Foreign rectal body - Systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: Self-inserted foreign rectal bodies are an infrequent occurrence, however they present a serious dilemma to the surgeon, due to the variety of objects, and the difficulty of extraction. The purpose of this study is to give a comprehensive review of the literature regarding the epidemiology, diagnostic tools and therapeutic approaches of foreign rectal body insertion.

Methods: A comprehensive systematic literature review on Pubmed/ Medline and Google for 'foreign bodies' was performed on January 14th 2018.

Effect of a liberal versus a restrictive pre-donation blood pressure policy on whole-blood donor adverse reactions.

Background And Objectives: The role of pre-donation blood pressure (BP) as independent contributor to post-donation vasovagal reactions (VVRs) is still debated. Differences between a liberal (i.e.

Risk stratification for venous thromboembolism in patients with testicular germ cell tumors.

Background: Patients with testicular germ cell tumors (TGCT) have an increased risk for venous thromboembolism (VTE). We identified risk factors for VTE in this patient cohort and developed a clinical risk model.

Methods: In this retrospective cohort study at the Medical University of Graz we included 657 consecutive TGCT patients across all clinical stages.

Zoledronic acid combined with adjuvant endocrine therapy of tamoxifen versus anastrozol plus ovarian function suppression in premenopausal early breast cancer: final analysis of the Austrian Breast and Colorectal Cancer Study Group Trial 12.

Background: Zoledronic acid (ZOL) plus adjuvant endocrine therapy significantly improved disease-free survival (DFS) at 48- and 62-month follow-up in the ABCSG-12 trial. We present efficacy results of a final additional analysis after 94.4 months.

Uric acid levels in blood are associated with clinical outcome in soft-tissue sarcoma patients.

Background: Recent evidence indicates toward a role of uric acid (UA) as a potential antioxidant. Elevated UA levels were shown to be associated with better survival in various malignancies. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the prognostic relevance of pre-operative UA levels on cancer-specific survival (CSS) in soft-tissue sarcoma (STS) patients who underwent curative surgical resection.

Pre-treatment anemia is a poor prognostic factor in soft tissue sarcoma patients.

Background: Anemia refers to low hemoglobin (Hb) levels, represents a common symptom and complication in cancer patients and was reported to negatively influence survival in patients with various malignancies. In the present study, we aimed to explore the prognostic impact of pre-operative Hb levels on clinical outcome in a large cohort of soft tissue sarcoma (STS) patients after curative surgery.

Methods: Retrospective data from 367 STS patients, which were operated between 1998 and 2013, were included in the study.

Sorafenib in advanced, heavily pretreated patients with soft tissue sarcomas.

Therapeutic options for patients with advanced pretreated soft tissue sarcomas are limited. However, in this setting, sorafenib has shown promising results. We reviewed the data of 33 patients with soft tissue sarcoma treated with sorafenib within a named patient program in Austria.

The elevated pre-operative plasma fibrinogen level is an independent negative prognostic factor for cancer-specific, disease-free and overall survival in soft-tissue sarcoma patients.

Background And Objectives: Accumulating evidence indicates an important pathophysiological role of fibrinogen on tumor cell progression and metastases in different types of cancer. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the prognostic relevance of pre-operative fibrinogen levels on clinical outcome in a large cohort of STS patients.

Methods: Two hundred ninety-four consecutive STS patients were retrospectively evaluated.

Validation of the prognostic relevance of plasma C-reactive protein levels in soft-tissue sarcoma patients.

Background: The concept of the involvement of systemic inflammation in cancer progression and metastases has gained attraction within the past decade. C-reactive protein (CRP), a non-specific blood-based marker of the systemic inflammatory response, has been associated with decreased survival in several cancer types. The aim of the present study was to validate the prognostic value of pre-operative plasma CRP levels on clinical outcome in a large cohort of soft-tissue sarcoma (STS) patients.

The Austrian experience with trabectedin in non-selected patients with metastatic soft tissue sarcoma (STS).

Purpose: The purpose of this retrospective analysis was to assess efficacy and tolerability of trabectedin in soft tissue sarcoma (STS) in the routine clinical setting.

Patients And Methods: Efficacy and safety data of trabectedin were retrospectively evaluated in patients with advanced STS who had started treatment with trabectedin at six institutions in Austria between January 2008 and May 2012.

Results: Data of 101 adult patients were included in the present analysis.

Efficacy of tamoxifen ± aminoglutethimide in normal weight and overweight postmenopausal patients with hormone receptor-positive breast cancer: an analysis of 1509 patients of the ABCSG-06 trial.

Background: There exists evidence that body mass index (BMI) impacts on the efficacy of aromatase inhibitors in patients with breast cancer. The relationship between BMI and the efficacy of tamoxifen is conflicting. We investigated the impact of BMI on the efficacy of single tamoxifen and tamoxifen plus an aromatase inhibitor in the well-defined prospective study population of the ABCSG-06 trial.

Gastrointestinal stromal tumors: diagnosis, therapy and follow-up care in Austria.

