Serum fetuin-A and RANKL levels in patients with early stage breast cancer.

Background: Breast cancer (BC) is the primary cause of mortality due to cancer in females around the world. Fetuin-A is known to increase metastases over signals and peroxisomes related with growing. Receptor activator of nuclear factor-kB ligand (RANKL) takes part in cell adhesion, and RANKL inhibition is used in the management of cancer. We aimed to examine the relationship between serum fetuin-A, RANKL levels, other laboratory parameters and clinical findings in women diagnosed with early stage BC, in our population. Methods: Women having early stage BC (n=117) met our study inclusion criteria as they had no any anti-cancer therapy before. Thirty-seven healthy women controls were also confirmed with breast examination and ultrasonography and/or mammography according to their ages. Serum samples were stored at -80°C and analysed via ELISA. Results: Median age of the patients was 53 (range: 57-86) while it was 47 (range: 23-74) in the healthy group. Patients had lower high-density lipoprotein levels (p=0.002) and higher neutrophil counts (p=0.014). Fetuin-A and RANKL levels did not differ between the groups (p=0.116 and p=0.439, respectively) but RANKL leves were found to be lower in the favorable histological subtypes (p=0.04). Conclusions: In this study, we found no correlation between serum fetuin-A levels and clinical findings in patients diagnosed with early stage BC. However, RANKL levels are found to be lower in subgroups with favorable histopathologic subtypes such as tubular, papillary and mucinous BC and there was statistically significant difference.

The effect of mutation status, pathological features and tumor location on prognosis in patients with colorectal cancer.

OBJECTIVE: Colorectal cancer is the most common malignancy of the gastrointestinal tract. It is the third most common tumor in both genders and the second reason of cancer-related deaths. In recent years, tumor location has gained importance as a prognostic indicator. In this study, we aimed to analyze if there was a prognostic effect of tumor location, the pathological features, and the mutation status of patients on survival. METHODS: Two-hundred and ten colorectal cancer patients aged 18 years and older were included into the study. One-hundred and forty-two patients had left-sided tumor and 68 patients had right-sided tumor. Patients who had other malignancies rather than squamous cell skin cancer and in situ cervical cancer were excluded. All statistical tests were carried out using two-sided process, and a p≤0.05 was considered statistically significant. RESULTS: There were 140 men and 70 women in the study. The median age of the patients was 62 years old. There was no statistically significant difference according to tumor location and survival of patients. The overall survival of patients with right-sided tumors was 60.5 months and 47.2 months for left-sided tumors. Disease-free survival of patients was 63.7 months for right-sided tumors and 46 months for left-sided ones. Perineural invasion, grade and stage were crucial prognostic parameters. Disease-free survival was longer for female colorectal cancer patients. CONCLUSION: According to our study, survival of patients was similar regardless of tumor location. This can be explained by the different sequencing of treatment strategies and divergent population genetics.

The effect of mutation status, pathological features and tumor location on prognosis in patients with colorectal cancer

SUMMARY OBJECTIVE: Colorectal cancer is the most common malignancy of the gastrointestinal tract. It is the third most common tumor in both genders and the second reason of cancer-related deaths. In recent years, tumor location has gained importance as a prognostic indicator. In this study, we aimed to analyze if there was a prognostic effect of tumor location, the pathological features, and the mutation status of patients on survival. METHODS: Two-hundred and ten colorectal cancer patients aged 18 years and older were included into the study. One-hundred and forty-two patients had left-sided tumor and 68 patients had right-sided tumor. Patients who had other malignancies rather than squamous cell skin cancer and in situ cervical cancer were excluded. All statistical tests were carried out using two-sided process, and a p≤0.05 was considered statistically significant. RESULTS: There were 140 men and 70 women in the study. The median age of the patients was 62 years old. There was no statistically significant difference according to tumor location and survival of patients. The overall survival of patients with right-sided tumors was 60.5 months and 47.2 months for left-sided tumors. Disease-free survival of patients was 63.7 months for right-sided tumors and 46 months for left-sided ones. Perineural invasion, grade and stage were crucial prognostic parameters. Disease-free survival was longer for female colorectal cancer patients. CONCLUSION: According to our study, survival of patients was similar regardless of tumor location. This can be explained by the different sequencing of treatment strategies and divergent population genetics.

Preoperative neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio and plateletto- lymphocyte ratio as new prognostic factors for patients with colorectal cancer.

PURPOSE: The objective of this study was to preoperatively evaluate blood platelet to lymphocyte ratio (PLR) and neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio (NLR) for their prognostic value in patients with colorectal cancer (CRC). METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed 347 patients who underwent colorectal surgery for CRC in the Istanbul Education and Research Hospital and the Antalya Education and Research Hospital. The prognostic value of preoperative PLR, NLR, and other clinical and laboratory parameters was assessed with univariate and multivariate analysis. RESULTS: Median overall survival (OS) was 61.8 months [95% CI for hazard ratio (HR) 46.24-77.14]. Significant parameters in univariate analysis, which were the preoperative levels of carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) (p=0.055), albumin (p=0.003), hemoglobin (p=0.012), PLR (p=0.004), and NLR (p=0.054) were assessed by multivariate analysis which showed that only albumin retained its significance (p=0.008). Median OS was 70.1 vs 44.8 months with PLR ? 180 vs PLR > 180 (log rank; p=0.005). Median OS was "Not reached" (NR) vs 43.5 months with NLR ? 3 vs NLR > 3 (log rank; p=0.012). CONCLUSIONS: This study showed that preoperative levels of CEA, albumin, PLR, and NLR have significant prognostic value for patients with CRC.