Vol 15, No 1 (2010)

The paper analyzes the results of treatment in 142 patients radically operated on for Stage III non-small cell lung cancer. Among them, there were 116 patients who had undergone systematic mediastinal lymphodissection (SMLD) and 26 patients who had typical surgery without SMLD. After SMLD, 1-, 3-, and 5-year survivals were 95.9, 50, and 30% versus 81, 10, and 5% after typical surgery, respectively. After SMLD and typical surgery, the median survival was 965 (23 months) and 432 (14 months) days, respectively.

The purpose of the ivestigation was to study whether osteoclast-derived serum tartrate-resistant acid (TRAP-5b) can be used as a tumor marker in the presence of primary bone neoplasms. The study included 34 patients with primary bone malignancies (Group 1), 35 with benign tumors and traumatic bone fractures (Group 2), and 38 apparently healthy donors (Group 3). All the groups were age-matched and gender-matched. TRAP-5b levels were studied by enzyme immunoassay. The low (less than 3 U/l) serum concentration of TRAP-5b was found in 39, 31, and 3% in Groups 1, 2, and 3, respectively. The TRAP-5b levels exceeding 6.0 U/l were seen in 1 examinee from Group 3, in 1 patient from Group 2 and in 35% of Group 1 patients. The highest concentrations (7.74±0.73 U/l) of TRAP-5b were detected in patients with osteolytic bone destruction, the least (4.48±0.92 U/l) in mixed one.

The authors evaluated the impact of various hormonal therapy regimens on quality of life in patients with prostate cancer and recorded adverse reactions. They assessed the quality of life by the WHO ECOG scale, the impact of the therapy on pain syndrome by the visual pain scale, the Karnovsky scale, evaluated the impact of the therapy on potency and libido, and recorded the presence and absence of side effects. Bone mineral density was estimated in all patients by densitometry.

The authors have studied the value of the immunoexpression of galectin-3, HBME-1, and cytokeratin 19 in the diagnosis of 17 benign (follicular adenomas) tumors of the thyrod, 23 malignant tumors (carcinomas of follicular cell origin), and 12 tumors of uncertain malignant potential. The diagnosis based on the analysis of the immuniexpression of galectin-3 and its combination with HBME-1 showed high sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy (96, 88, and 93%, respectively). The tumors of uncertain malignant potential were heterogeneous in the expression of galectin-3 and HBME-1. Coexpression of the above markers may suggest the malignant potential of individual neoplasms included in this group.

Radiation (telegamma-therapy (TGT)) and chemoradiation (MPF + leucovorin (methotrexate + 5-fluorouracil + platidiam + leucovorin) treatments were comparatively analyzed in patients with Stages III-IV laryngopharyngeal cancer. Multidrug therapy + TGT were shown to be the method of choice when the patients refused to have combination treatment or when there were contraindications to surgery: 5-year overall survival was 46.4% versus 22.3% after TGT. Following the latter, the quality of life was significantly worse than that after chemoradiation therapy: 100% activity persisted only in 9.6 and 53.8% in Groups 1 and 2, respectively. This was due to the low indirect therapeutic effect of standard TGT and an early recurrence after it - 60% of the recurrences were detected within the first year following TGT while after chemoradiation, 66.7% of them occurred following 12 months or more.

The paper describes a case of thyroid hyalinizing trabecular tumor in a 55-year-old woman. Cytological examination of her fine-needle biopsy specimen showed separately lying tumor cells with intracellular cytoplasmic inclusions. Its cytological study determined the trabeculoalveolar structures formed by tumor cells, the intercellular space exhibited a homogenous eosinophilic matter that yielded a positive Schick's test, laminated calcinates that mimick psammoma bodies. Immunophenotyping of the neoplasm revealed a positive reaction with antibodies to thyroglobulin, a negative reaction to galectin-3 and cytokeratin-19, and membrane Ki-67 expression, which suggests the low malignancy potential.

The present overview is dedicated to the current principles of surgical and combination treatment for rectal cancer. Basic approaches to choosing a treatment method and policy for early (T1-2N0) and locally advanced (T3-4 and/ or N1) rectal cancer are described. The role of the current chemoradiotherapy as a factor that reduces the frequency of local recurrences and increases the number of sphincter-sparing operations is considered. Great emphasis is laid on the role of a pathomorphologist in the assessing the quality of surgical intervention on the basis of macroscopic and microscopic studies. An integrated assessment of the factors that influence prognosis and quality of life in patients with rectal cancer is given; these include total mesorectumectomy, nerve-sparing surgery, circular resection edge, and extended lateral lymphadenectomy.