The role of heat shock proteins in neoplastic processes and the research on their importance in the diagnosis and treatment of cancer

Heat shock proteins (HSPs) are chaperones with highly conservative primary structure, necessary in the processes of protein folding to the most energetically advantageous conformation and maintaining their stability. HSPs perform a number of important functions in various cellular processes and are capable of modulating pathophysiological conditions at the cellular and systemic levels. An example is the high level of HSP expression in neoplastic tissues, which disrupts the apoptosis of transformed cells and promotes the processes of proliferation, invasion, and metastasis. In addition, an increasing amount of information is appearing about the participation of HSPs in the formation of multi…

Expression of Female Sex Hormone Receptors, Connective Tissue Growth Factor and HER2 in Gallbladder Cancer

AbstractGallbladder cancer (GBC) is a highly malignant tumor with poorly understood etiology. An insight into phenotypic features of this malignancy may add to the knowledge of its carcinogenesis and pave the way to new therapeutic approaches. We assessed the expression of female sex hormone receptors (ERα, ERβ, PR), connective tissue growth factor (CTGF) and HER2 in GBC, and adjacent normal tissue (NT), and determined their prognostic impact. Immunohistochemical (IHC) expression of all biomarkers was performed in formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded specimens in 60 Caucasian GBC patients (51 women and 9 men). ERβ, cytoPR and CTGF expression were found in 89%, 27%, 91% of GBC, and in 63%, 87%,…

Jakość życia chorych na zaawansowanego raka trzustki

Pancreatic cancer is one of the most common malignancies with poor prognosis and high mortality. Advanced-stage disease at diagnosis and the dominant clinical symptoms significantly deteriorate the quality of life. The paper presents an analysis of the results of quality of life studies in patients with locally advanced and metastatic pancreatic cancer, as well as the relationship between therapeutic decisions and quality of life indicators. It has been shown that the initial assessment of life quality can have prognostic value. Appropriate symptomatic treatment of patients with advanced pancreatic cancer improves the quality of life, increases the compliance and prolongs survival. The asse…

Prognostic Value of Sarcopenia in Metastatic Colorectal Cancer Patients Treated with Trifluridine/Tipiracil

Sarcopenia is common in metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC), increases the risk of treatment-related toxicity and reduces survival. Trifluridine/tipiracil (TT) chemotherapy significantly improved survival in refractory mCRC patients, but the prognostic and predictive role of pretherapeutic sarcopenia and variation in the skeletal muscle index (SMI) during this treatment has not been investigated so far. In this retrospective, observational study, clinical data on mCRC patients treated with TT at six cancer centres in Poland were collected. Computed tomography (CT) scans acquired at the time of initiation of TT (CT1) and on the first restaging (CT2), were evaluated. SMI was assessed based on…

Pregnancy-associated breast cancer as a screening and diagnostic challenge

73P microRNA expression profiles of single hormone receptor-positive breast cancers

microRNA Expression Profile in Single Hormone Receptor-Positive Breast Cancers is Mainly Dependent on HER2 Status—A Pilot Study

Estrogen (ER) and progesterone (PgR) receptors and HER2 are crucial in the assessment of breast cancer specimens due to their prognostic and predictive significance. Single hormone receptor-positive breast cancers are less common and their clinical course is less favorable than ER(+)/PgR(+) tumors. Their molecular features, especially microRNA (miRNA) profiles, have not been investigated to date. Tumor specimens from 36 chemonaive breast cancer patients with known ER and PgR status (18 ER(+)/PgR(&minus

Immunological aspects of heat shock protein functions and their significance in the development of cancer vaccines

The primary function of intracellular heat shock proteins (HSPs) is to protect the cell by suppressing the effects of various stress factors by either refolding misfolded proteins or blocking apoptosis. After neoplastic transformation, cells overexpress HSPs, which act as factors promoting the neoplastic process by stabilizing proteins responsible for carcinogenesis, however, HSPs can be released into the extracellular environment where they act as important modulators of the immune response. In a tumor microenvironment, extracellular HSPs are able to induce a pro- or anti-neoplastic response, using various mechanisms of affecting immune cells, The study of the role of extracellular HSPs in…

Comparison of mammography and tomosynthesis in the assesement of margins status in breast cancer patients treated with breast conserving surgery at Oncology Center in Opole in 2018-2020.

Przegląd metod śródoperacyjnej oceny marginesów w chirurgicznym leczeniu oszczędzającym gruczoł piersiowy

Breast conserving therapy is the primary treatment modality in early-stage breast cancer patients. Despite the development of methods for the intraoperative assessment of tumor margins, 20–30% of patients still require re-resection due to postoperative tumor infiltration at the surgery margins. In recent years, many methods have been developed to reduce the number of re-resections due to margin infiltration. Here we review the current methods together with several more techniques under investigation.

