Prognostic markers for the clinical course in the blood of patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection.

Background: The presentation of peptides and the subsequent immune response depend on the MHC characteristics and influence the specificity of the immune response. Several studies have found an association between HLA variants and differential COVID-19 outcomes and have shown that HLA genotypes are associated with differential immune responses against SARS-CoV-2, particularly in severely ill patients. Information, whether HLA haplotypes are associated with the severity or length of the disease in moderately diseased individuals is absent.

Low-dose radiation treatment for painful plantar enthesophyte: a highly effective therapy with little side effects.

Aim: Plantar enthesophyte is a common degenerative disorder. Surgical and medical treatment options are associated with either poor outcome or high percentage of relapse. Observations have indicated a beneficial effect of radiation therapy.

Comparison of Different Systemic Therapeutic Regimes in Resectable Soft-Tissue Sarcoma-Results of a Network Meta-Analysis.

Background: The standard treatment of high-risk soft-tissue sarcoma consists of surgical resection followed by risk-adapted radiation therapy. Further treatment options that may improve local and systemic tumor control, including chemotherapy, are not well established. Due to the heterogeneity of the disease, different systemic approaches as well as their application at different time points have been attempted.

Association of HLA genotypes, AB0 blood type and chemokine receptor 5 mutant CD195 with the clinical course of COVID-19.

Background: COVID-19, the pandemic disease caused by infection with SARS-CoV-2, may take highly variable clinical courses, ranging from symptom-free and pauci-symptomatic to fatal disease. The goal of the current study was to assess the association of COVID-19 clinical courses controlled by patients' adaptive immune responses without progression to severe disease with patients' Human Leukocyte Antigen (HLA) genetics, AB0 blood group antigens, and the presence or absence of near-loss-of-function delta 32 deletion mutant of the C-C chemokine receptor type 5 (CCR5).

Patient And Methods: An exploratory observational study including 157 adult COVID-19 convalescent patients was performed with a median follow-up of 250 days.

Informed consent and informed intervention: SARS-CoV-2 vaccinations not just call for disclosure of newly emerging safety data but also for hypothesis generation and testing.

Background: COVID-19 infection is a major threat to patients and health care providers around the world. One solution is the vaccination against SARS-CoV-2.

Methods: We performed a comprehensive query of the latest publications on the prevention of viral infections including the recent vaccination program and its side effects.

Correction to: The role of passive immunization in the age of SARS-CoV-2: an update.

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via the original article.

Face masks: benefits and risks during the COVID-19 crisis.

Background: The German government has made it mandatory to wear respiratory masks covering mouth and nose (MNC) as an effective strategy to fight SARS-CoV-2 infections. In many countries, this directive has been extended on shopping malls or public transportation. The aim of this paper is to critically analyze the statutory regulation to wear protective masks during the COVID-19 crisis from a medical standpoint.

The history and value of face masks.

In the human population, social contacts are a key for transmission of bacteria and viruses. The use of face masks seems to be critical to prevent the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 for the period, in which therapeutic interventions are lacking. In this review, we describe the history of masks from the middle age to modern times.

The role of passive immunization in the age of SARS-CoV-2: an update.

The rapid spread of the corona virus pandemic is an existential problem for many people in numerous countries. So far, there is no effective vaccine protection or proven therapy available against the SARS-CoV-2 virus. In this review, we describe the role of passive immunization in times of the corona virus.

Adjuvant radiochemotherapy vs. chemotherapy alone in gastric cancer: a meta-analysis.

Background: As an adjuvant therapeutic strategy in advanced gastric cancer, both adjuvant chemotherapy (CTx) and postoperative radiochemotherapy (RCTx) can be considered. Both approaches have been shown to improve overall survival compared to resection alone. Several prospective randomized trials have compared the two postoperative concepts.

Increased CD44s and decreased CD44v6 RNA expression are associated with better survival in myxofibrosarcoma patients: a pilot study.

Background: New prognostic markers may be of value in determining survival and informing decisions of adjuvant treatment in the heterogeneous group of soft tissue sarcomas known as malignant fibrous sarcomas (MFS). Increased CD44 expression has been associated with a better outcome in cancers such as bladder tumors and could potentially relate to cell-cell interaction as a marker for potential invasion/metastasis. The aim of this pilot study was to determine if there is a correlation between the expression rate of CD44 in adult patients with MFS and clinical outcomes.

