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Purpose The aim of this study is to clarify the relationship between recurrence risk of breast cancer and methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) C677T polymorphisms.

Aim of the study: Gastrointestinal lymphoma is the most common type of extranodal lymphoma and commonly involved site is the stomach. We have compared the superiority between treatment modalities for primary gastric lymphoma and we want to investigate efficacy of rituximab in gastric lymphoma. Material and methods: Between April 2002 and December 2011, 146 patients with a histologically confirmed primary gastric lymphoma, initially diagnosed at eight different Cancer Centers within Turkey were evaluated retrospectively. According to the treatment modality, the patients were divided into chemotherapy (CT) alone, chemotherapy and radiotherapy (CRT), surgery and chemotherapy (SCT), surgery along with chemotherapy and radiotherapy (SCRT), and surgery (S) alone groups. Results: Median follow-up period was 25.5 months. The 5-year EFS (event free survival) and OS (overall survival) rates for the patients were 55% and 62.3% respectively. In Log rank analysis of OS and EFS, we have identified levels of albumin and hemoglobine, IPI score, stage at diagnosis as factors influencing survival. In multivariate analysis of OS and EFS, only albumin and stage at diagnosis were factors independently contributing to survival. There was no statistically significant difference in terms of survival between different treatment modalities (p = 0.707 in EFS and p = 0.124 in OS). In analysis of patients treated with chemotherapy alone, there was no a statistically significant difference in terms of EFS and OS between chemotherapy regimens with or without rituximab in localized and advanced stage groups (p = 0.264 and p = 0.639). There was no statistical difference in survival rate (EFS and OS) between surgical or non-surgical treatment modalities for localized/advanced stage gastric lymphoma groups (p = 0.519 / p = 0.165). Conclusions: There are several treatment options due to similar results in different treatment modalities. Also benefit of rituximab treatment in gastric lymphoma is still a controversial subject. Additional prospective trials are definitely required in order to clarify use of rituximab in treatment of extranodal gastric lymphoma.

Breast cancer (BC) is the most frequent cancer type in women, and the mortality rate is high especially in metastatic disease. Ion channels such as the transient receptor potential (TRP) channels correlate with malignant growth and cancer progression. Hence, some authors have suggested that the expression levels of TRP channels may be used as a marker in the diagnosis and predicting the prognosis of BC. Also, in some recent studies, targeting TRP channels are suggested as a novel treatment strategy in BC. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of two Rho-kinase (ROCK) inhibitors, fasudil and Y-27632, on the expression levels of TRP channel genes in breast cancer cell lines (ZR-75-1, MCF7, and MDA-MB-231) and breast epithelial cell line (hTERT-HME1). The expression levels of TRP genes were determined by quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). We found that fasudil had reduced the TRPC1, TRPV2 expression levels in the ZR-75-1, MCF7, and MDA-MB-231 cell lines. On the other hand, fasudil and Y-27632 had reduced TRPM6 expression levels in all cell lines. Y-27632 increased the expression levels of TRPC7 in all cell lines. In conclusion, this is the first study demonstrating that the inhibition of ROCK pathway changes the expression levels of some TRP genes. Also, our study has firstly shown that the expression levels of the TRP genes which are suggested as a diagnostic and prognostic biomarker in BC, were changed with the treatment of fasudil and Y-27632.

Vemurafenib is an inhibitor of the BRAF V600E mutation which is associated with tumor responses in patients with metastatic melanoma. Although it is generally well tolerated, common side effects of vemurafenib have been reported. Arthralgia is one of the more common adverse event associated with vemurafenib. We herein report a 49-year-old woman diagnosed with metastatic melanoma harboring the BRAF V600E mutation with severe polyarthritis associated with vemurafenib after 7 days of treatment. Sonographic examination of affected joints revealed synovitis and the patient's articular symptoms were improved by analgesic and anti-inflammatory treatment, including corticosteroids. During therapy with selective BRAF inhibitors, arthritis represents a new adverse event that can require dose reduction. In case of this adverse event, treatment with anti-inflammatory drugs, such as ibuprofen and prednisone, should be initiated early to keep patients on treatment and to avoid drug discontinuation and tumor progression.

Colorectal cancer (CRC) develops as a multi-step process which results from gradual accumulation of mutations in proto-oncogenes, tumor suppressor, and DNA repair genes. Mortality rate of CRC is very high. Therefore, development of alternative diagnostic methods which can be used in the early diagnosis is crucial. ATP2B4 gene encodes one of the four isoforms of p-type ATPase PMCA enzyme and bears critical importance in maintaining the balance of intracellular calcium homeostasis by providing the export of calcium ions out of the cell. ATP5B encodes a subunit of the mitochondrial ATP synthase which is an f-type ATPase. In this study, the relationship between ATP2B4 and ATP5B genes and CRC regarding gene expression was investigated. Study groups were constructed from a number of 50 patients (25 males, 25 females) with the mean age of 55.68 ± 9.4 and the gene expression levels in the healthy and cancerous tissues of the patients were compared by using semi-quantitative PCR and Real-Time PCR methods. As a result, in patients with rectum tumors, there was a significant relationship between ATP2B4 gene expression and the tumor location and in patients younger than 45 years, ATP5B gene expressions were detected significantly higher in tumor tissues by using RT-PCR. However, no significant relationship was detected in terms of expression differences of ATP2B4 and ATP5B genes between cancerous and healthy tissues of the CRC patients. ATP2B4 and ATP5B genes might have indirect associations in CRC pathogenesis and the investigation of their interactions with DNA repair and other related genes may help in understanding of CRC formation.

