Analysis of Knowledge About Male Breast Cancer Among Patients at Tertiary Medical Center.

In the overall population, the incidence of breast cancer in men is lower than in women. Men's breast cancer awareness is affected both by the low incidence of breast cancer in men and by the presence of a perception that breast cancer can only be seen in women in society. This study aims to determine this awareness and guide future studies on improving social awareness. This study examined male and female patients aged 18 to 75 years who were admitted to our hospital's general surgery outpatient clinic. A questionnaire containing questions about male breast cancer was administered to the patients, and the study was conducted face-to-face voluntarily. A total of 411 patients, 270 female and 141 male, participated in the study. The results showed that 61.1% of the participants were unaware of the possibility of breast cancer in men. Evaluation of the relationship between awareness and gender revealed that women were more knowledgeable than men (p = .006). Educational status also had a significant influence on awareness (p = .001). Awareness of male breast cancer in society is low. Raising public awareness of this issue will enable men to be diagnosed earlier, at a lower stage, and thus to better respond to treatment, increasing their survival time.

Relationships of orexigenic and anorexigenic hormones with body fat distribution in patients with obstructive sleep apnea syndrome.

PURPOSE: We aimed to examine the relationships of disease activity and risk factors with serum levels of orexigenic and anorexigenic hormones in patients with obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS). METHODS: Fasting blood samples were taken for hormonal analysis of all participants, abdominal/neck bioimpedance measurements were recorded, and polysomnography (PSG) analyses were performed. According to the apnea-hypopnea index (AHI), 34 patients with newly diagnosed OSAS and 34 participants without OSAS were compared. RESULTS: The median body mass index (BMI) measured in the OSAS group was 30.39 kg/m2 and AHI was 18.95 and these values were 25.40 kg/m2 and 1.55 in the control group. There was a higher level of visceral adiposity and neuropeptide Y (NPY) in the moderate-to-severe OSAS group compared to the mild OSAS and control groups, and in the mild OSAS group compared to the control group (p = 0.001, p < 0.001). A positive correlation between the level of NPY and AHI and BMI (p < 0.001, p = 0.011), and a negative correlation between NPY levels and oxygen saturation (p = 0.001) was found. Oxygen saturation and desaturation rates were correlated with body fat percentage, body fat mass, abdominal adiposity, visceral adiposity, resting metabolic rate, and NPY levels. CONCLUSIONS: The visceral adiposity ratio and increase in NPY levels are important parameters that increase the severity of OSAS. Considering the negative effects of NPY on vascular endothelium, measurement of basal NPY level before PSG in patients with OSAS is considered a parameter related to disease severity.

Risk Factors for Graft-Versus-Host Disease and Survival in Pediatric Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplant Recipients: A Single-Center Experience.

OBJECTIVES: Graft-versus-host disease is still one of the most important complications after hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. The risk factors remain unclear, with effects of graft-versus-host disease on survival varying among different centers. We aimed to determine risk factors that may affect development of graft-versus-host disease and the corresponding patient survival rates at a single pediatric hematopoietic stem cell transplant unit. METHODS: Our study included 104 of 118 pediatric patients who underwent allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplant at our institute between 2005 and 2018. Patient characteristics, clinical information, pretransplant and posttransplant factors, and laboratory parameters were obtained from the database. RESULTS: Acute graft-versus-host disease was seen in 19 pediatric patients. Chronic graft-versus-host disease, which was seen in 13 of our pediatric study patients, occurred more often in those with peripheral blood stem cell than in those with bone marrow transplant (odds ratio of 9.969; 95% CI, 1.040-95.547; P = .046). Female donor-to-male recipient transplant was significantly associated with incidence of chronic graft-versus-host disease (odds ratio of 8.51; 95% CI, 1.323-54.843; P = .024). Later neutrophil engraftment was associated with incidence of acute graft-versus-host disease (odds ratio of 1.107; 95% CI, 1.012-1.212; P = .02). CONCLUSIONS: Although there are some known risk factors for graft-versus-host disease in adult patients, little is known about risk factors in children. In our comprehensive study in pediatric patients, we found that peripheral blood stem cell transplant, female-tomale transplant, and later neutrophil engraftment were associated with incidence of graft-versus-host disease. Although peripheral blood as a source of stem cells and female-to-male transplant are known risk factors, later neutrophil engraftment was a new finding as a possible risk factor for acute graft-versushost disease. This finding requires further verification in future prospective studies.

