Background: Several studies evaluating the prognostic factors of gastrointestinal and pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (GEP-NETs) have been published. The neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and platelet-lymphocyte ratio (PLR) have been accepted as prognostic factors for cancer patients. Materials and Methods: This study included 132 patients diagnosed with GEP-NETs. Peripheral blood samples were collected before the pretreatment period. Results: NLR and PLR were increased as the grade increased in NETs. The embryonic origin analysis revealed higher NLR and PLR rates in NETs of foregut origin. NLR and PLR were also higher in pancreatic NET patients compared to the gastroenteric NET patients. Analysis of NETs by TNM indicated that an advanced stage was accompanied by significantly higher NLR and PLR. We found a strong negative correlation between progression-free survival and NLR and PLR. Conclusion: The study verified that NLR and PLR are simple laboratory findings that can be used to identify NETs with a worse outcome.

The prevalence of depressive symptoms in elderly cancer patients receiving chemotherapy was similar to that in the geriatric population without cancer. It was also consistent with previous studies on elderly cancer population. Pain was found to be a factor related to depressive symptoms. The prevalence of depression may be reduced by pain control. The treatment of depression may both improve the patient's quality of life and enhance their compliance with treatment.

Patients followed up with a cancer diagnosis must be well-informed about cancer to be able to cope with it. Besides, informing the relatives of the cancer patients who are also experiencing the same process about the diagnosis and follow-up period of cancer is highly important. In the current study, it was aimed to evaluate the information sources about cancer which are referred to by relatives of cancer patients. Three hundred ninety-one cancer patient relatives were included in medical oncology clinic between May 1 and June 30, 2015. A questionnaire was applied to the participants, comprising 12 questions to elicit demographic information and 11 questions about the information sources to which they referred. The study included 183 female and 208 male participants with a mean age of 47.9 ± 13.6 years. While the oncologists were the primary information sources referred to by 87%, the Internet was the second most preferred information source by 72%. The websites most frequently referred were the official websites (70%), the websites of oncology associations (53%), and social networks and forums (32%). The primary factors affecting the Internet preference were age, education level, income level, and place of residence. The Internet was the second most referred information source about cancer by family caregivers following oncologists. Therefore, it is of crucial importance that physicians inform patients and their relatives comprehensively as well as guiding them to correct and reliable information sources.

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