Assessment of the argyrophilic nucleolar organizer region area/nucleus ratio in ovarian serous epithelial adenomas, borderline tumors and cancers.

INTRODUCTION: There is a need to assess the value of the novel potentially useful biomarkers in ovarian tumors. The aim of study was to assess the value of sAgNOR analysis in ovarian serous epithelial tumors. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The analysis was performed in ovaries from 113 patients treated operatively due to serous ovarian tumors (30 adenomas, 14 borderline tumors and 69 cancers). After silver staining of paraffin specimens from surgery, sAgNOR in tumor cells was analyzed. Additionally, the value of the argyrophilic nucleolar organizer region area/nucleus ratio (sAgNOR) in the prediction of disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) in 52 patients with serous ovarian cancer with complete follow-ups in November 2009 was evaluated. Age, grading, radicality of surgery and FIGO staging were analyzed as additional factors. RESULTS: SAGNOR IN ADENOMAS, BORDERLINE TUMORS AND CANCERS WAS IN THE FOLLOWING RANGES: (0.73 ±0.23) × 10(6), (0.81 ±0.18) × 10(6) and (0.96 ±0.33) × 10(6) [AgNOR/cm(2)] respectively. In cancers from G1 to G3 sAgNOR was (1.02 ±0.32) × 10(6) (G1), (0.98 ±0.37) × 10(6) (G2) and (0.82 ±0.24) × 10(6) (G3) [AgNOR/cm(2)] respectively. In univariate analysis, but not in multivariate analysis, staging negatively correlated with better DFS and OS. sAgNOR, age of patients, grading and radicality of surgery were not associated with DFS or OS in either univariate or multivariate analysis. CONCLUSIONS: sAgNOR analysis is not sufficient to precisely characterize cellular kinetics in serous ovarian tumors, and the analysis of sAgNOR, mAgNOR and pAgNOR should be performed commonly. The prognostic significance of sAgNOR in patients with serous ovarian cancer was not proven.

A comparison of attitudes toward euthanasia among medical students at two Polish universities.

The aim of the study conducted upon completion of obligatory palliative medicine courses among 588 medical students at two universities was to compare their attitudes toward euthanasia. Four hundred ninety-two (84.97 %) students were Catholics; 69 (11.73 %) declared they would practice euthanasia, 303 (51.53 %) would not, and 216 students (36.73 %) were not sure. The idea of euthanasia legalisation was supported by 174 (29.59 %) respondents, opposed by 277 (47.11 %), and 137 (23.30 %) were undecided. Five hundred fifty-six (94.56 %) students did not change their attitudes toward euthanasia after palliative medicine courses. Students from the two universities were found to have different opinions on practicing euthanasia, euthanasia law and possible abuse which might follow euthanasia legalisation, but they shared similar views on the choice of euthanasia if they themselves were incurably ill and the legalisation of euthanasia. Gender and religion influenced students' answers. Differences observed between medical students at the two universities might be related to gender and cultural differences.

The comparison of common cancer types and the coincidence of concomitant chronic diseases between palliative home care patients in Lodz Voivodeship and the general Polish population.

INTRODUCTION: The continued growth in the number of elderly with cancer and age-related chronic diseases will cause in Poland an increase in demand for palliative care. The aim of the study was to identify chronic comorbidities and cancer types in palliative home care patients and to compare their incidence with the general Polish population. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The data was obtained from 543 patients who received palliative home care between 2005-2009. The occurrence of the most common chronic conditions such as arterial hypertension, ischemic heart disease, diabetes, chronic pulmonary diseases and central nervous system diseases were analysed together with the cancer types. RESULTS: The study group included 259 women (47.7%) and 284 men (52.3%) aged 25-91 years old. The most common primary neoplasm locations for men were lung (28.2% vs. 21.4% in general population) and colorectal cancer (18.7% vs. 11.4% in general population), and in women breast (19.7% vs. 22.8% in general population) and colorectal cancer (17.4% vs. 9.2% in general population). The incidence of ischemic heart disease, diabetes, and chronic pulmonary diseases was significantly different in comparison to the general populations (47.0% vs. 11.3%; 20.3% vs. 6.8%; 16.6% vs. 27.5%, respectively). The mean number of concomitant diseases was 1.6 for women and 1.8 for men vs. 1.7 and 1.2 in the general Polish population respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The majority of the patients had concomitant disease, with cardiovascular diseases being most common. The most common primary neoplasm diagnoses in palliative home care patients were lung and colorectal cancer, which corresponds to the cancer prevalence in the general population.