Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy: Friend or Foe.

Introduction: Most breast cancers require neoadjuvant chemotherapy and the response to primary systemic therapy (PST) is crucial for deciding on the surgical technique and predicting patient outcomes. However, chemotherapy also brings numerous side effects, with cardiovascular issues being some of the most significant, common and challenging to manage.

Case Presentation: We present the case of a 71-year-old woman diagnosed with stage T2N1M0 Luminal B breast cancer.

Diverting Stoma-Related Evisceration: A Comprehensive Review of 28 Case Reports Published in the Medical Literature in English.

Evisceration is an exceptional complication of diverting a stoma (a common procedure, often considered a minor surgery) with peculiar, specific, features (distinct-to-usual incisional evisceration), due to the presence of a stoma. Available data are limited to a few case reports; some aspects are not fully documented. The results of 28 case reports (full-text articles published in the English literature) were analyzed using 14 variables: age and gender; pathology; surgical setting; index surgery and type of stoma; intended stoma creation; time from surgery to evisceration; type of evisceration; visceral content; cause of evisceration; specific predisposing/risk factors; surgical approach; resection of nonviable content; surgical stoma treatment; and short-term outcome.

Predictive Factors of Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy Response in Breast Cancer Validated by Three Anatomopathological Scores: Residual Cancer Burden, Chevallier System, and Tumor-Infiltrating Lymphocytes.

Introduction: The aim of this retrospective, observational, descriptive study was to identify predictors of response to neoadjuvant therapy in breast cancer patients and to validate them using three anatomopathological scores, such as residual cancer burden (RCB) score, Chevallier system, and tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TIL) score.

Materials And Methods: We conducted a study on 88 female patients aged 37 to 78 years with confirmed breast cancer who were indicated for neoadjuvant chemotherapy. We analyzed different individual variables (such as age, menarche, and menopause), clinical/imaging characteristics of the breast tumor and axillary nodes, immunohistochemical biomarkers (such as ER/PR/HER2 and Ki67), and histopathological features (such as subtype and grading) in relation to three anatomopathological scores calculated based on the surgical resection specimen.

Paracolostomy Evisceration: Short Review and a New Case Report.

Diverting ostomy is a commonly perfomed procedure but may be associated to its own morbidity (early or late complications). Colostomy-related evisceration is a rare but potentially life threatening condition (requiring emergency surgery), relatively undocumented for its mechanisms. Case report: A male aged 84 was admited for chronic low digestive occlusion due to a locally advanced, stenosing, rectal adenocarcinoma.

Identification of Lynch syndrome risk variants in the Romanian population.

Two familial forms of colorectal cancer (CRC), Lynch syndrome (LS) and familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP), are caused by rare mutations in DNA mismatch repair genes (MLH1, MSH2, MSH6, PMS2) and the genes APC and MUTYH, respectively. No information is available on the presence of high-risk CRC mutations in the Romanian population. We performed whole-genome sequencing of 61 Romanian CRC cases with a family history of cancer and/or early onset of disease, focusing the analysis on candidate variants in the LS and FAP genes.

Genetic Contributions to The Association Between Adult Height and Head and Neck Cancer: A Mendelian Randomization Analysis.

With the aim to dissect the effect of adult height on head and neck cancer (HNC), we use the Mendelian randomization (MR) approach to test the association between genetic instruments for height and the risk of HNC. 599 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were identified as genetic instruments for height, accounting for 16% of the phenotypic variation. Genetic data concerning HNC cases and controls were obtained from a genome-wide association study.

Dedifferentiated Liposarcoma of Sigmoid Mesocolon - A Case Report.

Dedifferentiated liposarcoma is a liposarcoma that contains a well-differentiated liposarcoma component juxtaposed to areas of high-grade non-lipogenic sarcoma and was believed to occur from well-differentiated liposarcoma after several years. Dedifferentiated liposarcoma most commonly occurs in the retroperitoneum, while an intraperitoneal location is extremely rare, only seven cases have been reported in literature. Many pathologists recognize that a large number of intra-abdominal poorly differentiated sarcomas are dedifferentiated liposarcomas.

Replication study of 34 common SNPs associated with prostate cancer in the Romanian population.

Prostate cancer is the third-most common form of cancer in men in Romania. The Romanian unscreened population represents a good sample to study common genetic risk variants. However, a comprehensive analysis has not been conducted yet.

A rare truncating BRCA2 variant and genetic susceptibility to upper aerodigestive tract cancer.

Deleterious BRCA2 genetic variants markedly increase risk of developing breast cancer. A rare truncating BRCA2 genetic variant, rs11571833 (K3326X), has been associated with a 2.5-fold risk of lung squamous cell carcinoma but only a modest 26% increase in breast cancer risk.

The 12p13.33/RAD52 locus and genetic susceptibility to squamous cell cancers of upper aerodigestive tract.

Genetic variants located within the 12p13.33/RAD52 locus have been associated with lung squamous cell carcinoma (LUSC). Here, within 5,947 UADT cancers and 7,789 controls from 9 different studies, we found rs10849605, a common intronic variant in RAD52, to be also associated with upper aerodigestive tract (UADT) squamous cell carcinoma cases (OR = 1.

A systematic investigation of the contribution of genetic variation within the MHC region to HPV seropositivity.

High-risk mucosal types of human papillomavirus (HPV) cause anogenital and oropharyngeal cancers, whereas cutaneous types (e.g. HPV8 and 77) are suspected to be involved in non-melanoma skin cancer.

Cigarette, cigar, and pipe smoking and the risk of head and neck cancers: pooled analysis in the International Head and Neck Cancer Epidemiology Consortium.

