The effect of angiogenesis inhibitor TNP-470 on the blood vessels of the lungs, kidneys and livers of treated hamsters

The growth of solid tumours and their metastases is dependent on the development of new blood vessels (angiogenesis). Therefore angiogenesis inhibitors are potential antitumour drugs. In our previous studies it was found that the angiogenesis inhibitor TNP-470 given to transplantable melanoma-bearing hamsters can decrease the rate of the tumour growth, although the survival time of the animals treated was not significantly affected. It was found finally that TNP-470 given in the vicinity of the growing tumour can cause complete remission of the melanoma in hamsters treated in this way. To check what side-effects could be evoked by such treatment, an examination of the morphology of the blood vessels of the lungs, kidneys and livers of the treated animals was carried out. It was found that the angiogenesis inhibitor applied did not cause any changes which could be observed by light and electron microscopes in the structure of the examined blood vessels of the treated animals

Characteristics of patients with newly diagnosed hematological malignancies referred for echocardiography

ObjectiveThe importance of cardio-hemato-oncology programs is increasing. The main aim of the study was to identify all coexisting cardiovascular disorders in patients with new hematological malignancies referred for echocardiography during baseline evaluation before anticancer therapy.Material and methodsThe study was based on 900 echocardiographic examinations performed within 12 months at the Institute of Hematology and Transfusion Medicine in Poland: 669 tests (74.3%) were dedicated to hemato-oncology patients at the different stages of cancer therapy, however almost a third of the tests (277, 30.8%) were part of a baseline evaluation before starting first line anticancer therapy due to newly diagnosed hematological malignancies.ResultsThe group of 277 patients with new hematological malignancies (138 women, 49.82%) with a median age of 66 years (interquartile range: 53-72 years) was included in the main analyses. The three most frequent new histopathological diagnoses were: non-Hodgkin lymphoma (63 cases; 22.74%), acute myeloid leukaemia (47 cases; 16.97%), and multiple myeloma (45 cases; 16.25%). The three most common clinical cardiology disorders were arterial hypertension (in 133 patients, 48.01%), arrhythmias (48 patients, 17.33%), and heart failure (39 patients, 14.08%). Among 48 patients with arrhythmias there were 22 cases with atrial fibrillation. The most frequently detected echocardiographic abnormality was Left Atrial Volume Index >34 ml/m2 which was present in 108 of 277 patients (38.99%) and associated with a significantly greater chance of concomitant diagnosis of arrhythmias (OR=1.98; p=0.048) especially atrial fibrillation (OR=3.39; p=0.025). The second most common echocardiographic finding was diastolic dysfunction 2nd or 3rd degree revealed in 43 patients (15.52%) and associated with a greater chance of simultaneous diagnosis of heart failure (OR=8.32; p<0.0001) or arrhythmias (OR=4.44; p<0.0001) including atrial fibrillation (OR=5.40; p=0.0003).ConclusionsIn patients with newly diagnosed hematological malignancies left ventricular diastolic dysfunction is a common abnormality in echocardiography and may determine diagnoses of heart failure or arrhythmias

The Middle Stone Age in the Eastern Desert. EDAR 135 — a buried early MIS 5 horizon from Sudan

Middle Stone Age (MSA) lithic artefacts coming from dated layers preserved in their original stratigraphic position are still rare in Northeast Africa in general and in Sudan in particular. This paper aims to present the results of technological and functional analyses of an assemblage coming from a stratigraphic context, i.e. the upper level of the EDAR (Eastern Desert – Atbara River) 135 site, discovered in an abandoned gold mining pit in the Sudanese Eastern Desert, approximately 70 km east of the town of Atbara. The assemblage, which is based on locally available quartz and rhyolite, comes from a layer bracketed by OSL dates of 116 ± 13 and 125 ± 11 kya. Such dating places it within Marine Isotope Stage 5e–5d. Analysis of the assemblage revealed several characteristics that seem to set it apart from other MSA Northeast African inventories. Among these, the dominance of simple, non-predetermined core reduction strategies and expedient tool types, coupled with the lack of traces of Nubian Levallois technique, are the most conspicuous. Micro-traces of use on animal and plant matter were preserved on some of the tools. EDAR 135 is part of a newly discovered complex of sites that confirms the presence of Middle and Late Pleistocene hominins along one of the possible routes out of Africa towards Eurasia.publishedVersio

A practical approach to the ESC 2022 cardio-oncology guidelines. Comments by a team of experts: cardiologists and oncologists

The 2022 European Society of Cardiology (ESC) guidelines [1] are a comprehensive document, prepared jointly by experts in cardiology and oncology. In the case of an oncological patient, it is necessary to individualize care in relation to the cardiological condition, the stage of the cancer and the type of potential anti-cancer therapy. Cardiac care optimisation should be undertaken before the start of oncological therapy, and continued during oncological therapy, as well as long-term after its completion [2]. The published ESC Guidelines were supplemented with a practical comments of a team of polish cardiology and oncology experts

Sercowo‑płucne testy wysiłkowe w kardiologii dorosłych

Sercowo‑płucny test wysiłkowy (cardiopulmonary exercise testing – CPET) to ważne badanie wykorzystywane nie tylko w celach naukowych, ale również w codziennej praktyce klinicznej. Jest to elektrokardiograficzny test wysiłkowy rozszerzony o wysiłkową ocenę parametrów wentylacyjnych i wymiany gazowej. Badanie to, poprzez bezpośredni pomiar poboru tlenu, pozwala na dokładniejszą ocenę wydolności fizycznej niż elektrokardiograficzny test wysiłkowy. Umożliwia nie tylko diagnostykę przyczyn ograniczonej tolerancji wysiłku, ale również ocenę skuteczności stosowanego leczenia, w tym planowanie i ocenę efektów rehabilitacji kardiologicznej. Niniejszy dokument stanowi skróconą wersję stanowiska ekspertów Sekcji Rehabilitacji Kardiologicznej i Fizjologii Wysiłku Polskiego Towarzystwa Kardiologicznego (SRK i FW PTK) dotyczącego wykonywania i interpretacji wyników CPET u dorosłych. Omówiono w nim wskazania oraz podstawowe parametry wentylacyjne i wymiany gazowej wraz z ich interpretacją, a także zastosowanie CPET w różnych sytuacjach klinicznych: w różnicowaniu przyczyn duszności wysiłkowej, w niewydolności serca, wadach wrodzonych, kardiomiopatii przerostowej, nadciśnieniu płucnym, chorobie wieńcowej, u chorych z urządzeniami wszczepialnymi, w pulmonologii, onkologii, ocenie okołooperacyjnej, rehabilitacji kardiologicznej i sporcie. Oddzielny rozdział poświęcono perspektywom wykorzystania CPET w połączeniu z echokardiografią wysiłkową