The most common cancer type in women is breast cancer and the lifetime risk for breast cancer is 12% (1). The clinical feature of breast cancer is very heterogeneous because of the variable prognostic factors impact its behaviour (2). To know prognostic factors may help to estimate the prognosis and to choose the most appropriate treatment modality. Age, histopathologic subtypes, tumour size, tumour grade, lymph node involvement, extracapsular extension (ECE), lymphovascular invasion (LVI), and hormonal receptor status are the most important conventional prognostic factors (3).In addition to these factors, to know proliferation pattern of tumour is important for the treatment decision. In routine clinical practice, immunohistochemical evaluation of Ki-67 is frequently utilised to assess proliferative features of tumour cells. Except resting phase (G0), Ki-67 is detected in all proliferative phases of the cell cycle (G1, S, G2, and M). Ki-67 existing cells can be immunochemically marked, imaged, counted and showed as a percentage of total cells (4). It has been used for many years for breast cancer; it is currently utilised to distinguish between Luminal A-like and Luminal B-like subtypes in ER+/HER2-breast cancer and physicians frequently use Ki-67 index for making a decision on adjuvant treatment (5-7).In spite of consistent data about Ki-67 index, the relationship between Ki-67 index and the other prognostic factors remains uncertain. The results of studies evaluating the association between Ki-67 and tumour grade in breast cancer have been varied. Some of the research-

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Background: The purpose of this study was to assess the the efficacy of oral glutamine (GLN) in prevention of acute radiation-induced esophagitis in patients with lung cancer and determine the predictive role of clinical and dosimetric parameters. Materials and Methods: Thirty-two patients diagnosed with lung cancer were studied prospectively. Sixteen patients (50%) received prophylactic powdered GLN orally in doses of 10g/8h. Patients were treated 2 Gy per fraction daily, 5 days a week. We evaluated the grading of esophagitis daily at the end of each fraction of each treatment day until a cumulative dose of 50 Gy was reached. The primary end point was radiation-induced esophagitis. Results: All patients tolerated GLN well. Toxicity grade, weight loss, serum cytokine levels and esophageal transit times exhibited statistically significant improvement in the GLN receiving group. GLN suppressed the inflammation related to the disease and treatment and reduced toxicity with statistical significance. Conclusions: This study suggests a benefical role of oral GLN use in prevention and/or delay of radiation-induced esophagitis, in terms of esophageal transit time and serum immunological parameters, as well as weight loss.

Lesions of brain metastasis from prostate cancer had a large variety of imaging presentation and it is very difficult to distinguish them from the other brain metastasis originating from other types of cancer. Presence of a disseminated disease, high PSA level and high Gleason score can be useful parameters for the prediction of brain metastasis from prostate cancer.

Pre-treatment FDG-PET uptake may be a valuable tool to evaluate prognosis in SCLC patients. Patients with a higher pre-treatment FDG uptake may be considered at increased risk of failure and may benefit from more aggressive treatment approaches.

European Journal of Breast Health (Eur J Breast Health) is an international, scientific, open access periodical published by independent, unbiased, and double-blinded peer-review principles. It is the official publication of the Turkish Federation of Breast Diseases Societies, and Senologic International Society is the official supporter of the journal.

Background: Development of squamous cell cancer of head and neck (SCCHN) is associated with human papillomavirus (HPV) infection, which in turn is closely related with expression of p16 INK4A . Loss of p16 INK4A expression by deletion, mutation, or hypermethylation is common in SCCHN. We here evaluated p16 INK4A as a prognostic marker of treatment response and survival in our SCCHN patients with laryngeal, hypopharyngeal or nasopharyngeal cancers. Materials and Methods: 131 patients diagnosed with SCCHN between January 2,2006 and July 17, 2010 were examined for p16 INK4A . The median age was 60 years (15-82 years). Fifty one patients were stage I-II and 80 were stage III-IV. Immunohistochemical expression of p16 INK4A was analyzed in pretreatment paraffin-embedded tumor blocks. The influence of p16 INK4A status on disease-free survival, and overall survival after treatment was evaluated. Results: P16 INK4A positivity was found in 58 patients (44%). Tumor-positivity for p16 INK4A was correlated with improved disease free survival (70.1 months vs 59 months) and improved overall survival (2, 3 and 5-year values; 77% vs 72%, 70% vs 63% and, 63% vs 55%; respectively). On multivariate analysis, stage was determined as independent prognostic factor for disease-free survival. Conclusions: Stage was the major prognostic factor on treatment response and survival in our patients. P16 INK4A status predicts better outcome in laryngeal, hypopharyngeal or nasopharyngeal cancer cases treated with surgery plus adjuvant radiochemotherapy as well as with definitive radiation therapy and/or chemotherapy.

The IMC received meaningful incidental irradiation dose when treated with two opposite tangential fields and ipsilateral supraclavicular fossa with a single anterior field. The real effect of incidental dose on survival and the hypothesis about the benefit of incidental irradiation of IMC should be examined in clinical studies.