Murat Serilmez

D-dimer and international normalized ratio (INR) are correlated with tumor markers and disease stage in colorectal cancer patients

BACKGROUND The aim of this study is to evaluate the correlation of coagulation tests with various clinicopathological variables and tumor markers among colorectal cancer (CRC) patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS Ninety-four CRC patients were included for evaluation of clinicopathological factors, coagulation assays and tumor marker levels. RESULTS Metastatic disease was related with elevated INR (p= 0.03). Stage III patients had higher D-dimer values compared with stage II patients (p= 0.03). Correlation of tumor markers indicated a tendency towards elevated D-dimer levels for CEA values higher than median (p= 0.01). High CA 19-9 levels were also associated with higher INR (p= 0.007). Elderly age, distant metastasis, high CEA, CA-19-9 and LDH levels were associated with poorer overall-survival. CEA level was the only independent prognostic factor in multivariate analysis. CONCLUSIONS Coagulation assays can be utilized as predictors of disease extent in CRC. Elevated D-dimer and INR values may indicate higher disease stage. Correlation of D-dimer levels with CEA supports their value for assessing tumor burden.

Clinical significance of serum omentin-1 levels in patients with pancreatic adenocarcinoma.

Background Omentin is related with metabolic syndrome and obesity. Pancreatic adenocarcinoma (PA) is a lethal and obesity-linked malignancy. This study was conducted to investigate the serum levels of omentin in patients with PA and the relationship with tumor progression and known prognostic parameters. Material and methods Serum samples were obtained from thirty-three patients on first admission before any treatment. Age, sex and body mass index (BMI) matched 30 healthy controls were included in the analysis. Both serum omentin levels were measured using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Results The median age at diagnosis was 59 years (32–84 years). Twenty (61%) patients were men and the remaining were women. The most common metastatic site was liver in 23 patients with metastasis (n = 19, 83%). Thirty-nine percent of 23 metastatic patients who received palliative chemotherapy (CTx) were CTx–responsive. Median overall survival of the whole group was 41.3 ± 8.3 weeks [95% confidence interval (CI) = 25–58 weeks]. The baseline serum omentin levels were significantly higher in patients with PA than in the control group (p < 0.001). Serum omentin levels were significantly higher in patients with larger pathologic tumor size compared with smaller size (p = 0.03). Conversely, serum omentin concentration was found to have no prognostic role on survival (p = 0.54). Conclusion Serum levels of omentin may have a good diagnostic role in patients with PA.

For Which Cancer Types can Neuron-Specific Enolase be Clinically Helpful in Turkish Patients?

BACKGROUND The aim of the present study was to evaluate the serum neuron-specific enolase (NSE) levels in patients with prostate cancer, Hodgkin lymphoma, lung cancer and peripheral nerve tumors. MATERIALS AND METHODS NSE levels were determined by ELISA in the sera of 100 prostate cancer, 47 Hodgkin lymphoma, 35 lung cancer and 35 peripheral nerve tumor patients and also in 132 healthy controls. RESULTS The median levels of serum NSE were elevated in patients with lung cancer (p=0.018) and peripheral nerve tumors (p=0.008). NSE levels in prostate cancer and Hodgkin lymphoma patients were higher than the controls but there was no statistically significant difference (p>0.05). CONCLUSIONS We conclude that NSE may be applied in routine to gain insight about the clinical statuses of various cancer patients, but more studies are needed to determine the organ specificity.

Clinical significance of serum M30 and M65 levels in melanoma.

