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Introduction/aim: The importance of preoperative neoadjuvant (NA) systemic treatment in operable breast cancer has significantly increased in the last few years. The aim of our retrospective study was to determine the effect of NA therapy in breast cancer patients treated in our unit and analyze radiological and pathological response rates in the context of surgical treatment., Materials and Methods: One hundred and fourteen cases of breast cancer with NA therapy were analyzed and clinical data were collected from March 2007 to December 2010. Twenty-two patients received NA treatment for inoperable tumours. As far as operable cancers (92 patients), the indications for NA treatment were high tumour grade, presence of axillary metastasis and relatively young age. 5-Fluorouracil-Epirubicin-Cyclophosphamid or Taxotere-Epirubicin regimens were administered in 6 cycles followed by radiological evaluation and surgery. Herein, we compared the preoperative staging with the pathological results after surgery., Results: NA therapy resulted in complete regression in 17% of patients, significant regression in 21%, while moderate regression was achieved in 43% of patients. No regression was detected in 19%. The decrease in T stage was not followed by decrease in N stage in significant number of cases. Moreover, in some cases NA therapy caused complete radiological regression, while histologically it still remained positive. In certain cases, breast conserving surgery was feasible due to down-staging caused by NA therapy., Conclusion: NA therapy was effective primarily in decreasing tumour size; however, it was less effective on axillary lymph node metastases. Due to the presence of the residual DCIS component, the volume of resection could not be decreased as much as down-staging of the invasive cancer would have permitted.

Introduction/aim: Small bowel is extremely sensitive to ischemia/reperfusion injury. Therefore, we compared the effect of warm and cold ischemia on the intestinal structural changes by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) method., Materials and Methods: Warm and cold ischemia groups were established on Wistar rats with 1, 3 and 6 h ischemic times (n = 30). Intestinal biopsies were collected after laparotomy and at the end of the ischemia periods. DSC measurement was performed on the mucosa, muscular layer and total intestinal wall., Results: Our DSC data confirmed that longer warm ischemia period caused more severe damage in the structure of the mucosa and muscular layers. The results of transition temperature and calorimetric enthalpy suggest that these changes can be reduced using cold ischemic procedure in University of Wisconsin solution. However, the extent of thermal destruction of each layers following cold preservation injury was significantly different compared to normal bowel structure., Conclusion: In this study we quantitatively measured structural changes in the gut following ischemia using DSC. This thermodynamic method may provide basis for further investigations in different bowel stress models.

Introduction: Results of a retrospective study of patients who underwent pulmonary metastasectomies after colorectal surgery in the last five years are reported here. Prognostic factors are evaluated and analyzed in the context of current literature., Material and Methods: 37 lung resections were performed in 33 patients between 2001 and 2006, the male:female ratio was 19:14. The average age was 61.3 years (49-76). We analyzed the extent of lung resections, disease free intervals (DFI), laterality of the tumours, number and locations of metastases, lymph node involvements and the incidence of resection of hepatic metastases. Altogether, 20 solitary lung metastases were removed and 17 multiple resections were performed. 25 sublobar resections, 11 lobectomies and one pneumonectomy were carried out. 18 patients had right sided, eight patients had left sided and six patients had bilateral disease. 6 of the 33 patients underwent either synchronous or metachronous liver resection for hepatic metastases., Results: Survivals were calculated by the Kaplan-Meier method. The average DFI was 27.6 months. When all patients were considered, the average survival was 28 months. 52% of the patients had a 3-year postoperative survival, if lung metastases were present only., Conclusions: Patients benefit from surgical removal of lung metastases of colorectal cancer. There were no differences in survival rates between patients who underwent resection of solitary or multiple lung metastases up to seven deposits. However, the average survival was 12 months shorter if hilar/mediastinal lymph nodes were involved. Furthermore, the average survival of six patients with hepatic metastases was 10 months shorter than the rest of the group. There was no benefit of DFI over 24 months. None of the other prognostic factors showed significant difference.