Introduction and objective. αB-crystallin belongs to the ubiquitous family of small heat-shock proteins. It was discovered as a physiological protein of the eye lens, maintaining its liquid-like property. Furthermore, αB-crystallin was proved to playa bipolar role in both physiological and pathophysiological conditions. This review discusses current knowledge about the biology and genetics of αB-crystallin, and summarizes recent advances in understanding its role in ophthalmic and neurological disorders, as well as breast cancer, renal cancer and other malignancies. State of knowledge. α-crystallins are established as important elements of the protein quality control network, and consequently their defects are related to multiple human diseases. New studies highlight αB-crystallin's involvement in proliferative diabetic retinopathy angiogenesis and point out its therapeutic potential in age-related macular degeneration. αB-crystallin is thought to be associated with the disease-causing protein aggregates, leading to its connection with such neurological disturbances as anaplastic astrocytoma, Parkinson disease, aging deficits in the peripheral nervous system and multiple sclerosis. In breast cancer, it was proven to be a marker of aggressive behaviur and cerebral metastases. Strong expression of αB-crystallin promoted growth and migration of clear cell renal cell carcinoma cells and was correlated with lower overall survival rate. Considering other malignancies, its various roles were established in colorectal and gastric cancers, head and neck squamous cell carcinomas and osteosarcomas. Conclusions. Further studies concerning αB-crystallin seem to be enormously promising, as they might improve our understanding of common human pathologies as well as contemporary diagnostics and treatment.
Human epididymis protein 4 (HE4) was firstly identified in epididymal epithelial cells and described as a protease inhibitor playing a role in spermatogenesis. Regarding numerous studies proving its diverse potential as a prognostic and predictive factor in ovarian cancer, it was incorporated into ROMA algorithm. Nevertheless, recent studies have shown that serum level of HE4 is not exclusive to ovarian cancer. As a result, doctors using ROMA algorithm for stratifying patients with ovarian cancer must be aware of other conditions that may affect serum level of HE4. This review comprises different conditions connected with high level of HE4 that might impact ovarian cancer diagnosing process. Moreover, discovering increased HE4 level in various conditions should open discussion about its applicability in diseases other than ovarian cancer.
Introduction: Patients receiving methadone maintenance treatment often suffer from pain due to the occurrence of opioid-induced hyperalgesia. Pain is indicated as one of the key factors causing poor treatment outcome and is correlated with worse quality of life. The aim of the present study was to analyse the frequency of pain in Polish patients treated in methadone maintenance programmes and to evaluate the relationship between pain and physical and mental health, as well as patients' social functioning. Material and methods: The study group included 237 methadone maintenance treatment patients. Streszczenie Wprowadzenie: Doświadczanie bólu jest szeroko rozpowszechnione wśród pacjentów otrzymujących metadonową terapię substytucyjną, m.in. z powodu zjawiska hiperalgezji opioidowej. Ból wiąże się z obniżeniem jakości życia i prowadzi do gorszych wyników leczenia w postaci częstszego łamania abstynencji i powrotów do nadużywania alkoholu po zakończonej terapii. Celem pracy była ocena częstości występowania bólu wśród pacjentów leczonych metadonem w populacji polskiej oraz ocena związku między dolegliwościami bólowymi a stanem zdrowia psychicznego, somatycznego oraz funkcjonowaniem społecznym.
Apocrine carcinoma (AC) is a distinctive and rare type of malignancy, counted for 0.3-4% of all breast cancer cases. It does not have a particular clinical or radiological features, although it is characterized by the apocrine morphology, estrogen receptor-negative and androgen receptor-positive profile. In the present study, among 1122 patients with breast cancer only 5 of them were diagnosed with apocrine carcinoma (0.4%). All patients were above 50 years old (51-63, mean: 57). Tumor size varied from 1.4 cm to 3.8 cm with a mean size of 2.4 cm, while mean size of all 1122 studied cases counted for 1.9 cm. Two tumors were classified as high-grade (G3), 2 as G2, and 1 as G1. Four tumors out of 5 did not affect lymph nodes (pN0 stage), whereas 1 was classified as pN2 with 9/19 regional lymph nodes affected. This observation was consistent with the whole studied group, in which pN0 stage made up the largest percentage. Presented results suggest that AC is less frequent in premenopausal patients. AC tends to present as invasive malignancy without nodal involvement and is usually characterized by relatively less aggressive biological behavior compared to other histological types of breast cancer. Due to the fact that AC is definitely a rare type of breast cancer, modern medicine has still limited treatment options to offer. Further research needs to be conducted in order to develop target therapies for this carcinoma.
Introduction: Human papillomavirus (HPV) is the most common sexually transmitted virus worldwide. it's associated with over 99% of cases of cervical cancer and also connected with other cancers like rectal, vaginal or penile.Aim: to evaluate the level of knowledge about cervical cancer and HPV vaccine among students attending medical and non-medical universities and to discuss problems connected with low interest in cancer prevention.Materials and methods: 427 students took part in the anonymous survey. original questionnaire consisted of 19 questions and was prepared by the authors powered by review of valid references.Results: 93.2% of interviewees have heard about HPV vaccine and 20.6% of them have been vaccinated. there was a statistically significant difference in knowledge and attitude to vaccination and cancer prevention between medical and non-medical students.Discussion: interviewees are aware of hazards involved in HPV infection, but they don't know the exact scale of it. they cannot evaluate the risks connected with cervical cancer properly, what may influence their low interest in prevention. Knowledge about HPV vaccine's existence is common, but there is a huge disinformation about its characteristics and side effects. Main source of knowledge are mass media, subject of vaccination is discussed at school or with general physician extremely rarely. the price of the vaccine is main reason for resignation, so regional government's prevention programs play a very important role.Conclusions: the education of the society is a strong base for excellent prevention of cancers. Doctors should be included in more active operations for cervical cancer prevention.
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