Objective: Tumor-associated tissue eosinophilia (TATE)has been noted in human cancers, sometimes with differentresults regarding their association with clinical outcome.In this study, the association between TATE andprognostic parameters of supraglottic laryngeal cancerwas analyzed.Materials and methods: Sixty-two patients with diagnosisof supraglottic laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma andwho treated surgically in our center were evaluated. Thecases were divided into 3 categories according to the averagenumber of eosinophils per high-power field (400x):0 (negative), 1-5 (grade 1+), more than 5 (grade 2+).Results: We found 24 TATE-negative (38.7%) and 38TATE-positive (61.3%) cases. There was not any statisticallysignificant correlation between TATE and tumor differentiation,vascular invasion, perineural invasion, lymphnode metastasis, patients’ ages, T stages (p>0.05). Asexpected, vascular invasion correlated with lymph nodemetastasis (p=0.001).Conclusion: The results of this study showed that TATEhas no correlation with prognostic parameters such ashistologic differentiation, vascular invasion, perineuralinvasion, lymph node metastasis, patients’ ages and Tstages in supraglottic laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma.The data suggest that stromal eosinophilic infiltrationis not useful for determining biological aggressiveness insupraglottic laryngeal cancer.Key words: laryngeal carcinoma, supraglottic, eosinophilia,prognostic parameters

A 46-year-old man was diagnosed with brain metastasis after a two-year history of melanoma. Paliative radiotherapy was administered followed by dacarbazine, temozolamide, ipilimumab, stereotactic radiosurgery, ipilimumab reinduction and finally vemurafenib, to which the patient showed objective responses. The patient received vemurafenib for four months and died after progresive disease. Long-term follow-ups after surgery have been reported in the literature. However, in patients with unresectable metastases, outcomes are mostly detrimental. The present patient survived for 40 months after brain metastasis. The unusually long survival observed in the present case indicates the sequential effectiveness of radiotherapy, chemotherapy, ipilimumab, stereotactic radiosurgery and vemurafenib.

Purpose: The aim of the study was to investigate the association between the molecular subtypes and patterns of relapse in breast cancer patients who had undergone curative surgery. Methods: We retrospectively evaluated 1,350 breast cancer patients with relapses after curative surgery between 1998 and 2012 from referral centers in Turkey. Patients were divided into 4 biological subtypes according to immunohistochemistry and grade: triple negative, HER2 overexpressing, luminal A and luminal B. Results: The percentages of patients with luminal A, luminal B, HER2-overexpressing, and triple-negative breast cancer were 32.9% (n = 444), 34.9% (n = 471), 12.0% (n = 162), and 20.2% (n = 273), respectively. The distribution of metastases differed among the subgroups: bone (66.2% and 53.9% in luminal A and B vs. 38.9% in HER2-overexpressing and 45.1% in triple negative, p < 0.001), liver (40.1% in HER2-overexpressing vs. 24.5% in luminal A, 33.5% in luminal B, and 27.5% in triple negative, p < 0.001), lung (41.4% in triple negative and 35.2% in HER2-overexpressing vs. 30.2% and 30.6% in luminal A and B, p = 0.008) and brain (25.3% in HER2-overexpressing and 23.1% in triple negative vs. 10.1% and 15.1% in luminal A and B, p < 0.001). Conclusions: Organ-specific metastasis may depend on the molecular subtype of breast cancer. Tailored strategies against distant metastasis concerning the molecular subtypes in breast cancer should be considered.

Aim: Miliary tuberculosis (MTB) is a serious and rare form of tuberculosis. Studies comparatively reviewed children and adults with MTB are lacking. Methods: We retrospectively evaluated 56 pediatric and 26 adult MTB patients at a university hospital, between 1990 and 2003 Results: The median age at presentation was 3.5 years for children and 38 years for adults. Thirtyeight of all patients of whom 86.8% were children had family history of tuberculosis Presenting symptoms and signs of adult and pediatric patients were loss of weight (51.8% vs. 61.5%), anorexia (76.9% vs. 57.8%), dyspnea (12.5% vs. 57.8%), diarrhea/vomiting (35.0% vs. 27.0%), fever (53.8% vs. 17.9%), hepatomegaly (30.8% vs. 51.8%), pulmonary crepitations (42.3% vs. 42.9) and cough (46.2% vs. 35.7%), respectively. The presenting symptoms/signs and laboratory abnormalities were generally more frequent in adults. Detected laboratory abnormalities were leukocytosis (73.2%), increased sedimentation rate (73.2%), anemia (52.4%), hypoalbuminemia (47.6%), elevated liver transaminases (36.6%), elevated lactate dehydrogenase (50.0%) and hyponatremia (25.6%) in whole study group. The diagnosis was proven microbiologically in 15 (18.3%) patients. Among 56 pediatric cases, there were 8 (14.3%) children with positive BCG scar and only 16 (28.6%) children with positive reaction to 5TU tuberculin test. Radiological findings of all patients, either on chest X-ray or high resolution computerized tomography, were characteristic for MTB. One fourth of patients had accompanying tuberculous meningitis. Predisposing factors for TB were found in 13 patients (15.9%). No patients had HIV infection. Overall 6 (7.3%) patients had died. Conclusion: High rate of history of family contact and low rate of BCG vaccination in our patients with MTB were significant public health problems. Identifying different features in children and adults may contribute to early diagnosis of MTB, which is highly relevant to its outcome

In lymph node-negative, hormone-positive, and Her2-negative breast cancer patients, the benefits of adding adjuvant chemotherapy to hormonal therapy continue to be debated, especially for low to intermediate grade and small tumors.Excluding patients with T4 disease, we retrospectively reviewed the records of patients with long-term follow-up at our center between 2003 and 2014. Among node-negative, hormone-positive and HER2-negative breast cancer patients, we compared two groups of patients: those given both chemotherapy (doxorubicin+cyclophosphamide) and hormonotherapy, and those prescribed hormonotherapy alone. The primary endpoints were progression-free (PFS) and overall survival (OS).Overall, no difference was observed between these two treatment groups in either DFS or OS. However, for both outcomes, there was a trend towards improved DFS and OS favoring the hormone-only group.In selected subgroups of breast cancer patients, administering adjuvant hormonal therapy alone seems to be at least as good if not better than combining hormonotherapy and chemotherapy.

e12052 Background: Previous important studies reported that breast conserving surgery (BCS) plus radiotherapy and modified radical mastectomy (MRM) were similar in breast cancer patients with tumor...

