Effect of retreatment instruments on microcrack formation: a microcomputed tomography study.

INTRODUCTION: The purpose of this study was to compare the occurrence of microcracks in teeth prepared with different retreatment systems using microcomputed tomography (micro-CT). METHODS: Forty-two freshly extracted mandibular premolar teeth were used. The root canals were instrumented with stainless steel K-files to an apical size of 35/.02 using the balanced-force technique and were obturated using the passive compaction technique. The specimens were divided into 3 experimental groups according to retreatment system used (n = 14): ProTaper Universal retreatment (PTUR), Mtwo retreatment (MTR), or D-RaCe retreatment (D-RC) systems. Each specimen was scanned using a high-resolution micro-CT system before instrumentation, after obturation, and after the removal of the filling material. The images were evaluated, and the presence of microcracks was recorded. RESULTS: The PTUR system demonstrated the highest percentage, while MTR and D-RC retreatment systems resulted in similar numbers of microcracks. CONCLUSIONS: Clinicians should be aware that all retreatment systems may cause microcracks.

Effectiveness and safety of cabazitaxel chemotherapy for metastatic castration-resistant prostatic carcinoma on Turkish patients (The Anatolian Society of Medical Oncology).

OBJECTIVE: Prostate cancer is among the most common cancers in males. Prostate cancer is androgen dependent in the beginning, but as time progresses, it becomes refractory to androgen deprivation treatment. At this stage, docetaxel has been used as standard treatment for years. Cabazitaxel has become the first chemotherapeutic agent which has been shown to increase survival for patients with metastatic Castrate Resistant Prostate Cancer (mCRPC) that progresses after docetaxel. Phase 3 TROPIC study demonstrated that cabazitaxel prolongs survival. PATIENTS AND METHODS: In this study, we evaluated a total of 103 patients who took cabazitaxel chemotherapy for mCRPC diagnosis in 21 centers of Turkey, retrospectively. This study included patients who progressed despite docetaxel treatments, had ECOG performance score between 0-2, and used cabazitaxel treatment. Patients received cabazitaxel 25 mg/m2 at every 3 weeks, and prednisolone 5 mg twice a day. RESULTS: Median number of cabazitaxel cures was 5.03 (range: 1-17). Cabazitaxel response evaluation detected that 34% of the patients had a partial response, 22.3% had stable disease and 32% had a progressive disease. Grade 3-4 hematological toxicities were neutropenia (28.2%), neutropenic fever (14.5%), anemia (6.7%), and thrombocytopenia (3.8%). In our study, median progression-free survival (PFS) was 7.7 months and overall survival (OS) was 10.6 months. CONCLUSIONS: This study reflects toxicity profile of Turkish patients as a Caucasian race. We suggest that cabazitaxel is a safe and effective treatment option for mCRPC patients who progress after docetaxel. Moreover, ethnicity may play important roles both in treatment response and in toxicity profile.

Sequential adjuvant docetaxel and anthracycline chemotherapy for node positive breast cancers: a retrospective study.

PURPOSE: Anthracyclines and taxanes are the most active agents in the adjuvant treatment of breast cancer (BC). They can be used simultaneously or sequentially. The optimal schedule and duration for their administration is unknown. We analyzed the efficacy of sequential adjuvant anthracycline and docetaxel administration in node positive BC patients. METHODS: Node positive BC patients (N=539) from 6 medical oncology centers in Turkey who received sequential adjuvant anthracycline-based regimens and taxane chemotherapy were included in this study between 2006 - 2010. One-hundred and thirty-eight (25%) patients received 3 cycles of anthracycline-based chemotherapy followed by 3 cycles of docetaxel (3+3) and 401 (75%) patients received 4 cycles of anthracycline-based chemotherapy followed by 4 cycles of docetaxel (4+4). Prognostic factors analyzed were estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PR), HER2, tumor grade, and nodal status in relation to disease free survival (DFS) and HER2 status in relation to overall survival (OS). RESULTS: The patient median age was 48 years (range 18-79). Most common grade 3-4 toxicities were neutropenia, mucositis and arthralgia. No treatment-related toxic deaths were seen. With a median follow up of 26 months (range 1-115) 61 (11.3%) recurrences and 11 (2%) deaths were registered. Three-year DFS was 81% and OS 96% for all patients. There was no statistically significant difference between 3+3 and 4+4 groups in terms of survival (3-year DFS 88% and 79% [p=0.28] and OS 97% and 95% [p=0.60), respectively). CONCLUSION: Sequential chemotherapy with 4+4 cycles of anthracycline and docetaxel every 3 weeks is an acceptable regimen for adjuvant treatment of node positive BC patients. Duration of chemotherapy should be planned depending on prognostic factors. In this study there was no difference between 3+3 and 4+4 groups in DFS and OS despite the presence of good prognostic factors in the 3+3 group.

