Role of ABCB1 and ABCC1 Gene Induction on Survival in Locally Advanced Breast Cancer

Drug resistance to chemotherapy in patients with locally advanced breast cancer results in a decrease in treatment efficacy and in patient survival. This study aimed to evaluate the impact of ABCB1 and ABCC1 gene induction during chemotherapy on disease-free and overall survival of breast cancer patients

Mill of non-neoplastic cranial complications of malignant disorders

Fitoz, Suat/0000-0002-0180-0013WOS: 000256501400001PubMed: 18553277PURPOSE To depict the well-known and atypical magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) findings of non-neoplastic central nervous system (CNS) complications of extra-CNS tumors and portray additional information from advanced techniques, such as diffusion and perfusion MRI. MATERIALS AND METHODS MRI scans of 92 patients were retrospectively evaluated based on the non-neoplastic effects induced by treatment or the remote effects of the tumor itself. Patients with brain metastases and/or patients who had whole brain radiation therapy were excluded so as not to take the primary radiation effects into consideration. RESULTS Sixteen patients (9 females and 7 males; age range, 11-68 years; median age, 45 years) had positive findings other than brain metastases. Six patients had posterior reversible encephalopathies, 3 patients had chemotherapy toxicity to the white matter, and 2 patients had acute strokes involving the posterior fossa and bilateral anterior circulation territory. Three patients had bilateral radionecrosis of the temporal lobe due to radiotherapy given for the vicinal tumor (nasopharyngeal carcinoma). One patient had encephalitis in the bitemporal region and one patient had cerebellar degeneration, each of whom had a paraneoplastic syndrome. CONCLUSION One of the major and noteworthy complications of malignancies directly affecting survival is brain metastasis, but non-neoplastic complications are infrequently encountered and are thus underestimated, either due to the absence of a true diagnosis or the lack of information pertaining to the clinical outcome. It is important for the radiologist to recognize these effects so as to help the clinician develop an optimal treatment strategy and avoid irreversible complications

Comparison of Analgesic Effects Induced by Different Strengths of Extremely Low-Frequency Electromagnetic Fields

WOS: 000439206700006Objective: Our aim was to compare the results of the most commonly used analgesic measurement techniques and to determine the time and intensity at which the analgesic effects of the magnetic field (MF) are most effective. Methods: This study compared the analgesic effect of MF strengths (1, 5, and 10 mT) in 30 adults, male Wistar albino rats weighing 200-250 g. The analgesic effects were measured using tail-flick (TF) and hot-plate (HP) tests. To determine the optimum MF strength, rats were assigned into four groups: sham group and exposed to 1, 5, and 10 mT MF groups. Rats were placed in a solenoid, and MF of 50 Hz for 165 min was administered daily for 15 days. All four groups were kept in the solenoid for 165 min/15 days and exposed to MF. However, the analgesic effect was measured only on day 0, 4, 7, 11, and 15 using TF and HP tests. The latencies of analgesia were converted to a percentage of maximal antinociceptive effects (% MPE). Results: When the maximum analgesic effect of the 5 mT MF was determined on the seventh day, the% MPEs were 5.37 +/- 0.51, 13.66 +/- 1.27, 25.89 +/- 3.00, and 25.37 +/- 2.41 in the sham, 1 mT, 5 mT, and 10 mT groups, respectively. The optimum effect was observed with 5 mT MF on the seventh day and with 90 min in the solenoid. Conclusion: We didn't find any differences between the analgesic responses to the TF and HP tests.Cumhuriyet University Scientific Research Project (CUBAP, Turkey)Cumhuriyet University [T-652]This study was funded by Cumhuriyet University Scientific Research Project (T-652, CUBAP, Turkey)

Is there any prognostic significance in pleural involvement and/or effusion in patients with ALK-positive NSCLC?

PurposeAnaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) mutations occurs in approximately 3-5% of patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Pleural involvement/effusion is common in ALK-positive patients with NSCLC at baseline. The aim of the study was to evaluate the characteristics of ALK-positive patients who have Ple-I/E.MethodsIn this multicenter study, patients with ALK-positive NSCLC who have Ple-I/E were retrospectively analyzed. Clinical and demographic characteristics of the disease, response rates, median progression-free survival (PFS), and overall survival (OS) were evaluated in 362 ALK-positive patients with NSCLC.ResultsOf the patients, 198 (54.7%) were male. The median age at the time of diagnosis was 54 (range 21-85) years. All patients' histology was adenocarcinoma (100%). At baseline, 57 (15.7%) patients had Ple-I/E. There was no association between Ple-I/E and gender, lung metastasis, or distant lymphadenopathy (LAP) metastasis. The frequencies of liver, brain, and bone metastases were significantly higher in ALK-positive patients without Ple-I/E compared to those with Ple-I/E (respectively 18.2% vs 4.8%, p = 0.008; 19.1% vs 4.8%, p = 0.001; 20.6% vs 8.9%, p = 0.002). The median PFS was longer in ALK-positive patients who had Ple-I/E (18.7 vs 10.6 months, p = 0.017). Similarly, the median OS was longer in ALK-positive patients who had Ple-I/E (44.6 vs 22.6 months, p = 0.051).ConclusionBrain, liver, and bone metastases were lower in ALK-positive patients with Ple-I/E. Patients presented with Ple-I/E were prone to have better PFS and OS

ABO blood group and the risk of breast cancer: Multicenter, case-control, observational study

1572 Background: The role of genetic factors in the development of cancer is widely accepted. ABO blood type is an inherited characteristic and previous studies have observed an association between ABO blood group and risk of certain malignancies, including pancreatic and gastric cancer. The data on the role of ABO blood group and Rh factor in breast cancer is inconclusive. Methods: All patients who had breast cancer (BC) and treated between 2000-2010 at the Departments of Medical Oncology of both Ankara and Hacettepe Universities (Ankara, Turkey) with defined ABO blood type and Rh factor were included in our retrospective reviews of tumor registry records. A group of volunteer healthy women donors of Turkish Red Crescent between 2004-2011 were identified as a control group, without any matching factors. The relationship of ABO blood types and Rh factor with various prognostic factors such as age at diagnosis, menopausal status, family history of breast cancer, and ER/PR/HER2 status were evaluated from 1740 BC patients. We compared the distributions of ABO blood types, Rh factors among 1740 patients and 204,553 healthy controls. Among BC patients, differences between each of aforementioned ABO blood groups and Rh factors with respect to various prognostic factors were explored, respectively. Results: Overall distributions of ABO blood groups as well as Rh factor were comparable between patients (44% A, 8% AB, 16% B, 32% O, 88% Rh+) and controls (41% A, 8% AB, 16% B, 35% O, 87% Rh+). However, there were statistically significant differences between patients and controls with respect to A vs. nonA (p=0.019) and marginal significance (p=0.051) for O vs. nonO. Among patients, there were statistically significant differences between A and nonA with respect to HER2 (p=0.0421), M stage (p=0.0447), T stage (p=0.0020). Only T stage (p=0.0337) were significantly different between O vs nonO. Grade (p=0.0227) and M stage (p=0.0107) were significantly different between Rh factors. Conclusions: In our study sample, ABO blood type was statistically significantly associated with breast cancer. Additional studies are necessary to determine the mechanisms by which ABO blood type may influence the risk of breast cancer

An unexpected cause of hyponatremia in a cancer patient: Trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole

Background: Hyponatremia is one of the most common electrolyte abnormalities seen in hospitalized patients. In cancer patients, it's generally related to syndrome of inappropriate ADH secretion (SIADH). Case Report: Here, we report a breast cancer patient with hyponatremia related to high dose trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole use for pneumonitis cariini pneumonia. Conclusion: It is important to be aware that all hyponatremias are not related to SIADH in cancer patients. For proper treatment strategies, a proper differential diagnosis is needed