In the first minutes of June 23, 1998, José Luiz da Costa, Leandro of the country duo Leandro & Leonardo, died. At the time, the singer's death, after 65 days of fighting cancer, generated national attention. Askin's tumor, which caused Leandro's death, is very rare in children and even more so in adults.
In the case of children, there is a cure statistic of 30% to 40%. But, due to the lack of medical examples, these results cannot be transferred to adults.
According to Hospital Israelita Albert Einstein, this cancer is usually demonstrated by extra-pulmonary masses or without rib destruction, often associated with pleural effusion.
On CT scan, a mass on the intrathoracic extension wall is observed, and the lesion is generally heterogeneous, due to hemorrhage and necrosis.
Causes of Askin's Tumor
According to a report in the newspaper Folha de S. Paulo, Askin is a tumor of primitive neuroectodermal cells, which does not mean that it is congenital, as had been stated by Leandro's medical team when his illness was announced.
They are present in every human being and give rise to nerve cells in embryonic development. They are peripheral nervous system cells.
It happens that, at a certain point in some people's lives, these cells begin to reproduce and even generate a tumor.
The phenomenon is probably due to some external cause, which could be smoking, a virus, pesticide contact or radiation, but nothing has been proven. At the time of Leandro's death, his smoking habit was thought to be the cause of the disease and also his exposure to pesticides at the time he worked on tomato plantations in Goiás.
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Askin's Cancer Treatment
Askin's cancer is a primitive peripheral neuroectodermal tumor (PPNET). This type of tumor requires eradication at the primary site, surgery, and radiotherapy.
In metastatic or micrometastatic sites, chemotherapy is used. Almost all patients have micrometastatic disease (which cannot be detected by standard methods) at diagnosis. Therefore, they need chemotherapy followed by surgery for removal or individualized radiotherapy.
The best form of local control has not yet been established: surgery or radiotherapy. In order to obtain a satisfactory result, a rational combination of treatment modalities is necessary.
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