Sunitinib-induced autoimmune thyroiditis in a patient with metastatic renal cell carcinoma: a case report.

Sunitinib is an oral multitargeted tyrosine kinase inhibitor that was newly approved by the FDA for the treatment of renal cell carcinoma and imatinib-resistant gastrointestinal stromal tumors. Although generally well tolerated, common side effects of sunitinib have been reported, with an important and well-recognized example being hypothyroidism. Although the exact mechanism of sunitinib-induced hypothyroidism is unclear, some authors have suggested sunitinib might induce hypothyroidism by the blockade of iodine uptake, destructive thyroiditis and inhibition of peroxidase activity. In these studies autoimmune-mediated hypothyroidism could not be demonstrated as an etiological factor. We herein report the case of a 71-year-old woman diagnosed as metastatic renal cell carcinoma with severe autoimmune hypothyroidism associated with sunitinib after 10 months of treatment. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report that shows sunitinib may induce autoimmune thyroiditis. Further clinical and experimental studies with larger patient groups are required to verify the findings of the present study. Routine monitoring of thyroid autoantibodies including antithyroglobulin and antithyroid peroxidase antibodies and thyroid ultrasonography are recommended during the treatment of sunitinib-induced hypothyroidism.

Mitomycin-C in combination with fluoropyrimidines in the treatment of metastatic colorectal cancer after oxaliplatin and irinotecan failure.

PURPOSE: To retrospectively evaluate the efficacy and tolerability of mitomycin-C (MMC) in combination with fluoropyrimidines as salvage 3rd -or 4th-line therapy in metastatic colorectal cancer (MCRC) patients. METHODS: All patients in this study had previously failed oxaliplatin and irinotecan-based chemotherapy. Patients were treated with MMC (6 mg/m(2) intravenously/i.v.) on day 1 in combination with either oral UFT (500 mg/m(2)) and oral leucovorin (LV) (30 mg) on days 1-14 every 3 weeks (group A) or infusional 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) by deGramont regimen with i.v. LV (200 mg/m(2)) on days 1 and 2, every 2 weeks (group B). RESULTS: Thirty-nine MCRC patients were analyzed. Twenty-two of them were in group A and 17 in group B. Thirty-three were evaluable for clinical efficacy. The clinical benefit in the intent-to-treat (ITT) population was 30.8%. Median progression free survival (PFS) was 6 months (95% confidence interval/ CI 4-8) and median overall survival (OS) 9 months (95% CI 6.5-11.5). Median PFS was 3 months (95% CI 2.4-3.6) in group A and 7 months (95% CI 5.1-8.9) in group B (p=0.009). Median OS was 7 months (95% CI 4.3-9.7) in group A and 12 months (95% CI 5.4-18.6) in group B (p=0.422). The combination of MMC and fluoropyrimidines was generally well tolerated. The most common severe toxicities were nausea and vomiting, neutropenia, hepatotoxicity and diarrhea. CONCLUSION: MMC in combination with fluoropyrimidines is safe and active in heavily-pretreated MCRC patients. This combination remains a viable option in these patients. However, better therapies are urgently needed.

Promoter methylation and expression changes of CDH1 and P16 genes in invasive breast cancer and adjacent normal breast tissue.

We studied the promoter methylation status and expression levels of P16 and CDH1 genes in breast cancer and their adjacent normal tissues with normal control breast tissues, to correlate with their histopathological parameters. Hundred twenty four samples (tumor and adjacent nonmalignant tissues) from 62 breast cancer patients and 4 normal control breast tissues were included in the study. We used methylation specific PCR to evaluate methylation status and quantitative RT-PCR to measure the gene expression levels. Methylation incidence of P16 gene and CDH1 gene in tumor tissues were 24.2 % and 33.9 %, respectively. CDH1 and P16 gene were not methylated in normal control tissues. CDH1 underexpression is found to be significant in correlation with advanced stage, histologic type, high tumor grade and lymph node involvement. P16 expression is found not to be significantly related with any histopathological parameters. But 60% of cases which overexpresses P16 were estrogen negative, and 40% of them were histologic grade 3. Both P16 and CDH1 had different expression levels in tumor tissues compared to the adjacent normal tissues and in adjacent normal tissues compared to the normal non-tumor tissues.

