Immunohistochemical expression of human epidermal growth factor receptor (HER)-4 and prognosis in patients with metastatic breast cancer.

Purpose: The clinical value of HER4 - a cell surface receptor that belongs to the human epidermal growth factor receptor family - for predicting survival outcomes in patients with breast cancer remains controversial. Herein, we sought to investigate the prognostic significance of HER4 immunohistochemical expression with respect to progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) in Turkish patients with metastatic breast cancer (MBC).

Methods: MBC patients (N=45; mean age=50.

Epidemiology of colorectal cancer in Turkey: A cross-sectional disease registry study (A Turkish Oncology Group trial).

Background/aims: This study aimed to determine the epidemiological characteristics of colorectal cancer in Turkey.

Materials And Methods: In this multicenter, prospective, and cross-sectional registry study, data for 968 patients with colorectal cancer from 21 centers in 7 geographic regions were analyzed.

Results: Diagnosis was colon cancer in 662 (68.

Clinical significance of adiponectin expression in colon cancer patients.

Purpose: Surgery is the definitive treatment for early colon cancers. Adjuvant therapies are used with the aim of eradicating micrometastases and improving cure rates. Recent studies have proposed that adiponectin might be responsible for obesity-related malignancies.

Lack of prognostic significance of adiponectin immunohistochemical expression in patients with triple-negative breast cancer.

Introduction: Triple-negative breast cancers (TNBCs) - which lack the expression of estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PR) and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER-2) - have no established markers that can be used for prognostic stratification. As adiponectin has been previously implicated in a more aggressive phenotype of primary breast cancer, we explored the relation between adiponectin immunohistochemical expression and prognosis in TNBCs.

Material And Methods: Immunohistochemical staining for adiponectin was performed in 38 TNBC patients.

The SOCS-1 -1478CA/del polymorphism is not associated with colorectal cancer or age at onset in Turkish subjects.

Background: Suppressor of cytokine signaling (SOCS)-1 acts as a key regulator of many cytokine signaling pathways and its abnormal expression has been identified in several human malignancies, suggesting potential roles in carcinogenesis. The aim of this study was to investigate any association between the functional SOCS- 1 -1478CA>del polymorphism and colorectal cancer (CC) as well as age at onset in a Turkish clinical sample.

Materials And Methods: A total of 122 subjects were enrolled in this case-control study (70 CC cases and 52 controls).

Prognostic significance of human epidermal receptor (HER)- 3 immunohistochemical expression in patients with metastatic breast cancer.

Background: Previous reports have shown that human epidermal receptor (HER)-3 overexpression may be associated with poor prognosis in patients with breast cancer, but results have been conflicting. In this study, we sought to investigate the prognostic significance of HER-3 immunohistochemical expression in patients with metastatic breast cancer.

Methods: We retrospectively analyzed HER-3 immunohistochemical expression profiles in 45 paraffin-embedded specimens from patients who had been treated between 1996 and 2006 in the Department of Oncology of the Uludag University School of Medicine, Bursa, Turkey.

Prognostic significance of estrogen receptor, progesterone receptor, HER2/neu, Ki-67, and nm23 expression in patients with invasive breast cancer.

Purpose: To determine the prognostic significance of estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PR), HER2/neu, Ki-67, and nm23 immunohistochemical expression with respect to progression free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) in Turkish patients with invasive breast cancer (IBC).

Methods: Patients with IBC (n = 81; mean age = 51.9 ± 11.

The immunohistochemical expression of c-Met is an independent predictor of survival in patients with glioblastoma multiforme.

Background And Aims: Because the outcome of glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) remains dismal, there is an urgent need for a better molecular characterization of this malignancy. The aim of this prospective study was to investigate the prognostic impact of the expression of c-mesenchymal-epithelial transition (c-Met) a receptor tyrosine kinase implicated in expression growth, survival, motility/migration, and invasion in GMB patients managed according to the established diagnostic and therapeutic protocols.

Methods: Between May 2003 and March 2011, a total of 69 patients (33 males and 36 females; mean age: 52.

A multi-institutional evaluation of carboplatin plus docetaxel regimen in elderly patients with advanced gastric cancer.

Purpose: Albeit the majority of gastric cancers occur at advanced age, little is known regarding the optimal systemic treatment of elderly patients with advanced gastric cancer (AGC).

Methods: Patients with AGC who were ≥ 65 years old and were treated with carboplatin (area under the curve/AUC 5,on day 1, every 3 weeks) plus docetaxel (75 mg/m(2), on day 1, every 3 weeks) at 3 institutions were included in this retrospective analysis. The efficacy and the safety data of the regimen were analyzed.

Pulmonary actinomycosis mimicking metastasis from lung adenocarcinoma.

Background: Pulmonary actinomycosis may create a diagnostic and therapeutic dilemma especially in cancer patients.

Case Report: A 64-year-old male patient presented with a productive cough, bloody sputum, and weight loss. Thoracic computed tomography (CT) showed a 5-cm mass in the upper lobe of the right lung, and a 2-cm mass in the lower lobe of the left lung.

Identification of prognostic factors in patients with metastatic gastrointestinal stromal tumors.

Purpose: Gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs) have a complex biology which is reflected by a marked clinical heterogeneity. Thus, there has been great interest in identifying prognostic factors influencing tumor recurrence and survival. The aim of this study was to identify potential clinical and immunohistochemical prognostic factors that may affect survival and treatment outcomes in patients with metastatic GISTs.

Prognostic significance of c-erbB2 overexpression in patients with metastatic gastric cancer.

