Publications by authors named "Minn Heikki"

The heart depends critically on continuous blood supply, but it is unknown whether cancer itself affects myocardial blood flow (MBF). This study investigated MBF in cancer patients and cardiac morphology in a cancer mice model. MBF was quantified with [O]HO positron emission tomography at rest in recently diagnosed breast cancer patients and age-matched female controls, and additionally during 10-min exercise in the cancer patients.

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  • xCT (SLC7A11) is a protein involved in cell death regulation and antioxidant defense, and this study examined its impact on patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC).
  • A total of 1,033 patients diagnosed between 2005-2015 were analyzed, with 585 having tumor samples for detailed immunohistochemical study, showing high follow-up rates.
  • High levels of xCT expression significantly correlated with poorer 5-year survival rates in oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (OPSCC) patients, indicating its potential as an important prognostic factor, especially for those receiving radiotherapy.
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  • The study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of simultaneous staining for p16 and p53 proteins in categorizing head and neck squamous cell carcinomas (HNSCC) as either HPV-associated or HPV-independent.
  • Researchers stained 31 HNSCC samples for p16 and p53, and used advanced sequencing methods to analyze mutations and HPV presence in some cases.
  • Results showed that most tumors (28 out of 31) could be classified simply based on the staining patterns, with most HPV-A tumors having p16 positivity and wildtype p53, while HPV-I tumors showed p16 negativity and abnormal p53 patterns.
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Background: Mobilization of certain immune cells may improve the ability of the immune system to combat tumor cells, but the effect of acute exercise on mobilizing immune cells has been sparsely investigated in cancer patients. Therefore, we examined how acute exercise influences circulating immune cells in breast cancer patients.

Methods: Nineteen newly diagnosed breast cancer patients aged 36-68 performed 30 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise with a cycle ergometer.

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In pre-clinical models of brain gliomas, Relaxation Along a Fictitious Field in second rotating frame (TRAFF2), continues wave T1rho (T1ρcw), adiabatic T1rho (T1ρadiab), and adiabatic T2rho (T2ρadiab) relaxation time mappings have demonstrated potential to non-invasively characterize brain gliomas. Our aim was to evaluate the feasibility and potential of 4 different spin lock methods at 3T to characterize primary brain glioma. 22 patients (26-72 years) with suspected primary glioma.

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Background: Treatment resistance and relapse are common problems in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). Except for p16, no clinically accepted prognostic biomarkers are available for HNSCC. New biomarkers predictive of recurrence and survival are crucial for optimal treatment planning and patient outcome.

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Purpose: Erectile dysfunction (ED) is a common side effect after prostate cancer stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT). We aimed to assess the correlation between the dose to the penile bulb (PB), internal pudendal arteries (IPA), and crura with the development of ED after ultrahypofractionation as part of a phase 2 clinical trial of urethra-sparing prostate SBRT.

Methods And Materials: Among the 170 patients with localized prostate cancer from 9 centers included in the trial, 90 men with Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events version 4.

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Background: The detection of circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) with next-generation sequencing (NGS) in venous blood is a promising tool for the genomic profiling of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). The association between ctDNA findings and metabolic tumor burden detected with FDG-PET/CT imaging is of particular interest for developing prognostic and predictive algorithms in HNSCC.

Methods: Twenty-six prospectively enrolled HNSCC patients were eligible for further analysis.

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Introduction: Pelvic insufficiency fractures (PIFs) are adverse events associated with chemoradiotherapy (CRT) administered preoperatively in rectal cancer, with incidences of 0-33.6% reported in the literature. Data on PIFs after 5 × 5 Gy fractionated short-course radiotherapy (SCRT) using highly conformal radiotherapy techniques such as volumetric modulated arc therapy (VMAT) is limited.

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Introduction: Tumor hypoxia is associated with poor treatment outcome. Hypoxic regions are more radioresistant than well-oxygenated regions, as quantified by the oxygen enhancement ratio (OER). In optimization of proton therapy, including OER in addition to the relative biological effectiveness (RBE) could therefore be used to adapt to patient-specific radioresistance governed by intrinsic radiosensitivity and hypoxia.

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The role of exercise in cancer prevention and control is increasingly recognized, and based on preclinical studies, it is hypothesized that mobilization of leukocytes plays an important role in the anti-tumor effect. Thus, we examined how 10-min acute exercise modulates immune cells in newly diagnosed breast cancer patients. Blood samples were taken at rest, immediately after exercise and 30 min after exercise and phenotypic characterization of major leukocyte subsets was done using 9-color flow cytometry.

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Purpose: The objective of this study was to present the 5-year results from a prospective, multicenter, phase 2 randomized trial of every-other-day (EOD) versus once-a-week (QW) urethra-sparing stereotactic body radiation therapy for localized prostate cancer.

Methods And Materials: Between 2012 and 2015, 170 patients with cT1c-3aN0M0 prostate cancer from 9 European institutions were randomized to 36.25 Gy in 5 fractions (6.

