Spontaneous Regression Of A Case Of Myosarcoma
Cancer 6(4): July 1953; 776-779
View Original Source →Abstract
A case of spontaneous regression of a myosarcoma of the lower end of the thigh in a 2-monthold white male child is presented. The patient is alive, with no evidence of tumour, five and a half years after biopsy. No treatment of any type was used. It is doubted if the biopsy, which was small and superficial, would have produced sufficient interference with the blood supply to have caused regression of the tumour. From the mother’s observation, no change in the size of the tumour was noted until three months after the biopsy, and then, in the next four months, the tumour gradually decreased in size and disappeared. Five years later, no evidence of tumour remains, and the absorption of bone seen at the lower end of the femur has disappeared, the bone now being normal.
Case Details
Personal Characteristics
2-monthold white male child
Clinical Characteristics
A tumour located on the lateral surface of the left thigh, just above the knee joint. A swelling of the left sternomastoid muscle. The tumour was firm and measured 5 centimeters in diameter. The mass was fixed to surrounding tissue; the overlying skin was intact. Roentgenograms of the left thigh showed a crescentic defect involving the lateral condyle and part of the shaft of the distal end of the femur. There appears to be a soft tissue tumour in the lower aspect of the thigh.
Remission Characteristics
No change in the size of the tumour was noted until three months after the biopsy, and then, in the next four months, the tumour gradually decreased in size and disappeared. Five years later, no evidence of tumour remains, and the absorption of bone seen at the lower end of the femur has disappeared, the bone now being normal.
Treatment & Mechanisms
Proposed Remission Mechanisms
Not discussed
Clinical Treatment
A biopsy of the tumour was performed. No further treatment was given.
Non-Clinical Treatment
No form of local or internal medicine was ever used. The child’s diet was well-balanced with no irregularity.
Additional Notes
The diagnosis of sarcoma was confirmed by Fred W. Stewart and Frank W. Foot, Jr., Memorial Hospital, New York City. Late in 1951, the Manitoba Cancer Institute Follow-up Service, after having “lost” the case for a number of years, finally managed to contact the mother and found that the child was alive and well.