Background: Overexpression of the gene c-erbB2, which encodes a receptor tyrosine kinase, has been associated with prognosis and response to therapy in several solid tumors. This study was designed to test whether c-erb-B2 overexpression can be related to prognosis of patients with metastatic gastric cancer.

Methods: Between 2005 and 2010, 46 cases of metastatic gastric cancer were evaluated immunohistochemically for c-erb-B2 overexpression.

Immunohistochemical expression of excision repair cross-complementing 1 (ERCC1) in non-small-cell lung cancer: implications for patient outcome.

INTRODUCTION The identification of novel prognostic markers may help to better assess survival probability in different subgroups of patients with non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and to tailor treatment according to the molecular profile of the tumour. AIM We sought to examine whether the immunohistochemical expression of excision repair cross-complementing 1 (ERCC1), an essential component of the nucleotide excision repair pathway, may predict prognosis in NSCLC. MATERIAL AND METHOD Formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tumour samples from 44 Turkish patients with NSCLC treated by adjuvant platinum-based chemotherapy were included in the study.

Primary small cell carcinoma of the breast: report of seven cases and review of the literature.

Aims And Background: The aim of the study was to analyze the clinicopathological characteristics, treatment modalities, and clinical outcome of patients with primary small cell carcinoma of the breast.

Methods: Fifty-three cases of primary small cell carcinoma of the breast were identified; 7 cases in this series and 46 from the English-language medical literature.

Results: There were 52 females and 1 male.

Lack of genotoxicity in medical oncology nurses handling antineoplastic drugs: effect of work environment and protective equipment.

Objective: In this study we aimed to investigate the genotoxic effects of antineoplastic agents in occupationally exposed oncology nurses. Genotoxic effects mean the disruptive effects in the integrity of DNA and they are associated with cancer development. Biomonitoring of health care workers handling antineoplastic agents is helpful for the evaluation of exposure to cytostatics.

Association of breast cancer and cytokine gene polymorphism in Turkish women.

Objective: To investigate the association of cytokine gene polymorphism with the development of breast cancer.

Methods: The study was carried out in Uludag University Medical School, Bursa, Turkey. The study included 38 patients with breast cancer admitted to the Medical Oncology outpatient clinic, and 24 healthy controls, age and sex matched, from the Internal Medicine Department between 2004 and 2005.

Fatal ischemic bowel necrosis possibly due to docetaxel and cisplatin in a patient with non-small cell lung cancer.

We would like to report fatal ischemic bowel necrosis (IBN) as an unexpected complication of docetaxel and cisplatin in a patient with non-small cell lung cancer.

Efficacy of lower dose capecitabine in patients with metastatic breast cancer and factors influencing therapeutic response and outcome.

Objective: Capecitabine exerts considerable therapeutic efficacy in metastatic breast cancer (MBC) patients previously treated with anthracyclines and taxanes.

Materials And Methods: In this study, the efficacy and safety of lower dose capecitabine (2000 mg/m(2)/d) in patients with anthracycline- and taxane-pretreated MBC were studied with a special emphasis on the potential predictors of time to tumor progression (TTP) and response to the capecitabine treatment.

Results: The overall response rate (ORR) was 17%.

Phase II study of induction chemotherapy with gemcitabine plus 5-fluorouracil followed by gemcitabine-based concurrent chemoradiotherapy for unresectable locally advanced pancreatic cancer.

Aims And Background: To evaluate the efficacy and tolerability of a new treatment approach including induction chemotherapy (CT) and concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CRT) in unresectable, locally advanced pancreatic cancer (LAPC).

Patients And Methods: Twenty-four patients with LAPC were enrolled in the study. They first received induction CT consisting of 5-fluorouracil (5FU) (500 mg/m2) and gemcitabine (1000 mg/m2), which were given weekly for 3 weeks of every 4.

Safety and efficacy of transdermal fentanyl in patients with cancer pain: phase IV, Turkish oncology group trial.

We have performed a prospective evaluation of the efficacy, safety and convenience of the transdermal therapeutic system - fentanyl (TTS-F) in Turkish cancer patients when it was newly available in Turkey. Ninety-nine patients with historically confirmed malignancy and pain entered the study; the mean age was 55.1 (16-58) years.

Response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy in breast cancer could be predictable by measuring a novel serum apoptosis product, caspase-cleaved cytokeratin 18: a prospective pilot study.

The M30-monoclonal antibody recognizes a neo-epitope of cytokeratin 18 which is formed after caspase-cleavage during apoptosis. Caspase-cleaved cytokeratin 18 is released from apoptotic cells into circulation. The aim of this study was to evaluate the relationship between M30-antigen level and chemotherapy response in neoadjuvant treatment of breast cancer.

Comparison of uroprotective efficacy of mesna and amifostine in Cyclophosphamide- induced hemorrhagic cystitis in rats.

Background: Hemorrhagic cystitis (HC) is a dose limiting side effect of cyclophosphamide (CYP).

Aim: In this study, we aimed to investigate the role of amifostine in the protection of CYP-induced HC and compare its efficacy with mesna.

Setting And Design: This animal study was conducted in the Experimental Animals Breeding and Research Center of the Medical Faculty of Uludag University.

Phase II study of gemcitabine plus paclitaxel in metastatic breast cancer patients with prior anthracycline exposure.

Unlabelled: Chemotherapy provides palliation and modest prolongation of symptom-free survival in metastatic breast cancer. Taxane containing regimens are commonly considered to be among the initials in metastatic setting due to earlier use of anthracyclines in the course of breast cancer. Therefore, we conducted this Phase II study to assess efficacy and safety of gemcitabine plus paclitaxel (GT) combination therapy in anthracycline pretreated metastatic first-line setting.