The importance of the development of extracorporeal life support simulation centres for improving skills and knowledge during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Introduction: Despite increasing implementation of sophisticated and logistically challenging techniques to support patients in life-threatening conditions in the last years, there were no devoted education centres, especially in coronavirus pandemic. Aim: To assess the value of gaining evidence-based knowledge and improving the skills of physicians by means of simulation techniques in the safe use of extracorporeal technologies to support patients in the life-threatening conditions. Material and methods: In 2019, the National Education Centre for Artificial Life Support and Patient Safety and the frame program of the course of "Artificial Life Support with ECMO". was created. In years 2019-2023, we managed to organise 34 such courses for 405 physicians, which were additionally endorsed by ELSO (Extracorporeal Life Support Organisation). The physicians' cognitive, behavioural, and technical skills were evaluated before and after the courses. Results: The participants' gender was well balanced (54% men and 46% women). Most of them (mainly at the age between 31-40 years) presented more than 5 years of clinical experience, predominantly in anaesthesiology and intensive care (63%). Of note, 54% of them had no experience with ECMO application. In all detailed aspects of cognitive, behavioural, and technical assessment and knowledge scores, significant improvement was observed after the course. Conclusions: The development of a simulation-based education centre was found to be an invaluable achievement that enabled not only successful standardised training and testing of novel or previously accepted procedures, but also the upgrading of technical skills, even in the challenging COVID-19 pandemic period.

Factors influencing behavioral intentions of graduating pharmacy students regarding interprofessional collaboration - a theory-driven qualitative study.

BACKGROUND: Interprofessional collaboration enhances the use of competencies of different medical team members. Additionally, pharmacists' involvement in patient care has been shown to improve their outcomes and seems particularly valuable in chronic diseases. Therefore, due to the aging of society and the increasing prevalence of chronic diseases, efforts are needed to involve pharmacists more broadly in patient care. However, there is a limited understanding of what factors could influence their willingness to participate in an interprofessional care team, especially among pharmacy students only entering the profession. This study aimed to fill these knowledge gaps by exploring graduating pharmacy students' intentions in this regard guided by the theory of planned behavior. METHODS: We conducted seventeen semi-structured interviews with graduating pharmacy students of Poznan University of Medical Sciences, which were then thematically analyzed by two researchers. RESULTS: Positive attitudes of respondents, who mentioned the possibility of acquiring new knowledge, skills, and competencies, increased prestige and appreciation of the pharmacist's profession, a better quality of patient care, and the support and relief offered to other team members as a result of collaboration, seem to strengthen their intentions. However, they also expressed their worries about potential errors and knowledge gaps, which constituted an example of some existing negative feelings. The identified sources of generally mixed social pressure toward the behavior included other pharmacists and pharmacy students, physicians, patients, their relatives and friends, and the decision and policymakers. Finally, their intentions may also be weakened by the mentioned perceived behavioral control aspects, like their level of pharmaceutical and clinical knowledge, skills, and experience, their knowledge of representatives of other professions and collaboration, the atmosphere at their future place of work, co-workers' potential reluctance to collaborate with them, finding time for collaboration, the existence of incentives and gratification system, and existing legal regulations. CONCLUSIONS: The attitudes of graduating pharmacy students toward interprofessional collaboration seem mostly positive, but their intentions might be weakened by the mixed sense of social pressure and factors decreasing their perceived behavioral control.

Future physicians' behavioral intentions towards collaborative practice - a qualitative study on polish final-year medical students guided by the theory of planned behavior.

BACKGROUND: Interprofessional collaboration constitutes a vital part of modern patient care, and many of its benefits for patients, medical staff, and the healthcare system have been described. However, little is known about factors influencing medical students' intentions to work in a collaborative practice after graduation. Therefore, with the theory of planned behavior by Ajzen as a framework, this study aimed to evaluate their intentions and identify factors that influence their attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control. METHODS: For this purpose, eighteen semi-structured interviews were conducted with medical students following a thematic guide developed according to the theory. They were thematically analyzed by two independent researchers. RESULTS: The results showed that their attitudes contained positive (better patient care, comfort and safety of work, learning and development opportunities) and negative examples like the fear of conflicts, losing authority and mistreatment. Sources of social pressure regarding the behavior (subjective norms) involved their peers, other physicians, representatives of other medical professions, patients, and managing bodies. Finally, perceived behavioral control included limited occasions for contacts and interprofessional learning during the studies, existing stereotypes and prejudices, legal regulations and systemic solutions, organizational aspects, and existing relations at the ward. CONCLUSIONS: Analysis showed that Polish medical students generally seem to hold positive views on interprofessional collaboration and feel positive social pressure to get involved in interprofessional teams. However, factors listed in perceived behavioral control may act as barriers in the process.

