Prevention, diagnosis and treatment of tumor lysis syndrome

Tumor lysis syndrome (TLS) is an acute, life-threatening condition that occurs either spontaneously or as a complication of cytoreductive antitumor therapy, and occurs in both children and adults. As a result of TLS, intracellular components are released into the extracellular space, leading to dysregulation of the body's homeostasis due to the accumulation of uric acid, phosphate and potassium ions, and hypocalcemia, which may lead to cardiac arrhythmias, convulsions, or kidney failure

Comparative analysis of university and high school students’ attitudes towards the idea of organ donation from deceased patients

The transplantology is a branch of medicine, which has recently developed significantly. Nevertheless, despite a constant need for organs for transplantations, there is still no increase in supply for them. According to the Polish data, in 2018, only 629 new potential organ donors were registered in total and only 500 of them became so-called real donors. This data should provoque programmes to be created which would raise awareness of this problem. In the article, the results of the survey concerning university and high school students’ attitudes towards this issue were contained. As it turns out, not only young society’s attitude, but also its awareness of the organ transplantations should be taken care of

Mechanisms of drug resistance in ovarian cancer

Ovarian cancer is the fifth most common cancer affecting women and the most lethal cancer among the gynecological cancers. Because of the lack of specific symptoms and no special screening tools, it is recognised in an advanced stage. In addition, drug resistance in ovarian cancer is so frequent, that genes and cross-talks between some important pathways are still analysed. In this review, the major and recently identified molecular mechanisms of drug resistance, including platinum, taxane, bevacizumab and PARPi resistance mechanisms in ovarian cancer from relevant literature have been investigated

Effects of growth hormone-replacement therapy in patients with Prader-Willi syndrome - review of recent clinical trials

Introduction and objective: Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS) is a severe genetic disorder being manifested by several symptoms such as infantile hypotonia and poor thriving outcomes, low height, hyperphagia, endocrine, reproductive and internal malfunctions and malformations. In the disease treatment, growth hormone (GH)-replacement therapy is commonly carried on. In this article, we sum up the latest clinical trials’ results concerning the effectiveness and safety of GH-replacement therapy.Abbreviated description of the state of knowledge: Taking into consideration six clinical trials performed in the years 2019-2020, most of them showed positive results of GH-replacement therapy in PWS patients, not only in case of better motor skills or body composition, but also concerning their social and adaptive functioning. Moreover, as for the cessation of GH treatment, some authors seem to highlight no deterioration in cognitive functioning in patients who attained adult height after GH-treatment.Summary: GH-replacement therapy seems to be a good therapeutic option for PWS-affected individuals. Nonetheless, in our research we did not come across on any clinical trials with more than one-year-long observations. Thus, on the long term, these results can not exclude a gradual deterioration of cognitive functioning

An impact of selected micronutrients on fertility

Introduction and purpose: The problem with infertility affects between 8 and 12% of reproductive-aged couples. Among the reasons, smoking, adulterated food, hormonal disorder are featured. Our purpose is to check how micronutrients impact fertility.Brief description of the state of knowledge: Micronutrients deficiency, specifically zinc and selenium deficiencies have also unpropitious impact on fertility. In this review, the potential role of these microelements in male and female reproductive health is considered. Zinc had been proved to regulate sperm motility, spermatogenesis and reduce oxidative stress. Lower delivery of selenium decrease testosterone level by causing changes in receptor of the luteinising hormone. It is also compared with lower spermatozoa concentration. In this review the role of iron, manganese, lead, nickel, copper, magnesium and cobalt is described as well. Summary: Deficiencies of some micronutrients may make worse the fertility. That’s the reason why additional supplementation may be important in the treatment of infertility

Vegan and vegetarian diet influence on bone health - a short review

Introduction and purpose: Vegan and vegetarian diets rise in popularity. Their succes can be attributed to growing ecological awarness and trends in culture. Opponents criticise these diets as incompletely nutritional. In this review, we would like to summarise the state of knowledge over effects of vegan and vegetarian diets on skeletal system.  Bone Mineral Density is a widely used indicator of likelyhood of fracture and develompent of osteoporosis. Comparing that parameter between vegans and vegetarians and non-vegans can lead to conclusions about bones’ health. A brief description of the state of knowledge: Lower intake of calcium and vitamins (D3, B12) in vegans and vegetarians can lead to lower bone mineral density and higher risk of fracture. Although, with supplementation of those nutrients negative effects are greatly reduced. Higher bone mineral density in non-vegetarian subjects can be result of higher body mass, gender and other factors. Plant-based diets are less acid-forming than their counterpart, resulting in lower bone resorption and reduced loss of calcium.   Conclusions: Vegan and vegetarian diet can result in lower boner mineral density. However, if applied correctly, with supplementation of lacking nutrients, or enriching the diet with dairy products it may not lead to any negative effects on bones. Substances contained in plants, more frequently eaten by vegans and vegetarians may have positive effects on bone mineral density