M30 and M65 are relatively new assays that detect different circulating forms of the epithelial cell structural protein cytokeratin 18. This study was carried out to investigate the serum levels of M30 and M65 in patients with melanoma and the relationship with tumor progression and known prognostic parameters. Fifty-two patients with cutaneous melanoma were investigated. Serum samples were obtained on first admission before adjuvant and metastatic treatment were provided and at follow-up. Both serum M30 and M65 levels were determined using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The median age of patients at diagnosis was 54 years, range 16–88 years; 30 patients were men. Over half of the patients (58%) were in the metastatic stage and most (63%) had M1c. The baseline serum M65 levels were significantly higher in patients with melanoma than in the control group (P<0.001). For the serum M30 levels, no difference was found (P=0.76). Both the serum M30 and M65 levels were significantly higher in the patients with leukocytosis (P=0.02 and 0.007, respectively). In addition, the serum M30 levels were also elevated in young (P=0.02) and female patients (P=0.01). A significant relationship was found between the serum levels of M30 and M65 (rs=0.408, P=0.003, Spearman’s correlation). As expected, distant metastasis (P<0.001), advanced metastatic stage (M1c) (P=0.03), elevated erythrocyte sedimentation rate (P=0.001), higher serum lactate dehydrogenase levels (P<0.001), and unresponsiveness to chemotherapy (P<0.001) had worse survival. However, neither serum M30 nor serum M65 had a significantly adverse effect on survival (P=0.23 and 0.68, respectively). In conclusion, although only serum M65 levels were found to be of diagnostic value, neither M30 nor M65 serum levels played a prognostic role in the outcome in melanoma patients.

Clinical Signifıcance of Serum Ykl-40 (Chitinase-3-Like-1Protein) as a Biomarker in Melanoma: an Analysis of 112 Turkish Patients

Background: Angiogenesis plays an essential role in tumor growth and serum levels of YKL-40, a strong angiogenic factor that promotes tumor vessel development, has been found to be elevated in various cancers. We here investigated correlation between melanoma parameters and serum YKL-40 levels, to assess potential diagnostic, prognostic and predictive values. Material and Methods: Data for 112 pathologically confirmed cutaneous melanomas of any stage were examined retrospectively. ELISA assays were used to measure serum YKL-40 in plasma samples. Results: The baseline serum YKL-40 levels were significantly higher in patients than healthy controls (174.88 vs 120.10 ng/mL, p<0.001). However, values did not correlate with clinicopathological parameters, (p>0.05), and furthermore there was no apparent prognostic influence on melanoma survival (HR: 1.568; 95% CI, 0.580-3.051; p=0.838). Conclusion: Serum YKL-40 can be useful for diagnosis of melanoma, but reliability in assessing prognosis is questionable. We believe that efforts should be made to understand the interaction between YKL-40 and the tumor environment, and establish whether it might be the target for treatment of malignancies.

Serum activated leukocyte cell adhesion molecule and intercellular adhesion molecule-1 in patients with gastric cancer: Can they be used as biomarkers?

Cellular adhesion molecules might be used as markers in diagnosis and prognosis in some types of malignant tumors. The purpose of this study was to determine the clinical significance of the serum levels of activated leukocyte cell adhesion molecule-1 (ALCAM) and intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) in gastric cancer (GC) patients. Fifty-eight GC patients and 20 age- and sex-matched healthy controls were enrolled into this study. Pretreatment serum markers were determined by the solid-phase sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The median age at diagnosis was 59.5 years (range 32-82 years). Tumor localizations of the majority of the patients were antrum (n=42, 72.4%) and tumor histopathologies of the majority of the patients were 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 1-97.2 months). At the end of the observation period, 26 patients (44.8%) were dead. The median survival for all patients was 21.4±5 months (%95 CI, 11.5-31.3). The 1-year survival rates were 66.2%. The baseline serum ALCAM levels of the patients were significantly higher than those of the controls (p=0.001). There was no significant difference in the serum levels of ICAM-1 between the patients and controls (p=0.232). No significant correlation was detected between the levels of the serum markers and other clinical parameters (p>0.05). Tumor localization (p=0.03), histopathology (p=0.05), and response to chemotherapy (p=0.003) had prognostic factors on survival. Neither serum ALCAM levels nor serum ICAM-1 levels were identified to have a prognostic role on overall survival (ICAM-1 p=0.6, ALCAM p=0.25). In conclusion, serum levels of ALCAM were found to have diagnostic value in GC patients.