Potential of Volunteering in Formal and Informal Medical Education-A Theory-Driven Cross-Sectional Study with Example of the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Students' volunteering is an effective way to manage health crises, including pandemics. Due to the limited capacity of the healthcare system at the time of the COVID-19 outbreak, the engagement of students in volunteering services seemed invaluable. Based on different teaching-learning theories, in this survey study, we aimed to evaluate the potential of the volunteering service project launched by the Poznan University of Medical Sciences during the COVID-19 pandemic as a learning opportunity for undergraduate healthcare students. The results indicate the potential of involving students in volunteering activities for educational purposes, as well as other values, including attitudes and professional identity development, which could be difficult to realize using traditional teaching methods. However, stimulating students' reflectiveness seems necessary to reach its full educational effectiveness. Medical teachers should provide students with more opportunities for volunteering and service learning and consider making these a constant element of the curriculum beyond the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Impact of ERASMUS Exchanges on the Professional and Personal Development of Medical Students.

The ERASMUS program is one of the most popular student exchange projects, particularly among the students of Central and Eastern European countries. However, limited research is available with regard to its influence on the professional and personal development of its participants. The study aimed at investigating the experiences and impact of the ERASMUS program on different domains of the personal and professional life of medical students. A questionnaire containing closed and open-ended questions was distributed among 269 former participants of the ERASMUS program from the Poznan University of Medical Sciences to collect qualitative and quantitative data regarding the topic. The response rate was 41%. Mastering professional foreign language skills was the most frequently reported benefit of ERASMUS (94%), followed by a change of approach towards learning by exposure to innovative teaching techniques, character, professionalism and cultural competency development, impact on the migration decisions of the students, as well as the opportunity to compare healthcare and educational systems across countries. Additionally, 57% of respondents stated that ERASMUS impacted their career plans, and few indicated that it had affected their specialty choice. Approximately 28% of respondents have worked abroad in healthcare or research since graduating. Participation in the ERASMUS program proved to be a unique opportunity for professional and personal development.

Pharmacists' Perspectives on Interprofessional Collaboration with Physicians in Poland: A Quantitative Study.

Over the years, many studies have emphasized the pharmacist's importance as part of the patient care team. Still, the interprofessional collaboration between physicians and pharmacists in their everyday work seems rare. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the types of contact between them, possible mutual collaboration, and barriers to implementation. This study was conducted from April to August 2020. The study group included licensed pharmacists working in community pharmacies in Poland (n = 207). The results show that, according to the respondents, physician-pharmacist contact mainly concerns formal aspects, such as correcting prescription errors. They occasionally communicate for other matters, such as consultation regarding drug availability and drug dosage. However, when asked to divide responsibilities between them and physicians, pharmacists indicate areas that should involve interprofessional collaboration, e.g., monitoring adverse drug reactions, analysis of multi-drug therapy, and checking the regularity of taking medications. They indicated the lack of specific collaboration rules, limited willingness to establish relationships and low mutual respect and trust among existing barriers. It is worth considering the possibility of overcoming these barriers provided by interprofessional education in order to develop communication skills and build relationships based on respect.

How to effectively promote interprofessional collaboration? - a qualitative study on physicians' and pharmacists' perspectives driven by the theory of planned behavior.

BACKGROUND: Ajzen's theory of planned behavior (TPB) postulates that individuals' behavioral intention is influenced by their attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control. Therefore, it can be used to broaden the understanding of particular behaviors, including healthcare workers' professional activities. METHODS: In this study, we used TPB as a theoretical framework to evaluate semi-structured interviews with pharmacists and physicians to build an understanding of the interprofessional collaboration between them. Sixteen semi-structured interviews were conducted with pharmacists and eleven with physicians. The sample of participants comprised a diverse group with varying work experience and workplaces. Data were analyzed independently by two researchers following the thematic analysis method using ATLAS.ti software. Data saturation was set in the absence of new issues arising during the interviews. RESULTS: The content analysis allowed for the determination of six main themes: the relationship between previous experiences and attitudes towards collaboration, pharmacist's role in collaboration, mutual reluctance toward collaboration, the role of decision- and policy-makers, knowledge and qualifications gaps regarding collaboration, and lack of organizational paths. CONCLUSIONS: Despite both physicians and pharmacists displaying positive attitudes towards collaboration may foster their intention to establish a professional partnership, subjective norms (e.g., the lack of appropriate legal regulations) and perceived behavioral control (physicians' lack of awareness about pharmacists' qualifications and the low level of interpersonal skills) might impede the process.