The efficacy of HDAC inhibitors in neoplasm treatment

Introduction and purpose: Histone Deacetylases (HDACs) are associated with epigenetic regulation of gene expression. They are responsible of adequate action of not only histone proteins, but also crucial cell cycle proteins, such as p53, NF‐κB or alpha tubulin. Recent studies have shown the connection between expression of HDAC and carcinogenesis and impact of HDAC inhibitors on cancer therapy. The aim of the study was to review the recent studies on HDAC inhibitors efficiency in the treatment of hematologic neoplasms and solid tumors. It is a study review from 2010 to 2020 using the PubMed database and ClinicalTrials.gov. Description of state of knowledge: Most studies related to HDAC inhibitors impact in hematological neoplasms, such as multiple myeloma, Hodgkin lymphoma, T-cell lymphomas and acute myeloid leukemia. Among studied agents panobinostat, vorinostat and showed efficacy. Moreover, some HDACi demonstrated effectiveness in solid tumors treatment, foremost vorinostat in breast cancer and entinostat in non-small cell lung lymphoma. Summary: Including HDAC inhibitors in tumor treatment could be beneficial for patients, especially those with advanced, relapsed or refractory hematologic neoplasm. However, further studies are necessary to confirm their efficacy and to reveal side effects

Prolactin – friendly lactation hormone or hostile cancerogenic factor?

Prolactin is a hormone secreted by lactotrophic cells of the pituitary gland and its main function is stimulating lactation. Binding prolactin by its membrane receptor leads to the activation of signalling pathway that enables cell proliferation and differentiation. Due to this mechanism, the potential oncogenic role of the hormone is of great interest. Prolactin and its receptor have many forms and a complicated signalling pathway, that is why defining prolactin’s specific role in cancerogenesis is difficult and poses a serious challenge. Researches also indicate an important role of extra-pituitary prolactin synthesised in many other tissues in the process of cancerogenesis. This article focuses on connection between prolactin and breast cancer, as it is the most common cancer in women. In several studies, prolactin and its receptor were significantly associated with an increased breast cancer risk. Recent research papers focus also on the treatment of breast cancer, using knowledge about prolactin and its role in the development of the tumour

Fertility-sparing treatment of endometrial cancer - is it possible? A case study

Background: Endometrial cancer is the most common gynecological malignant neoplasm, which occurs in the majority of cases postmenopausally. The current standard of treatment is surgical - total hysterectomy.  However, it may also occur in younger patients, who are planning pregnancy and want to choose fertility-sparing treatment. For those patients oral high dose progestin therapy with or without hysteroscopic resection should be proposed. It is usually a good option for women with well-differentiated (G1) cancers. For patients with higher grade (G2, G3) or contraindications to progestins, fertility-sparing treatment of endometrial cancer seems impossible. Case report: We present the case of a 34-year old woman diagnosed gynecologically due to abnormal bleeding from the genital tract. Based on USG, she was diagnosed with endometrial polyp. As a treatment, hysteroscopic resection was performed. In the histopathological evaluation G2 endometrial cancer was diagnosed. The standard approach would be a total hysterectomy, but the patient was interested in fertility-sparing options. Due to contraindications to progestins a total hysteroscopic resection was performed counseling the patient about the risks of a novel approach. Histopathology revealed no residual disease and no other lesions during the first year of observations occurred. Conclusion: Total hysteroscopic resection without further progestin therapy may offer the possibility to treat G2 endometrial cancer despite contraindications to the administration of progestins. Our case report should also encourage further evaluation of fertility-sparing management of endometrial cancer with higher than G1 grade

Have thyroid hormones an impact on ovarian cancer?

Thyroid hormones show not only genomic, but also nongenomic activity, which is related to specific membrane, cytoplasmic and organelle receptors. The best known receptors are located on the alpha-V-beta-3 integrin of cell membrane. Their stimulation results in an activation of mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs) or phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K), which directly leads to an inhibition of apoptosis and increased proliferation of tumor cells, as well as promotes angiogenesis and metastasis formation. In ovarian cancer cells L-thyroxine is proven to be involved in MAPK activation as well as in the up-regulation of expression and enhanced cellular accumulation of programmed death ligand 1 (PD-L1), which results in an inhibition of neoplastic cells apoptosis