Low 25(OH)D levels are associated with advance fibrosis and severe inflammation in AIH. Our study suggests that vitamin D may be a potential biomarker that predicts response to therapy and histological features in AIH.

NRAS codon 61 is the most frequent genetic alteration in this acromegaly series with DTC. Since acromegalic patients have lower prevalance of BRAF V600E mutation, BRAF V600E mutation may not be a causative factor in development of DTC in acromegaly. Despite the relation of BRAF V600E and NRAS codon 61 mutations with aggresive histopathologic features, their impact on tumor prognosis remains to be defined in acromegaly in further studies.

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Our data demonstrated a link among splenectomy-induced leukocytosis, accumulation of circulating and tumor-infiltrating MDSC, and enhanced angiogenesis and metastasis. Therefore, as a part of oncological surgery, favorable and unfavorable facets of the splenectomy must be considered to improve therapeutic efficacy.

Aims:Epidermal growth factor receptor mutation analysis in non-small cell lung cancer is important for selecting patients who will receive treatment with tyrosine kinase inhibitors. In this study, we aimed to investigate the prevalence of epidermal growth factor receptor mutations and mutation patterns in the Turkish population.Methods:We retrospectively reviewed molecular pathology reports of 959 cases with lung cancer analysed for epidermal growth factor receptor mutations. We analysed all four epidermal growth factor receptor exon mutations using a real-time polymerase chain reaction platform.Results:In this study, the epidermal growth factor receptor mutation rate in the Turkish population was 16.7% (160 of 959). The epidermal growth factor receptor mutation frequency was significantly higher in women (37.1%, n=96) than in men (9.1%, n=64) (p<0.001). In addition, the epidermal growth factor receptor mutation rate was higher in the adenocarcinoma histologic type (p<0.001). Patients with mutations were older than those without mutations (p=0.003). The most frequent mutations were exon 19 deletions (48.8%, 78/160) and exon 21 L858R point mutations (38.1.1%, 61/160). We also detected compound mutation patterns in three cases (1.9%).Conclusion:The prevalence of epidermal growth factor receptor mutations in the Turkish population was slightly higher than that in the Caucasian population and lower than that in the East Asian population. The results of this study may provide guidance in personalized therapy of non-small cell lung cancer in the Turkish population.

Overall, 13 (31.7%) patients achieved a complete cytogenetic response with imatinib treatment, with no events. In 25 patients, imatinib was discontinued owing to primary or secondary resistance. In patients with initial dysmyelopoiesis, the rate of BM fibrosis was 82.4 versus 47.6% for other patient groups (P = 0.02). Overall, 24 patients with newly diagnosed CML showed marrow fibrosis, among which 19 (79.1%) had imatinib resistance. However, only 5 out of 15 patients (33.5%) without marrow fibrosis had imatinib resistance (P = 0.08). Discussion Our findings indicate that BM fibrosis is an independent predictor of the 'TKI drug response level' in CML and support its inclusion as a critical pathobiological parameter for decision-making with regard to TKI drug selection de novo, calculation of prognosis at the onset of disease, and monitoring response to TKI in the long-term disease course of CML.

While reshaping their microenvironment, tumors are also capable of influencing systemic processes including myeloid cell production. Therefore, the tumor-induced myeloid cells, such as myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs), which are characterized with pro-cancer properties, became another target in order to increase the success of the therapy. This study evaluated the capacity of a novel dendrimeric drug delivery platform to eliminate tumor-induced myeloid cells. As described in a previous study by our research group, the anti-Flt1 antibody-conjugated polyethylene glycol (PEG)-cored poly(amidoamine) (PAMAM) dendrimers improved the efficacy of gemcitabine against pancreatic cancer. Here, the biodistribution studies showed that these dendrimeric structures accumulated in the compartments that became rich in myeloid cells in the pancreatic tumor-bearing mice. When gemcitabine was loaded into the dendrimer complexes, the number of myeloid cells was significantly reduced while the percentage distribution of granulocytic and monocytic myeloid cells was not always significantly altered. The CD11bLy6GLy6C monocytes were more severely affected by the treatments than CD11bLy6GLy6C granulocytes. Immune infiltration levels in the tumor tissue were also altered. Myeloid cells in the spleen and F4/80 macrophages of the liver were protected. The compartments, such as the liver and the bone marrow, which are known to have high vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)-Flt1 pathway activity, were particularly targeted by gemcitabine when delivered through anti-Flt1 antibody-conjugated PAMAM dendrimers. In conclusion, chemotherapeutic agents complexed with dendrimers not only improve anticancer efficacy, but they also assist in the elimination of the tumor-induced myeloid cells.

Background Determining the modifiable risk factors for postoperative complications is particularly significant in patients undergoing colorectal surgery since those are associated with worse long-term outcomes. Methods Consecutive newly diagnosed 104 colorectal cancer patients were prospectively included in this single-center observational study. Preoperative serum 25-OH vitamin D levels were measured and analyzed for infectious and postoperative complications. Results Serum 25-OH vitamin D levels were found to be < 20 ng/ml in 74 patients (71.2%) and ≥ 20 ng/ml in 30 patients (28.8%); and the mean serum 25-OH vitamin D level was 15.95 (± 9.08) ng/ml. In patients with surgical site infection and infectious complications, 25-OH vitamin D levels were significantly lower than patients without complications (p = 0.036 and p = 0.026). However, no significant difference was demonstrated in 25-OH vitamin D levels according to overall postoperative complications. Conclusions Our results suggest that vitamin D levels might be a potential risk factor for infectious complications in patients undergoing colorectal cancer surgery.