How Do Dieticians on Instagram Teach? The Potential of the Kirkpatrick Model in the Evaluation of the Effectiveness of Nutritional Education in Social Media.

The growing popularity of health education on social media indicates the need for its appropriate evaluation. This paper aims to present the potential of the Kirkpatrick Model (KM) with New World Kirkpatrick Model (NWKM) additions to evaluate the nutritional education provided by dieticians via Instagram. Instagram profiles of ten dieticians providing nutritional education for their followers were analyzed in March and April 2021. The study sample included profiles of both macro- and micro-influencers. The analyzed quantitative data included Instagram Engagement Rate and the number of likes and comments per post. The qualitative analysis of the comments was performed following the theoretical framework provided by the KM and NWKM. Collected data showed followers' satisfaction, commitment, and relevance of the presented content, fulfilling the Level 1 of NWKM. Level 2 of NWKM was represented by 4 out of 5 dimensions (knowledge, attitude, confidence, commitment). No comments were found only for skills. Both Levels 3 (Behavior) and 4 (Results) of the KM were met. However, the use of the NWKM for them seems limited. The KM can be used to evaluate nutritional education on social media. The NWKM additions seem applicable mostly for Levels 1 and 2.

'Difficult Conversations with Patients'-A Modified Group Objective Structured Clinical Experience for Medical Students.

This study presents a modified Group Objective Structured Clinical Experience (GOSCE) focused on difficult conversations, in which, due to limited time and financial resources, only some students could actively participate in scenarios. We aimed to evaluate the intervention, including differences between them and observers. The intervention was organized for sixth-year medical students at a Polish medical university. The study protocol assumed a pre-post analysis of students' attitudes and self-efficacy of communication skills and their opinions about the intervention. Complete questionnaire pairs were returned by 126 students. The pre-post analysis revealed a significant improvement in their self-efficacy levels of almost all skills as well as their affective attitudes and belief in outcomes of communication learning. The improvement was significant among both the active participants and observers. It also showed a decrease in the motivation score, significant only in females. Regardless of their roles, students had positive opinions about the course and its particular aspects. The modified GOSCE may be an enjoyable and effective learning experience for students, especially in the light of limited resources. However, changes in their motivation score suggest the necessity to increase the importance of communication learning in the curriculum.

Affective and cognitive components of students' attitudes towards communication learning - validation of the Communication Skills Attitude Scale in a cohort of polish medical students.

BACKGROUND: The Communication Skills Attitude Scale (CSAS) is a recognized tool for assessment of attitudes towards communication learning. In the original version, it consists of 26 items divided on theoretical assumptions into two subscales: Positive and Negative Attitudes Scales. However, the evidence for its structure seems unsatisfactory, and a simple division into positive and negative attitudes may be insufficient to describe attitudes of medical students towards communication learning. Moreover, the existing evidence of the test-retest reliability of the CSAS seems limited. Consequently, this study aimed to provide more evidence on its psychometric properties while validating the CSAS questionnaire in a cohort of Polish medical students. METHODS: The CSAS was translated, adapted into Polish, and validated in a cohort of 389 Polish medical students. Statistical analysis involved, among others, parallel analysis to determine the number of factors, confirmatory factor analysis to compare the proposed model with theory-based ones, and test-retest reliability analysis. RESULTS: Conducted analysis revealed that in the examined population, the CSAS should rather consist of four than two subscales. Proposed four subscales addressed perceived outcomes of communication learning, positive and negative attitudes towards it (affective components), and factors motivating students to learn communication (a cognitive component of attitudes). Results of test-retest reliability were satisfactory for individual items and subscales. CONCLUSIONS: This study presented a valid and reliable version of the Communication Skills Attitude Scale for Polish medical students and confirmed previous assumptions that CSAS may also be appropriate for assessment of affective and cognitive components of attitudes. Future research should, based on Ajzen's Theory of Planned Behavior, make attempts to develop a tool assessing not only attitudes but also subjective norms and perceived behavioral control.