The purpose of this study was to determine whether the presence of diabetes mellitus (DM) influences the incidence and severity of peripheral sensory neuropathy (PSN) in patients using taxane therapy.A retrospective single-center analysis was conducted: Patients with PSN at baseline were excluded. The incidence of PSN was evaluated retrospectively in patient subgroups who received taxane arm and taxane-plus-platinum-agents combination arm with or without known DM at baseline.Three hundred seventy-four patients were enrolled in this study, 81 (21.6%) of patients had DM at baseline. The incidence of grade 1 PSN (non-DM/DM) in patients receiving taxane-based chemotherapy was 33.4/25.9% and more than grade 2 PSN (non-DM/DM) was 15/34.6%. The rate of neuropathy of non-diabetic patients was 48.8%, while the rate of diabetic patients was 52.8 and 75% in DM duration below 5 years and above 5 years group, respectively.This retrospective analysis indicates that taxane-based therapy in DM patients whose disease duration is above 5 years appears to affect the incidence and severity of PSN without known baseline neuropathy. The probability of PSN with taxane-based therapy was similar in DM duration below 5 years and non-DM patients.

Abdominal tuberculosis (TB) is a rare manifestation, which can be overlooked on long-lasting and non-specific findings unless a high index of suspicion is maintained. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the diagnostic features of 39 patients hospitalized with tuberculous peritonitis (TBP) in Dicle University Hospital, Turkey between January 1994 and August 2003. Twenty-two patients were male; patient age ranged between 1 and 59 years (mean: 16.2 +/- 14.4 years). There were 21 patients (54%) under 15 years of age. Thirteen children had a history of familial TB and seven adults had prior history of TB. Six (29%) of 21 pediatric cases had bacille Calmette-Guerin (BCG) scars and results of 5-tuberculin units (TU) tuberculin test were positive in seven children (18%). Of all cases, the most common presenting findings were abdominal pain (95%), ascites (92%) and abdominal distention (82%). Five of the patients had accompanying pulmonary TB, and six patients (15%) had intestinal TB who were admitted to emergency service with acute abdomen, of whom three (8%) had perforation and three (8%) had ileus. Histopathologically 20 cases (51%) were proven on abdominal ultrasonography, and computed tomography revealed most commonly ascites and thickening of peritoneum. No microbiologic evidence was obtained except three positive culture results for Mycobacterium tuberculosis. As a result, TBP should be considered for diagnosis, in patients with non-specific symptoms of abdominal pain, wasting, fever, loss of appetite, abdominal distension and even symptoms of acute abdomen, because early diagnosis and effective treatment will decrease morbidity and mortality.

Hypovolemic shock and spontaneous splenic rupture (SSR) are unusual fatal complications in the uraemic patients. We described a case of SSR in a 29-year-old hemodialysis (HD) patient. The diagnosis was confirmed with the acute abdomen picture included the left upper abdominal and left shoulder pain together with shock and ultrasound findings. The splenectomy was performed. The postoperative course was uneventful and the patient was discharged from hospital on the 5th day. The mechanism of the rupture is still unknown, but the rupture and subcapsular haematomas of spleen may be induced by the uraemic coagulopathy, the use of anticoagulants during HD, malignant hypertension and unrecognised microtrauma. Splenic rupture should be considered in any patient with abdominal pain and shock, regardless of a history of trauma or previously known risk factors for spontaneous rupture. An aggressive multidisciplinary approach to the management of these patients may decrease the mortality rate.

There is a low incidence of myocardial infarction (MI) for those under 45 years old. Many risk factors have been described for MI. Some risk factors may be especially important for younger people. A 23 year-old young patient with acute anterior myocardial infarction and no prior symptoms was presented. The patient was treated with precutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA). Although we investigated the risk factor in detail. We couldn’t find any risk factors apart from cigarette smoking. The patient had high HDL-cholesterol level and as it is known this eliminate one positive risk factor. The occurence of MI in a patient with high HDL cholesterol who has no other risk factors apart from cigarette smoking is a remarkable sample that cigarette smoking is an extremely important risk factor for young patients and that HDL cholesterol level is not sufficient enough to prevent the negative effects of this risk factor.

Liver cirrhosis is a severe disease with complications and viruses take the first place in the etiology of cirrhosis. In this study, the effects of liver cirrhosis due to viral hepatitis cardiac ventricular functions were analyzed. Thirty patients (mean age 43.6±12, 20 male) with liver cirrhosis underwent echocardiographic studies and were compared with 30 healthy controls (mean age 37.3±2, 22 male). Right and left atrium and right ventricle dimensions, interventricular septum, right ventricle free wall thickness, pulmonary artery diameter and assumed mean pulmonary artery pressure measured with 2-dimensional echocardiography were significantly increased in the patient group. In Doppler echocardiographic studies, right ventricle diastolic functions were significantly impaired in the patient group. There were no significant differences in left ventricle systolic and diastolic functions between the groups. In conclusion, liver cirrhosis causes dilatation in right heart spaces and diastolic dysfunction.

Tuberous sclerosis complex is a neurocutaneous and autosomal dominant disease characterized by multiple hamartomas in multiple viscera. It results from spontaneous mutation. The genetic anomaly is usually linked to the 9th chromosome. It may be accompanied by early childhood seizures, multiple brain tumors, skin lesions, angiomyolipomas in the kidneys and liver and rhabdomyomas. A careful physical examination, computerized tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans of the brain are essential in its diagnosis. In this study, we presented a 16 year old girl who was brought to our emergency service room due to acute loss of conscious and then underwent to ventriculo-peritoneal (V-P) shunt procedure after she had been diagnosed as acute hydrocephalus. The patient had been operated for intracranial mass when she was 2 years old and postoperative pathological diagnosis was established to be subepandimal giant cell astrocytoma (SGCA).

