Early Diagnosis of Candidemia in the Intensive Care Unit by Clinical and Molecular Methods: A Prospective Observational Study.

Objective: Early diagnosis and treatment of candidemia in intensive care units (ICUs) remain a significant challenge globally because of the lack of well-established non-culture-based diagnostic methods. This study aimed to evaluate risk factors in critically ill ICU patients, develop a unique score, and create a real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay for the early diagnosis of candidemia.

Materials And Methods: The study was conducted in three phases: 1) Retrospective analysis of 100 ICU patients from İstanbul University-Cerrahpaşa between January 2017 and December 2018 to identify risk factors for invasive candidiasis, 2) development of Cerrahpaşa score based on these findings, and 3) prospective evaluation of 75 ICU patients, applying the newly created Cerrahpaşa score and implementing a rapid PCR-based test on whole blood samples.

Survival outcomes of patients with HER2/neu-positive breast cancer with germline BRCA mutations.

Background: Breast cancer (BC) with germline BRCA1/2 mutations and their association with triple-negative BC has been thoroughly investigated. However, some carriers of BRCA1/2 mutations have human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2/neu)-positive BC, which has a different targeted therapy approach, and data are scarce for this patient population. The authors sought to characterize the clinical characteristics and outcomes of patients with HER2/neu-positive BC who had germline BRCA1/2 mutations.

Short-Term Biomarker Modulation Study of Dasatinib for Estrogen Receptor-Negative Breast Cancer Chemoprevention.

Objective: Risk-reducing therapy with selective estrogen receptor (ER) modulators and aromatase inhibitors reduce breast cancer risk. However, the effects are limited to ER-positive breast cancer. Therefore, new agents with improved toxicity profiles that reduce the risk in ER-negative breast cancers are urgently needed.

Decrease in estimated glomerular filtration rates in non-small cell lung cancer patients treated with crizotinib.

Introduction: Crizotinib is a tyrosine kinase inhibitor used in patients with non-small cell lung cancer, and there are uncertainties about its effect on kidney function. In this study, it was aimed to document the possible adverse effect of the drug on kidney functions.

Materials And Methods: The estimated glomerular filtration rates (eGFRs) of the patients were calculated by creatinine-based Chronic Kidney Disease Epidemiology Collaboration and compared by months using the paired samples t-test.

The percentage of ALK-positive cells and the efficacy of first-line alectinib in advanced non-small cell lung cancer: is it a novel factor for stratification? (Turkish Oncology Group Study).

Introduction: Alectinib is an effective second-generation ALK tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) used in the first-line treatment of patients with advanced ALK-positive NSCLC. Recent studies demonstrated that the percentage of ALK-positive tumor cells in patient groups receiving crizotinib might affect outcomes. This study aimed to investigate whether the percentage of ALK-positive cells had a predictive effect in patients with advanced NSCLC who received first-line Alectinib as ALK-TKI.

Real-world data on efficacy and safety of first-line alectinib treatment in advanced-stage, ALK-positive non-small-cell lung cancer patients: a Turkish Oncology Group study.

In this multicenter study, the authors aimed to determine the real-life efficacy and safety of first-line alectinib. This retrospective trial included advanced-stage, ALK-positive non-small-cell lung cancer patients who were treated with first-line alectinib in terms of ALK-tyrosine kinase inhibitors, regardless of previous chemotherapy. The co-primary end points were progression-free survival both for all patients and for the treatment-naive population.

Prognostic value of expression levels of miR-148a, miR-152 and HLA-G in colon cancer.

Aberrant expression of human leukocyte antigen G (HLA-G), an immunosuppressive molecule, has been observed in various cancer types. The exact mechanism of HLA-G expression is unclear. HLA-G expression is associated with low expression levels of microRNA (miR)-148a and miR-152.

Immunogenicity of Infliximab Among Patients With Behçet Syndrome: A Controlled Study.

Background: Immunogenicity of tumor necrosis factor alpha inhibitors (TNFis) has been recognized as an important problem that may cause loss of efficacy and adverse events such as infusion reactions. TNFis are being increasingly used among patients with Behçet syndrome (BS) and scarce data exist on this topic.

Objective: We aimed to investigate the prevalence of anti-infliximab (IFX) antibodies in patients with Behçet syndrome together with suitable controls.