Assessment of prognostic and diagnostic value of some biomarkers in hepatocellular carcinoma.

BACKGROUND: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is an increasing problem worldwide. Determining a prognosis is important for the management of HCC. AIM: We aimed to investigate the impact of interleukin (IL)-29, galectin-3, leptin, fibronectin and protease-activated receptor-1 on the prognosis and diagnosis of patients with HCC. MATERIALS AND METHODS: 60 HCC patients (75% male) and 20 healthy volunteers (70% male) were enrolled in this prospective study. Serum samples were obtained during the first admission before any adjuvant or metastatic treatments were administered. Serum biomarkers were determined using ELISA kits. RESULTS: All patients had cirrhosis, and the Child - Pugh stages were as follows: 61.5% Child - Pugh A, 35.9% Child - Pugh B and 2.6% Child - Pugh C (61.7% hepatitis B virus, 11.7% hepatitis C virus, 6.7% hepatitis B virus + hepatitis C virus, 11.7% alcoholic and 8.3% cryptogenic). Fifty-three percent of the HCC patients died within a median of 7.5 months. The mean serum level of IL-29 in patients with HCC was higher than that in the control group (32.55 pg/ml vs 11.46 pg/ml, p < 0.015). Galectin-3 levels were significantly higher in the HCC group (6.7 ng/ml vs 1.38 ng/ml, p < 0.001). Fibronectin levels were higher in the control group than in the HCC group (260 635 ng/ml vs 257 353 ng/ml). However, the mean protease-activated receptor-1 and leptin levels were similar between the two groups (p > 0.05). The biomarkers were divided into two groups according to their median level. In the log rank analysis, biomarkers had no effect on survival (p > 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: IL-29 and galectin-3 levels were significantly higher in HCC patients. Although IL-29 and galectin-3 can be used as diagnostic markers for HCC, they had no prognostic value in HCC patients.

Should we worry about incidental gastrointestinal tract involvement in positron emission tomography/computed tomography as gastroenterologist?

BACKGROUND AND AIM: Positron emission tomography/computed tomography(PET/CT) scans detects benign clinical conditions in addition to malignancy, and this leads to additional investigation and expenditure. The purpose of our study was to assess the endoscopic and histopathologic results of incidental 18F-FDG uptake in the GI tract. PATIENTS AND METHOD: We enrolled 110 patients who underwent gastroscopy/colonoscopy for incidental GI tract involvement in PET/CT. Histopathologic and endoscopic results were compared with FDG uptake level, pattern of uptake(diffuse/focal), and site of involvement. RESULTS: In our study, 52.7% of the patients were male and the mean age was 57±11 years. Among the participants, 47.3% and 52.7% of patients had upper GI tract and colorectal involvement in PET/CT, respectively. Gastritis and colonic polyps were the most common endoscopic diagnoses that caused FDG uptake in the upper and lower GI tract, respectively. Endoscopic evaluation was normal in 23.6% of patients with pathologic FDG involvement. The rates of adenomatous polyps, malignancy, and hyperplastic polyps were 18.5%, 13.6%, and 6.8%, respectively. The mean SUVmax were higher in malignant lesions than in non-malignant lesions (14.3±8.9 vs. 9.3±5.3)(p=0.02). Diffuse or focal FDG involvement patterns on PET/CT did not help to discriminate malignancy in the GI tract. CONCLUSION: Malignancy was detected in only 13.6% of patients with FDG involvement in the GI tract, and the involvement pattern(diffuse/focal) and SUVmax did not differentiate malignancy.

Diffuse Cavernous Hemangioma of the Colon.

A 70-year-old man was admitted to our clinic with a history of rectal bleeding and constipation, his colonoscopy revealed varicosities and bluish nodular lesions of the rectum (Figure 1). Abdominal CT showed multiple nodular lesions beginning from the distal descending colon and extending to the rectum, calcifications suggesting phleboliths were also seen in these lesions. A contrast enhanced pelvic MRI demonstrated multiple tubular lesions showing hyperintensity on T2-weighted images and hypointensity on T1-weighted images, consistent with the affected areas on the CT scan (Figure 2). It was a diffuse cavernous hemangioma, which mostly affects the rectosigmoid colon in the gastrointestinal tract, and can clinically mimic internal hemorrhoids, ulcerative colitis or cancer (1). Gastrointestinal hemangioma is a rare benign vascular neoplasm, and might be associated with a congenital disorder like Osler-Weber-Rendu disease, Maffucci's syndrome, Klippel-Trénaunay syndrome, or the congenital blue rubber bleb nevus syndrome (2). Even though there are different medical treatment options targeting VEGF and FGF-mediated pathways such as bevacizumab and thalidomide, and endoscopic approaches like sclerotherapy and electrocautery; complete resection of the hemangioma is the only curative treatment method (1, 3). Therefore, the patient was referred to department of surgery for a definitive treatment, and lost to follow-up.

Lung cancer presenting with choroidal metastasis in a pregnant woman.

A 28-year-old, non-smoker pregnant woman who was initially diagnosed to have deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary thromboembolism earlier in pregnancy, presented at 22 weeks of gestation with dyspnoea, visual loss initially in the right eye and then in the left eye. Fundoscopic examination revealed metastatic foci, suggestive of choroid metastases. Computed tomography of the chest revealed a right hilar mass. Fibreoptic bronchoscopy and bronchoscopic biopsy confirmed lung adenocarcinoma. As the patient and family wished to continue with the pregnancy, chemotherapy with cisplatin and was administered from the 31st week of pregnancy and she had undergone Caesarian section in the 32nd week and the baby was healthy. We report this case as it is probably the first reported case of lung cancer presenting with choroidal metastasis in a pregnant woman.