Is perineural invasion (PN) a determinant of disease free survival in early stage colorectal cancer?

Background/aims: The prognostic importance of perineural invasion (PN) in colorectal cancer (CRC) is unclear. The aim of this study to find out whether the PN was an independent stratification factor of postoperative relapse in curatively resected high-risk stage II & III CRC patients who were treated with adjuvant therapy.

Methodology: Data of patients with high risk stage II & all stage III CRCs treated with adjuvant chemotherapy were retrospectively analyzed.

Is her-2 status in the primary tumor correlated with matched lymph node metastases in patients with gastric cancer undergoing curative gastrectomy?

Background: HER2 expression in the primary tumor and its lymph node metastases vary in gastric cancer, reflecting intratumoral heterogeneity. This finding also suggests that proliferation of a different clone in metastatic nodes is possible. In the current study, we aimed to determine the cause of discordance in HER-2 expression in the primary tumor and lymph node metastases for patients with gastric cancer.

What is the optimal treatment in clinical stage T3N0M0 rectal cancer?

Purpose: Some previous studies suggested that certain rectal cancer patients with stage T3N0 and favorable features may be adequately treated with surgery and adjuvant chemotherapy. However, the optimal management of clinical (c) T3N0 rectal adenocarcinoma based on preoperative imaging is unclear. In this study, we aimed to determine the frequency of lymph node metastases in patients clinically staged as T3N0 rectal adenocarcinoma following preoperative chemoradiotherapy (CTR).

Gastric cancer: a case study in Turkey.

Objective: The aim of this study was to determine age-specific incidence ratios, gastric cancer localization trend, histologic subtype and cancer related survival that whether have changed during the period from 1999 to 2010.

Materials And Methods: A total of 866 gastric cancer patients treated at the hospital were retrospectively evaluated. Categorical and continuous variables were summarized using descriptive statistics and were compared using the Chi-square and Mann-Whitney U-tests, respectively.

The relation between pathological complete response and clinical outcome in patients with rectal cancer.

Background/aims: Preoperative chemoradiotherapy (CRT) is the standard treatment modality in locally advanced rectal cancer. The primary aim was to correlate pathological complete response (pCR) with patient outcome, and the secondary objective was to identify predictive factors of pCR.

Methodology: Patients with clinical stage II/III rectal cancer who received preoperative CRT between 2002 and 2010 were retrospectively studied.

Bevacizumab + capecitabine as maintenance therapy after initial bevacizumab + XELOX treatment in previously untreated patients with metastatic colorectal cancer: phase III 'Stop and Go' study results--a Turkish Oncology Group Trial.

Objective: It was the aim of this study to evaluate maintenance therapy with bevacizumab + capecitabine following induction with bevacizumab + capecitabine + oxaliplatin (XELOX) versus bevacizumab + XELOX until progression as first-line therapy in metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC).

Methods: Patients received either bevacizumab (7.5 mg/kg) + XELOX (capecitabine 1,000 mg/m(2) twice daily on days 1-14 + oxaliplatin 130 mg/m(2) on day 1 every 3 weeks) until disease progression (arm A) or the same doses of bevacizumab + XELOX for 6 cycles followed by bevacizumab + capecitabine until disease progression (arm B).

Preoperative versus postoperative chemoradiotherapy in stage T3, N0 rectal cancer.

Background: The study populations of previous preoperative chemoradiotherapy (pre-CRT) studies have consisted of mixed clinical stages, such as cT3-cT4 and/or cN positive. For this reason, it has not been possible to demonstrate whether pre-CRT is of benefit for individual subgroups.

Methods: The medical records of 137 rectal cancer patients with clinical stage T3, N0 disease who received either pre-CRT or postoperative chemoradiotherapy (post-CRT) between 2002 and 2011 were retrospectively analyzed.

Is Helicobacter pylori a poor prognostic factor for HER-2 SISH positive gastric cancer?

Background: Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) is one of the risk factors for gastric cancer (GC). Any prognostic effect of HER-2 status in gastric lymph node metastasis in H.

Are high initial CEA and CA 19-9 levels associated with the presence of K-ras mutation in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer?

In certain cell culture studies, significant CEA expression was observed in K-ras mutant cells. However, the relationship between high CEA levels and K-ras status has not been sufficiently investigated. In the present study, we aimed to determine the prognostic role of initial CEA and CA 19-9 values in metastatic colorectal cancer patients according to the status of K-ras.

Clinicopathological features and outcomes of patients with gastric cancer: a single-center experience.