Is there a time and place for health education in chain pharmacies? Perspectives of Polish community pharmacists.

Pharmaceutical practice has evolved significantly from the provision of drugs to a more patient-centred model. However, the ownership structure of pharmacies may impact the level of cognitive services provided by them. The discrepancy may be observed between pharmacists' opinions on how involved they should get and their actual involvement in health promotion and disease prevention. Given the growing market share of pharmacy chains in Europe, this study aimed to investigate the attitudes of pharmacists employed in them towards their role as health educators. It applies Ajzen's theory of planned behaviour to examine pharmacists' perspectives with the use of semi-structured in-depth interviews. A total of 10 semi-structured face-to-face interviews were conducted in May 2017 among Polish pharmacists employed in chains. Obtained results showed that respondents welcomed the possibility of providing health education, but simultaneously they seek physicians' and patients' acceptance for undertaking this task. Competency gaps and unfavourable working conditions may also decrease pharmacists' intention to serve as health educators. Including the role of a health educator to the scope of the pharmacists' practice requires a precise definition of their competencies and responsibilities together with additional training aimed to fill potential gaps in their qualifications. The pharmacists' image as a health educator should also be widely communicated to patients and other healthcare professionals.

Sex differences in excess and reservoir arterial blood pressures as markers of phenotype.

OBJECTIVES: Excess pressure and reservoir pressure are related to various clinical outcomes in cardiovascular diseases, but whether there are sex differences in healthy individuals remains uncertain. We compared phenotypes of excess pressure and reservoir pressure between healthy men and women. METHODS: Different features of noninvasively recorded radial and reconstructed aortic pressure waveforms were measured in 435 healthy adults (257 women, 59%). In addition to SBP and DBP, we compared values of maximal excess pressure and reservoir pressure (RPMAX), excess pressure and reservoir pressure time integrals, respectively, as well as relative contributions of excess pressure (EPREL) and reservoir pressure to total blood pressure time integral, respectively, between men and women divided in two age categories, below 51 (82 women and 66 men) and greater than or equal to 51 years old (175 women and 112 men), corresponding to average age of menopause for women and acceleration of vascular ageing for all. RESULTS: In both age categories, compared with men, women had significantly lower peripheral and aortic SBP and DBP. Analysis of covariance adjusted for BMI revealed that women who were greater than or equal to 51 years old had significantly higher excess pressure time integral, RPMAX, reservoir pressure time integral, EPREL, and relative contributions of reservoir pressure than men in the same age category. In the younger age category below 51 years old, EPREL and RPMAX were also significantly higher in women than men. CONCLUSION: Our study shows that healthy women have lower peripheral and aortic SBP and DBP compared with healthy men; however, their excess and reservoir pressures are higher, particularly after 51 years of age.

mRNA expression of steroidogenic enzymes, steroid hormone receptors and their coregulators in gastric cancer.

Epidemiological and experimental findings suggest that the development of gastric cancer (GC) is regulated by steroid hormones. In postmenopausal women and older men, the majority of steroid hormones are produced locally in peripheral tissue through the enzymatic conversion of steroid precursors. Therefore, using reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction analysis, the mRNA expression of genes encoding steroidogenic enzymes, including steroid sulfatase (STS), hydroxy-delta-5-steroid dehydrogenase 3 beta- and steroid delta-isomerase 1 (HSD3B1), 17ß-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 7 and aromatase (CYP19A1), was investigated in primary tumoral and adjacent healthy gastric mucosa from 60 patients with GC. Furthermore, the mRNA levels for estrogen receptor α, estrogen receptor ß (ESR2) and androgen receptor (AR), along with their coregulators, including proline, glutamate and leucine rich protein 1, CREB binding protein, nuclear receptor coactivator 1 (NCOA1), nuclear receptor corepressor 1 (NCOR1) and nuclear receptor subfamily 2 group F member 1 (NR2F1), were investigated. Additionally, the association between the mRNA expression of these genes and the clinicopathological features of patients with GC was examined. Significantly decreased levels of STS, HSD3B1, ESR2, AR, NCOA1 and NCOR1 mRNA, in addition to significantly increased levels of CYP19A1 mRNA were demonstrated in tumoral tissue samples compared with adjacent healthy gastric tissue samples. Deregulated expression of these genes in the analyzed tissue samples was associated with certain clinicopathological features of GC, such as age and localization of the tumor. The results of the current study suggest that all of the genes analyzed are expressed in tumoral and adjacent healthy gastric mucosa. In addition, the results indicate that abnormal expression of STS, ESR2, AR, NCOA1 and NCOR1 may serve a role in the development and progression of GC, and may be associated with specific clinicopathological features in patients with GC.