Significance of serum neural precursor cell‑expressed developmentally downregulated protein 9 in melanoma

Neural precursor cell-expressed developmentally downregulated protein 9 (NEDD9) is a promoter for various cellular functions that result in tumorigenesis. The aim of the present study was to analyse the serum levels of NEDD9 in melanoma patients in order to evaluate its prognostic, predictive and diagnostic value. Data from 112 melanoma patients were retrospectively analyzed and ELISA assays were used to measure serum NEDD9 concentration. The median serum NEDD9 levels of the patients were significantly higher compared with those of the controls. Serum NEDD9 was not found to be associated with any of the clinicopathological parameters, and was also not found to be prognostic for survival in melanoma. Therefore, serum NEDD9 may be of diagnostic value in melanoma, but its usefulness in prognosis remains controversial. The important role of NEDD9 in tumor angiogenesis necessitates efforts to elucidate its interactions with the tumor microenvironment and its potential as a therapeutic target for malignancies.

The biological role of AKT serine/threonine kinase 2 in lung cancer

Among the publications that provided this information, no patients were given neo-adjuvant chemotherapy. Twenty-one publications (42%) reported if adjuvant chemotherapy was given to patients. Tumour size and depth were reported in twenty (40%) and nine (18%) publications respectively. Twenty-nine publications (58%) specified the location of the tumour. Tumour histological type was reported in eighteen publications (36%). Tumour grade or TMN stage were reported in twentyseven publications (54%). Conclusions: The reporting of baseline data in gastric cancer surgery trials is markedly inconsistent. A consensus-based approach is required to identify a standardised minimum set of baseline data which should be reported by all trials examining therapeutic surgical interventions for gastric cancer. No conflict of interest.

Circulating serum levels of angiopoietin-1 and angiopoietin-2 in nasopharynx and larynx carcinoma patients.

We aimed to determine the serum levels of angiogenic factors, namely angiopoietins, in nasopharyngeal and laryngeal carcinoma patients. We also aimed to seek the relation of these molecules with tumor grade and their utility as diagnostic biomarkers. We evaluated angiopoietin 1 and 2 levels innasopharynx and larynx cancer patients before treatment. Angiopoietin 2 levels were significantly elevated in larynx carcinoma patients and tended to be elevated in nasopharynx cancer patients compared with healthy controls. However, angiopoietin 1 levels were similar in cancer patients and controls. Angiopoietin 1 levels were significantly higher in nasopharyngeal cancer patients with advanced stages compared to earlier stages. On the other hand, angiopoietin 2 levels were similar in advanced and earlier stage cancer patients.

Is serum tenascin-C level potential biomarker in pancreatic adenocarcinoma? -

Objective: Tenascin-C (TNC) is an extracellular matrix protein involved in the tissue construction. Its expression levels have been detected low levels in normal tissues, but high in many tumors. In this study, we aimed to determine the clinical significance of serum TNC levels in patients with pancreatic adenocarcinoma (PA). Materials and Methods: Thirty-three patients with histopathologically confirmed PA diagnosis and sex- and age-matched 30 healthy controls were included into the current study. Serum TNC levels were measured using Enzyme-Linked Immuno Sorbent Assay (ELISA) method. Results: Median age was 59 (range, 32-84). Of the patients, 61% were male, 70% had good performance status, and 68% had tumors localized at pancreas head. Pancreaticoduodenectomy and palliative surgery were performed in 5 (15%) and 4 (12%) of the 9 (27%) patients who underwent surgical procedure. Serum TNC levels were found to be significantly higher in patients compared with control group (p0.05). Similarly, it was shown that serum TNC levels had no effect on overall survival (p=0.31). Conclusions: Serum TNC level is a diagnostic biomarker for patients with PA. However, it has neither predictive nor prognostic value in this group of patients.