastases. Surgical removal of primary or metastatic cancers may be curative and should be attempted wherever possible. It is very important for clinicians not to miss such skin lesions as they may precede the presentation of internal malignancies.

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Ahmed Alzaraa, Aleksandar Vodovnik3, Hugh Montgomery,Mohammed Saeed and Narinder Sharma

Abstract
Background: Metastases to the breast from extramammary tumours are uncommon, and
metastatic renal cell carcinoma to the breast is extremely rare. We report a metastasis to the
breast from a renal primary with the radiological and histopathological features.
Case presentation: An 81-year-old lady was seen in the breast clinic for a right breast mass after sustaining a fall. Clinical examination and investigations revealed a metastatic cancer from a renal primary. She received surgical treatment only and is under regular follow-up in the oncology clinic.
Conclusion: The treatment strategy for metastatic breast diseases is based on a proper
assessment of such cases by surgeons, radiologists and histopathologists

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richilemmoma in continuity with pigmented basal cell carcinoma; with dermatoscopy and dermatopathology

Moayad Al Kaptan, Joseph Kattampallil, Cliff Rosendahl

A case of trichilemmoma in continuity with a pigmented basal cell carcinoma is presented with dermatoscopy and dermatopathology. The distinction between the two lesions was evident dermatoscopically and was confirmed dermatopathologically. While trichilemmoma has been reported in association with basal cell carcinoma and dermatoscopy images of four previous cases of trichilemmoma have been published, no previous dermatoscopy image has been published of trichilemmoma associated with basal cell carcinoma.

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Ahmed Alzaraa, MRCS,* George D.H. Thomas, MD,† Alexander Vodovnik,MD,† Vijay K Modgill,FRCS

Abstract: Merkel cell carcinoma is a rare skin neoplasm and has not been reported yet in a male breast. We present a case of 74-year-old patient who was referred to the breast clinic with a lump in his right breast, which led first to the core biopsy followed by radical mastectomy and axillary clearance. The clinical characteristics, gross, microscopic and immunohistochemical
findings and management of this lesion are discussed. Surgical excision remains the main option for treating this lesion including prophylactic lymphadenectomy and local radiotherapy

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Training needs of clinical research associates

ABSTRACT

Clinical research is a relatively new field in our country that has seen very rapid growth in the last few years. Availability of personnel appropriately trained to the specific requirements of the role they will perform in clinical research is critical for capacity expansion. Our study attempts to understand the specific areas of knowledge and skills that are important for the role of a clinical research associate. The survey was conducted among clinical research professionals from industry and academia who had more than five years of clinical research experience and held important decision making positions in clinical research (stakeholders). The survey questionnaire was designed as a matrix of various clinical research roles on the y-axis and six knowledge modules and eight skills on the x-axis. Respondents were asked to rate the importance of the knowledge /skills to the role of clinical research associates on a three point scale. In discussing results, a significant response was considered to be 50% or greater positive response from the total group. The significant findings were that general, ethics and clinical trial execution modules were rated as critical for the role of clinical research associate. Regulatory module was rated as important for the role. The other significant responses were that three of the sub-topics in the methodology module – framing a research proposal/protocol and experimental design, designing case report forms and EDCs and conducting PK studies – were rated as important and one sub topic in the data management and statistics module was rated as not important. All the skills except leadership skills were rated as critical for the role. The findings of our survey were in general on the lines of expectations of performance of the role. The general, ethics and clinical trial execution modules are critical knowledge areas for the role of a clinical research associate. No clear trends emerged for some of the other modules. Leadership skills were not rated as critical to the role. This kind of a survey gives a good direction when training curriculum has to be designed for specific roles in clinical research. However, there is a need to expand the sample size to fine-tune the knowledge and skills areas.

Keywords: Clinical research associates, clinical research training, modules, performance, roles, topics

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Top Cancer-Fighting Foods

Approximately one-third of all cancers are directly related to diet. To help prevent cancer, try making some of these foods that fight cancer a regular part of your diet.

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