Cigar and pipe smoking are considered risk factors for head and neck cancers, but the magnitude of effect estimates for these products has been imprecisely estimated. By using pooled data from the International Head and Neck Cancer Epidemiology (INHANCE) Consortium (comprising 13,935 cases and 18,691 controls in 19 studies from 1981 to 2007), we applied hierarchical logistic regression to more precisely estimate odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals for cigarette, cigar, and pipe smoking separately, compared with reference groups of those who had never smoked each single product. Odds ratios for cigar and pipe smoking were stratified by ever cigarette smoking.

Using prior information from the medical literature in GWAS of oral cancer identifies novel susceptibility variant on chromosome 4--the AdAPT method.

Background: Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) require large sample sizes to obtain adequate statistical power, but it may be possible to increase the power by incorporating complementary data. In this study we investigated the feasibility of automatically retrieving information from the medical literature and leveraging this information in GWAS.

Methods: We developed a method that searches through PubMed abstracts for pre-assigned keywords and key concepts, and uses this information to assign prior probabilities of association for each single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) with the phenotype of interest--the Adjusting Association Priors with Text (AdAPT) method.

Single nucleotide polymorphisms in colorectal cancer: associations with tumor site and TNM stage.

Background And Aim: Colon tumor carcinogenesis and rectal tumor carcinogenesis have each been associated with different genetic features, but data are still controversial and are insufficient to support their distinct molecular biology. Recently, genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have also found heterogeneity in colorectal cancer (CRC) risks based on population ethnicity and tumor features. Several single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers are described in the literature as having site and/or stage specificity, including rs10795668, rs3802842, rs6983267, and rs4939827.

Genome-wide association study of HPV seropositivity.

High-risk α mucosal types of human papillomavirus (HPV) cause anogenital and oropharyngeal cancers, whereas β cutaneous HPV types (e.g. HPV8) have been implicated in non-melanoma skin cancer.

Body mass index, cigarette smoking, and alcohol consumption and cancers of the oral cavity, pharynx, and larynx: modeling odds ratios in pooled case-control data.

Odds ratios for head and neck cancer increase with greater cigarette and alcohol use and lower body mass index (BMI; weight (kg)/height(2) (m(2))). Using data from the International Head and Neck Cancer Epidemiology Consortium, the authors conducted a formal analysis of BMI as a modifier of smoking- and alcohol-related effects. Analysis of never and current smokers included 6,333 cases, while analysis of never drinkers and consumers of < or =10 drinks/day included 8,452 cases.

Cessation of alcohol drinking, tobacco smoking and the reversal of head and neck cancer risk.

Background: Quitting tobacco or alcohol use has been reported to reduce the head and neck cancer risk in previous studies. However, it is unclear how many years must pass following cessation of these habits before the risk is reduced, and whether the risk ultimately declines to the level of never smokers or never drinkers.

Methods: We pooled individual-level data from case-control studies in the International Head and Neck Cancer Epidemiology Consortium.

Total exposure and exposure rate effects for alcohol and smoking and risk of head and neck cancer: a pooled analysis of case-control studies.

Although cigarette smoking and alcohol consumption increase risk for head and neck cancers, there have been few attempts to model risks quantitatively and to formally evaluate cancer site-specific risks. The authors pooled data from 15 case-control studies and modeled the excess odds ratio (EOR) to assess risk by total exposure (pack-years and drink-years) and its modification by exposure rate (cigarettes/day and drinks/day). The smoking analysis included 1,761 laryngeal, 2,453 pharyngeal, and 1,990 oral cavity cancers, and the alcohol analysis included 2,551 laryngeal, 3,693 pharyngeal, and 3,116 oval cavity cancers, with over 8,000 controls.

Type of alcoholic beverage and risk of head and neck cancer--a pooled analysis within the INHANCE Consortium.

The authors pooled data from 15 case-control studies of head and neck cancer (9,107 cases, 14,219 controls) to investigate the independent associations with consumption of beer, wine, and liquor. In particular, they calculated associations with different measures of beverage consumption separately for subjects who drank beer only (858 cases, 986 controls), for liquor-only drinkers (499 cases, 527 controls), and for wine-only drinkers (1,021 cases, 2,460 controls), with alcohol never drinkers (1,124 cases, 3,487 controls) used as a common reference group. The authors observed similar associations with ethanol-standardized consumption frequency for beer-only drinkers (odds ratios (ORs) = 1.

Multiple ADH genes are associated with upper aerodigestive cancers.

Alcohol is an important risk factor for upper aerodigestive cancers and is principally metabolized by alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) enzymes. We have investigated six ADH genetic variants in over 3,800 aerodigestive cancer cases and 5,200 controls from three individual studies. Gene variants rs1229984 (ADH1B) and rs1573496 (ADH7) were significantly protective against aerodigestive cancer in each individual study and overall (P = 10(-10) and 10(-9), respectively).

Association of common polymorphisms in inflammatory genes with risk of developing cancers of the upper aerodigestive tract.

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to investigate the role of polymorphisms of genes involved in inflammation in the risk of cancers of the upper aerodigestive tract (UADT).

Methods: We have evaluated the role of polymorphisms in key genes related to inflammation, namely IL1B (rs1143627), COX2/PTGS2 (rs5275), and IL8 (rs4073) in a large case-control study comprising 811 UADT cancer cases and 1,083 controls.

Results: An association was observed for squamous cell carcinoma of the pharynx for a polymorphism in the promoter of the IL1B gene, with an OR of 2.