Optimal treatment for patients suffering from gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST) is based on an interdisciplinary treatment approach. Austrian representatives of Medical and Surgical Oncology, Pathology, Radiology, Nuclear Medicine, Gastroenterology, and Laboratory Medicine issued this manuscript on a consensual base within the context of currently available and published literature. This paper contains guidelines and recommendations for diagnosis, therapy, and follow-up of GIST patients in Austria.

The ethics of space, design and color in an oncology ward.

Change affects all areas of healthcare organizations and none more so than each aspect of the oncology ward, beginning with the patient's room. It is there that the issues faced by the major players in healing environments - administrator, caregiver, family member, and, most importantly, the patient - come sharply into focus. Hospitals are building new facilities or renovating old ones in order to adapt to new environmental demands of patient care and security.

[Consensus diagnosis and therapy of soft tissue sarcoma].

Soft tissue sarcomas are heterogeneous tumours and relatively uncommon. There have been advances over the past years concerning pathology, clinical behaviour, diagnosis strategies and the treatment. To summarize these advances as well as making it public is one of the goals of the following consensus guidelines.

[Histology-based algorithm in the molecular diagnosis of mutations of the Epidernal Growth Factor Receptor (EGFR) in non-small cell lung cancer].

Patients with stage IIIB and IV non-small cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC) harboring an activating mutation of the Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor (EGFR) Gene should be treated first-line with Gefitinib, an EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI). EGF receptor mutations are most common in adenocarcinomas, especially non-mucinous type, rare in squamous cell carcinomas and sarcomatoid carcinomas, and do not occur in neuroendocrine carcinomas. Therefore, the Pulmonary Pathology Working Group of the Austrian Society of Pathology, after intense discussions and in consensus with Oncologists and Pulmonologists, recommends a priori EGFR mutation analysis for all cases of adenocarcinoma, and for all other NSCLC upon clinical request.

Absence of indigenous specific West Nile virus antibodies in Tyrolean blood donors.

In the last several years, West Nile virus (WNV) was proven to be present especially in the neighboring countries of Austria, such as Italy, Hungary, and the Czech Republic, as well as in eastern parts of Austria, where it was detected in migratory and domestic birds. In summer 2010, infections with WNV were reported from Romania and northern Greece with about 150 diseased and increasingly fatal cases. We tested the sera of 1,607 blood donors from North Tyrol (Austria) and South Tyrol (Italy) for antibodies against WNV by using IgG enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).

Paraneoplastic limbic encephalitis in a patient with extragonadal choriocarcinoma--significance of onconeural antibodies.

Background: Paraneoplastic limbic or brainstem encephalitis is considered to be an autoimmune-mediated disorder of the nervous system associated with different types of cancer including germ cell tumors.

Case Report: We report on a 31-year-old patient presenting with eye motility dysfunction, dysarthrophonia, lethargy, depression, slow mentation, disorientation, dysgraphia, and retarded motion sequence. Neurologic tests, brain imaging, and blood chemistry tests failed to determine the cause of the symptoms.

[Water birthing: retrospective review of 2625 water births. Contamination of birth pool water and risk of microbial cross-infection].

Unlabelled: The aim of this study was to document the practice of 2625 water births at Vipiteno over the period 1997-2009 and compare outcome and safety with normal vaginal delivery. The microbial load of the birth pool water was analyzed, and neonatal infection rates after water birth and after land delivery were compared. Methods.

No change in the regional distribution of tidal volume during lateral posture in mechanically ventilated patients assessed by electrical impedance tomography.

We assessed the distribution of regional lung ventilation during moderate and steep lateral posture using electrical impedance tomography (EIT) in mechanically ventilated patients. Seven patients were placed on a kinetic treatment table. An elastic belt containing 16 electrodes was placed around the chest and was connected to the EIT device.

Neo-adjuvant chemotherapy alone or with regional hyperthermia for localised high-risk soft-tissue sarcoma: a randomised phase 3 multicentre study.

Background: The optimum treatment for high-risk soft-tissue sarcoma (STS) in adults is unclear. Regional hyperthermia concentrates the action of chemotherapy within the heated tumour region. Phase 2 studies have shown that chemotherapy with regional hyperthermia improves local control compared with chemotherapy alone.

Rationale of a relaunch of gefitinib in Caucasian non-small cell lung cancer patients.

In 2002 results of two-phase II studies with the new epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) gefitinib showed not only promising efficacy in second and third line non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) therapies but also an excellent tolerability. Since then, thousands of patients have been treated in one of the largest expanded access programs ever performed and the successful application in daily routine led to a preliminary approval of the drug by the U.S.

Gastrointestinal stromal tumors: Recommendations on diagnosis, therapy and follow-up care in Austria.

Adequate treatment of gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs) is linked to an interdisciplinary treatment approach. Austrian representatives of medical oncology, surgery, pathology, radiology and gastroenterology have issued this consensus manuscript within the context of currently available and published literature. The paper contains guidelines and recommendations for diagnosis, therapy and follow-up of GIST patients in Austria.

[Treatment of extensive disease].

In locally advanced inoperable patients and metastatic patients imatinib is a standard treatment. Standard dose of imatinib is 400 mg daily. Treatment should be continued indefinitely, since treatment interruption is generally followed by relatively rapid tumor progression in virtually all patients.