WOS: 000435353000019, PubMed ID: 29893321, Purpose: Almost half of all patients diagnosed with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) have distant metastases at presentation. One-third of patients with NSCLC will have brain metastases. Without effective treatment, the median survival is only 1 month. However, it is difficult to treat brain metastases with systemic chemotherapy since the agents have difficulty crossing the blood-brain barrier. Therefore, it is important to estimate the patient's survival prognosis. The aim of this study was to analyze prognostic factors for survival in Turkish patients who received chemotherapy after cranial irradiation for NSCLC with brain metastases. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed 698 patients with brain metastases resulting from NSCLC. Ten potential prognostic variables were chosen for analysis. Univariate and multivariate analyses were conducted to identify prognostic factors associated with overall survival (OS). Results: Among the 10 variables for univariate analysis, six were identified to have prognostic significance; these included sex, smoking history, histology, number of brain metastases, extracranial metastases, and neurosurgical resection. Multivariate analysis by the Cox proportional hazard model showed that a smoking history, extracranial metastases, and neurosurgical resection were independent negative prognostic factors for OS. Conclusion: Smoking history, extracranial metastases, and neurosurgical resection were considered independent negative prognostic factors for OS. These findings may facilitate pretreatment prediction of survival and can be used for selecting patients for more appropriate treatment options.

To compare the effectiveness of adjuvant chemotherapy regimens in triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) for which no protocol has been determined to be treatment of choice.In this single-center retrospective trial, we analyzed the adjuvant regimens of 164 TNBC patients among 3253 breast cancer patient records. Adjuvant TAC (docetaxel, doxorubicin, cyclophosphamide), CAF (cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, 5fluorouracil), and AC-T (doxorubicin, cyclophosphamide followed by docetaxel) regimens were compared in terms of disease free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS).In terms of both DFS and OS TAC was significantly superior to AC-T in node positive TNBC. When node negative and positive patients were analyzed together, TAC was still significantly superior to AC-T in terms of DFS and OS. There was a trend favoring CAF over AC-T, however, it was only significant in terms of OS when all node negative and positive TNBC patients were incorporated together.In the adjuvant setting, especially in node positive patients, TAC should be the treatment of choice in TNBC patients. CAF is probably better than AC-T in TNBC.

Background and Aim: Breast cancer is the most common type of cancer amongst women today. The aim of this study was to examine the association between complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) and the quality of life (QoL), anxiety and depression and demographic characteristics of women with breast cancer. Materials and Methods: QoL was measured by the European Organization for Treatment and Research of Cancer quality of life core questionnaire (QLQ-C30, version 3.0) and anxiety and depression was measured by the hospital anxiety and depression scale. Results: In total, 122 patients with breast cancer were enrolled in the study and 50% (n = 61) of them reported that they were using CAM. The most commonly used CAM methods were stinging nettle (57%) and prayer and spiritual healing (49%). No relationship was found between the use of CAM and the patient's age, time to diagnosis, cancer stage, chemotherapy use, smoking and residence. However, the analyses showed a positive association between CAM and role functioning (P = 0.014) and financial difficulties (P = 0.011); and a negative association between CAM and emotional functioning (P = 0.033). Conclusions: Based on the previous studies, 20-83.3% of breast cancer patients among different countries and cultures used CAM. Our results suggested that the use of CAM among women is quite popular, but they showed no correlation between CAM usage and anxiety and depression. In addition, CAM usage was more common in breast cancer patients with a poor emotional and financial status.

The expression differences of SCN8A (which encodes type VIII alpha subunit of voltage gated sodium channel) and NDUFC2 (which encodes C2 subunit of Complex I enzyme in oxidative phosphorylation) genes were evaluated in paired colorectal cancer (CRC) tissues which was relied on our partial transcriptome analysis data in cancer cell lines. Materials and Methods: A total of 62 paired tissues of CRC patients (34 male, 28 female) were included in the study. The mRNA levels of SCN8A and NDUFC2 genes were determined by using real-time PCR (qRT-PCR and semiquantitative PCR). Results: SCN8A gene expression level was significantly lower in tumor tissues (p = 0.0128) and in the patients with the age below 45 years (p = 0.0049). There were also meaningful relationships between the gender, grade of CRC, tumor location, histopathological classification, and SCN8A expression. There was no NDUFC2 differential expression. However, the tumors taken from right colon had significantly lower NDUFC2 expression. Conclusion: Although the voltage gated sodium channels (VGSCs) and Complex I (CI) were associated to a number of diseases including different types of cancers, the different subunits of CI and individual members of VGSCs seem to be cancer type-specific in varying proportions. Key Words: colorectal carcinoma, SCN8A, NDUFC2, Complex I, voltage gated sodium channels, gene expression.

Background: Urotensin II is a vasoactive polypeptide. It is known that some vasoactive polypeptides are produced and secreted by tumor cells, and act as a paracrine growth stimulant. The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between urotensin II and its receptor’s messenger RNA expression in breast cancer. Material/Methods: Fifty-nine women with breast cancer were included in this study. The median age was 48 years. The relationships between urotensin II and urotensin II receptor mRNA expressions, which were derived from fresh breast cancer tissues and adjacent normal breast tissues, and clinical and pathological parameters, were assessed. Results: We found expressions of urotensin II mRNA and its receptor in 55 of 59 breast cancer tissues and in 55 of 59 normal breast tissues. We found a positive significant correlation between urotensin II and its receptor (p=0.001, r=0.632), and found a negative, but insignificant, correlation between urotensin II and age (p=0.038, r=–0.281). Urotensin II levels were higher in the premenopausal group compared to the postmenopausal group (p

Gastric cancer is one of most common types of cancers. Metastatic gastric cancer has a poor prognosis and is accepted as incurable at this stage. Treatment of metastatic gastric cancer did not progress substantially until new targeted agents have come out. Recently published ToGA trial showed promising results in HER2 overexpressing metastatic gastric cancer. In this case we present a case with an excellent complete response with anti-HER2 treatment. Most importantly, we wanted to emphasize (1) the importance of early determination of HER2 overexpression, and (2) to draw attention of anti-HER2 agents in the first line treatment even in patients with a poor performance status.