Relationship between chest computed tomography findings and clinical conditions of coronavirus disease (COVID-19): A multicentre experience.

AIMS: This study aimed to investigate the clinical and chest computed tomography (CT) features associated with clinical parameters for coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in the capital of Turkey, Ankara. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Epidemiological, clinical features, laboratory findings and radiological characteristics of 1563 hospitalised patients with COVID-19 in Ankara were collected, reviewed and analysed in this study. The risk factors associated with disease severity were investigated. RESULTS: Non-severe (1214; 77.7%) and severe cases (349; 22.3%) were enrolled in the study. Compared with the non-severe group, the severe group were significantly older and had more comorbidities (ie, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, cardiovascular disease and chronic kidney disease). Smoking was more common in the severe group. Severe patients had higher respiratory rates and higher incidences of cough and dyspnoea compared with non-severe patients. Compared with the non-severe patients, the severe patients had increased C-reactive protein (CRP), procalcitonin, neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and CRP/albumin ratio and decreased albumin. The occurrence rates of consolidation, subpleural sparing, crazy-paving pattern, cavity, halo sign, reversed halo sign, air bronchogram, pleural thickening, micronodule, subpleural curvilinear line and multilobar and bilateral involvement in the CT finding of the severe patients were significantly higher than those of the non-severe patients. CONCLUSIONS: Many factors are related to the severity of COVID-19, which can help clinicians judge the severity of the patient and evaluate the prognosis. This cohort study revealed that male sex, age (≥55 years), patients with any comorbidities, especially those with cardiovascular disease, dyspnoea, increased CRP, D-dimer and NLR, and decreased lymphocyte count and CT findings of consolidation and multilobar involvement were predictors of severe COVID-19.

FOXA1 knock-out via CRISPR/Cas9 altered Casp-9, Bax, CCND1, CDK4, and fibronectin expressions in LNCaP cells.

Prostate cancer is one of the most common types of cancer in men and the leading cause of death in developed countries. With the aid of molecular and genetic profiling of cancers, cancer molecular subtypes are paving the way for tailored cancer therapy. FOXA1 has been identified as one of the seven molecular subtypes of prostate cancer. FOXA1 is involved in a variety of metabolic process such as glucose homeostasis and deregulation of its expression is crucial in prostate cancer progression. In this study, we investigated the effects of FOXA1 gene knock-out on the expression levels of various cancer cell metabolism and cell cycle-related protein expressions. FOXA1 gene was knocked-out by using CRISPR/Cas9 technique. While FOXA1 gene knock-out significantly altered Casp-9, Bax, CCND1, CDK4, and fibronectin protein expressions (P < 0.05, fold change: ∼40, 4.5, 2.5, 4.5, and 4, respectively), it did not affect the protein expression levels of Casp-3, Bcl-2, survivin, ß-catenin, c-Myc, and GSK-3B. Knocking-out FOXA1 gene in androgen-dependent LNCaP prostate cancer cells inhibited CCND1 protein expression. Our pre-clinical results demonstrate the importance of FOXA1 as a drug target in the treatment of prostate cancer. Impact statement Knock-out studies offer a unique way of studying the function of genes especially for developmentally lethal genes. FOXA1 has prominent roles both in breast and prostate cancer pathogenesis due to its role in ER receptor signaling pathway. FOXA1 has also been identified as one of the seven molecular subtypes of primary prostate cancer. In the present study, we used an efficient gene knock-out method, CRISPR/Cas9, in order to investigate FOXA1 function on LNCaP prostate cancer cells in vitro. FOXA1 knock-out altered cell-cycle regulator CCND1 protein expression levels. Therefore, our results suggest that FOXA1 might be a plausible drug target for prostate cancer treatment.

