• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• 제13권12호
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• pp.6097-6100
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• 2012

Background: Previous studies have observed an association between ABO blood group and risk for certain gastrointestinal malignancies, including pancreatic and gastric cancer. However, it is unclear whether there is such an association with colorectal cancer (CRC). In this study, possible relationships between ABO blood groups and Rh factor and KRAS status in patients with CRC were investigated. Materials and Methods: In 1,620 patients with CRC, blood group and Rh factor were examined and compared with the control group of 3,022,883 healthy volunteer blood donors of the Turkish Red Crescent between 2004 and 2011. The relationship of blood groups with wild type K-ras status was also evaluated. Results: Overall distributions of ABO blood groups as well as Rh factor were comparable between patients (45% A, 7.2% AB, 16.4% B, 31.4% O, and 87.2% Rh+) and controls (42.2% A, 7.6% AB, 16.3% B, 33.9% O, and 87.7% Rh+) (p=0.099). However, there were statistically significant difference between patients and controls with respect to O vs. non O blood group (p=0.033) and marginally significant difference for A vs. non-A blood group (p=0.052). Among patients, the median age was 62 (range 17-97), 58.1% were male. There were no statistically significant differences respect to sex and K-ras status. Conclusion: In present study, the ABO/Rh blood groups were statistically significantly associated with the risk of CRC. There were no relationship between K-ras status and ABO blood group and Rh factor. However further studies with larger numbers of patients are needed to establish the role of blood groups and to define t he mechanisms by which ABO blood type affect CRC.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• 제15권24호
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• pp.10631-10636
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• 2015

Background: We aimed to investigate anxiety, depression and sexual satisfaction levels and the effects of depression and anxiety upon the sexual satisfaction of Turkish breast cancer patients and their partners. Materials and Methods: Data were collected from one hundred breast cancer patients and their partners, using three forms: one covering information about socio-demographic characteristics of the patients, the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADs) and the Golombok-Rust Inventory of Sexual Satisfaction (GRISS). Results: The frequencies, avoidance and touch subscores were statistically significantly high in the patients. Among those with high anxiety scores, the frequency, communication, satisfaction, touch, and anorgasmic subscale scores of GRISS were found to be significantly high. Among the partners whose anxiety scores were high, only the premature ejaculation subscale was statistically significant. It was determined that for partners with higher depression scores, the communication, satisfaction, avoidance, premature ejaculation and erectile dysfunction subscores of GRISS were statistically higher compared to partners with lower depression scores. Conclusions: Patients' quality of life may be increased by taking precautions to reduce their and their partners' psychosocial and psychosexual concerns.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• 제13권1호
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• pp.21-25
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• 2012

The use of complementary and alternative medicines (CAM) among women with gynecologic cancer is becoming increasingly popular. Therefore, it is important to gain insight into the prevalence and factors related to the use of CAM. The aim of this study was to assess the use of CAM in women with gynecologic cancer. This is a descriptive cross-sectional study. Data were obtained from 67 gynecological cancer patients at gynecologic oncology clinic of a hospital in Turkey between October 2009 to December 2010 using a questionnaire developed specifically for this study. The instrument included questions on socio-demographic information, disease specifics and complementary and alternative medicine usage. On the basis of women's responses, all participants were divided into 2 groups: CAM users and nonusers. The findings indicated that 61.2% of the women reported the use of 1 or more CAM therapies. There were no significant differences in the sociodemographic and clinical characteristics between CAM users and nonusers (P <0.05). The most frequently used CAM method was herbal therapy (90.2%) and the second was prayer (41.5%). The main sources of information about CAM were informal (friends/ family members). A considerable proportion (56.1%) of CAM users had discussed their CAM use with their physicians or nurses. Turkish women with gynecologic cancer frequently use CAM in addition to standard medical therapy. Nurses/ oncologists caring for women with gynecologic cancer should initiate a dialogue about usage of CAM, discussing the potential adverse effects of CAM and the patient's therapeutic goals.

• The Journal of Advanced Prosthodontics
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• 제5권3호
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• pp.351-358
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• 2013

PURPOSE. This retrospective study analyzed the distribution of the dental implants with regards to age and gender of the patients and type of indication for the implant therapy, as well as the location, dimension and type of the implants. MATERIALS AND METHODS. The data of demographics (age and gender), type of indication for implant therapy, anatomical location, dimensions (length and diameter) and type (bone and tissue level) of 1616 implants were recorded from patient charts between January 2000 and January 2010. Descriptive statistics were analyzed using a chi-squared test for demographic parameters, type of indication, tooth position, anatomical location, implant dimensions and type (${\alpha}$=.05). RESULTS. The patient pool comprised of 350 women and 266 men, with a mean age of $52.12{\pm}13.79$ years. The difference in n% of the implants of the age groups was statistically significant between the types of indications. The difference in the position of the implants was statistically significant between the n% of the implants of all age groups. Gender did not significantly vary, except that the diameter of the implants was significantly higher for the standard diameter implants in males. The difference between the implant positions was statistically significant when considered according to indication. The relationship between implant length and anatomical location was statistically significant. CONCLUSION. The indication for dental implant use is age dependent and the type and size of the implant seems to be strongly related to the location of the implant.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• 제16권3호
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• pp.1123-1127
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• 2015