Inflammatory myofibroblastic tumour (IMT) of the liver: a report of two cases.

Inflammatory myofibroblastic tumour (IMT) is an uncommon mass lesion composed of myofibroblasts and mixed inflammatory infiltrate that rarely undergoes malignant transformation. Although IMT was originally reported in the lung, it is now recognised that it can occur in a variety of organs. Hepatic localisation of IMT is less frequent. Here we report two cases of IMT in the liver. They underwent hepatic resections with the diagnosis of FNH and Klatskin tumour. The pathological diagnosis of the tumour was IMT. We conclude that in the management of IMT in the liver, surgical excision is the primary choice, in order to obtain a definitive diagnosis as well as to relieve symptoms, and strict follow-up after surgery is required for the timely detection of recurrence.

Inflammatory Myofibroblasts Tumour (IMT) of the Liver: A Report of Two Cases.

Inflammatory myofibroblastic tumour (IMT) is an uncommon mass lesion composed of myofibroblasts and mixed inflammatory infiltrate that rarely undergoes malignant transformation. Although IMT was originally reported in the lung, it is now recognised that it can occur in a variety of organs. Hepatic localisation of IMT is less frequent. Here we report two cases of IMT in the liver. They underwent hepatic resections with the diagnosis of FNH and Klatskin tumour. The pathological diagnosis of the tumour was IMT. We conclude that in the management of IMT in the liver, surgical excision is the primary choice, in order to obtain a definitive diagnosis as well as to relieve symptoms, and strict follow-up after surgery is required for the timely detection of recurrence.

Synchronous appearance of male breast cancer and pancreatic cancer 15 years after the diagnosis of testicular cancer--report of a case.

The frequency of new neoplastic diseases among patients cured of testicular cancer is higher than in normal population. For these patients, synchronous occurrence of multiple neoplasms is not common. Also, less than 1% of all cases of breast cancer occur in males. We present herein a case having both breast and concurrent pancreatic cancer after being effectively treated for testicular cancer. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first case of synchronous breast and pancreatic cancer in a male patient following testicular cancer. Second cancer is the most severe long-term complication of chemotherapy or radiotherapy for patients with testicular cancer and the possibility of multiple cancers has to be taken into consideration when multiple lesions are present.

A pilot study for human tumor/DNA banking: returned more questions than answers.

A pilot study was performed for setting up the Dokuz Eylül University Breast Tumor DNA Bank (DEUBTB) to facilitate the sharing of tumor DNA/RNA samples and related data from cases collected by collaborators specializing in the breast cancer diseases between 2004 and 2006. The pilot study aimed to provide answers for certain questions on: (1) ethical concerns (informing the volunteer for donating specimen, anonymizing the sample information, procedure on sample request), (2) obtaining and processing samples (technical issues, flowchart), (3) storing samples and their products (storing forms and conditions), (4) clinical database (which clinical data to store), (5) management organization (quality and quantity of personnel, flowchart for management relations), (6) financial issues (establishment and maintenance costs). When the bank had 64 samples, even though it is quite ready to supply samples for a research project, it revealed many questions on details that may be answered in more than one way, pointing that all biobanks need to be controlled by a higher degree of management party which develops and offers quality standards for these establishments.

Adrenomedullin expression does not correlate with survival in lung cancer.

It is suggested that adrenomedullin (AM) plays a role in lung carcinogenesis although, to confirm this suggestion, further clinical studies are needed to determine its relationship with prognosis in lung cancer. Archived 50 paraffin-embedded tumor samples of the lung were retrospectively evaluated for AM expression by immunohistochemistry and analyzed for a possible correlation with patient characteristics and survival. Quantitation of immunoreactivity was accomplished using an immunohistochemical scoring system. The pulmonary resection specimens contained 22 squamous cell carcinomas, 15 adenocarcinomas, and 13 small cell carcinomas. Non-small cell carcinomas of the lung were more likely to express AM than small cell carcinomas of the lung. Ninety-one percent of squamous cell carcinomas and 87% of adenocarcinomas expressed AM at a moderate to strong level and grade2-4 (30-100%), which were significantly higher from the non-neo-plastic lung tissue. Twenty-three percent of small cell carcinomas of lung expressed AM. Interestingly, AM immunoreactivity was essentially weak and grade 1 (<%30) in this group. AM expression is upregulated in non-small cell carcinomas of the lung, whereas it is downregulated in small cell carcinomas and non-neo-plastic lung tissues. AM expression did not show any correlation with the differentiation of the tumor, the stage of cancer, and the overall survival of patients. These results did not support the role of adrenomedullin as an independent survival factor for lung cancer. However, AM inhibition in conjunction with other anti-angiogenic agents may be useful in the prevention and treatment of malignancies.

