Pentoxifylline, also known as oxpentifylline, is a xanthine derivative used as a drug to treat muscle pain in people with peripheral artery disease. It is generic and sold under many brand names worldwide. Medical uses
Its primary use in medicine is to reduce pain, cramping, numbness, or weakness in the arms or legs which occurs due to intermittent claudication, a form of muscle pain resulting from peripheral artery diseases. This is its only FDA, MHRA and TGA-labelled indication. However, pentoxifylline is also recommended for off-label use as an adjunct to compression bandaging for the treatment of chronic venous leg ulcers by the Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network (SIGN)  as this has been shown to improve healing rates.Pentoxifylline has been tested for use in sarcoidosis patients as an alternative or compliment to prednisone and other steroids, as the drug can inhibit excess levels of TNF-a, which is associated with granuloma formation.Pentoxifylline has also been used to treat immunologic reactions to leprosy with some success.Pentoxifylline has also been shown to be of benefit in alcoholic hepatitis, with some studies demonstrating a reduction in risk of hepatorenal syndrome.Pentoxifylline has been used to improve sperm quality and motility for in vitro fertilization and as safe oral drug in the treatment of male infertility and erectile dysfunctionAn interesting off-label indication of pentoxifylline is the supportive treatment of distal diabetic neuropathy, where it can be added, for example, to thioctic acid or gabapentin.
Solitary fibrous tumor (SFT), also known as fibrous tumor of the pleura, is a rare mesenchymal tumor originating in the pleura or at virtually any site in the soft tissue including seminal vesicle. Approximately 78% to 88% of SFTs are benign and 12% to 22% are malignant. The World Health Organization (2020) classified SET as specific type of tumor in the category of malignant fibroblastic and myofibroblastic tumors. Signs and symptoms
About 80% of pleural SFTs originate in the visceral pleura, while 20% arise from parietal pleura. Although they are often very large tumors (up to 40 cm. in diameter), over half are asymptomatic at diagnosis. While some researchers have proposed that a SFT occupying at least 40% of the affected hemithorax be considered a "giant solitary fibrous tumor", no such "giant" variant has yet been recognized within the most widely used pleural tumor classification scheme.Some SFTs are associated with the paraneoplastic Doege–Potter syndrome, which is caused by tumor production of IGF-2. Pathophysiology
Recurrent somatic fusions of the two genes, NGFI-A–binding protein 2 (NAB2) and STAT6, located at chromosomal region 12q13, have been identified in solitary fibrous tumors. Treatment
The treatment of choice for both benign and malignant SFT is complete en bloc surgical resection. Prognosis
Prognosis in benign SFTs is excellent. About 8% will recur after first resection, with the recurrence usually cured after additional surgery.The prognosis in malignant SFTs is much more guarded. Approximately 63% of patients will have a recurrence of their tumor, of which more than half will succumb to disease progression within 2 years.