Aim: To evaluate the location, histopathology, stages, and treatment of gastric cancer and to conduct survival analysis on prognostic factors.

Methods: Patients diagnosed with of stomach cancer in our clinic between 2000 and 2011, with follow-up or a treatment decision, were evaluated retrospectively. They were followed up by no treatment, adjuvant therapy, or metastatic therapy.

Male breast cancer: 37-year data study at a single experience center in Turkey.

Purpose: The aim of this study is to evaluate the effects of prognostic factors on the overall survival (OS) and locoregional control (LC) among male breast cancer (MBC) patients treated at Cerrahpasa Medical School Hospital, along with a review of the related literature.

Methods: The data of 86 patients treated for MBC from 1973 to 2010 are retrospectively reviewed. Patient demographics and clinical information, including the date of diagnosis, treatment, clinical course, and the date and causes of death are routinely recorded.

Clinicopathological features and localization of gastric cancers and their effects on survival in Turkey.

Background: This study was designed to examine changing trends in localization of gastric cancer in Turkey in recent years.

Materials And Methods: A total of 796 adult patients with newly diagnosed, histologically proven adenocarcinomas, treated and followed up at our oncology center between 2000-2011, were examined retrospectively. In all cases tumor localization were identified and recorded with clinicopathological features.

Metachronous rectum metastases from gastric adenocarcinoma: a case report.

Introduction. Hepatic metastases of gastric adenocarcinomas are frequently observed due to the drainage into portal vein. Intestinal metastases disseminate from gastrocolic and mesenteric ligaments but they are seen very rarely and in most cases detected in postmortem studies.

Male breast cancers behave differently in elderly patients.

Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate tumor characteristics, management and survival in elderly male breast cancer patients in comparison with younger men.

Methods: We reviewed medical records of 99 male breast cancer patients between 1972 and 2011. The median age of the patients was 64.

A comparison of patient characteristics, prognosis, treatment modalities, and survival according to age group in gastric cancer patients.

Background: The aim of this study was to investigate age-specific incidence rates and to compare disease stage, treatment, and survival according to age group in patients with gastric adenocarcinoma.

Methods: Gastric cancer patients treated at our hospital between 1999 and 2010 were retrospectively evaluated. We divided the cases into two subgroups: group 1 consisted of patients older than 70 years at the time of treatment, and group 2 included patients aged 70 years or younger.

Perineural invasion independent prognostic factors in patients with gastric cancer undergoing curative resection.

Objective: The prognostic significance of perineural invasion (PNI) in gastric cancer has been previously investigated but not clearly clarified. The objective of our study was to investigate the role of PNI as prognostic factor in patients undergoing curative surgical resection and without distant metastasis in comparison with other clinicopathological factors.

Methods: Between 2001 and 2010, 287 cases of gastric adenocarcinoma underwent radical gastrectomy recorded in hospital based registries.

Paraneoplastic pemphigus associated with fludarabine use.

Paraneoplastic pemphigus is a severe mucocutaneous disease associated with B-cell lymphoproliferative disorders. A 51-yr-old man presented to the oncology clinic with mucocutaneous skin lesions after six cycles of fludarabine for non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. A punch biopsy from the skin showed suprabasal acantholysis and blister formation in the epidermis and upper dermis.

Toxicity and survival results of a phase II study investigating the role of postoperative chemo-radioimmunotherapy for gastric adenocarcinoma.

Background And Purpose: To investigate the role of postoperative concomitant chemo-radioimmunotherapy in gastric adenocarcinoma patients.

Patients And Methods: 59 patients, who underwent total or subtotal gastrectomy, with lymph node involvement, positive microscopic surgical margins or serosal involvement were included in the study. Radiotherapy started concomitantly with chemotherapy and levamisole.

Primitive neuroectodermal tumor of the pancreas. A case report of an extremely rare tumor.

Primitive neuroectodermal tumor (PNET) of the pancreas is extremely rare. Although the diagnosis of PNET is suggested by the light microscopic appearance of the tumor, it should be confirmed by the immunohistochemical evaluation of the c-myc expression and if possible, further determination of the particular chromosome translocation, t(11;22)(q24,q12). In this report, we present a male patient with pancreatic PPNET who had been followed up for 50 months.

Simultaneous presentation of hepatocellular carcinoma in identical twin brothers.

Family history and hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection have been identified as risk factors for hepatocellular carcinoma. We report hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) diagnosed at the same time in identical twin brothers. Serological analyses of the patients showed that both were chronically infected with HBV.