Management of enteroatmospheric fistula with negative pressure wound therapy in open abdomen treatment: a multicentre observational study.

The management of enteroatmospheric fistula (EAF) in open abdomen (OA) therapy is challenging and associated with a high mortality rate. The introduction of negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT) in open abdomen management significantly improved the healing process and increased spontaneous fistula closure. Retrospectively, we analysed 16 patients with a total of 31 enteroatmospheric fistulas in open abdomen management who were treated using NPWT in four referral centres between 2004 and 2014. EAFs were diagnosed based on clinical examination and confirmed with imaging studies and classified into low (<200 ml/day), moderate (200-500 ml/day) and high (>500 ml/day) output fistulas. The study group consisted of five women and 11 men with the mean age of 52·6 years [standard deviation (SD) 11·9]. Since open abdomen management was implemented, the mean number of re-surgeries was 3·7 (SD 2·2). There were 24 EAFs located in the small bowel, while four were located in the colon. In three patients, EAF occurred at the anastomotic site. Thirteen fistulas were classified as low output (41·9%), two as moderate (6·5%) and 16 as high output fistulas (51·6%). The overall closure rate was 61·3%, with a mean time of 46·7 days (SD 43·4). In the remaining patients in whom fistula closure was not achieved (n = 12), a protruding mucosa was present. Analysing the cycle of negative pressure therapy, we surprisingly found that the spontaneous closure rate was 70% (7 of 10 EAFs) using intermittent setting of negative pressure, whereas in the group of patients treated with continuous pressure, 57% of EAFs closed spontaneously (12 of 21 EAFs). The mean number of NPWT dressing was 9 (SD 3·3; range 4-16). In two patients, we observed new fistulas that appeared during NPWT. Three patients died during therapy as a result of multi-organ failure. NPWT is a safe and efficient method characterised by a high spontaneous closure rate. However, in patients with mucosal protrusion of the EAFs, spontaneous closure appears to be impossible to achieve.

Gastrointestinal tract anastomoses with the biofragmentable anastomosis ring: is it still a valid technique for bowel anastomosis? Analysis of 203 cases and review of the literature.

PURPOSE: Biofragmentable anastomosis ring (BAR) is an alternative to manual and stapled anastomoses performed within the upper and lower gastrointestinal (GI) tract. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of BAR utility for bowel anastomoses based on our own material. METHODS: A retrospective analysis was performed to a total of 203 patients who underwent bowel surgery with the use of BAR anastomosis within upper and lower gastrointestinal tract between 2004 and 2014. Data for the analysis was collected based on medical records, treatment protocols, and the results of histological examinations. RESULTS: The study group consisted of 86 women and 117 men. The most common underlying pathology was a malignant disease (n = 165). Biofragmentable anastomosis ring (BAR) size 31 was the most commonly used (n = 87). A total of 169 colocolic or colorectal anastomoses and 28 ileocolic and 8 enteroenteric anastomoses were performed. The mortality rate was 0.5 % (n = 1) whereas re-surgery rate within 30 days was 8.4 % (n = 17). Twenty-eight patients developed perioperative complications with surgical site infection as the most common one (n = 11). Eight patients developed specific complications associated with BAR including an anastomotic leak (n = 6) and intestinal obstruction (n = 2). The mean time of hospital stay after surgery was 12.7 days. CONCLUSIONS: The use of BAR for the GI tract anastomoses is simple and rapid method and it is characterized with an acceptable number of perioperative mortality and complication rates. Based on our experience, we recommend the use of BAR anastomosis in different types of intestinal anastomosis in varying clinical scenarios.

Transcript level of AKR1C3 is down-regulated in gastric cancer.

