DPYD, TYMS and MTHFR Genes Polymorphism Frequencies in a Series of Turkish Colorectal Cancer Patients.

To access publisher's full text version of this article, please click on the hyperlink in Additional Links field or click on the hyperlink at the top of the page marked DownloadFluoropyrimidine-based chemotherapy is extensively used for the treatment of solid cancers, including colorectal cancer. However, fluoropyrimidine-driven toxicities are a major problem in the management of the disease. The grade and type of the toxicities depend on demographic factors, but substantial inter-individual variation in fluoropyrimidine-related toxicity is partly explained by genetic factors. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect ofDokuz Eylul University Research Foundatio

Targeted Therapy in non-Small Cell Lung Cancer

Recently the medical treatment of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) has changed from the conventional therapy to targeted therapy since the introduction of targeted agents. To date four targeted therapies (gefitinib, erlotinib, cetuximab and bevacizumab) have been investigated in randomised trials in the treatment of advanced stage NSCLC. The clinical response rates obtained with the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) tyrosine kinase (TK) inhibitors, such as gefitinib and eflotinib, in unselected patient populations only account for approximately 10%. So that, numerous trials have been performed in order to identify the patient subpopulations that could better benefit from these agents, and higher response and survival rates have been reported in these patient subsets either as first-line or seeond-line treatment. In another randomised trial, it has been demonstrated a survival benefit of cetuximab, an EGFR-targeted monoclonal antibody, in combination with cisplatin/vinorelbine in advanced first-line NSCLC irrespective of histology. In two randomised phase III trial bevacizumab, an anti-angiogenic agent, has been shown to significantly prolong progression free survival and overall survival when added to carboplatin/paclitaxel while this advantage has been limited to progression free survival when added to cisplatin/gemcitabine as the first-line treatment. The combining of two targeted therapies, such as EGFR-TKI and bevacizumab, has been attractive in specific patient populations in recent years

Oral Amoxicillin/Clavulanate and Ciprofloxacin Treatment in Low-Risk Febrile Neutropenic Patients with Solid Tumors

Objective: The aim of this study was to collect the data of low-risk febrile neutropenic patients with solid tumors orally treated with amoxicillin/clavulanate and ciprofloxacin. Material and Methods: Adult patients with solid tumors who were treated with conventional dose of chemotherapy, presented with fever (axillary temperature 38 degrees C on two occasions or 38.3 degrees C on a single occasion) and neutropenia (absolute neutrophil count, 500 cells/mL), and met low risk criteria (above 20) according to "The Multinational Association for Supportive Care in Cancer" (MASCC) were eligible for this study. All patients received empirical therapy with oral ciprofloxacin (500 mg twice daily) plus amoxicillin/clavulanate (1000 mg, three times daily). Results: Twenty-one episodes of febrile neutropenia in 20 patients (including two episodes of a patient with lung cancer) were studied retrospectively. The mean age was 55.5 years (range, 30 to 77 years), and most were females (70%). On the initial evaluation, two of these patients had mild diarrhea and the others had a fever of unknown origin. Treatment was successful in 76% of the episodes. Twenty-seven percent of episodes required modification of initial antibiotic therapy to intravenous administration of antibiotics. No death was observed due to the febrile neutropenic episode. Conclusion: In low-risk patients with solid tumors who have fever and granulocytopenia, oral therapy with ciprofloxacin plus amoxicillin/clavulanate seems to be an effective alternative approach for empirical therapy

Retesting the psychometric characteristics of the European cancer research and treatment organization’s quality of life questionnaire palliative care 15 Turkish version (EQRTC QLQ C15-PAL) and evaluating the influencing factors

Purpose: The study aimed to retest the reliability and validity of the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer-Core Quality of Life-15 Items Questionnaire for Palliative Care (EQRTC QLQ-C15-PAL) for the Turkish society and examine the influencing factors. Methods: The study was conducted in cancer patients who applied palliative treatment in the Dokuz Eylul University Oncology Institute Medical Oncology Division between May of 2014 and January of 2015. The demographic data collection form, performance status, and the EQRTC QLQ-C15-PAL scale were employed in order to gather data. Results: A total of 164 patients completed the study. The total Cronbach's alpha value for the scale was 0.794. The mean scores including the overall questionnaire, and subscales, which were calculated after two measurements conducted at an interval of three weeks, presented a statistically significant difference (p < 0.01). Patients with higher and lower ECOG scores had significant differences in terms of total QLQ-C15-PAL questionnaire scores as well as its subscales of physical, emotional functioning (PF, EF), and fatigue (FA) (p < 0.05). The statistically significant differences between patients' ECOG scores and QLQ-C15-PAL total score, and PF, EF, FA, and pain (PA) scores were 0.375, 0.439, 0.245, and 0.221, respectively (p < 0.001). The QLQ-C15-PAL questionnaire is able to measure 94.0% of the factors measured by the QLQ-C30-PAL. The variables included in the model affected the patients' quality of life to the extent of 44.0%. Conclusion: It has been shown that the scale is a valid/reliable instrument to detect the quality of life of Turkish cancer patients. Keywords: Cancer, Palliative care, Quality of lif

The factors that have an impact on the development of brain metastasis in the patients with breast cancer

Background: To evaluate the factors that have an impact on the development of brain metastasis in patients with breast cancer. Materials and Methods: Among the patients who were followed-up and treated for breast cancer between January 2000 and January 2010, the ones with brain metastasis were included to the analysis. Metastatic breast cancer patients without brain metastasis, which had similar duration of follow-up and median age were included as the control group. Both group were compared for prognostic and predictive factors in terms of relationship between with or without brain metastasis and survival. Results: There were a total of 63 female patients with metastatic breast cancer who had brain metastasis and the researchers enrolled the same number of female patients as the control group. In the univariate analysis, as a significant finding, it was found that, the patients with breast cancer who had brain metastasis had vascular invasion positivity, human epidermal growth factor receptor-2 (HER-2) positivity, a rare detection of invasive lobular carcinoma component in the tumor, estrogen receptor negativity, and no bone and liver metastasis and they did not receive chemotherapy due to several reasons after the detection of metastasis in any organ. In the multivariate analysis, HER-2 positivity, no bone and liver metastasis and not receiving chemotherapy due to several reasons after the detection of metastasis in any organ were detected as significant findings. Conclusions: As the prognostic and predictive factors showing the development of brain metastasis in breast cancer patients may be identified, follow-up also including the brain is important in order to take preventive measures