SummaryHamartoma is a developmental disorder of various body parts and organs. It is characterized by a nonneoplastic growth of tissue with an uneven distribution and proportion of individual cells. Lesions progress for several years, but usually do not give clinical symptoms, and do not undergo malignant transformation. They occur alone or coexist with other defects, sometimes forming a characteristic clinical picture of a syndrome of congenital defects. Mutations in genes, such as PTEN, GLI3, SDH B/D, PIK3CA and ACT1, cause a dysfunction of the tumor suppressor gene and result in an increased neoplastic transformation. Hamartoma is a lesion between developmental disorders and benign tumors, which occurs frequently in humans, but is very rare in domestic animals. In a histopathological examination, however, it is diagnosed relatively often. In the veterinary literature, both hamartoma and choristoma are attributed mostly to errors in embryogenesis and are not considered as preneoplastic lesions.

High-risk sexual behavior consists of activities and habits that put a person at increased risk of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) or unplanned pregnancy. Poland is currently experiencing a problem with increased STI rates, largely due to poor sexual education. Our exploratory study aims to evaluate the sexual behavior of students attending universities across Poland. The study covered 7678 students from 50 different faculties and universities across the country. The authors created an original questionnaire which consists of 31 questions which, among others, included demographic factors, sexual initiation, high-risk sexual behavior, STI’s and religious beliefs. 78% of students have participated in sexual activity, among them 19% of students had ‘casual sex’ consisting of intercourse without the use of a condom, 27% had participated in sexual intercourse after the consumption of alcohol. Our study found that students who are influenced by religious belief tend to engage in sexual activity into their later years. The groups most exposed to the consequences of risky sexual behavior are mostly homosexual men, bisexual women, art students, and military students. Alcohol consumption is a strong factor contributing to risky sexual behavior. Sexual education in Poland should be improved.

Concurrent administration of liquorice extract and an herbal solution with robenacoxib was associated with decreased severity of the NSAID-induced mucosal lesions.

Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) have been commonly used for the management of chronic pain caused by inflammatory joint disease in dogs. Although effective at relieving pain and inflammation, NSAIDs are associated with a significant risk of serious gastrointestinal side effects. The present study was therefore designed to investigate the effects of carprofen as a poorly-selective COX (cyclooxygenase) inhibitor and robenacoxib as a selective COX-2 inhibitor on the colon mucosa. A biopsy of the gastrointestinal tract was performed before treatment and on the last day of treatment with orally-administered carprofen (Group I), robenacoxib (Group II) and empty gelatine capsule (Group III) for twenty-one days in a randomised study. The most evident microscopic lesions in the colonic mucosa in young beagles were caused by a 21-day treatment with robenacoxib. The infiltration with inflammatory cells in the lamina propria of the colonic mucosa was the most commonly-found histopathological lesion.Keywords: carprofen; robenacoxib; cyclooxygenase; beagle; gastrointestinal tract; inflammatory cells List of abbrevationsARI = absolute risk increase, BM = body mass, CBC = complete blood count, COX = cyclooxygenase, GI = gastrointestinal, IC 50 = half maximal inhibitory concentration, NSAIDs = non-steriodal anti-inflammatory drugs, PGE 2 = prostaglandin, PGI 2 = prostacyclin

Cancers are one of the most common diseases affecting dogs. Many of them develop spontaneously and their biology and histopathology shows many similarities to human cancers. What more, it is proved that there are much more analogies in molecular mechanisms of cancer development between these two species. Human oncology is seeking more and more efficient methods for an early disease detection which results directly in the extended life expectancy of patients affected. One of the most modern trends in the diagnosis of cancer is to detect circulating tumor cells (CTC) in the blood of patients. It is known that these cells are responsible for the formation of metastases in distant organs what results in the patient death. Moreover, it's confirmed that CTC are already present in patients' bloodstream in the early stages of tumor development. There is no doubt that mechanism of metastasis development in dogs is identical and thus the CTC are also present in their bloodstream. Despite the intense researches there is still no optimal method of isolating cancer cells from the blood where they occur extremely rarely. The purpose of this study is to analyze the implications of the detection methods of tumor cells in the blood in veterinary oncology.