Steroid hormones have been shown to play a role in gastric carcinogenesis. Large amounts of steroid hormones are locally produced in the peripheral tissues of both genders. Type 5 of 17ß-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase, encoded by the AKR1C3 gene, plays a pivotal role in both androgen and estrogen metabolism, and its expression was found to be deregulated in different cancers. In this study we measured AKR1C3 transcript and protein levels in nontumoral and primary tumoral gastric tissues, and evaluated their association with some clinicopathological features of gastric cancer (GC). We found decreased levels of AKR1C3 transcript (p < 0.0001) and protein (p = 0.0021) in GC tissues compared with the adjacent, apparently histopathologically normal, mucosa. Lower levels of AKR1C3 transcript were observed in diffuse and intestinal types of GC, whereas AKR1C3 protein levels were decreased in tumors with multisite localization, in diffuse histological type, T3, T4, and G3 grades. We also determined the effect of the histone deacetylase inhibitor sodium butyrate (NaBu) on AKR1C3 expression in EPG 85-257 and HGC-27 GC cell lines. We found that NaBu elevates the levels of both AKR1C3 transcript and protein in the cell lines we investigated. Together, our results suggest that decreased expression of AKR1C3 may be involved in development of GC and can be restored by NaBu.

In Vitro Studies of Antibacterial and Antifungal Wound Dressings Comprising H2TiO3 and SiO2 Nanoparticles.

The incidence rate of the infected and complex wound is established at approximately 40,000/1 million of the world's adult population. The aim of this study was to assess the efficiency of three novel types of wound dressings comprising sodium chloride, metatitanic acid and silicon dioxide nanoparticles. The study design was to prove their antimicrobial properties against the microorganisms most commonly causing wound infections. The study evaluated the antimicrobial effect of tested dressings on referenced strains of bacteria (ATCC collection, Argenta, Poland) and strains of fungi species (our own collection of fungi cultured from patients). The dressings were tested with both bacterial and fungal strains on solid media (Mueller-Hinton, Sobouraud, bioMerieux, France) in the standard method. The results confirmed the inhibition of growth of bacteria and revealed zones of inhibition for Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus and Enterococcus faecalis. Significant zones of inhibition were established for Staphylococcus aureus and for fungi species of the Candida sp. These results would be crucial due to the fact of the low availability of antifungal therapeutics for both systemic and topical usage. Moreover, the current standard of antifungal treatment is associated with high costs and high toxicity in general. The preliminary results are very promising but further studies are necessary. Based on the obtained results, the tested dressings may contribute to the development of the surgical armamentarium of complex wound management in the near future.

Expression of 17ß-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 2 is associated with some clinicopathological features in gastric cancer.

In most populations, gastric cancer (GC) incidence is higher in men than in women, which may suggest the role of sex steroid hormones in gastric cancerogenesis. Both, androgens and estrogens can be synthetised in peripherial tissues. This process is controlled by expression of steroidogenic enzymes. Therefore, we evaluate the 17ß-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 2 (HSD17B2) transcript and protein levels in gastric tumoral and nontumoral tissue. We also determined the association between HSD17B2 transcript and protein levels and some clinicopathological features in GC. We found significantly decreased levels of HSD17B2 transcript (P=0.00072) and protein (P=0.00017) in primary tumoral tissues of GC patients, as compared to nontumoral tissues. In patients above 60 years of age the amounts of HSD17B2 transcript (P=0.00044) and protein (P=0.00027) were significantly lower in tumoral than nontumoral tissues. Similarly, lower HSD17B2 levels, both in terms of the transcript and protein, were observed in tumoral tissues of male (P=0.013, P=0.0014), patients stomach (P=0.0062, P=0.045) and cardia (P=0.02, P=0.02) site of tumor, T3 (P=0.018, P=0.014) depth of invasion, N0 (P=0.017, P=0.045) lymph node metastasis, G3 (P=0.0027, P=0.014) malignancy grade. We also observed significantly reduced level of HSD17B2 transcript in tumoral tissue specimens of females (P=0.014), T4 depth of invasion (P=0.02), N3 lymph node metastasis (P=0.037) and G2 malignancy grade (P=0.045). Furthermore, diffuse GC histological types were associated with lower HSD17B2 protein level (P=0.024) than nontumoral tissues. We demonstrated that HSD17B2 transcript and protein levels are linked to some clinicopathological features in GC.