ER-/PgR+ breast cancer is a separate entity characterized by distinct phenotype: Comprehensive reevaluation of cases from Polish and Hungarian centers.

e12554 Background: ER negative (-)/PgR positive (+) breast cancer (BC) is very uncommon and questioned by many experts. We comprehensively reevaluated ER-/PgR+ BCs in the large cohort from Polish and Hungarian centers. Methods: FFPE blocks from 105 ER-/PgR+ tumors (45 breast biopsies and 64 post-operative samples from tumors not exposed to systemic therapy) were collected from 10 Polish and 3 Hungarian centers. In 60 cases available original slides with ER/PgR staining underwent reevaluation by 3 pathologists (MK, RP, WB) for ER and PgR expression by ASCO/CAP criteria. Subsequently, all samples were stained with 3 antibodies against ER (Dako monoclonal (MC) mouse anti-ERα, clone 1D5; Dako …

Breast-conserving surgeries in HER-positive breast cancer patients are performed too rarely in Poland

Breast cancer is the most common cancer among women in Poland and worldwide; after lung cancer it is the second highest cause of death among females with malignancies. HER2 positive breast cancer occurs in ca.15–20% of all cases. More often than other subtypes, it affects younger patients and more often spreads metastasises to internal organs. The new drugs against the HER2 receptor significantly improve patients’ prognoses, regardless of the initial stage. The authors of the study involved 1503 patients with HER2 positive breast cancer from all stages (I–IV); 482 patients received preoperative systemic therapy (chemotherapy or hormonal therapy), 385 trastuzumab. Among the 1219 females qual…

High expression of progesterone receptor may be an adverse prognostic factor in oestrogen receptor-negative/progesterone receptor-positive breast cancer: results of comprehensive re-evaluation of multi-institutional case series

Oestrogen receptor (ER)-negative (–) progesterone receptor (PgR)-positive (+) is the least common combination of steroid receptor expression observed in breast cancer. There are many controversies regarding the actual existence of ER–/PgR+ phenotype. In the current study, we aimed to perform comprehensive immunohistochemical re-evaluation of ER–/PgR+ breast cancers from multiple institutions. A total of 135 cases of ER–/PgR+ breast cancer were collected from 11 institutions from the period 2006–2020 and subsequently stained with three clinically validated anti-ER antibody clones: SP1 (Roche), 1D5 (Dako), and EP1 (Dako), and two anti-PgR antibody clones: 636 (Dako), and 1E2 (Roche). Clinicop…

Systemic treatment of patients with solid tumors during the COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic : comprehensive recommendations of the Polish Society of Clinical Oncology

Impact of relative dose intensity of oxaliplatin in adjuvant therapy among stage III colon cancer patients on early recurrence: a retrospective cohort study

Abstract Background Oxaliplatin-based therapy with FOLFOX-4 or CAPOX administered over 6 months remains the standard adjuvant treatment for stage III colon cancer (CC) patients. However, many patients experience dose reduction or early termination of chemotherapy due to oxaliplatin toxicity, which may increase the risk of early recurrence. The objective of this study was to analyze the relationship between the relative dose intensity of oxaliplatin (RDI-O) and early recurrence among stage III CC patients. Methods The study included 365 patients treated at five oncology centers in Poland between 2000 and 2014. Survival analysis was performed using the Kaplan-Meier method. Univariate analysis…

P-57 Effectiveness and safety of trifluridine/tipiracil in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer in clinical practice in Poland

Inwazyjny rak piersi w ektopowej tkance gruczołowej zlokalizowanej w dole pachowym. Opis przypadku

Breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed malignancy in women in Poland. Rare, unusual forms of breast cancer remain a diagnostic problem. The incidence of ectopic breast glandular tissue in the general population varies between 0.4 and 6%. The same abnormalities and diseases as in the anatomical mammary gland may develop in this tissue. Breast cancer may develop as well. We present the case of a 36-year-old woman, who went to the doctor because of a nodule in the right armpit presented for 2 years. The patient was referred to a surgeon with suspicion of an epidermal cyst. The lesion was surgically removed and in the histopathological examination, the diagnose was: invasive breast cancer…

P-152 Sarcopenia in advanced colorectal cancer patients treated with trifluridine/tipiracil

Adjuvant chemotherapy for early-stage breast cancer patients — daily clinical practice in selected cancer centres in Poland

Background. Adjuvant chemotherapy for high-risk early-stage breast cancer patients significantly improves long-term treatment results. The decision to administer chemotherapy is made based primarily on prognostic factors (defined by the pathological characteristics of the primary tumour and regional lymph nodes) and also on patient-related factors, such as age, menopausal status and comorbidities. The guidelines on adjuvant chemotherapy have been established and reviewed for many years by several medical societies (NCCN, ESMO, PTOK, PUO) and experts of St. Gallen International Breast Cancer Conference. The aim of this study was to assess the pattern of adjuvant chemotherapy administration t…

Consistency in biomarkers expression between matched tissue microarray cores from primary gallblader and ovarian cancers

Introduction. Tissue microarray (TMA) technique has been widely used, especially in immunohistochemical assays of new prognostic and predictive markers. The main objections raised by its opponents are the small amount of sampled material and the associated risk of inadequate assessment of analysed expression, resulting from the potential heterogeneity of tumour tissue. Material and methods. This study evaluated the compatibility of biomarker expression in two independent tissue cores, 1.5 mm in diameter, obtained by TMA technique from patients with gallbladder cancer (ERb, cytoPgR, HER2, CTGF) and ovarian cancer (PTEN, BCL2, PIK3CA, IGF1R). Comparison of the expression of individual biomark…