[Progressive radiation-induced rectal injury: is there an opportunity to get out of a vicious circle? A clinical case].

Radiation therapy is one of the main treatment option for prostate cancer used either independently or as a component of combined and complex treatment of the disease. Modern achievements make it possible to deliver doses of radiation that match the exact dimensions of the tumor for greater efficacy, with minimal exposure of the surrounding tissues, however, does not eliminate them. In most patients, clinical manifestations of chronic radiation proctitis occur during the first 2 years after radiation therapy. The article summarizes the current knowledge about pathophysiology, clinical manifestations, diagnostics and treatment options for this condition. In this paper, we present a case of complicated of chronic radiation proctitis.

[Biliary sludge: pathogenesis, etiology and drug therapy].

AIM: To evaluate the effectiveness of the use of ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA) for the treatment of biliary sludge (BS) and to compare the therapeutic effectiveness of the German substance UDCA and generic drugs from other manufacturers. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study involved 65 patients diagnosed with BS (K80.8). To assess the severity of BS, ultrasound of the gallbladder was performed before treatment, after 1, 3, 6 months during therapy, as well as an assessment of its contractility. All patients were randomized into 2 groups. Patients of the main group received UDCA Ursofalk (Germany) at a dose of 10 mg/kg for at least 6 months. Patients in the comparison group received UDCA (another manufacturer) at a dose of 10 mg/kg for at least 6 months. RESULTS: After 3 months of follow-up, the number of patients with dissolved sludge in the main group was 87.1%, while in the comparison group 50%. In 71% of patients, the normalization of the lean volume of the gallbladder was noted, and in the comparison group only in 47.1%. After 6 months of follow-up, complete resolution of BS in the main group was observed in 93.5% of cases, and in the comparison group in 73.6% of cases. CONCLUSION: As a result of the study, the high effectiveness of Ursofalk during oral litolysis in patients with stage I GI (BS) in the first 3 months of therapy, as well as the normalization of the contractile function of the gallbladder, were noted.

[Assay of methylated gene RARbeta2 in circulating DNA of blood from patients with lung cancer as a potential prognostic marker].

Blood-based methylated DNA gene RARbeta2 in circulating plasma (cir DNA) and one associated with blood cell surface were assayed in patients with non small cell lung cancer before and after combined treatment. The levels in both appeared to be significantly higher than in healthy subjects. Enhanced levels prior to treatment were associated with greater advancement of the disease and unfavorable prognosis (overall survival). After two courses of neoadjuvant therapy plus surgery methylation indices fell down to match those in healthy subjects. Our data may be instrumental in working out additional criteria to be used in diagnosis, prognosis and follow-up of patients with non small cell lung cancer.

[Breast cancer diagnostics based on extracellular DNA and RNA circulating in blood].

Extracellular DNA and RNA were extracted from blood plasma and cell surface-bound fractions of patients with breast tumors and healthy controls. Frequency of RASSF1A, Cyclin D2 and RARbeta2 methylation was detected using methylation-specific PCR in the extracellular DNA, extracted from plasma and cell-surface bound fractions of patient blood. Methylation of at least one of these genes was found in plasma of 13% patients with benign breast fibroadenoma and in 60% of breast cancer patients. Using cell-surface bound DNA as a substrate for PCR have lead to increase of gene methylation detection frequency up to 87% in fibroadenoma and 95% in breast cancer patients without false positive controls. GAPDH, RASSF8, Ki-67 RNA and 18S RNA were quantified using RT-qPCR of the extracellular RNA circulating in blood of patients with breast tumors and healthy controls. The main part of the extracellular RNA was shown to be cell-surface bound. Results show a higher amount of RASSF8, Ki-67 RNA and 18S RNA in plasma and cell-bound fraction of patients with breast cancer compared with patients with benign tumors and healthy controls. The data indicate that the specific RNA quantification in blood plasma is valuable for discrimination between cancer and benign tumors, which can be detected with high sensitivity using analysis of methylated RASSF1A, Cyclin D2 and RARbeta2 genes in extracellular circulating DNA.

Cell-free and cell-bound circulating DNA in breast tumours: DNA quantification and analysis of tumour-related gene methylation.

Tumour development is characterised by the increased circulating DNA (cirDNA) concentration and by tumour-related changes in blood plasma DNA. Concentration of cirDNA and methylation of RARbeta2, RASSF1A and HIC-1 gene promoters were investigated in cell-free and cell-surface-bound fractions from healthy donors, patients with breast cancer, and patients with breast fibroadenoma. Tumour development was shown to lead to significant changes in the distribution of cirDNA between cell-free and cell-surface-bound fractions. Analysis of RARbeta2 and RASSF1A methylation in the total cirDNA provides 95% diagnostic coverage in breast cancer patients, 60% in patients with benign lesions, and is without false-positive results in healthy women. Results of the study indicate that methylation-specific PCR of RARbeta2 and RASSF1A genes based on the total cirDNA combined with the quantitative analysis of cirDNA distribution between cell-bound and cell-free fractions in blood provide the sensitive and accurate detection and discrimination of malignant and benign breast tumours.

Plasma content of extracellular nucleic acids in donors and patients with mammary tumors.

The concentrations of extracellular DNA and RNA were measured in the plasma of donors and patients with fibroadenoma and breast cancer. The content of extracellular DNA surpassed the normal in 80% plasma samples from patients with mammary tumors. Extracellular RNA was detected in 30% plasma samples from donors and patients with breast tumors. No correlations were found between plasma concentration of extracellular DNA and size and stage of tumor growth. Hence, measurement of extracellular DNA in the plasma of patients can be used only as an accessory test for tumor diagnosis.

[Mechanisms and frequency of nuclear divisions in trophoblast and decidua cells during postimplantation embryogenesis in the mouse]. / Mekhanizmy i chastota deleniia iader kletok trofoblasta i detsidua v techenie postimplantatsionnogo émbriogeneza u myshi.

The finding of amitotic division of trophoblast cell nuclei in blastocysts of the American mink (Mustela vison), which has an obligatory period of delay in implantation (obligatory embryonic diapause) in its ontogenesis, led us to study the mechanisms and frequencies of division of trophoblast and decidua cell nuclei during the postimplantation embryogenesis of mouse (Mus musculus), which does not exhibit an obligatory diapause nor amitosis in blastocysts. It has been established that the main mechanism underlying the cell nuclei division in both tissues (trophoblast and decidua) forming the placenta is amitosis. These data suggest that the occurrence of an obligatory embryonic diapause in ontogenesis of certain animal species is related not only to the delay in implantation, but also to the alteration in the chronology of all processes of embryogenesis.