Preventively enteral application of immunoglobulin enriched colostrums milk can modulate postoperative inflammatory response.

Several studies demonstrated acute inflammatory response following traumatic injury. Inflammatory response during surgical interventions was verified by a significant increase of endotoxin plasma levels and a decrease of the endotoxin neutralizing capacity (ENC). However, the incidence of elevated endotoxin levels was significantly higher (89%) than detected bacterial translocation (35%).

[Hemangiosarcoma after breast-conserving therapy of breast cancer: report of four cases with molecular genetic diagnosis and literature review].

Background: Hemangiosarcomas of the breast represent a rare disease of the breast mainly occurring as secondary neoplasias with a latency of 5-10 years after primary treatment of breast cancer and are associated with an unfavourable prognosis. Radiation therapy, which is integrated within the concept of breast conserving therapy ranks as the main risk factor.

Patients And Methods: In this report we describe the clinical course of 4 patients including their molecular genetic pattern and give a summary of the actual literature.

Compartmental resection for subfascial extremity soft tissue sarcoma and quality of life in long-term survivors.

The surgical management of soft tissue sarcoma has changed over the past years, resulting in an interdisciplinary multimodal approach and limb-preserving treatment modalities. From 464 consecutive patients with a soft tissue sarcoma (STS) of an extremity, a compartmental resection was performed in 82 patients, usually for primary subfascial large tumors. Postoperative quality of life was evaluated using the EORTC Score C30.

Pancreatic incidentalomas: a growing clinical challenge exemplified by an intrapancreatic accessory spleen.

In part owing to an increasing use of high resolution imaging technologies a growing number of incidental pancreatic lesions are detected. A 40-year-old patient was admitted to our hospital to undergo resection for an unclear solid pancreatic tumor in the pancreatic tail. Preoperative imaging studies suspected an inactive neuroendocrine neoplasm.

Cystatin C - a fast and reliable biomarker for glomerular filtration rate in head and neck cancer patients.

Purpose: Determination of renal function is a prerequisite for planning therapy in cancer patients. Limitations of creatinine as marker for the glomerular filtration rate (GFR) led to the proposal of cystatin C as a more accurate biomarker especially in mild renal insufficiency or in patients with low muscle mass. We compared the accuracy of cystatin C- and creatinine-based equations to estimate GFR in head and neck cancer (HNC) patients receiving platinum-based radiochemotherapy.

Bevacizumab as a treatment option for radiation-induced cerebral necrosis.

Radiation necrosis of normal CNS tissue represents one of the main risk factors of brain irradiation, occurring more frequently and earlier at higher total doses and higher doses per fraction. At present, it is believed that the necrosis results due to increasing capillary permeability caused by cytokine release leading to extracellular edema. This process is sustained by endothelial dysfunction, tissue hypoxia, and subsequent necrosis.

Interleukin-10 and -12 predict chemotherapy-associated toxicity in esophageal adenocarcinoma.

Introduction: Chemotherapy-associated mucositis often prevents completion of an entire chemotherapy cycle. The underlying pathophysiology of chemotherapy-associated mucositis has not been well established. The individual immunologic predisposition of patients seems to play an important role.

Combined esophageal injury complicated by progression to a second perforation: a case report.

Introduction: Intramural dissection of the esophagus is a rare disorder characterized by a lesion between the submucosa and mucosa dividing the esophagus into a false and true lumen. The etiology of esophageal dissection remains uncertain but it affects predominantly women in their seventies and eighties. Symptoms may include uncharacteristic ones such as retrosternal pain, odynophagia or dysphagia.

Leser-Trélat sign presenting in a patient with ovarian cancer: a case report.

Introduction: Seborrheic keratoses are very common findings in elderly patients. However, a sudden onset and dramatic increase in the number and size of these benign lesions deserves special attention, since this may represent the Leser Trélat sign, a rare paraneoplastic cutaneous syndrome.

Case Presentation: A 92-year-old female presented to our clinic with multiple eruptive seborrheic keratoses, which had dramatically increased in size and number over the past two years.

Superficial soft tissue sarcomas of the extremities and trunk.

Background: Superficial soft tissue sarcomas (sSTS) are an important and frequent subtype of soft tissue sarcoma (STS). A wider knowledge of this tumor type may lead to better strategies in tumor therapy.

Methods: An institutional review was performed on all patients with primary sSTS of the extremities and trunk operated on between 1990 and 2003.