A case representing coexistence of acute myeloblastic leukemia and dedifferentiated liposarcoma: the possible role of chemotherapy in triggering dedifferentiation.

Acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) is a hematological disorder that is characterized by an abnormal proliferation of immature myeloid cells. Dedifferentiated and well-differentiated liposarcomas are the two pathological subtypes of liposarcoma, based on the WHO classification. Transition from well-differentiated to dedifferentiated liposarcoma is a well-recognized phenomenon. Well-differentiated tumors are known to have low malignancy grade. However, when dedifferentiation occurs, the tumor acquires the aggressive features of a fully malignant lesion. This process largely is believed to progress in a time-dependant manner; however, time is not the only factor of importance. The potential roles of other factors in this transition are still unclear. To date, the coexistence of AML and liposarcoma has not been reported in the literature. In this paper, we report on a case of coexistence of AML and liposarcoma, and on the unusual behavior of a well-differentiated tumor after dedifferentiation occurs.

Histiocytic necrotizing lymphadenitis (Kikuchi-Fujimoto's disease) mimicking systemic lupus erythematosus: a review of two cases.

Kikuchi-Fujimoto's disease (KFD), or histiocytic necrotizing lymphadenitis, is a benign and self-limited lymphadenitis commonly found in young women. It often shares clinical features with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), such as arthralgias, fever and leukopenia. The etiology of KFD remains unknown and controversial. Clinical course is favorable, with spontaneous remission in less than four months in almost all cases. Herein, we present two cases. The former is a 53-year old woman presenting with cervical lymphadenopathy, arthralgia, pancytopenia and positive antinuclear antibody (ANA). Lymph node biopsy revealed histopathological features compatible with Kikuchi-Fujimoto histiocytic necrotizing lymphadenitis. The latter patient was a 20-year old woman presenting with left cervical lympadenopathy, a butterfly rash that was reminiscent of SLE, and a positive antinuclear antibody. Based upon clinical, histological and laboratory findings, the diagnosis of SLE was excluded. Careful attention should be paid to differentiating between KFD and SLE, because of their similar presentations, yet different clinical courses and therapeutic requirements.

The evaluation of the Turkish version of the Well-being Questionnaire (WBQ-22) in patients with Type 2 diabetes: the effects of diabetic complications.

OBJECTIVE: Psychopathological conditions including depression and anxiety are important in patients with diabetes due to their negative effects on the quality of life, treatment and glycemic control. The specially designed questionnaire for diabetics, the Well-being Questionnaire (WBQ-22), was used to determine the psychological well-being in Turkish diabetic patients. METHOD: A total of 100 patients, 45 males and 55 females, were included in the study. Patients completed WBQ-22 questionnaire. RESULTS: Sex, in-patient follow-up, age, duration of diabetes, form of treatment, diabetic microvascular complications, diabetic foot, and increased number of complications were the factors detected to have an effect on the scores of general well-being or its subscales. Scores of depression and general well-being were 7.10 +/- 3.82 and 39.74 +/- 12.27 in females, and 4.20 +/- 3.48 and 48.84 +/- 11.45 in males (p<0.05). Anxiety score was found to be 5.70 +/- 3.71 in the outpatient clinic, and 7.28 +/- 4.38 in the inpatient clinics (p<0.05). General well-being score was 49.40 +/- 8.83 in patients having a diabetes duration of 1 yr or less and 33.70 +/- 8.83 in patients with 20 yr or more (p<0.05). Patients treated with insulin had depression score of 7.02 +/- 4.07 whereas patients treated with diet had 4.50 +/- 3.27 (p<0.05). The increasing total chronic complication points were also found to have a negative effect on WBQ-22 scores. General well-being score was 51.08 +/- 9.84 in patients with no complications and 34.50 +/- 14.14 in patients with 4 complications (p<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Psychosocial support should be provided to Type 2 diabetic patients by studying the psychological well-being with WBQ-22 questionnaire.

Cutaneous metastasis of endometrial carcinoma with hemorrhagic nodules and papules.

