Cancer epidemiology in Central, South and Eastern European countries.

Aim: To collect cancer epidemiology data in South Eastern European countries as a basis for potential comparison of their performance in cancer care.

Methods: The South Eastern European Research Oncology Group (SEEROG) collected and analyzed epidemiological data on incidence and mortality that reflect cancer management in 8 countries - Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania, Poland, Slovakia, and Serbia and Montenegro in the last 20-40 years.

Results: The most common cancer type in men in all countries was lung cancer, followed by colorectal and prostate cancer, with the exception of the Czech Republic, where prostate cancer and colorectal cancer were more common.

Preoperative radiotherapy with capecitabine and mitomycin C in locally advanced rectal carcinoma.

Purpose: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of preoperative radiotherapy with capecitabine and mitomycin C in patients with locally advanced rectal cancer.

Methods: A prospective, open-label, non-randomized, phase II study was performed on 49 patients with locally advanced rectal cancer. Preoperative radiotherapy was conducted on linear accelerators (15 or 18 MV) with a tumor dose of 45 Gy in 25 fractions over 5 weeks, combined with mitomycin C 7 mg/m(2) on days 1 and 29 and oral capecitabine 825 mg/m(2) twice daily on days 1-35.

Radioprotective activity of Gentiana lutea extract and mangiferin.

Radioprotective/sensitizing actions of Gentiana lutea aqueous-ethanol extract and mangiferin on radiation-induced effects on different types of cells were investigated. The study focused on the decreasing survival of normal human immunocompetent cells, the survival of the malignant cells in vitro, and the survival of ex vivo irradiated cells before and after consumption of the extract by healthy volunteers. The in vitro experiments showed that mangiferin could inhibit cytotoxic action of ionizing irradiation (doses of 6 and 8 Gy) only on normal resting human PBMC, not stimulated for proliferation.