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Previous studies have suggested that persistent tobacco smoking impairs survival in cutaneous melanoma, but the effects of smoking and other prognostic factors have not been described in detail. This study examined the association of smoking (persistent, former, or never) with melanoma-specific (MSS) and overall survival (OS) in patients with cutaneous melanoma treated in Southwest Finland during 2005 to 2019. Clinical characteristics were obtained from electronic health records for 1,980 patients.

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  • A study was conducted to explore the effects of a 10-minute acute exercise on immune cell proportions in seven lymphoma patients before their cancer treatment.
  • It was found that exercise increased levels of certain immune cells, specifically NK cells and CD8 T cells, immediately after exercise, but these returned to baseline within 30 minutes.
  • The research highlights that even a short bout of exercise can temporarily enhance the immune response in lymphoma patients, which is significant since these immune cells play a crucial role in fighting cancer.
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Background: Cancer-induced bone pain (CIBP), caused by bone metastases, is a common complication of cancer and strongly impairs quality of life (QoL). External beam radiotherapy (EBRT) is the current standard of care for treatment of CIBP. However, approximately 45% of patients have no adequate pain response after EBRT.

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Background: Radium-233 dichloride is an alpha emitter that specifically targets bone metastases in prostate cancer. Results of a previously reported phase III randomized trial showed survival benefit for radium-223 compared to best supportive care in castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) with bone metastases. However, real-world data are also needed with wider inclusion criteria.

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Objectives: The bombesin derivative RM2 is a GRPr antagonist with strong binding affinity to prostate cancer (PCa). In this study, the impact of [Ga]Ga-RM2 positron emission tomography-computed tomography (PET-CT) for the detection of primary PCa was compared with that of [F]FCH PET-CT and multiparametric magnetic resonance imaging (mpMRI).

Methods: This phase I/II study was conducted in 30 biopsy-positive PCa subjects.

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Objectives: Cisplatin is combined with radiotherapy for advanced head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). While providing a beneficial effect on survival, it also causes side effects and thus is an important target when considering treatment de-escalation. Currently, there are no biomarkers to predict its patient-selective therapeutic utility.

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Objectives: To analyze the long-term side effects of radiation therapy (RT) for head and neck cancer (HNC).

Methods: Retrospective chart analysis of all 688 HNC patients treated during 2010-2015 at Turku University Hospital, Finland. All patients who survived for more than a year after RT/chemoRT were included ( = 233).

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This study evaluated tracer uptake and lesion detectability with the novel radiopharmaceutical F-radiohybrid (rh)PSMA-7.3 in patients with prostate cancer (PCa). Ten patients (three with high-risk primary localized PCa [Cohort A], three with hormone-sensitive metastatic PCa [Cohort B], and four with castration-resistant metastatic PCa [Cohort C]) underwent whole-body F-rhPSMA-7.

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Background: Biologically created subvolumes enable non-uniform dose distributions in prostate cancer radiotherapy (RT) thus potentially improving therapeutic ratio and reducing toxicity. We present the long-term outcome of men receiving focal boosting of carbon-11 acetate (ACE) PET-CT metabolically active areas in prostate carcinoma.

Material And Methods: Thirty men with hormone naïve localized prostate carcinoma underwent ACE PET/CT for RT planning.

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Background: In high-income countries, cancer is the leading cause of death among middle-aged adults. Prospective data on the effects of childhood risk exposures on subsequent cancer mortality are scarce.

Methods: We examined whether childhood body mass index (BMI), blood pressure, glucose and lipid levels were associated with adult cancer mortality, using data from 21,012 children enrolled aged 3-19 years in seven prospective cohort studies from the U.

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Purpose: The three positron emission tomography (PET) imaging compounds: (2,4)-4-[F]Fluoroglutamine ([F]FGln), -[methyl-C]Methionine ([C]Met), and 2-deoxy-2-[F]fluoro--glucose ([F]FDG) were investigated to contrast their ability to image orthotopic BT4C gliomas in BDIX rats. Two separate small animal imaging systems were compared for their tumor detection potential. Dynamic acquisition of [F]FGln was evaluated with multiple pharmacokinetic models for future quantitative comparison.

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Background And Purpose: In radiation therapy (RT), significant improvements have been made recently particularly in the practices of planning imaging. This study aimed to conduct a cost evaluation between magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) -only and combined computed tomography (CT) and MRI workflows.

Materials And Methods: The time-driven activity-based costing (TDABC) model was used to conduct a cost evaluation between the two workflows in those steps, where cost differences were expected.

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Background: Somatostatin receptors (SSTR) and chemokine receptor CXCR4 are expressed in lymphomas, while the abundance is known to be heterogeneous in different subtypes of lymphomas. Targeting tumor cells expressing these receptors might add to therapeutic opportunities while radiolabeled ligands for both imaging and therapy have been developed. The aim of this study was to establish SSTR subtype 2, 3 and 5 and also CXCR4 status immunohistochemically in six different lymphoma subtypes: diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL), follicular lymphoma (FL), mantle cell lymphoma (MCL), mucosa-associated marginal B-cell lymphoma (MALT), Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) and peripheral T-cell lymphoma (PTCL).

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