Uterine leiomyomas (ULM), are benign tumors of the smooth muscle cells of the myometrium. They represent a common health problem and are estimated to be present in 30-70% of clinically reproductive women. Abnormal angiogenesis and vascular-related growth factors have been suggested to be associated with ULM growth. The angiotensin-I converting enzyme (ACE) is related with several tumors. The aim of this study was to identify possible correlation between ULM and the ACE I/D polymorphism, to evaluate whether the ACE I/D polymorphism could be a marker for early diagnosis and prognosis. ACE I/D was amplified with specific primer sets recognizing genomic DNA from ULM (n=72) and control (n=83) volunteers and amplicons were separated on agarose gels. The observed genotype frequencies were in agreement with Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium ($x^2=2.162$, p=0.339). There was no association between allele frequencies and study groups ($x^2=0.623$; p=0.430 for ACE I allele, $x^2=0.995$; p=0.339 for ACE D allele). In addition, there were no significant differences between ACE I/D polymorphism genotype frequencies and ULM range in size and number ($X^2=1.760;$ p=0.415 for fibroid size, $X^2=0.342;$ p=0.843 for fibroid number). We conclude that the ACE gene I/D polymorphism is not related with the size or number of ULM fibroids in Turkish women. Thus it cannot be regarded as an early diagnostic parameter nor as a risk estimate for ULM predisposition.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• 제14권7호
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• pp.4115-4119
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• 2013

Background: Previous reports have shown that human epidermal receptor (HER)-3 overexpression may be associated with poor prognosis in patients with breast cancer, but results have been conflicting. In this study, we sought to investigate the prognostic significance of HER-3 immunohistochemical expression in patients with metastatic breast cancer. Methods: We retrospectively analyzed HER-3 immunohistochemical expression profiles in 45 paraffin-embedded specimens from patients who had been treated between 1996 and 2006 in the Department of Oncology of the Uludag University School of Medicine, Bursa, Turkey. Membranous or cytoplasmic dominant expression patterns of HER-3 were analyzed using the Rajkumar score and a cytoplasmic 4-point scoring system, respectively. Progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) served as the main outcome measures. Results: The median PFS in the study participants was 9 months (interquartile range: 4.5-13 months), whereas the median OS was 20 months (interquartile range: 7.5-28 months). Categorization of the patient population according to HER-3 positive immunohistochemical expression did not reveal any statistically significant difference in terms of both PFS (p=0.70) and OS (p=0.81). The results of multivariable Cox regression analysis indicated that tumor size was the only independent predictor of PFS, whereas estrogen and progesterone receptor status was independently associated with OS. Conclusions: HER-3 immunohistochemical expression did not correlate with outcomes in Turkish patients with metastatic breast cancer. Although our results suggest that HER-3 expression in cancer specimens is not of prognostic significance, further prospective studies are warranted to confirm these results.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• 제14권5호
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• pp.3229-3235
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• 2013

Background: Many breast cancers are caused by certain rare and familial mutations in the high or moderate penetrance genes BRCA1, BRCA2 and CHEK2. The aim of this study was to examine the allele and genotype frequencies of seven mutations in BRCA1, BRCA2 and CHEK2 genes in breast cancer patients and to investigate their isolated and combined associations with breast cancer risk. Methods: We genotyped seven mutations in BRCA1, BRCA2 and CHEK2 genes and then analyzed single variations and haplotype associations in 106 breast cancer patients and 80 healthy controls. Results: We found significant associations in the analyses of CHEK2- 1100delC (p=0.001) and BRCA1-5382insC (p=0.021) mutations in breast cancer patients compared to controls. The highest risk was observed among breast cancer patients carrying both CHEK2-1100delC and BRCA2- Met784Val mutations (OR=0.093; 95%CI 0.021-0.423; p=0.001). We identified one previously undescribed BRCA2 and a CHEK2 four-marker haplotype of A-C-G-C which was overrepresented ($X^2$=7.655; p=0.0057) in the patient group compared to controls. Conclusion: In this study, we identified a previously undescribed BRCA2 and CHEK2 A-C-G-C haplotype in association with the breast cancer in our population. Our results further suggest that the CHEK2-1100delC mutation in combination with BRCA2-Met784Val may lead to an unexpected high risk which needs to be confirmed in larger cohorts in order to better understand their role in the development and prognosis of breast cancer.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• 제15권24호
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• pp.10697-10703
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• 2015

The laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma (LSCC) is one of the most common malignant tumors occurring in the head and neck. Tumor necrosis factor related apoptosis induce ligand (TRAIL) and TRAIL-receptors (DR4, DR5, DcR1, DcR2) are known as important members of TRAIL-mediated biochemical signaling pathway. Associations between polymorphisms in these genes and clinicopathological characteristics of human laryngeal carcinoma are not well defined. This study therefore aimed to investigate a possible relationship among the TRAIL and TRAIL-DR4 polymorphisms and sTRAIL levels in the risk or progression of LSCC. A total of 99 patients with laryngeal cancer and 120 healthy subjects were enrolled in the study. DR4 C626G and TRAIL 1595 C/T genotypes were determined by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) analysis and sTRAIL levels were measured by ELISA. There were significant differences in the distribution of DR4 C626G genotypes and frequencies of the alleles between laryngeal cancer patients and controls (p<0.001) but not in TRAIL 1595 C/T. We found the increased frequency of the DR4 C626G homozygote CC genotype in patients than in controls (p<0.001). Haplotype analysis revealed that there was also a statistically significant relationship between TRAIL and TRAIL-DR4 polymorphisms and laryngeal cancer. Serum sTRAIL levels in the laryngeal patients with CC genotype who had advanced tumour stage were lower than those of patients with early tumor stage (p=0.014). Our findings suggest that DR4 C626G genotypes and sTRAIL levels might be associated with progression of laryngeal cancer in the Turkish population.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• 제15권19호
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• pp.8319-8324
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• 2014

Although genetic markers identifying women at an increased risk of developing breast cancer exist, the majority of inherited risk factors remain elusive. Mutations in the BRCA1/BRCA2 gene confer a substantial increase in breast cancer risk, yet routine clinical genetic screening is limited to the coding regions and intronexon boundaries, precluding the identification of mutations in noncoding and untranslated regions. Because 3' untranslated region (3'UTR) polymorphisms disrupting microRNA (miRNA) binding can be functional and can act as genetic markers of cancer risk, we aimed to determine genetic variation in the 3'UTR of BRCA1/BRCA2 in familial and early-onset breast cancer patients with and without mutations in the coding regions of BRCA1/BRCA2 and to identify specific 3'UTR variants that may be risk factors for cancer development. The 3'UTRs of the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes were screened by heteroduplex analysis and DNA sequencing in 100 patients from 46 BRCA1/2 families, 54 non-BRCA1/2 families, and 47 geographically matched controls. Two polymorphisms were identified. SNPs $c.^*1287C$ >T (rs12516) (BRCA1) and $c.^*105A$ >C (rs15869) (BRCA2) were identified in 27% and 24% of patients, respectively. These 2 variants were also identified in controls with no family history of cancer (23.4% and 23.4%, respectively). In comparison to variations in the 3'UTR region of the BRCA1/2 genes and the BRCA1/2 mutational status in patients, there was a statistically significant relationship between the BRCA1 gene polymorphism $c.^*1287C$ >T (rs12516) and BRCA1 mutations (p=0.035) by Fisher's Exact Test. SNP $c.^*1287C$ >T (rs12516) of the BRCA1 gene may have potential use as a genetic marker of an increased risk of developing breast cancer and likely represents a non-coding sequence variation in BRCA1 that impacts BRCA1 function and leads to increased early-onset and/or familial breast cancer risk in the Turkish population.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• 제15권6호
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• pp.2923-2927
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• 2014

Background: Hepatocellular cancer (HCC) is one of the important health problems in Turkey, being very common and highly lethal. The aim of this study was to determine clinical, demographic features and risk factors. Materials and Methods: Nine hundred and sixth-three patients with HCC from 13 cities in Turkey were included in this study. Results: Only 205 (21%) of the 963 patients were women, with a male:female predominance of 4.8:1 and a median age of 61 years. The etiologic risk factors for HCC were hepatitis B in 555 patients (57.6%), 453 (81%) in men, and 102 (19%) in women, again with male predominance, hepatitis C in 159 (16.5%), (14.9% and 22.4%, with a higher incidence in women), and chronic alcohol abuse (more than ten years) in 137 (14.2%) (16.8% and 4.9%, higher in males). The Child-Pugh score paralleled with advanced disease stage amd also a high level of AFP. Conclusions: According to our findings the viral etiology (hepatitis B and hepatitis C infections) in the Turkish population was the most important factor in HCC development, with alcohol abuse as the third risk factor. The Child-Pugh classification and AFP levels were determined to be important prognostic factors in HCC patients.