TURKISH JOURNAL OF ONCOLOGY 2011 , Vol 26 , Num 3
Patients with leptomeningeal metastases: case reports
Yasemin BENDERLİ CİHAN
Kayseri Eğitim ve Araştırma Hastanesi, Radyasyon Onkolojisi Bölümü, Kayseri Leptomeningeal metastasis (LM) is characterized by invasion of the leptomeninges and subarachnoid space by neoplastic cells. Although brain metastases are seen in 20-40% of systemic cancer patients, leptomeningeal infiltration is rare and interesting. LM occurs in approximately 5-11% of patients with solid tumors. Most of these tumors originate from breast, lung, and prostate cancer, melanoma, lymphoma, and leukemia. Magnetic resonance imaging may be diagnostic when subarachnoid nodules can be demonstrated in the head or spine. The diagnosis is most commonly made by the cerebrospinal fluid cytology. Treatment of LM is currently palliative for most patients. Median survive is 4-6 months. In this paper, we discuss four cases with LM sourced from lymphoma and breast and prostate cancer, and we review the related literature. Keywords : Lymphoma; leptomeningeal metastases; breast cancer; prostate cancer