Medical Science and Discovery

Prognostic role of inflammatory markers in hepatocellular cancer patients receiving sorafenib therapy

2020-05-29T23:08:33+03:00

Objective: Systemic inflammatory markers have been shown to have prognostic value in many types of cancers. Although the prognostic role of the systemic immune-inflammation index (SII), derived neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (dNLR) and platelet lymphocyte ratio (PLR) has been shown in hepatocellular cancer (HCC) patients who underwent transplantation, its prognostic value has not been investigated in HCC patients under sorafenib treatment. We investigated the prognostic value of inflammatory indices in patients with HCC under sorafenib treatment.

Materials and Methods: The data of 46 patients with stage III unresectable and stage IV HCC were evaluated retrospectively. SII and dNLR were dichotomized based on receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis (cut-off values: 355 and 1.8). No cut-off value could be determined for PLR; therefore, the median value was defined as the cut-off for PLR. At the time of diagnosis, values of these three inflammatory markers were analyzed to determine their association with clinicopathologic characteristics and to assess their prognostic values via the Kaplan-Meier method and multivariate Cox regression analysis.

Results: Overall survival (OS) was significantly shorter in patients with a high SII, dNLR, or PLR. In univariate analyses, tumor stage, tumor focus count, and presence of extrahepatic lesions seemed to affect survival. Multivariate analysis revealed SII and the presence of extrahepatic lesions as independent risk factors for survival.

Conclusion: The findings of the present study suggest that a high SII is an independent risk factor for survival in patients with HCC under sorafenib treatment.

Evaluation of Neutrophil, Lymphocyte, Platelet, Mean Platelet Volume, Neutrophil-Lymphocyte Ratio, and Platelet-Lymphocyte Ratio in Prostate Cancer Patients Treated with Radiotherapy

2020-05-29T23:08:28+03:00

Objective: Radiotherapy is a one curative method for prostate cancer. Ionizing radiation can cause inflammation of tissues in and around the irradiated sites. But it is also suggested that low-dose radiation has anti-inflammatory effects. The present study was aimed at investigating the effects of radiotherapy on some inflammatory markers in prostate cancer patients.

Material and Methods: A total of 42 patients with prostate cancer and 30 healthy subjects were included in the present study. The day prior to radiotherapy (pre radiotherapy group) and the day radiotherapy was completed (post radiotherapy group) venous blood samples were collected. Neutrophil, lymphocyte, platelet, mean platelet volume (MPV), neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), and platelet-lymphocyte ratio (PLR) levels were detected.

Results: Neutrophil values of the pre radiotherapy group were higher than the control group (p<0.05), and values of the post radiotherapy group were lower than the pre radiotherapy group (p<0.001). Lymphocyte values of the post radiotherapy group were lower than the control, and the pre radiotherapy groups (p <0.001 for both). Platelet values were decreased in the post radiotherapy group compared to the pre radiotherapy group (p <0.01). MPV values of the pre radiotherapy group were higher than the control group (p<0.05), and were lower in the post radiotherapy group than the pre radiotherapy group (p <0.001). NLR and PLR values were decreased in the post radiotherapy group compared to the control group (p <0.001 for both), and were increased in post radiotherapy group compared to the pre radiotherapy group (p<0.001 for both).

Conclusion: Our findings showed that neutrophil, and MPV were increased in the pre radiotherapy group compared to the control group. Neutrophil, lymphocyte, platelet, and MPV were decreased, NLR and PLR were increased in the post radiotherapy group compared to the pre radiotherapy group.

Estimating how many flebotomists are required in the flebotomy unit: An artificial intelligence study

2020-05-30T11:30:54+03:00

Objective: In this study, after the examination, most patients apply to phlebotomy units to perform the necessary examinations. Sufficient plebotomists should be taken to the phlebotomy unit to serve a large number of patients. The aim of this study is to determine the reguired number of phlebotomists in blood center using the artificial intelligence.

