Оxidative stress and endogenous intoxication in cancer patients.

In the blood serum of 93 patients with various localities of the malignant process, the content of nitric oxide (NO), indicators of lipid peroxidation (POL): superoxide dismutase (SOD), malondialdehyde (MDA) and glutathione in red blood cells were determined. 9 patients with ovarian cancer were examined during chemotherapy (6 courses), 40 patients with colon cancer, previously operated, were with malignant liver damage. In 39 patients with anemia, NO indicators were compared with the level of interleukin 6 (IL-6) and hepcidin-25 (GP-25). As a control, 60 practically healthy individuals were examined. It was shown that the NO content was significantly reduced in 69.7% of patients, regardless of the location of the primary tumor. There was a gradual increase in the NO content before each course of chemotherapy. A high concentration of NO (more than 22 µM) was detected in 22 patients with functional iron deficiency (FJ) against the background of anemia of chronic diseases (AHZ), which was accompanied by hyperexpression of IL-6 (27.0±10.5 pg/ml) and GP-25 (25.2±7.1 ng/ml). In contrast, the lowest NO values (less than 22 µM) were observed in 17 patients with IDA. There is no doubt that there is a certain relationship between the development of oxidative stress with the accumulation of highly toxic lipoperoxidation products that affect the overall homeostasis of the body, and the development of anemic syndrome.

Morphological and functional features of peripheral blood neutrophils in cancer patients with sepsis in the early postoperative period (review of literature and results of our own studies).

The study was performed in 9 cancer patients with sepsis. A clinical blood test of patients with sepsis was accompanied by a neutrophilic leukemoid reaction, with the appearance in the differential count of white blood cells of young cells (myelocytes, metamyelocytes). According to the literature, it is shown that in severe sepsis, a local infection is accompanied by systemic of neutrophil activation (NF). Moreover, excessive activation and location of NF in the microvasculature, especially its young forms and the formation of extracellular trap networks (NETs), can contribute to pathological manifestations of multiple organ failure and thrombosis.

[Characterization of anemic syndrome in cancer patients with sepsis in the early postoperative period.]

A study of the main indicators of red blood (RBC, HGB, HCT, MCV, MCH) and the concentration of EPO, sTfR in 9 cancer patients with anemic syndrome (AS) against sepsis was carried out. Among them, patients with chronic disease anemia (ACh), with normocytic, normochromic characteristics of red blood cells and low hematocrit predominated. In 2 patients, microcytosis and erythrocyte hypochromia were noted, the concentration of sTfR was significantly higher than normal (0.9 ± 0.07 µg / ml), amounted to 2.7 µg / ml in one of them and 1.9 µg / ml in the other, which testified to t iron deficiency erythropoiesis (IDE) on the background of the ACh,. In 7 patients with ACh without IDE, sTfR values were within the normal range (0.1-1.2) µg / ml, the median was 0.5 µg/ml. In all patients with sepsis, the production of EPO was inadequate for the severity of the AS, to a lesser extent in patients with IDE. The average EPO production in the group was 19.4 ± 5.1 (7.7-52.8) mU / ml, median = 12.1 mE / ml. Further studies of EPO, sTfR are planned in order to determine their role in therapeutic tactics in the correction of AS in cancer patients with sepsis.

Enhancement of the Inelastic Nuclear Interaction Rate in Crystals via Antichanneling.

The interaction rate of a charged particle beam with the atomic nuclei of a target varies significantly if the target has a crystalline structure. In particular, under specific orientations of the target with respect to the incident beam, the probability of inelastic interaction with nuclei can be enhanced with respect to the unaligned case. This effect, which can be named antichanneling, can be advantageously used in the cases where the interaction between beam and target has to be maximized. Here we propose to use antichanneling to increase the radioisotope production yield via cyclotron. A dedicated set of experimental measurements was carried out at the INFN Legnaro Laboratories with the AN2000 and CN accelerators to prove the existence of the antichanneling effect. The variation of the interaction yield at hundreds of keV to MeV energies was observed by means of sapphire and indium phosphide crystals, achieving an enhancement of the interaction rate up to 73% and 25%, respectively. Such a result may pave the way to the development of a novel type of nozzle for the existing cyclotrons, which can exploit crystalline materials as targets for radioisotope production, especially to enhance the production rate for expensive prime materials with minor upgrades of the current instrumentation.

