Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the commonest primary malignant cancer of the liver in the world. This study was conducted to investigate the serum levels of hepatocyte growth factor (HGF)in HCC patients and the relationship with tumor progression and known prognostic parameters. Fifty-four patients with HCC were investigated. Pretreatment HGF levels were employed the quantitative sandwich enzyme immunoassay technique (ELISA). Age and sex matched 20 healthy controls were included in the analysis. The median age of the patients was 60 years (range 36-77 years); where males consistituted of majority of the group (88.8%). All of patients had cirrhotic history. Fourty-six percent (n = 25) of patients had Child-Pugh Score A, 30% (n = 16) had Score B or C. All of the patients were treated with local therapies but none of them received sorafenib. The baseline serum HGF levels were significantly higher in patients with HCC than in the control group (p < 0.001). Male patients had higher serum HGF levels compared with female patients (p = 0.01). Serum HGF levels were significantly higher in the patients with elevated serum ALT levels than others with normal serum ALT levels (p = 0.05). Poor performance status (p < 0.001), viral etiology of cirrhosis (p = 0.03), larger tumor size (p = 0.01), lower serum hemogloblin levels (p = 0.03), and not be treated for HCC (p = 0.001) related to worse survival. However, serum HGF did not have significantly adverse effect on survival (p = 0.58). Despite serum HGF levels were found diagnostic value, serum HGF levels had no prognostic value in patients with HCC.

The transforming growth factor beta 1 (TGFB1) is a regulatory cytokine with both tumor suppressor and tumor-promoting effects in breast cancer (BC) cell lines and tissue. Data about level of circulating TGFB1 and its prognostic significance in BC patients is conflicting. The objective of this study is to determine the clinical significance of the serum TGFB1 levels in BC patients. We enrolled 96 female patients with histopathologically diagnosed BC who did not receive chemotherapy (CT) or radiotherapy. Serum TGFB1 levels were measured by ELISA method and compared with 30 healthy controls. The mean serum TGFB1 level of BC patients was significantly higher than controls (0.08 vs. 0.04 ng/ml, p < 0.001). There was no significant difference according to known disease-related clinicopathological or laboratory parameters. Serum TGFB1 level had a significant impact on overall survival in both univariate (p = 0.01) and multivariate analysis (p = 0.013). Serum TGFB1 level is elevated in BC patients and has a favorable prognostic value. However, it has no predictive role on CT response.

Many studies suggested that cytokines interleukin (IL)-29, IL-32, and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) are implicated in the pathogenesis of malignancies. The purpose of this study was to determine the clinical significance of the serum levels of IL-29, IL-32, and TNF-α in gastric cancer (GC) patients. Fifty-eight GC patients and 20 age- and sex-matched healthy controls were enrolled into this study. The median age at diagnosis was 59.5 years (range 32-82 years). Tumor localization of the majority of the patients was antrum (n = 42, 72.4 %), and tumor histopathology of the majority of the patients was diffuse (n = 43, 74.1 %). The majority of the patients had stage IV disease (n = 41, 70.7 %). Thirty-six (62.1 %) patients had lymph node involvement. The median follow-up time was 66 months (range 1 to 97.2 months). The baseline serum IL-29 concentrations were not different between patients and controls (p = 0.627). The baseline serum IL-32 and TNF-α concentrations of the GC patients were significantly higher (for IL-32, p = 0.014; for TNF-α, p = 0.001). Gender, localization, histopathology, tumor, and lymph node involvement were not found to be correlated with serum IL-29, IL-32, and TNF-α concentrations (p > 0.05). Patients without metastasis (p = 0.01) and patients who responded to chemotherapy (p = 0.04) had higher serum IL-29 concentrations. Patients older than 60 years had higher serum IL-32 (p = 0.002). Serum IL-29, IL-32, and TNF-α levels were not associated with outcome (p = 0.30, p = 0.51, and p = 0.41, respectively). In conclusion, serum levels of IL-32 and TNF-α may be diagnostic markers, and serum IL-29 levels may be associated with good prognosis in patients with GC.

It is known that air pollution and meteorological parameters have a negative effect on various respiratory and cardiovascular parameters. In this study, the relationship between emergency hospital admissions for acute coronary syndrome (ACS) and the meteorological and air pollution parameters over the same period were investigated. Some 2889 patients admitted to the emergency internal medicine unit between 1997-2001 were included in this study. The number of patient admissions per month with a diagnosis of ACS were determined and the relationship between meteorological parameters (pressure, temperature, humidity) and mean values of parameters of pollution including carbon monoxide (CO), sulphur dioxide (SO2), nitric oxide (NO), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), mass of particles smaller than 10 m (PM10) were investigated. Monthly admission figures for ACS were positively correlated with pressure and negatively correlated with temperature. No relationship between air humidity and admission for ACS was detected. There was also positive correlation between ACS and SO2, CO, NO and PM10levels. The results showed that the most important meteorological parameter that increased the number of admissions for ACS was a decrease in air temperature, and the most important pollution parameter was SO2. Admission for ACS significantly increased in winters and springs in comparison with summers (RR 1.15%95 CI(1.039-1.279); RR 1.16%95 CI(1.046-1.291)). Air pollution and meteorological parameters should be seen as a widespread public health problem, which can trigger admission and even death due to ACS. Greater effort should be expended to further lower air pollution levels.

Tenascin-C (TNC) is a key molecule in tissue remodeling, and high levels are observed in many diseases, including heart failure, thrombosis, atherosclerosis, and cancer. High TNC expression by immunohistochemical analysis has been shown in invasive and metastasizing tissues from a variety of cancers, including colon, lung, brain, and breast. This study was conducted to investigate the serum level of TNC in breast cancer patients and its relationship with tumor progression and known prognostic parameters. Ninety-six breast cancer patients were enrolled into the study. Serum samples were obtained on first admission before adjuvant and metastatic treatments were given and at follow-up. Serum TNC levels were determined by the solid-phase sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) method. Median age of diagnosis was 48 years old (range, 29-80). Thirty-seven (39 %) patients had metastatic breast cancer. The mean TNC levels were found to be significantly higher in patients with breast cancer (344.1 ± 42.4 pg/mL) compared to those in healthy controls (137.2 ± 26.8 pg/mL) (p = 0.005). Serum TNC level in grade 3 tumors was found to be significantly higher than in grades 1-2 tumors (p = 0.04). No correlation was detected between serum TNC levels and other prognostic parameters analyzed, including presence of metastasis, lymph node involvement, and tumor size. Serum TNC level had no significantly adverse effect on survival in univariate and multivariate analyses (p = 0.65 and p = 0.85, respectively). In conclusion, although serum TNC levels are elevated, it has no predictive or prognostic roles on survival in breast cancer patients.