AITD = autoimmune thyroid disease; ER = oestrogen receptor; FNA = fine-needle aspiration; T 3 = triiodothyronine; T 4 = thyroxine; TSH = thyroidstimulating hormone; TPO = thyroid peroxidase. Breast Cancer ResearchVol 5 No 5 Turken et al. Research article Breast cancer in association with thyroid disorders Methods:Clinical and ultrasound evaluation of thyroid gland, determination of serum thyroid hormone and antibody levels, and fine-needle aspiration of thyroid gland were performed in 150 breast cancer patients and 100 control individuals. Results:The mean values for anti-thyroid peroxidase antibodies were significantly higher in breast cancer patients than in control individuals (P = 0.030). The incidences of autoimmune and nonautoimmune thyroid diseases were higher in breast cancer patients than in control individuals (38% versus 17%, P = 0.001; 26% versus 9%, P = 0.001, respectively). Conclusion:Our results indicate an increased prevalence of autoimmune and nonautoimmune thyroid diseases in breast cancer patients.

These findings may reflect the possibility of tumor-induced immunosuppression and they should be complemented with further studies.

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Several clinical studies have shown that thrombocytosis is a poor prognostic factor in some types of cancer, but data about the impact of thrombocytosis on prognosis in patients with colon cancer are very limited. We investigated the prevalence and prognostic effect of pre-operative thrombocytosis, defined as a platelet count > 400 3 10 9 /l, retrospectively in patients with node-negative colon cancer. Out of 198 patients, 24 (12.1%) had thrombocytosis, and its presence correlated with tumour depth and lymphatic invasion. Univariate analysis revealed that disease-free survival and overall survival were shorter in patients with pre-operative thrombocytosis than those without thrombocytosis. On multivariate analysis, thrombocytosis alone retained significance as a poor prognostic factor for both disease-free survival and overall survival. In conclusion, this study shows an association between thrombocytosis and poor survival in patients with node-negative colon cancer. The preoperative platelet count may help to identify patients with an unfavourable prognosis in this subgroup.

Abstract:The current use of doxorubicin is regarded as an absolute contraindication for hyperbaric oxygen (HBO 2 ) therapy because of the increased risk of cardiotoxicity. The aim of this study was to investigate whether additional exposure to HBO 2 during the course of doxorubicin treatment would further increase the cardiotoxicity of doxorubicin in rats. Female Wistar rats were treated with either HBO 2 (n = 10) or doxorubicin (n = 8) or a combination of both treatments (n = 10) for 4 consecutive weeks and followed up for an additional 4 weeks. Cardiomyopathy was evaluated using two-dimensional and M-mode echocardiography at baseline, at the fourth, sixth and eighth weeks, and by histopathological investigation of the rat hearts at the eighth week. Doxorubicin treatment significantly reduced ejection fraction and fractional shortening (P < 0.001) and caused severe histopathological injury (P < 0.05) indicating development of cardiotoxicity. Although the combination of doxorubicin and HBO 2 also markedly reduced ejection fraction and fractional shortening (P < 0.001), this reduction was significantly less than that of doxorubicin treatment (P < 0.05). HBO 2 therapy also attenuated doxorubicin-induced histopathological changes in rat hearts (P < 0.05). HBO 2 alone did not alter echocardiographic parameters or histopathological findings (P > 0.05). In conclusion, HBO 2 therapy does not potentiate doxorubicin-induced cardiotoxicity in rats. Cardioprotection conferred by HBO 2 against doxorubicin warrants further investigation.