Subnormal Growth Velocity and Related Factors During GnRH Analog Therapy for Idiopathic Central Precocious Puberty

Objective: Data concerning subnormal growth velocity (GV) and factors that influence this during gonadotropin-releasing hormone analog (GnRHa) therapy for idiopathic central precocious puberty (ICPP) are scarce. We investigated the incidence of subnormal GV and associated factors in patients receiving GnRHa therapy for ICPP. Methods: In this retrospective cohort study, the records of 50 girls who had been diagnosed with ICPP and started on GnRHa treatment before the age of eight years were investigated. Subnormal GV frequency, related factors during GnRHa therapy and the effect on final height were examined. Results: During the treatment, a significant decrease in the annual GV and GV standard deviation score (SDS) of the patients was observed. In 16 (32%) patients GV never declined below -1 SDS, while a decline was noted once and twice in 19 (38%) and 15 (30%) patients respectively. The median age of detection of subnormal GV was 9.9 (4.9-10.9) years. Patients with pubic hair at diagnosis were found to have an increased risk of subnormal GV (p=0.016). There was a significant negative correlation between diagnostic basal luteinizing hormone (LH) level and the first and second year GV SDS (p=0.012 and 0.017 respectively). A significant negative correlation between bone age at diagnosis and 3rd year GV SDS, and 4th year GV SDS (p=0.002 and p=0.038) was also observed. LH suppression significantly increased during treatment (p=0.001). Conclusion: In girls with ICPP the risk of subnormal GV appears highest at the 3rd year of GnRHa treatment, particularly in those patients with, at the time of diagnosis, pubic hair in conjunction with high baseline and peak LH and advanced BA and excessive LH suppression on follow-up.

A New Diagnostic and Prognostic Marker in Endometrial Cancer: Neopterin.

OBJECTIVE: In this study, we investigated the correlation between serum and urinary neopterin levels as well as the stage of the disease in women with endometrial cancer.Increased neopterin concentrations are reported in patients with activation of macrophages by interferon-γ, which includes the following: viral infections, autoimmune disorders, allograft rejection, and various malignant tumors. In patients with several types of cancer, high-neopterin concentrations in body fluids like serum/plasma, urine, ascites, and cerebrospinal fluid indicate the course of the disease, and it is associated with poor prognosis. In the light of foregoing, we aimed to investigate the role of neopterin as a prognostic biomarker in endometrial cancer. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Serum neopterin concentrations were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and urinary neopterin by high-performance liquid chromatography in 41 patients with endometrial cancer (group 2) and 41 healthy women (group 1). RESULTS: Increased urinary neopterin levels were observed in patients with endometrial cancer (P < 0.001), and the difference in the urinary neopterin levels between low and high stages of endometrial cancer was significant (P < 0.01; stage I-II vs stage III-IV, respectively). Serum neopterin levels did not show a significant difference in each group. CONCLUSIONS: This study suggests that urinary neopterin levels are relevant in evaluating the endometrial cancer stage and follow-up of the disease. As a result, using neopterin and cancer antigen 125 together would be useful in determining the prognosis of endometrial cancer and its posttreatment progression.

The effect of pneumoperitoneum on intravascular fibrinolytic activity in rats.

BACKGROUND/AIM: Venous stasis during pneumoperitoneum in laparoscopic surgery is closely related to fibrin synthesis and deposition. The etiologic factors underlying fibrinolysis or hypercoagulability are not clearly defined. This study aimed to determine the effects of pneumoperitoneum time and pressure on coagulation cascade and the fibrinolytic pathway. MATERIALS AND METHODS: After the pneumoperitoneum model was established in rats, PAI-1, tPA, TAFI, D-dimer, and fibrinogen activities were evaluated in different time periods under different pressures in groups including 6 rats. Group 1 did not undergo any procedure. Group 2 received 8 mmHg of pressure for 30 min, Group III 8 mmHg for 60 min, Group IV 12 mmHg for 30 min, and Group V 12 mmHg for 60 min. RESULTS: D-dimer levels had a tendency to decrease with increasing intraabdominal pressures. In both low and high pressure groups, fibrinogen had a tendency to increase with exposure time. There was no statistically significant difference among the study groups in terms of fibrinogen, D-dimer, and PAI-1. The levels of TAFI were significantly decreased with increasing pressure regardless of the exposure time. CONCLUSION: Pneumoperitoneum of the coagulation system can be changed by duration of time and pressure.