Nine years of irrigation cause vegetation and fine root shifts in a water-limited pine forest.

Scots pines (Pinus sylvestris L.) in the inner-Alpine dry valleys of Switzerland have suffered from increased mortality during the past decades, which has been caused by longer and more frequent dry periods. In addition, a proceeding replacement of Scots pines by pubescent oaks (Quercus pubescens Willd.

Association of the BRCA1 promoter polymorphism rs11655505 with the risk of familial breast and/or ovarian cancer.

Germline mutations in the BRCA1 tumor suppressor gene predispose affected individuals to breast cancer; however, incomplete cancer penetrance and the presence of phenocopies in BRCA1 families also indicate genetic and environmental modifiers of breast cancer risk. In this study, we have tested the single nucleotide polymorphism rs1655505 of the BRCA1 promoter, as candidate for the modifier of breast cancer risk. The polymorphic variants were genotyped in BRCA1-negative (729), familial breast and/or ovarian cancer cases (FBOC), including cases with a reported maternal history (154), nonfamilal (sporadic) cases (600), hereditary breast/ovarian cases with BRCA1 mutations (190) and population controls (1,590) from Central Poland.

Driving forces behind the past and future emergence of personalized medicine.

Personalized medicine can be seen as a continuously developing approach to tailoring treatments according to the individual characteristics of a patient. In some way, medicine has always been personalized. During the last decade, however, scientific and technological progress have made truly personalized healthcare increasingly become reality.

LGR4 and LGR6 are differentially expressed and of putative tumor biological significance in gastric carcinoma.

Gastric cancer (GC) is one of the most common causes of cancer-related deaths worldwide. We investigated the differential expression and putative tumor biological significance of five G-protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) in GC, i.e.

Limited significance of family history for presence of BRCA1 gene mutation in Polish breast and ovarian cancer cases.

It is estimated that about 5-10% of ovarian and 2-5% of all breast cancer patients are carriers of a germline BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene mutation. Most families with detected BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene mutation are qualified for molecular testing on the basis of family history of breast or ovarian cancers. The purpose of our study was to establish the frequency of positive family history of cancer in a series of Polish consecutive breast and ovarian cancer patients in two groups, with and without the BRCA1 gene mutations.

Prevalence of the most frequent BRCA1 mutations in Polish population.

The purpose of our study was to establish the frequency and distribution of the four most common BRCA1 mutations in Polish general population and in a series of breast cancer patients. Analysis of the population frequency of 5382insC (c.5266dupC), 300T >G (p.

The frequency of selected polymorphic variants of the RET gene in patients with medullary thyroid carcinoma and in the general population of central Poland.

The object of this work was to compare the frequency of three polymorphic changes in the RET proto-oncogene: L769L, S836S, and S904S in patients with medullary thyroid carcinoma (MTC; n = 246) and in the general population (n = 420 for single-nucleotide polymorphism [SNP] L769L and S904S; n = 411 for SNP 836). We tried to investigate how the harbored SNPs affect the age at onset of sporadic medullary thyroid carcinoma (sMTC) and MTC in carriers of known pathogenic mutations at codons 634 and 791 of the RET gene. A statistically significant difference was found in the frequency of the heterozygous change L769L in patients with sMTC (48.

First Polish Cowden syndrome patient with confirmed PTEN gene mutation.

Cowden syndrome is a rare hereditary disease. Incidence of the disease is conditioned by occurrence of mutations in the PTEN gene. The disease has a frequency of 1/120,000 newborn and it predisposes to the occurrence of hamartoma polyps in the gastrointestinal tract, skin tumours, as well as tumours of the breast, ovary and thyroid.

Molecular signature of cell cycle exit induced in human T lymphoblasts by IL-2 withdrawal.

Background: The molecular mechanisms of cell cycle exit are poorly understood. Studies on lymphocytes at cell cycle exit after growth factor deprivation have predominantly focused on the initiation of apoptosis. We aimed to study gene expression profile of primary and immortalised IL-2-dependent human T cells forced to exit the cell cycle by growth factor withdrawal, before apoptosis could be evidenced.

Spontaneously immortalized T lymphocytes from Nijmegen Breakage Syndrome patients display phenotypes typical for lymphoma cells.

We found that the peripheral T lymphocytes from four of eight patients with the lymphoma predisposing Nijmegen Breakage Syndrome (NBS) acquired an unlimited growth potential following in vitro mitogen stimulation and subsequent interleukin-2-dependent propagation. The immortal T cell lines revealed morphological and other features typical for anaplastic large cell lymphoma (ALCL). In addition, multiple copies of ALK, but with no ALK gene rearrangements were found in a subpopulation of cells of one of the immortalized lines.

Increased risk of gastrointestinal lymphoma in carriers of the 657del5 NBS1 gene mutation.

