Treatment of advanced pancreatic cancer with the long-acting somatostatin analogue lanreotide: in vitro and in vivo results

Fourteen patients with metastatic pancreatic adenocarcinoma were treated with the long-acting somatostatin (SST) analogue lanreotide. No objective response was obtained, and the median survival was 4 months (range 1.8–7 months). Pancreatic cancer could not be visualized by means of SST-receptor (R) scintigraphy in our patients. In vitro data also demonstrated absence of SSTR2 expression, suggesting pancreatic cancer not to be a potential target for treatment with SST analogues. © 1999 Cancer Research Campaig

Richter's transformation; the cause of fever of unknown origin in a case with chronic lymphocytic leukemia

Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) is the most common leukemia in many countries. Infections are the most common causes of morbidity and mortality; lymphoid cell dysfunction and neutropenia associated with chemotherapy are main predisposing conditions for infection. For this reason infectious conditions must be excluded in a case with CLL and fever. Richter's transformation (RT) is a kind of lymphoma that is a rare condition in CLL cases Fever of unknown origin is a rare finding in Richter's transformation (RT) but it has been reported as anecdotal reports. Here a case with RT as the cause of fever in a case with CLL was reported and literature was reviewed

Disseminated herpes zoster infection in a patient with lymphoma

Immunosuppression facilitates varicella zoster virus (VZV) reactivation in immunocompromised patients. Atypical presentation such as disseminated disease of herpes zoster infection has been described in immunosuppressed patients. One of the best choices of therapy in herpes zoster infection is acyclovir, but long-term therapy may cause resistance to it. In this report a disseminated herpes zoster infection is described in a patient with T cell lymphoma after acyclovir/valacyclovir therapy. The infection was irresponsive to acyclovir and valacyclovir and we were unable to control the infection because it was not possible to obtain foscarnet and the patient died due to Staphylococcus epidermis sepsis. © TÜBİTAK

Management and treatment in vulvar necrotizing fasciitis [Vulvanın nekroti·zan fasi·i·ti·nde yönetim ve tedavi·]

Objective The aim of this study is to evaluate the treatment and its outcomes of patients having vulvar necrotizing fasciitis. Material and methods Parameters that evaluated from patients treated in our department between 1st of January, 2006 and 31st of December, 2009 were age, conditions causing immune deficiency, habits of cigarette or alcohol, the way of perineal hair removal, glucose and HbA1c levels at admission, number of debridement under general anesthesia, results of microbiological studies and antibiotics used. Diagnosis was made with physical examination and the finger test proposed by Andresen. All patients underwent to surgical debridement immediately. Wide spectrum antibiotics and attempt to eliminate the underlying causes were started simultaneously with surgical debridement under general anesthesia. Results Six patients were available regarding the study criteria. The mean age was 46,5 ± 10,4. All patients except one had uncontrolled diabetes. The remaining had hematological malignancy and immune suppression caused by the chemotherapeutics. The hygienic condition of perinea was poor in all. Numbers of debridement under general anesthesia were three, two and one in one, two and three of the patients consecutively. The mean hospital staying was 35 ± 14,9 days. Death due to necrotizing fasciitis was not observed in any cases. Two patients died long after their discharge because of the underlying disease. Necrotizing fasciitis did not relapse in anyone. Conclusion Results derived from the small number of patients show that synchronous and intensive surgical and medical treatments are promising. However, they need to be reevaluated in studies having larger number of cases

Determination of quality of life and their perceived social support from family of patients with HIV/AIDS

Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) is a significant disease which affects the individual physically, emotionally, and socially. The aim of this study was to determine the relationship between the quality of life and social support of patients with HIV/AIDS. 49 patients with HIV/AIDS who applied to the Infectious Diseases Polyclinics of the university hospital between November 2010 and December 2011 were enrolled in study. All the data were collected using a personal information form, SF 36 quality of life scale (QOL) and perceived social support from the family scale (PSS-Fa). Average age of patients was 41.23 ± 10.62, 65.3 % of them were male. It was found that the diagnosis period for 55.1 % of patients was 24 months or longer, and 55.1 % of them were diagnosed at a university hospital, 81.6 % received a treatment. When the average scores of QOL was analyzed, it was found that the average score of functional status subscale was 39.35 ± 8.90, well-being subscale was 42.59 ± 14.70, general health perception subscale was 19.18 ± 6.25 and global quality of life score was 33.70 ± 9.31. The mean PSS-Fa score of patients was 28.65 ± 9.56. Comparing socio-demographic and clinical characteristics of patients and average scores of QOL and PSS-Fa, there was not a statistically significant relation (p > 0.05). No statistically significant correlation was found between the average scores of QOL and PSS-Fa. These results showed that quality of life was poor and perceived social support was moderate in patients with HIV/AIDS. According to these results, it is recommended that patients with HIV/AIDS should be supported in this regard. © 2013 Springer Science+Business Media New York

Role of KIR genes and genotypes in susceptibility to or protection against hepatitis B virus infection in a Turkish cohort

PubMedID: 24407110Background: Killer cell immunoglobulin-like receptors (KIRs) are a family of inhibitory and activating receptors expressed by natural killer (NK) cells and regulate NK cell activity in the innate response against viral infections. The aim of this study was to determine the possibility of KIR genes and genotypes as a candidate for susceptibility to or protection against chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection or spontaneous remission of the infection in a Turkish cohort. Material/Methods: The present study was carried out on 37 patients with chronic HBV infection, 36 patients in spontaneous remission of HBV infection, and 85 healthy subjects. Sequence-specific oligonucleotide probes analysis was used to investigate 16 KIR genes. All data were statistically analyzed by the Fisher exact test. Results: The rate of inhibitory KIR2DL3 (p=0.0) and 3DS1 (p=0.0) were higher in the healthy group than the group composed of chronic HBV patients and patients with spontaneous remission. There were no statistically significant differences between the rate of AA and Bx genotypes of chronic HBV patients and patients with spontaneous remission and the control group (p>0.05). Conclusions: Our results suggest that KIR2DL3 and KIR3DS1 genes could be protector genes for HBV infection and they could be important immuno-genetic markers in determining antiviral immunity in the Turkish population. © Med Sci Monit, 2014