e11559 Background: Relapse is one of the most important risk factors in overall survival, and distant recurrence is related to a complex biologic interaction of seed and soil factors. The aim of the study was to investigate the association between the molecular subtypes and patterns of relapse in patients with curative surgery performed breast cancer. Methods: We retrospectively evaluated clinical data from 1126 breast cancer patients with relapses after their curative surgery between 1998 and 2012 from referral centers of Turkey. Study population was divided into four biological subtypes according to their hormone receptor status and HER2 expression.Patients were divided into four biological subtypes according to IHC: triple negative (ER negative, PR negative, and HER2 negative), HER2 overexpressing (ER negative, PR negative, and HER2 positive), luminal B (ER and/or PR positive, HER2 positive), and luminal A (ER and/or PR positive, HER2 negative). Results: The proportion of patients with luminal A, Luminal B, HER2-overexpressing, and triple negative breast cancer was 42.0% (n=473), 23.0% (n=259), 13.3% (n=150), and 21,7% (n=244), respectively. Median time to relapse was 26.6 months. 22.5% of the patients (n=253) had multiple relapse sites. The incidence of first distant recurrence site was significantly different among the subtypes. Liver (31.8% vs. 22.4%, p=0.008), bone (42.2% vs 37.0%, p

e18510 Background: Aim of the study was to determine the relationship between clinicopathologic characteristics and treatment modalities for locally advanced thymic malignancies(TM). Methods: We retrospectively reviewed medical records of 107 patients(pts) who treated from 1992 to 2012 in medical oncology service of 7 tertiary hospital. 21 pts who presented metastatic disease and 31 pts who had early stage at the time of diagnosis were excluded. Results: A total of 55 patient’s data were analyzed. Median age was 46(17-73) years. Median follow-up was 33(1-103) months(mts). 65% of pts was male. Histopathologic diagnosis were as follows: thymoma type A-B2 ( TA-B2) 29 , thymoma type B3 (TB3) 10 and thymic carcinoma (TC) 16. 42 of pts underwent surgery, but total resection of the tumor have been achieved at only 28 pts(6 TC and 22 TA-B2 or TB3).30 pts have stage III diasease (mostly thymoma 23/30). 43 pts treated with mediastinal radiotherapy ( 21 adjuvant, 22 primary). A cisplatin containing regimen has been received 23 pts in the adjuvant setting. 31 pts were given as primary chemotherapy (ADOC, PAC and EP). Overall response rate was 81.6% with first-line chemotherapy. There was no apparent response in 3 pts(3/23) with thymoma and 4 pts(4/8) with TC. 20 pts have experienced a disease progression and 27 pts died ( 8 of these cases died from other unrelated causes). Median progression free survival was 45 (30-59)mts. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis estimated that overall survival of the pts with stage III disease were relatively longer than stage IVA ones, but it can not reach statistical significance (median 78 vs 45 mts,p=.11). Prognosis of TC pts were considerably worse than TB3 and TA-B2 (median 17 vs 45 vs 76 mts respectively,p=.01). Although there was no a statistical difference between pts who underwent total tumor removal and who did not, we have seen a trend toward better survival in pts who were suitable to triple modality therapy(median 79 vs 45 mts,p=.27). Conclusions: Cisplatin based chemo plus mediastinal radiotherapy may provide a chance of achieving a long-lasting remission in locally advanced TM. But, complete surgical removal of the tumor are still the mainstay of treatment.

PURPOSE To evaluate the clinicopathologic characteristics and treatment outcomes of young patients with colorectal cancer (CRC). METHODS Between May 2003 and June 2010, 76 patients were found eligible for this retrospective study. Age, sex, presenting symptoms, patients with acute presentation, family history, presence of polyps, histologic features, localization and stage of the tumor, treatment outcomes, time and site of recurrence, sites of metastasis, and survival outcomes were recorded from the patient files. RESULTS Seventy-six patients (55.3% male) with a median age of 23 years were evaluated. Patients were evaluated in 2 groups as follows: child-adolescent (0 to 19 y, n=20) and young adult (20 to 25 y, n=56). Sex and symptoms (abdominal pain and rectal bleeding) were significantly differed between the groups and acute presentation was close to statistical significance. Overall survival significantly increased in patients undergoing curative surgery (P

Sunitinib is a multi-targeted thyrosine kinase receptor inhibitor used in patients with advanced gastrointestinal stromal tumours (GISTs). We evaluated the efficacy and tolerability of sunitinib therapy in Turkish patients with GISTs.Between January 2001 and April 2012, 57 patients who had progressive disease or experienced unacceptable toxicity during imatinib treatment from multiple centers were investigated retrospectively.Thirty-three patients were male and 24 were female. The median age was 55 years (range; 16-84 years). Thirty-eight of the patients received imatinib for longer than 12 months, 13 patients received for 6-12 months, and 6 patients received for less than six months. The clinical benefit of sunitinib was 73.7%. Treatment-related adverse events were reported in 78% of the patients. Adverse events were generally mild to moderate in intensity. The median progression free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) of the patients that received sunitinib were 10.8 months and 23.9 months, respectively. The time of imatinib usage and response to sunitinib were independent prognostic factors for PFS and OS. Also, tumor size was an independent prognostic factor for PFS.Sunitinib is an effective treatment in Turkish patients with GISTs, with a clinical benefit of 73.7% and shows an acceptable tolerability.

In this study, we investigated the effect of lapatinib plus capecitabine treatment in HER2-positive breast cancer patients with brain metastasis.Of 405 metastatic breast cancer patients with brain metastases at referral centers in Turkey, 46 were treated with lapatinib plus capecitabine only after the development of brain metastasis. Patients who only received trastuzumab-based therapy after the development of brain metastases were accepted as the historic control group for survival analyses (n = 65). Patients who received both drugs consecutively or sequentially were excluded from the analyses (n = 34).Median age among 46 patients who received lapatinib plus capecitabine therapy was 45 years (27-76), and median time for development of brain metastases was 11.9 months (0-69 months). Twenty-six out of 38 patients who received lapatinib plus capecitabine and had extracranial metastasis showed partial response or stable diseases (68.4 %). Grade 3-4 toxicity was observed in eight patients (17.3 %). Median overall survival (OS) in patients treated with lapatinib plus capecitabine was significantly increased compared to that in patients treated with trastuzumab-based therapy (19.1 vs. 12 months, respectively, p = 0.039). The incidence of cerebral death was slightly decreased in patients who received lapatinib plus capecitabine compared to those who received trastuzumab-based therapy (32 vs. 43.4 %, p = 0.332). In the multivariate analysis, lapatinib plus capecitabine therapy remained an independent positive predictor for survival [odds ratio (OR), 0.57; p = 0.02].Although this retrospective multicenter study had several limitations, the results suggest that undergoing lapatinib plus capecitabine therapy after the diagnosis of brain metastasis may further improve survival compared to undergoing only trastuzumab-based therapy.

e12066 Background: Recurrence is a important cause of morbidity and mortality in the early stage of breast cancer. Although the node positivity more tightly associated with recurrence, it can be ob...