Strong Reduction of the Effective Radiation Length in an Axially Oriented Scintillator Crystal.

We measured a considerable increase of the emitted radiation by 120 GeV/c electrons in an axially oriented lead tungstate scintillator crystal, if compared to the case in which the sample was not aligned with the beam direction. This enhancement resulted from the interaction of particles with the strong crystalline electromagnetic field. The data collected at the external lines of the CERN Super Proton Synchrotron were critically compared to Monte Carlo simulations based on the Baier-Katkov quasiclassical method, highlighting a reduction of the scintillator radiation length by a factor of 5 in the case of beam alignment with the [001] crystal axes. The observed effect opens the way to the realization of compact electromagnetic calorimeters or detectors based on oriented scintillator crystals in which the amount of material can be strongly reduced with respect to the state of the art. These devices could have relevant applications in fixed-target experiments, as well as in satellite-borne γ telescopes.

Observation of Quasichanneling Oscillations.

We report on the first experimental observations of quasichanneling oscillations, recently seen in simulations and described theoretically. Although above-barrier particles penetrating a single crystal are generally seen as behaving almost as in an amorphous substance, distinct oscillation peaks nevertheless appear for particles in that category. The quasichanneling oscillations were observed at SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory by aiming 20.35 GeV positrons and electrons at a thin silicon crystal bent to a radius of R=0.15 m, exploiting the quasimosaic effect. For electrons, two relatively faint quasichanneling peaks were observed, while for positrons, seven quasichanneling peaks were clearly identified.

Orientational Coherent Effects of High-Energy Particles in a LiNbO3 Crystal.

A bent lithium niobate strip was exposed to a 400-GeV/c proton beam at the external lines of CERN Super Proton Synchrotron to probe its capabilities versus coherent interactions of the particles with the crystal such as channeling and volume reflection. Lithium niobate (LiNbO3) exhibits an interplanar electric field comparable to that of Silicon (Si) and remarkable piezoelectric properties, which could be exploited for the realization of piezo-actuated devices for the control of high-energy particle beams. In contrast to Si and germanium (Ge), LiNbO3 shows an intriguing effect; in spite of a low channeling efficiency (3%), the volume reflection maintains a high deflection efficiency (83%). Such discrepancy was ascribed to the high concentration (10(4) per cm2) of dislocations in our sample, which was obtained from a commercial wafer. Indeed, it has been theoretically shown that a channeling efficiency comparable with that of Si or Ge would be attained with a crystal at low defect concentration (less than ten per cm2). To better understand the role of dislocations on volume reflection, we have worked out computer simulation via dynecharm++ Monte Carlo code to study the effect of dislocations on volume reflection. The results of the simulations agree with experimental records, demonstrating that volume reflection is more robust than channeling in the presence of dislocations.

[Severe sepsis and multiple organ failure in surgical patients in intensive care unit of oncological profile]. / Tiazhelyi sepsis i poliorgannaia nedostatochnost' u khirurgicheskikh patsientov otdeleniia reanimatsii onkologicheskogo profilia.

Forty-seven cases with grave sepsis and multiple organ failure in patients operated on for malignant tumors of different localizations and treated in intensive care wards of Cancer Research Center in 1996 are analyzed. In 35 patients sepsis developed due to pyoseptic complications of surgery and led to multiple organ failure, in 12 sepsis complicated multiple organ failure of other origin. Four or five organ systems were involved in 2/3 of patients with "primary" sepsis and in almost all patients with "secondary" sepsis. Sepsis and multiple organ failure in surgical cancer patients are believed to differ much from those in general surgical patients, which is explained by the scope of intervention, a tendency to decrease the number of indications for surgery, and by profound impairment of immunity and metabolism.