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Introduction: Chronic cough heavily affects patients' quality of life, and there are no effective licensed therapies available. Cough is a complication of severe acute respiratory syndrome-related coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection, asthma, and other diseases. Patients with various diseases have a different profile of tussive responses to diverse cough triggers, thereby suggesting sundry mechanisms of neuronal dysfunctions. Previously, we demonstrated that the small molecule drug XC8 shows a clinical anti-asthmatic effect. The objective of the present study was to investigate the effect of XC8 on cough., Methods: We studied the antitussive effect of XC8 on cough induced by agonists activating human transient receptor potential (TRP) cation channels TRPA1 or TRPV1 in guinea pigs. We checked the agonistic/antagonistic activity of XC8 on the human cation channels TRPA1, TRPV1, TRPM8, P2X purinoceptor 2 (P2X2), and human acid sensing ion channel 3 (hASIC3) in Fluorescent Imaging Plate Reader (FLIPR) assay., Results: XC8 demonstrated clear antitussive activity and dose-dependently inhibited cough in guinea pigs induced by citric acid alone (up to 67.1%) or in combination with IFN-γ (up to 76.4%). XC8 suppressed cough reflexes induced by the repeated inhalation of citric acid (up to 80%) or by cinnamaldehyde (up to 60%). No activity of XC8 against cough evoked by capsaicin was revealed. No direct agonistic/antagonistic activity of XC8 on human TRPA1, TRPV1, TRPM8, P2X2, or hASIC3 was detected., Conclusions: XC8 acts against cough evoked by the activation of TRPA1 (citric acid/cinnamaldehyde) but not TRPV1 (capsaicin) channels. XC8 inhibits the cough reflex and suppresses the cough potentiation by IFN-γ. XC8 might be of significant therapeutic value for patients suffering from chronic cough associated with inflammation., (© 2022. The Author(s).)

Background: Using data from the National Cancer Registry of Ukraine (NCRU), we analyzed recent trends in incidence rates (2003-2012) and used these to predict the future cancer incidence burden up to 2022., Methods: All cancer cases (excluding non-melanoma of skin) for the years 2003-2012 were retrieved from the NCRU's database (n = 1,459,851). Age-standardized incidence rates (ASRs) were estimated and the numbers of new cases and incidence rates predicted for 2022 using age-period modeling., Results: ASR increased from 2003 to 2012 for most cancers except lip and stomach cancers (in both sexes) and laryngeal and lung cancers (in males). Assuming these trends will continue, lung cancer will remain the most common male cancer in 2022 (ASR 40.5/100,000), followed by prostate cancer (36.8/100,000), colorectal cancer (34.6/100,000), and cancers of the oral cavity and pharynx (18.5/100,000). In females, the order of the four most common cancers will not change in 2022 compared with 2012, with cervical cancer remaining the fourth most common cancer (17.5/100,000). We predict an overall increase of 18 % in the number of cancer cases in Ukraine (relative to 2012) to 179,493 cases in 2022., Conclusion: The anticipated increase in the number of cancer patients in Ukraine clearly has knock-on effects on a healthcare system undergoing reforms. Tobacco control appears to be the only functioning aspect of cancer prevention in the country, and there is a need for a broader national cancer control plan. The continued monitoring and evaluation of implemented cancer control measures by the NCRU will help prioritize targets and allocate future resources to cancer services., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest None declared., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Background: Cancer notification has been mandatory in Ukraine since 1953, with the National Cancer Registry of Ukraine (NCRU) established in 1996. The aim of this study was to provide a comprehensive evaluation of the data quality at the NCRU., Methods: Qualitative and semi-quantitative methods were used to assess the comparability, completeness, validity and timeliness of cancer incidence data from the NCRU for the period 2002-2012., Results: Cancer registration procedures at the NCRU are in accordance with international standards and recommendations. Semi-quantitative methods suggested the NCRU's data was reasonably complete, although decreases in age-specific incidence and mortality rates in the elderly indicated some missing cases at older ages. The proportion of microscopically-verified cases increased from 73.6% in 2002 to 82.3% in 2012, with death-certificate-only (DCO) proportions stable at around 0.1% and unknown stage recorded in 9.6% of male and 7.5% of female solid tumours. Timeliness was considered acceptable, with reporting >99% complete within a turn-around time of 15 months., Conclusion: While timely reporting of national data reflects the advantages of a mandatory data collection system, a low DCO% and observed age-specific declines suggest possible underreporting of incidence and mortality data, particularly at older ages. Overall, the evaluation indicates that the data are reasonably comparable and thus may be used to describe the magnitude of the cancer burden in Ukraine. Given its central role in monitoring and evaluation of cancer control activities, ensuring the sustainability of NCRU operations throughout the process of healthcare system reform is of utmost importance., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

The Chernobyl nuclear power plant accident in Ukraine in 1986 led to widespread radioactive releases into the environment - primarily of radioiodines and cesium - heavily affecting the northern portions of the country, with settlement-averaged thyroid doses estimated to range from 10 mGy to more than 10 Gy. The increased risk of thyroid cancer among exposed children and adolescents is well established but the impact of radioactive contamination on the risk of other types of cancer is much less certain. To provide data on a public health issue of major importance, we have analyzed the incidence of non-thyroid cancers during the post-Chernobyl period in a well-defined cohort of 13,203 individuals who were <18 years of age at the time of the accident. The report is based on standardized incidence ratio (SIR) analysis of 43 non-thyroid cancers identified through linkage with the National Cancer Registry of Ukraine for the period 1998 through 2009. We compared the observed and expected number of cases in three cancer groupings: all solid cancers excluding thyroid, leukemia, and lymphoma. Our analyses found no evidence of a statistically significant elevation in cancer risks in this cohort exposed at radiosensitive ages, although the cancer trends, particularly for leukemia (SIR=1.92, 95% confidence interval: 0.69; 4.13), should continue to be monitored., (Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

We studied thyroid cancer incidence in a cohort of 150,813 male Chornobyl clean-up workers ("liquidators") from Ukraine by calculating standardized incidence ratio (SIR) using national cancer statistics. Follow-up began on the liquidator's registration date with the Chornobyl State Registry of Ukraine (the earliest date was 05. 05. 1986) and continued through December 31, 2010, date of thyroid cancer diagnosis, date of death, or date of last known vital status, whichever came first. There were 196 incident thyroid cancers in the study cohort with an overall SIR of 3.50 [95 % confidence interval (CI) 3.04-4.03]. A significantly elevated SIR estimate of 3.86 (95 % CI 3.26-4.57) was observed for liquidators who had their first clean-up mission in the Chornobyl zone in 1986, when levels of external and internal exposure to radiation were highest; the SIR estimates for later calendar years of first clean-up mission, while significantly elevated, were lower. The SIR estimates were elevated throughout the entire follow-up period but were especially high 10-18 years after the accident: 4.62 (95 % CI 3.47-6.15) and 4.80 (95 % CI 3.78-6.10) for the period 1995-1999 and 2000-2004, respectively. Our findings support the growing evidence of increased thyroid cancer rates among Chornobyl liquidators. Although this could be partially attributed to increased medical surveillance, the observed pattern of SIR increase warrants further investigation of a potential contribution of radiation exposure to the elevated thyroid cancer rates in this large population.