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Can a doctor tell me

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weblow

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Mar 3, 2008
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This was from the New York Times article:


In September, Bell was diagnosed with synovial sarcoma after experiencing headaches during practice and had surgery on Oct. 1 to remove a mass in his brain, the Birmingham News reported. The tumor was malignant and when a mass was spotted on his lung, doctors advised an aggressive chemotherapy treatment.


Synovial sarcoma is a rare form of cancer, according to the National Cancer Institute, that occurs most often in young males and moves slowly so it often is difficult to diagnosis. Symptoms include numbness or soreness in joints, and it is often mistaken for arthritis. When it finally is diagnosed, as in Bell's case, it often requires aggressive treatments.


Read more: http://www.nydailynews.co...rcoma.html#ixzz14XMWoT83
 
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cdog.sixpack

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Dec 15, 2009
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Im an Internist, not an oncologist, but this particular type of cancer is very rare(synovial sarcoma) and can be slow growing and symptoms can be gradual to absent, for months to years. By the time Nick was aware of it, it had already metastisized. As far as his death, it seems as if he developed intracranialbleeding which obviously can be fatal and requires emergent surgery. He likely had small metastatic lesion(s) that caused bleeding or bleeding from his previous large intracranial tumor that had already been discovered and operated on. Here's another website

http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/Sites-Types/synovial
 
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nashvilledawg21

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Apr 30, 2010
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why wasn't the chemotherapy started after his first surgery? And how does something like this develop? hereditary?
 
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cdog.sixpack

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Dec 15, 2009
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mostly dumb luck, but there is thought to be some degree familial/genetic involvement according to the website.
 
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Indndawg

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Nov 16, 2005
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I don't recall any synovial membranes in the skull. Could this have spread to the brain from a synovial surface some where else?
 
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cdog.sixpack

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Dec 15, 2009
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Pure speculation, but I wonder if because of the rarity that that specific type of cancer it was not recognized or tested for. Special stains are required for some types of cancer. Also the prior skin lesion may have had nothing to do with this as was previously mentioned. I hadpreviously read that his tumor was a melanoma which it did not now appear to be. I guess you cant believe everything you read on a message board, crazy.
 
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cdog.sixpack

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Dec 15, 2009
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Well, I know what you're thinking in regards to the synovial membranes of large joints(elbows, knees), but synovium is involved in all tendons. So theoretically anywhere there is muscle attached to bone there can be synovial tissue. From the wesite I linked earlier

"Where does synovial sarcoma develop? </p>

About 50 percent of synovial sarcomas develop in the legs, especially the knees. The second most common location is the arms (2). Less frequently, the disease develops in the trunk, head and neck region, or the abdomen (1, 2). "

It could have started somewhere else I suppose, but not necessarily. This type of sarcoma is rare enough, you may neverhear of it again.</p>
 
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Indndawg

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Nov 16, 2005
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in blacks can happen but its very rare...wonder if the initial diagnoses was correct.
 
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Sawbones

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Aug 10, 2010
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Just an Ortho resident. SS typically is a slow growing soft tissue mass that sometimes can take 2-4 years before diagnosis, and some people have a history of trauma to the area. Occurs in peri-articular regions around knee, shoulder, arm, elbow, foot. It can arise from tendon sheaths, bursa, fascia, and joint capsule, but only rarely involves a joint. Treated with wide resection and radiation as well as chemotherapy. 5-year survival = 50%, 10-year survival = 25%
As far as connection with Melanoma, not aware of a correlation, but not totally sure.
 
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