Wilms tumour event-free and overall survival in Southern and Eastern Europe: Pooled analyses of clinical data from four childhood cancer registries (1999-2017).

BACKGROUND: Wilms tumour (WT) management represents a success story in pediatric oncology. We aimed to assess, for the first time, the event-free survival (EFS) vs. overall survival (OS) in Southern and Eastern Europe (SEE) using harmonised clinical data collected by childhood cancer registries and to identify respective prognostic factors. METHODS: From 1999 to 2017, data for incident WT cases aged 0-14 years from 3 nationwide (Greece, Belarus and Slovenia) and one regional (Greater Poland) SEE registries were collected following common coding. Kaplan-Meier curves were constructed, and EFS vs. OS values were derived from Cox proportional hazard models by study variables. RESULTS: A total of 338 WT cases (45.6% males; median age, 3.19 years; age<5 years, 75%) were included in the analyses. Bilateral were 21 tumours (6.2%). Among the 317 unilateral cases, the majority (93.7%) received International Society of Pediatric Oncology-based protocols; EFS5-year was 85.1%, and OS5-year 91.1%; both outcomes were significantly worse in stage IV patients or in those with high-risk/unfavourable histology. Relapse rate among high-risk/unfavourable histology cases was 2.3 times higher than among low-intermediate risk/favourable histology cases, with respective death rate 5.6 times higher. Both relapse and death rates increased significantly in patients with advanced anatomical stage and high-risk/unfavourable histology. Finally, significantly worse was the outcome in bilateral tumours (OS5-year: 76.3%) vs. unilateral non-metastatic tumours (OS5-year: 94.7%). CONCLUSIONS: Our results delineate the potential of high-quality childhood cancer registration entailing clinical data to assess predictors of WT outcome over and beyond those derived from enrolment into clinical trials. Specifically, outcomes among children with WT residing in the four participating SEE countries were comparable with those reported by major cooperative international groups, albeit somehow inferior. Despite the excellent overall prognosis, however, subgroups of patients with advanced or bilateral disease and/or high-risk histology still suffer poor outcomes.

Electromagnetic field exposure (50 Hz) impairs response to noxious heat in American cockroach.

Exposure to electromagnetic field (EMF) induces physiological changes in organism that are observed at different levels-from biochemical processes to behavior. In this study, we evaluated the effect of EMF exposure (50 Hz, 7 mT) on cockroach's response to noxious heat, measured as the latency to escape from high ambient temperature. We also measured the levels of lipid peroxidation and glutathione content as markers of oxidative balance in cockroaches exposed to EMF. Our results showed that exposure to EMF for 24, 72 h and 7 days significantly increases the latency to escape from noxious heat. Malondialdehyde (MDA) levels increased significantly after 24-h EMF exposure and remained elevated up to 7 days of exposure. Glutathione levels significantly declined in cockroaches exposed to EMF for 7 days. These results demonstrate that EMF exposure is a considerable stress factor that affects oxidative state and heat perception in American cockroach.

[Nephroblastoma in children and adolescents - prognostic factors at diagnosis and in relapse]. / Nerczak zarodkowy u dzieci i mlodziezy- czynniki prognostyczne w pierwszej manifestacji guza oraz we wznowie.

Nephroblastoma is the most common primary malignant renal neoplasm in childhood, which represents 6-8% of childhood malignancies. Multimodal therapy consisted of surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy, lead to an improvement in an overall cure rate to approximately 85%. However, in 15% of patients relapse of Wilms' tumour occurs, and this refers also to patients qualified according to current prognostic criteria to the group of favourable prognosis. The aim of this paper is a review of the literature about prognostic parameters in nephroblastoma, with the main focus on new parameters related to the biology of this tumour. These could be helpful in the future in an early identification of patients, in whom relapse of nephroblastoma occurs despite of presently used favourable prognostic factors.

Diagnostic difficulties in pouchitis--experience from a single institution.

The aim of the study was to analyze the clinical, endoscopic and histological signs of pouchitis in patients operated on because of ulcerative colitis (UC) and familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP). Between 1984 and 2002, the Department of Surgery carried out 218 restorative proctocolectomies in patients with UC and 120 in FAP patients. The follow-up to assess the intensity of inflammatory changes included 110 patients: 72 UC and 38 FAP. During the endoscopic examination, samples were taken for routine histological examinations. The histological assessment was based on the so-called Moskwitz's Histological System. Acute pouchitis is diagnosed if the score is > or =4, and chronic condition--if the score is > or =4. We used a modified PDAI scale to analyze the symptoms, taking into account the microscopically detectable histological features of chronic pouchitis. The clinical symptoms of pouchitis were revealed in 28 patients (25.5%), endoscopic symptoms in 36 patients (32.7%), and histological parameters in 48 patients (28-58.3% with > or =4 score of acute pouchitis and 20-41.7% with > or =4 score of chronic pouchitis). The signs of acute and chronic pouchitis were evident in endoscopy and histology, with no clinical features observed in many cases. Patients with symptoms of chronic pouchitis require a continuous follow-up.