[Radiotherapy Indications in Patients with Hematological Malignancies During the Five Years Course of Modernized Center of Oncology and Radiotherapy Clinic in Pilsen]. / Indikace radioterapie u pacientu s hematologickými malignitami v prubehu peti let provozu modernizovaného centra Onkologické a radioterapeutické kliniky v Plzni.

Submitted: 27. 2. 2016.

Dynamic monitoring of cardio-specific markers and markers of thyroid gland function in cancer patients--a pilot study.

BACKGROUND: With the increased effectiveness of anticancer therapy, much more attention is being paid to the monitoring of the side-effects of chemotherapy, which often constitute a limiting factor in anticancer therapy. In this pilot study, the results of our monitoring of changes in cardio-specific markers and thyroid gland parameters in patients with colorectal carcinoma in the course of adjuvant and palliative chemotherapy are presented. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A total of 42 patients with colorectal carcinoma were monitored (median age 52 years, range 34-82 years); in these patients a post-operative adjuvant or palliative chemotherapy was applied (de Gramont's or FOLFIRI regimen). In all of these patients, the cardio-specific markers brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) and troponin I were assessed, as well as markers of thyroid gland function, TSH and FT4. RESULTS: In the course of chemotherapy, more than half of the patients showed laboratory signs of coronary ischemia; in 6 of these (14%) coronary ischemia was manifested with troponin I levels above 0.3 microg/L. Twenty patients (48%) had laboratory signs of heart failure in the course of adjuvant or palliative chemotherapy. A more frequent incidence of elevated cardio-specific enzymes was observed in continual regimens than in bolus application of fluorouracil. Reduced TSH values were observed in the course of chemotherapy in 9 patients (21%), without changes in FT4 values. An increase in TSH values was observed in 4 patients (10%), again without changes in FT4 values. CONCLUSION: The pilot study demonstrated that in patients undergoing treatment for colorectal carcinoma by adjuvant or palliative chemotherapy on the basis of 5-fluorouracil, it is advisable to check for possible cardiotoxicity and simultaneously to monitor thyroid gland functions. This systematic monitoring may improve the quality of life in cancer patients.

Clinical relevance of tumor markers for the control of chemotherapy.

This presentation is based on our experience with tumor marker monitoring of surgery therapy and chemotherapy effects. The control of chemotherapy is one of the most important problems in oncological practice. The correlation between the clinical status of the patient and tumor size changes, based on the results of different imaging methods, has been the most important and most frequently used method. However, the therapy effect has been recently assessed by markers of the biological activity of the tumor. Using tumor markers for the assessment of the effect of surgery therapy is already part of routine practice in many different types of cancer. Pre-operative and post-operative values of tumor markers are essential for a proper evaluation. However, tumor marker monitoring of the effect of radiotherapy and chemotherapy has been used very rarely, mostly only for research purposes. Besides monitoring by classical tumor markers, monitoring by markers of angiogenesis and apoptosis seem to be promising for the assessment of chemotherapy effect. Measurement of circulating cancer cells by means of mRNA also seems to be intriguing for therapy effect control and monitoring of the course of disease. Unfortunately, the routine use of these methods has been applied in only a few institutes worldwide. A completely different situation has been observed in palliative treatment. In most cases, changes of serum levels of tumor markers correlate with therapy effect. Thus, the effect of treatment on tumor proliferation can be successfully estimated by decreasing tumor marker levels.