Abdominal tuberculosis (TB) is a rare manifestation, which can be overlooked on long-lasting and non-specific findings unless a high index of suspicion is maintained. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the diagnostic features of 39 patients hospitalized with tuberculous peritonitis (TBP) in Dicle University Hospital, Turkey between January 1994 and August 2003. Twenty-two patients were male; patient age ranged between 1 and 59 years (mean: 16.2 +/- 14.4 years). There were 21 patients (54%) under 15 years of age. Thirteen children had a history of familial TB and seven adults had prior history of TB. Six (29%) of 21 pediatric cases had bacille Calmette-Guerin (BCG) scars and results of 5-tuberculin units (TU) tuberculin test were positive in seven children (18%). Of all cases, the most common presenting findings were abdominal pain (95%), ascites (92%) and abdominal distention (82%). Five of the patients had accompanying pulmonary TB, and six patients (15%) had intestinal TB who were admitted to emergency service with acute abdomen, of whom three (8%) had perforation and three (8%) had ileus. Histopathologically 20 cases (51%) were proven on abdominal ultrasonography, and computed tomography revealed most commonly ascites and thickening of peritoneum. No microbiologic evidence was obtained except three positive culture results for Mycobacterium tuberculosis. As a result, TBP should be considered for diagnosis, in patients with non-specific symptoms of abdominal pain, wasting, fever, loss of appetite, abdominal distension and even symptoms of acute abdomen, because early diagnosis and effective treatment will decrease morbidity and mortality.

Objective Risk factors of catheter-related bloodstream infection (CR-BSI) caused by central venous catheter (CVC) use at a university hospital were evaluated. Design A prospective, observational, hospital-wide study was conducted. Setting The study was conducted at a university hospital with 1050 beds. Methods Nontunneled catheters were used, and double or triple lumen was observed. Catheters were cultured by semi-quantitative method, and blood cultures were performed if necessary. All epidemiologic and clinical data were recorded without intervention during the study. Results Over a 1-year period, the study assessed 389 CVCs inserted in 367 patients (mean age 50.9 ± 18.1 years; 215 [58.6%] men, 152 [41.4%] women). Duration of catheterization was 12.0 ± 9.9 days. CVCs were inserted into either the subclavian vein (N = 263; 67.6%) or the jugular vein (N = 128; 32.4%). In 250 episodes (64.3%), antibiotics were used concomitantly. CR-BSI was found in 43 of all CVCs (11.1%). The rate of CR-BSI per 1000 catheter-days was 9.21 for the whole cohort. In multivariable analysis, only renal failure (OR 4.83; CI 1.32-17.66; P = .017) was found to be a risk factor for CR-BSI. Conclusion Renal failure was an independent risk factor for CR-BSI.

The hepatitis B virus (HBV) vaccination never lose its importance; however, we did not get immune response with vaccination in some cases at the hemodialysis (HD) units. In this research, our aim was to evaluate antibody responses that constitute with natural ways and vaccination against HBV infection in chronic HD patients. In this retrospective cohort study (between 1999 February and 2001 December), 34 patients, 19 males and 15 females that were at the HD program, were enrolled. Patients were divided into two groups: group A, vaccination group (n = 15); and group B, anti-HBc IgG (+) cases (n = 19). We injected 40 microg of recombinant HBV vaccine into the deltoid muscle at 0, 1, 2, and 6 months. The anti-HBs levels, over 10 mIU/mL, were accepted for enough immunization. In group A, after vaccination 12 of 15 (80%) patients had seroconversion but later, in five of 12 (33.3%) patients, HBs-antibody became negative and in seven of 12 (46.7%) patients the positivity of HBs-antibody continued. However, in group B, 16 of 19 (66.7%) immune patients who faced HBV infection, it was established that antibody response continued (P > 0.05). The patients in group A who had anti-HCV negativity and serum albumin levels >/=3.5g/dL (7/0; P < 0.05) had too much antibody response against the vaccine. The difference of our research was that patients under 49 years old, patients who did not respond to HBV vaccine, were proportionally higher as compared to those from other researches. In conclusion, it was realized that the immune response of the HBV vaccine was low in the HD patients and it was affected by several factors such as gender, anti-HCV positivity and nutritional status. But, in spite of getting all universal precautions, still to face with new cases emphasizes the importance of the vaccination.

In this paper, we report a case of drug-induced pancreatitis just after taking a pain pill including a low-dose combination of acetaminophen and codeine. Codeine-induced pancreatitis has been rarely reported, however, well-established. The proposed mechanism for codeine-induced pancreatitis is by increasing Oddi sphincter pressure. However, the clinically important point is that the codeine-induced pancreatitis is seen almost only in the cholecystectomized patients due to lacking of its reservoir capacity. Codeine is commonly used alone or in combination in pain medicine. Therefore, it is fairly important to question whether a patient underwent cholecystectomy when a physician decides to prescribe codeine-included preparations.

Background: There are multiple genomic differences between healthy women and women with breast cancer. Chromosomal damage and loss can be detected through cytogenetic methods, one of which is the micronucleus (MN) assay. This study is designed to evaluate the genomic differences between healthy women and women with breast cancer through the MN assay. Methods: This study included 32 healthy women and 24 breast cancer patients. The buccal smears of breast cancer patients were taken three times: before chemotherapy, and after two and four cycles of chemotherapy. Buccal smears of the control group and patients were taken, and 1000 epithelial cells were counted per patient, with the criteria of The Human Micronucleus Project for the assay of micronucleated cells. Results: The MN scores of breast cancer patients before chemotherapy, after 2 cycles chemotherapy and after 4 cycles chemotherapy were statistically significantly higher than the MN scores of the healthy control group (p Conclusion: The MN score of buccal mucosa is higher in breast cancer patients than that in healthy individuals. Furthermore, the MN score increases with the application of chemotherapy. These results and our findings propose that the MN assay of buccal mucosa samples can be used to determine the genotoxic effect and biomonitoring of chemotherapy.

