Prognostic Significance of Serum and Urinary Neopterin Concentrations in Patients with Rectal Carcinoma Treated with Chemoradiation.

Aim: To analyze the prognostic significance of serum and urinary neopterin concentrations in patients with rectal adenocarcinoma treated with (chemo)radiation.

Patients And Methods: Urinary and serum neopterin and peripheral blood cell count were determined in 49 patients with rectal carcinoma before the start of (chemo)radiation.

Results: Neopterin concentrations exhibited a significant inverse correlation with hemoglobin and positive correlation with leukocyte count, platelet count and platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio.

Citrulline as a biomarker of gastrointestinal toxicity in patients with rectal carcinoma treated with chemoradiation.

Background: Gastrointestinal toxicity is the principal toxicity of chemoradiation in the treatment of rectal carcinoma. The assessment of this toxicity still relies mostly on the symptoms reported by the patient.

Methods: Plasma citrulline, serum neopterin and urinary neopterin were followed weekly in 49 patients with rectal carcinoma during chemoradiation.

Urinary neopterin concentrations during combination therapy with cetuximab in previously treated patients with metastatic colorectal carcinoma.

Background/aim: Increased concentrations of neopterin, a biomarker of systemic immune response, have been reported after administration of cytokines, cytotoxic chemotherapy or external-beam radiation, but little is known about the effects of targeted-agents on neopterin.

Patients And Methods: Urinary neopterin was studied in pre-treated patients with metastatic colorectal carcinoma during therapy with cetuximab, administered mostly in combination with irinotecan, 5-fluorouracil and leucovorin. Urinary neopterin was determined by high-performance liquid chromatography.

Intestinal permeability in patients with metastatic colon cancer treated with patupilone.

Background: Only a limited number of cytotoxic drugs have shown activity in metastatic colorectal carcinoma. Patupilone is a novel agent with promising activity in this common cancer. Diarrhea represents the dose-limiting toxicity of patupilone.

Urinary neopterin concentration and toxicity of radiotherapy in patients with head and neck carcinoma during external beam radiation.

Aim: Increased serum or urinary concentrations of neopterin are predictive of poor prognosis in patients with tumors across a spectrum of primary locations. Less information is available about the significance of changes of urinary neopterin concentrations during therapy. The aim of the present study was to examine the association between urinary neopterin and toxicity of radiotherapy.

Prognostic significance of serum retinol, serum alpha-tocopherol, and urinary neopterin in patients with head and neck carcinoma treated with external beam radiation.

High serum or urinary neopterin concentrations are associated with poor prognosis in patients with tumors of different primary locations, but reports on neopterin in patients with head and neck carcinoma are relatively less numerous. It has been established that decreased circulating concentrations of retinol and alpha-tocopherol are common in this population. We have evaluated the prognostic significance of urinary neopterin, serum retinol, and alpha-tocopherol in 44 patients with head and neck carcinoma.

Metastases of esophageal carcinoma to skeletal muscle: single center experience.

Metastases of esophageal carcinoma to the skeletal muscle are rare, but the incidence may be increasing because of better diagnosis resulting from widespread use of positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT). A cohort of 205 patients with esophageal carcinoma treated at our center who had PET/CT between 2006 and 2010 was retrospectively evaluated for the presence of skeletal muscle metastases. Four patients had skeletal muscle metastases of esophageal carcinoma, including two patients with squamous cell carcinoma.

High lapatinib plasma levels in breast cancer patients: risk or benefit?

Aims And Background: Lapatinib is a tyrosine kinase inhibitor targeting epidermal growth factor receptors 1 (EGFR/HER1) and 2 (HER2) used in the treatment of patients with HER2-positive breast cancer. The aim of the present study was to determine lapatinib plasma levels in breast cancer patients treated with lapatinib plus capecitabine.

Patients And Methods: We assessed lapatinib plasma levels in blood samples from 21 breast cancer patients treated with lapatinib plus capecitabine using the standard regimen in an expanded access program.

The significance of altered gastrointestinal permeability in cancer patients.

Purpose Of Review: The diagnosis and assessment of severity of intestinal mucosal damage in cancer patients treated by anticancer therapy still rely mostly on anamnestic data. We review here studies reporting on the use of intestinal permeability measurements in cancer patients before and during treatment.

Recent Findings: The concept of intestinal permeability is based on differential permeability of intestinal mucosa to molecular markers, including monosaccharides and disaccharides, along the crypt-villus axis.

Merkel cell carcinoma of the gluteal region with ipsilateral metastasis into the pancreatic graft of a patient after combined kidney-pancreas transplantation.

Background: Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC) is a rare tumour of the skin that predominantly affects elderly or immunocompromised patients. The malignant transformation of Merkel cells is currently considered to be related to an infection with Merkel cell polyomavirus.

Case Report: We present the case of a 62-year-old man who developed a Merkel cell polyomavirus-positive MCC in a non-UV-exposed part of the right gluteal region 8 years after combined kidney-pancreas transplantation.