In Vivo Detection of Circulating Tumor Cells in High-Risk Non-Metastatic Prostate Cancer Patients Undergoing Radiotherapy.

High-risk non-metastatic prostate cancer (PCa) has the potential to progress into lethal disease. Treatment options are manifold but, given a lack of surrogate biomarkers, it remains unclear which treatment offers the best results. Several studies have reported circulating tumor cells (CTCs) to be a prognostic biomarker in metastatic PCa.

Radiation-induced morphea-a rare but severe late effect of adjuvant breast irradiation : Case report and review of the literature.

Background: Radiation-induced morphea (RIM) is a circumscribed localized scleroderma that occurs most often in the breast. After an asymptomatic period of one month to several years, the symptoms (circumscribed inflammation, edema, sclerosis) often arise suddenly and cannot be clinically distinguished from a local recurrence in the form of inflammatory carcinoma.

Case: We present a case of a 74-year-old woman who developed this rare and serious local side-effect in connective tissue following neoadjuvant CDK 4/6 inhibitor abemaciclib (Verzenio®) and aromatase inhibitor anastrozole (Arimidex®) therapy and subsequent radiation therapy of the breast.

Catch and Release: rare cell analysis from a functionalised medical wire.

Enumeration and especially molecular characterization of circulating tumour cells (CTCs) holds great promise for cancer management. We tested a modified type of an in vivo enrichment device (Catch&Release) for its ability to bind and detach cancer cells for the purpose of single-cell molecular downstream analysis in vitro. The evaluation showed that single-cell analysis using array comparative genome hybridization (array-CGH) and next generation sequencing (NGS) is feasible.

Vitamin D receptor initiation codon polymorphism, bone density and inflammatory activity of patients with ankylosing spondylitis.

Objectives: Osteoporosis is a common finding in ankylosing spondylitis (AS) and may contribute to spinal deformity and bone pain. Bone metabolism as well as inflammatory processes are influenced by the vitamin D receptor gene (VDR). We investigated initiation codon ( FokI) and 3'UTR ( BsmI) polymorphisms of the VDR for whether there could be an association with bone mineral density (BMD) in relation to bone metabolism or inflammatory activity in patients with AS.