The NBS1 gene mutation, 657del5, frequent in the Slavic populations of Central Europe, is found in most patients with Nijmegen breakage syndrome (NBS), a recessive autosomal disorder with a very high incidence of non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL). We have previously described 2 heterozygous 657del5 mutation carriers among 42 adult NHL probands from Central Poland. Here we report 6 additional carriers of the 657del5 mutation and 2 carriers of the pathogenic NBS1 R215W mutation, among 186 other NHL patients also from Central Poland.

Germline mutations 657del5 of the NBS1 gene contribute significantly to the incidence of breast cancer in Central Poland.

Recent studies have demonstrated that heterozygous carriers of the NBS1 657del5 mutation have an increased risk for familial and bilateral breast cancer, but similar studies in consecutive breast cancer patients were inconclusive. Here, in a study of 562 nonselected breast cancer patients from Central Poland, we found 11 (1.96%) 657del5 mutation carriers vs.

Pretreatment serum levels of cytokines and cytokine receptors in patients with non-small cell lung cancer, and correlations with clinicopathological features and prognosis. M-CSF - an independent prognostic factor.

Objectives: Cytokines are potential new serum markers, especially desirable for malignancies with poor prognosis like non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

Methods: Cytokines, tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNFalpha), interleukin (IL)-6 and IL-8, soluble TNF (sTNF) RI, sTNF RII, soluble IL-2 receptor-alpha, IL-1 receptor antagonist (IL-1ra), IL-10, vascular endothelial growth factor, basic fibroblast growth factor, and macrophage (M-CSF) and granulocyte colony-stimulating factor, as well as tumor markers - carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), squamous cell carcinoma antigen (SCC) and CYFRA 21.1 - were assessed in the sera of 103 untreated NSCLC patients, and these cytokines and tumor markers were referred to clinical parameters of the disease and to the overall survival of patients evaluated during a 6-year follow-up.

Increased cancer risk of heterozygotes with NBS1 germline mutations in Poland.

It has been suggested based on familial data that Nijmegen breakage syndrome (NBS) heterozygotes have an increased risk of malignant tumors. We found 15 carriers of the 657del5 mutation and 8 carriers of the R215W molecular variant of the NBS1 gene among 1,289 consecutive patients from Central Poland with various cancers and only 10 and 4 such carriers, respectively, in 1,620 controls from this region. Most of the 657del5 mutation carriers were found among patients with melanoma (4/105), non-Hodgkin lymphoma (2/42) and breast cancer (4/224) and of the 234 patients with colorectal carcinoma 3 carried the 657del5 mutation and 3 others the R215W molecular variant.

Sera of lung cancer patients affect the release of Th1, Th2 and monocyte-derived cytokines, and the expression of IL-2Ralpha by normal, stimulated mononuclear cells.

We have shown that the sera of lung cancer patients affect the response of ConA-stimulated normal peripheral blood mononuclear cells by decreasing the expression of IL-2Ralpha and inhibiting the release of IL-1beta and IL-2. A tendency to enhance the release of IL-6 was also observed. We conclude that an imbalance in the Th1/Th2 cytokine response, typical for cancer patients, may at least partly be related to soluble factors circulating in the patients' blood.

Cytokine and cytokine receptor serum levels in adult bone sarcoma patients: correlations with local tumor extent and prognosis.

Background And Objectives: We analyzed the correlations between pretreatment serum levels of 11 cytokines and soluble cytokine receptors (interleukin 6 (IL-6); interleukin 8 (IL-8); interleukin 10 (IL-10); vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF); basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF); macrophage colony-stimulating factor (M-CSF); granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF); interleukin 1 receptor antagonist (IL-1ra); sIL-2Ralpha; tumor necrosis factor receptor I (TNF RI), and TNF RII) with clinico-pathological features and survival of patients with bone sarcomas.

Methods: Altogether, 72 patients with bone sarcomas without distant metastases before treatment (26 osteosarcomas-36%, 23 chondrosarcomas-32%, 13 Ewing's sarcomas/PNET-18%, 10 giant-cell tumors-14%), 22 patients with benign non-inflammatory bone tumors and 50 age-matched healthy controls were included into this prospective study.

Results: Median serum levels of 9/11 cytokines, with the exception of sIL-2Ralpha and G-CSF, were significantly higher in sarcoma patients than in controls.

Cytokine serum levels in soft tissue sarcoma patients: correlations with clinico-pathological features and prognosis.

We investigated the correlations between serum levels of selected proinflammatory, hematopoietic and angiogenic cytokines and soluble cytokine receptors with the clinico-pathological features and prognosis in soft tissue sarcoma patients. Serum levels of 9 cytokines (TNFalpha, IL-1ra, IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, M-CSF, G-CSF, VEGF, bFGF) and 4 free cytokine receptors (sIL-2R alpha, sIL-6R, TNFRI, TNFRII) were measured by means of an enzyme-linked immunoadsorbent assay kit in 156 soft tissue sarcoma patients before the treatment and in 50 healthy controls. Serum levels of 10 cytokines and cytokine receptors were also assayed during patients' follow-up after the treatment.