Background: Breast cancer is the most common cancer type among woman. Ion channels are important for different physiologic functions as muscle contraction and hormone secretion. Recently the effect of Transient Receptor Potential (TRP) channels on calcium balance, cell proliferation, cell differantiation, tumor invasion, oncogen regulation and resistance to apoptotic cell death has been demonstrated. Some members of TRP family as TRPV6, TRPM1, TRPM8 and TRPM5 has been directly associated with cancer. The aim of this study is to determine the importance of TRP channels in breast cancer. Methods: Thirty two breast cancer patients were enrolled. Normal breast tissue and breast cancer tissue has been taken from each patient during operation. Tissues has been protected in liquid nitrogen. RNA isolation from tissues was made with RNA isolation kit and cDNA has been derived with reverse transcriptase reaction (PCR) from RNA. Expression of 20 genes containing TRPC, TRPM, TRPV and TRPA genes has been investigated with Biomark Fludigm nano Real Time PCR tool. Results: The expression of TRPM1, TRPC7 and TRPC5 genes has not been observed in normal breast and breast cancer tissues. Compared to normal breast tissue TRPMA1, TRMPV5, TRPM5 and TRPV6 genes expression was at high levels in breast cancer tissues. There was no expression of TRPMA1, TRMPV5, TRPM5 and TRPV6 genes in normal breast tissues. Conclusion: In this study the importance of TRP channels in breast cancer has been evaluated. Expression of genes for regulating the TRP channel proteins could be an important candidate for breast cancer diagnosis and treatment. Especially expression of TRPMA1, TRMPV5, TRPM5 and TRPV6 genes has been determined at high levels in breast cancer tissues. Evaluation of the clinical effects of these genes on breast cancer progression can be used at new researchs for diagnosis and treatment options of breast cancer.

513 Background: Different factors are effective in the development of colorectal cancer (CC). With the discovery of that TRP (transient receptor potential) genes family is an important component of calcium channel, about 30 members of the family of TRP ion channel in mammals have been determined up to the present. TRP channels are associated with many pathological conditions like cancer and cardiovascular diseases as well as the physiological significance of them.. The aim of this study is to investigate TRPM, TRPV and TRPC gene expression levels in tumor tissues of CC patients and to analyze the relationship of expression in tumor tissue of colorectal cancer with other known prognostic factors. Methods: In this study, 93 CC patients whose follow-up and treatment realized in Medical Oncology Department of Gaziantep University Medical Faculty Hospital were analyzed retrospectively. Level of TRP gene expression in paraffin blocks of normal and cancerous colorectal tissue samples of 93 patients were studied at the level of mRNA with real-time PCR. Results: From normal and cancerous colorectal tissues of 37 female and 56 male patients diagnosed with colorectal cancer, expressions of TRPV3, TRPV4, TRPV5, TRPM4, and TRPC6 genes in tumor tissue were detected lower when compared to normal tissue (p < 0.05). When expression levels of other TRP genes in tissues were compared, any significant difference was not found (p > 0.05). There was no meaningful difference between prognostic factors and gene expressions of tumor tissues statistically (p > 0.05). Conclusions: Expression of many proteins in cancer cells compared to normal cells increases or decreases. In CC, TRPV3, TRPV4, TRPV5, TRPM4, and TRPC6 genes of which expression in cancerous tissue decreases may be thought as potential genes contributing to tumorigenesis. To verify this hypothesis, it should be supported with further studies.

e18546 Background: Small cell lung cancers (SCLC) constitute a mean of 15% of lung cancers and present with advanced disease at time of diagnosis in 60% of cases. Cisplatin plus etoposide schedule is the standard treatment in these patients , whereas the role of maintenance therapy is debated. We assessed the efficacy and safety of oral etoposide maintenance therapy following cisplatin plus etoposide in advanced SCLC. Methods: Demographic features, treatment response, survival rate, and toxicity rate were assessed in our patients who were followed up for advanced SCLC between 2006 and 2012, had a ECOG performance status of 0-1, and were given oral etoposide maintenance therapy (50mg/day, given 14 days of a 21-day cycle, a total of 6 cycles) following 6 courses of cisplatin (75 mg/m2, 1 day) and etoposide (100mg/m2, 3 days). Results: A total of 51 patients were studied, 46 (90.2%) of whom were male; the mean age was 59 (28-78) years at diagnosis. Forty-four (86.2%) patients had partial remission while 7 (13.7%) had complete remission. Nine (17.6%) developed neutropenic fever while grade 3-4 toxicities, neutropenia, anemia, thrombocytopenia, neuropathy, diarrhea, nausea and vomiting were present in 39.2%, 9.8%, 5.9%, 1.9%, 3.9%, 3.9%, and 1.9% respectively. Chemotherapy was postponed in fourteen (27.4%) patients due to toxicity. Six (11.7%) patients taking oral etoposide developed febrile neutropenia and 3 (5.9%) developed grade 3-4 thrombocytopenia. Chemotherapy was postponed in 5 (9.8%) patients due to toxicity while no toxic death was observed. After a median follow-up of 19 months, 32 (62.7%) patients experienced progression of disease and 29 (56.8%) died. Median progression free survival was found 11.6 months (%95 CI; 10.2-12.9 months) and median overall survival was found 15.6 (%95CI; 11.5-19.7 months) months. Conclusions: Our results were similar with the previous literature. Oral etoposide maintenance therapy following cisplatin plus etoposide therapy in advanced SCLC is effective and tolerable. Further randomized studies are needed in this topic.