BACKGROUND: Endometrium cancer is the fourth most frequent malignancy in women. However, skin metastasis from endometrium cancer is a very rare entity. CASE: A 58-year-old multiparous woman postmenopausal for ten years presented with multiple metastatic, nodular, hemorrhagic skin lesions located at the initial surgery and radiotherapy site 14 months after the original diagnosis was made. Combination chemotherapy was instituted, but the patient died after the second cycle of chemotherapy. CONCLUSION: Although endometrial cancer is one of the most frequent malignancies in women, skin metastasis from endometrial cancer is very rare. In reported cases metastasis from endometrial cancer has been most commonly noted at the initial surgery and radiotherapy site. Therefore, the initial surgical and radiotherapy site must be examined carefully for skin metastasis.

The role of gamma probe activity counts in minimally invasive parathyroidectomy. Preliminary results.

AIM: The benefit of preoperative gamma probe in the diagnosis of adenoma in patients with histopathologically proven parathyroid (PT) adenomas was examined. PATIENTS, MATERIAL, METHODS: 20 patients with positive (99m)Tc MIBI uptake in PT scintigraphy with primary hyperparathyroidism were enrolled in this study. 740 MBq (99m)Tc MIBI were injected 3 h before operation. Counts of four PT regions were obtained with gamma probe before surgery in the operation room. All suspected PT adenomas were resected and histopathologically diagnosed as adenomas. We also obtained counts of the resection region and the resected adenoma with gamma probe after the parathyroidectomy. Preoperative counts of adenoma bearing regions (ABR), non-adenoma bearing regions (NABR), postoperative resection region (PRR), resected adenoma counts (RA) were registered. Statistical analysis was performed by Wilcoxon rank test. RESULTS: The mean counts of ABR, NABR, the PRR and RA were 462 +/- 106, 230 +/- 66, 164 +/- 42, 374 +/- 87, respectively. The mean counts from ABR were twofold higher than those of NABR. The PRR mean counts decreased by 64% when compared to the mean counts of ABR and by 55% when compared to the mean counts of RA. The differences in mean counts of ABR and NABR, PRR and ABR, PRR and RA (p <0.01) turned out as statistically significant. DISCUSSION: According to our preliminary results, the region with the highest counts is at least 2 +/- 0,4 times higher than the mean of the other three PT regions. Thus, it seems to be significant for PT adenoma. Resection of adenoma may be accepted as successful, if the count of ABR decreased more than 64% with decreased postoperative parathormone levels. CONCLUSION: This technique should not yet be applied instead of parathormone measurement or frozen technique. But it may replace the frozen technique used for confirmation of the diagnosis during the operation in the future.

The effects of laparascopic cholecystectomy operation on C-reactive protein, hormones, and cytokines.

The endocrine and immune changes associated with surgery are well documented, but the interaction between them has not been fully evaluated. We, therefore, investigated the possible effects of laparascopic cholecystectomy operation on C-reactive protein, hormones, and cytokines. Thirty-five patients were enrolled in the study (26 females and 9 males, aged 42.4 +/- 16.9 yr, who were admitted to General Surgery Clinic for laparascopic cholecystectomy). Serum C-reactive protein, cortisol, thyroid stimulating hormone, free tri-iodothyronine, free thyroxine, tumor necrosis factor-alpha, interleukin-1beta, soluble interleukin-2 receptor, interleukin-6, and interleukin-8 levels were evaluated 6 h before and after the operation. Postoperative cortisol (p=0.02), TSH (p=0.034), tumor necrosis factor-alpha (p=0.003), soluble interleukin-2 receptor (p=0.004) were found to be significantly higher than their corresponding preoperative levels. However, postoperative serum free thyroxine (p=0.011), and free tri-iodothyronine levels (p=0.001) were decreased when compared with preoperative levels, respectively. No significant difference was observed in C-reactive protein, interleukin-1beta, interleukin-6, and interleukin-8 levels. C-rective protein levels did not change in the early period of the surgical stress. Cytokine responses observed in the early period were found to be conflicting. Cortisol is an important marker of surgical stress which also has close relationship with thyroid functions.

Blastic natural killer cell leukaemia with skin involvement: a case report.

Natural killer cell leukaemia is generally accompanied by extramedullary involvement. CD4+ natural killer cell leukaemia frequently manifests with cutaneous involvement. The disease pursues a very aggressive course with no long-term survivors reported. We present a patient with CD4+ natural killer cell leukaemia with skin, bone marrow and peripheral blood involvement who is still on remission at the end of 2 years.