Material and Methods: This study was conducted in the Health Sciences University Tepecik Training and Research Hospital Blood center between the September-November 2019 . The required number of phlebotomists in the unit was determined with an artificial intelligence-based method. With this system, the number of patients coming to the phlebotomy unit is estimated in real time and considering the past performance of the working phlebotomists, how many phlebotomists are needed in real time is calculated.

Results: The number of phlebotomists who both serve patients as quickly as possible and use the personnel resources of hospital efficiently needs to be optimized. In order to solve this problem, an AI-based system has been developed. With this system, the number of patients coming to phlebotomy unit is estimated in real time and considering the past performances of the working phlebotomists, it calculates how many phlebotomists are needed in real time

Conclusion: The suggestions made by this AI-based system have made a great contribution to the management of the phlebotomy unit. Managers used hospital staff resources in the most efficient way and at the same time, they were able to ensure that patients receive phlebotomy service by following the system's recommendations.

Rhamnetin improves antioxidant status in the liver of Ehrlich solid tumor bearing mice

2020-05-29T23:08:30+03:00

Objective: Rhamnetin, a flavanol, is in the subclasses of the flavonoids existing in plants. The antioxidant properties of several plants containing flavonoids have been extensively studied in several diseases including cancer. This study investigated the effects of rhamnetin on tumor masses, oxidant and antioxidant status in the livers of mice bearing Ehrlich solid tumor.

Material and Methods: Fifty male Balb/C mice weighing 25-30 g were used in the study. Ten mice were kept for Ehrlich ascites tumor (EAT) cells production and the remaining mice were randomly assigned to four groups containing 10 mice in each as healthy control and treatments receiving 1x106 EAT cells and EAT cells plus 100 µg/kg/day or 200 µg/kg/day rhamnetin via subcutaneous route. The tumor inhibition rates of rhamnetin treatments were calculated. The livers were analyzed for malondialdehyde (MDA), superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) levels.

Results: Compare to tumor control, both levels of rhamnetin suppressed tumor masses throughout the experiment. The MDA levels were increased whereas SOD and CAT activities were reduced by EAT cells injection in the liver of mice. The 100 µg/kg/day rhamnetin treatment decreased MDA level but 200 µg/kg/day rhamnetin had no significant effect on increased MDA level. The reduced liver SOD (p<0.001) and CAT (p<0.01) activities were elevated by both levels of rhamnetin injection.

Conclusions: The results of this study have revealed that rhamnetin suppresses tumor progression and improves antioxidant status in the livers of solid tumor-bearing mice.

Evaluation of seasonal changes in the diagnosis of acute leukemia in Turkey

2020-05-29T23:08:24+03:00

Objective: The etiology of acute leukemia (AL) has been under investigation for decades but the exact cause is still unknown. There are studies suggesting that infection plays a critical role in the development of AL in conjunction with other risk factors. In some studies, it has been shown that the incidence of AL increases after influenza endemics. This shows that viruses may play a role in the etiology. The theory that viruses might have a role in the etiopathogenesis created the idea that AL frequency may peak during some specific months; therefore, in this study, we aimed to research the relationship between AL diagnosis frequency and seasons in Turkey.

Method: 186 patients who were diagnosed with de novo acute myeloid leukemia (AML) or acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) diagnosis at our center were included in the study.

Results: The frequency of ALL diagnoses were as follows: 25 (34.3%) in winter, 19 (26%) in spring, 15 (20.5%) in autumn, and 14 (19.2%) in summer. The frequency of AML diagnose was as follows: 24 (21.2%) in winter, 30 (26.6%) in spring, 27 (23.8%) in autumn and 32 (28.4%) in summer. In our study, we did not find a statistically significant relationship between AL diagnosis frequency and seasons.

Conclusion: According to our literature review, there are two studies including our study, searching for a relationship between AL diagnosis frequency and seasons in Turkey. Neither of the studies found a relationship between AL and seasons. According to our analysis the numbers of the patient in studies are limited; therefore the studies with high number of patients are needed to find out a relation between seasons and diagnosis time of AL.