e19107 Background: In this study, the efficacy and safety of pemetrexed chemotherapy was evaluated retrospectively in patients who were non-responders to or who have demonstrated progression after the first and/or second line treatments in local advanced and metastatic NSCLC. Methods: 175 patients (139 males, 36 females) were assessed in years 2008 – 2012. Patients were given pemetrexed 500 mg/m2, and the ones receiving combined treatment were given pemetrexed 500 mg/m2 and cisplatin 75 mg/m2 once in every 21 days. Supplementary steroid and vitamin treatment were administered to all patients. Age, gender, performance status (PS), stage, single agent or combined administration of treatment, progression-free survival (PFS) and overall (OS) were investigated. Patients were assessed in terms of treatment efficacy and toxicity. Results: Median follow-up period was 6 months (1 - 25), and median age was 55 years (28 - 83). In 82% of patients, PS was 0 – 1. 73% of patients were at stage 4. 71% of the patients received single agent pemetrexed, and 14% received platinum - pemetrexed combination treatment. 93% of patients received pemetrexed treatment as second line. Median 3 cycles of treatment (1 – 12) were administered. In side effect assessment, while side effects (grade 1 – 4) were observed in 62% of the patients, the most frequently observed side effects were anemia (18%) and nausea-vomiting (15%). Febrile neutropenia was detected in 6 patients (3.4%).In assessment of the response, the disease control ratio was 50% (21% partial response, 29% stable disease). 1- and OS rates were respectively 14% and 41%. Median OS was 10 months (SE:1, 95% CI: 7-12) and median PFS was 3 months (SE:1, 95% CI: 2-4). In multivariate analysis, PS of 0 – 1 and response to treatment were found as factors with prognostic significance (p=0.047, p=0.014, respectively). Conclusions: It is observed that chemotherapy regimen containing pemetrexed in NSCLC treatment is a treatment approach, which provides an efficient disease control with a manageable side effect profile, in patients especially with good performance status and with no platinum resistance, who can receive treatment in combination form.

The surgeon today is obliged to operate on an increasing number of patients who are classified at high risk. The hazards of blood splashes at operation have also been reported suggesting that Hepatitis B virus (HBV), Hepatitis C virus (HCV) and the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) can be transmitted by conjunctival contamination (1,2). The eye splash injuries due to peritoneal echinococcal fluid have not been determined in the literature. We reviewed our experiences relevant to two surgeons exposed to the eye splash injuries due to peritoneal echinococcal fluid in order to emphasize the risks of transmission of infections via the eye.

638 Background: In the present study, we investigate that which treatment choice is more effective in the human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) positive breast cancer patients with brain metastases. Methods: Of 405 metastatic breast cancer patients with brain metastases at referral centers in Turkey, 111 patients treated with lapatinib or trastuzumab after brain metastases eligible for the analyses were identified. Patients received both drugs consecutively or sequentially were excluded from the study. Results: Median age was 44 years (27-76) and 46 of the 111 patients (41.5%) had received lapatinib. Median time to development of brain metastases was 12.2 months (0-71). Sixteen patients (14.4%) had undergone surgery, 33 (29.7%) radiosurgery, and 108 (97.2%) whole brain radiation therapy (WBRT). Median overall survival (OS) after brain metastases was 15 months(95% confidence interval (CI): 12.3-17.6). Lapatinib usage was prolonged OS over trastuzumab alone (19.1 months vs 12 months, p=0.039).Other parameters affecting the survival were Karnofsky performance score (KPS, >70), number of brain metastases (>3), extracranial metastases (≥2), performed neurosurgery, and received radiosurgery. After correction for potential confounders, lapatinib therapy remained an independent positive predictor for survival [Odds ratio (OR), 0.57; p=0.02). Conclusions: Although this retrospective multi-center study had several limitations, study results suggest that the usage of lapatinib after brain metastases prolonged survival compared to the usage of trastuzumab. This result should be support with prospective studies.

e14127 Background: Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the most common tumors in adults, also can occur rarely in children and young adults. Compared to adults contains significant differences in ter...

Breast cancer is the most common cancer among women all over the world. Since the clinical outcome of breast cancer may differ among some women who have the same clinicopathological stage, researchers focused on additional prognostic parameters to predict the tumor behavior. The aim of this study was to investigate the prognostic value of Wilms Tumor 1 (WT1) expression in tumor tissues and to compare it with known prognostic variables in patients with breast cancer. In patients with breast cancer, we investigated the relationship between (WT1) protein expression in tumor and surrounding tissues and prognostic variables including age, pathologic type, axillary node involvement, estrogen receptor (ER) status, menopausal status, stage (TNM), tumor grade and treatment. Borderline significance was detected between WT1 monoclonal antibody (mAb) staining and premenopausal state (p=0.051). Additionally, surrounding tissue staining showed significant correlations with grade (p=0.045), stage (p=0.026), lymph node status (p=0.026), and axillary involvement (p=0.02), respectively. No correlation was demonstrated between relapse free survival, relapse sites and WT1 mAb staining of tumor and surrounding tissues (p=0.36). WT1 mAb staining was demonstrated in human breast cancer tissues, and in this study we have used monoclonal antibody against WT1 on paraffin-embedded tissue samples. The results indicate that WT1 expression by tumor is more evident in premenopausal state rather than postmenopausal period. To confirm the results, we need large scale studies on WT1 expression in breast cancer.

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the most common cancer of the gastrointestinal tract. Different factors are responsible for the development of CRC. Transient Receptor Potential (TRP) which is an important component of calcium channel is associated with several pathological conditions like cancer, neurodegenerative and cardiovascular diseases. Thirty members of the family of TRP ion channel in mammals have been determined till now. The aim of this study is to investigate TRPM, TRPV and TRPC gene expression levels in tumor tissues of CRC patients and to analyze the relationship of expression in tumor tissue of CRC with other known prognostic factors. Material and Methods: In this study, 93 CRC patients were included. The level of TRP gene expression in paraffin blocks of normal and cancerous colorectal tissue samples were studied at the level of mRNA with Real-time PCR. Results: The mRNA expression level of TRPV3, TRPV4, TRPV5, TRPM4 and TRPC6 genes in 37 female and 56 male patients diagnosed with CRC was revealed lower in tumor tissue as compared to normal tissue (p < 0.05). No statistically significant differences of mRNA expression levels of other TRP genes were found. Conclusions: TRP gene family like TRPV3, TRPV4, TRPV5, TRPM4 and TRPC6 may be thought as potential genes contributing to tumorigenesis as their expression decreases in CRC as compared to normal tissues. Key Words: colorectal cancer, TRP genes family: TRPV3, TRPV4, TRPV5, TRPM4, TRPC6, mRNA expression.