Brain abscess as a rare complication of pelvic inflammatory disease.

OBJECTIVE: Description of the case history of a brain abscess as a rare complication of pelvic inflammatory disease. CASE REPORT: We discuss a woman of reproductive age who had inserted a non-hormonal intrauterine device for seven years and developed pelvic inflammatory disease with no response to antibio-tic therapy. After surgery, some neurological symptoms led to a dia-gnosis of a brain abscess. CONCLUSION: Brain abscess is a rare but potentially lethal complication from pelvic inflammatory disease, needing prompt dia-gnosis and interdisciplinary cooperation.

Correlation Between Disease Stage and the Presence of Viable Circulating Tumor Cells in Endometrial Cancer.

BACKGROUND/AIM: The presence of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) in the peripheral blood of patients with solid tumors is associated with a poor prognosis. However, there are limited data concerning the detection of CTCs in endometrial cancer (EC). The aim of this study was to evaluate the presence of CTCs in the peripheral blood of patients with EC. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Peripheral blood samples from 92 patients who underwent a surgical procedure were evaluated using MetaCell® separation technology for CTCs. RESULTS: CTCs were detected in 69 (75%) patients with EC. CONCLUSION: CTCs were detected in a higher percentage of patients than in other studies. The results showed that the technology applied in this study can efficiently capture viable tumor cells in the blood that can be cultured while maintaining their original phenotype. This paper discusses the first successful culturing of human circulating endometrial cancer cells for further downstream functional and molecular characterization.

The added value of circulating tumor cells examination in ovarian cancer staging.

Delayed diagnosis of ovarian cancer (OC) is usually a cause of its high mortality. OC counts for one of the most aggressive gynecological malignancies. Noninvasive biomarkers may be used to help with diagnostic and treatment decisions in OC management. The incidence and clinical significance of occult OC cells (circulating tumor cells-CTCs) in the peripheral blood of patients with newly diagnosed or nondiagnosed OC at the time of surgical intervention were examined in our study. The objective of the study was to isolate and cultivate CTCs in OC patients (mainly stage IIIB-C) by a recently introduced size-based separation method (MetaCell(®)). CTCs were successfully isolated in patients with OC capturing cells with proliferation potential. The cells were enriched in good fitness, which enabled the short term in vitro culture of the CTCs. The CTCs may be used for further downstream applications (e.g. gene expression analysis) even if in the majority of the in vitro CTC cultures no confluence was reached. The CTCs were detected in 77 out of 118 patients (65.2%). CTC positivity was given to the relationship with different disease stage parameters with special focus on CA125 marker levels. The results show that the information on CTC presence may provide new and independent prognosis staging information to the patient description. Several interesting relationships of CA125, age and ascites presence are reported. As shown in our patient sample, patients with ascites tend to have higher CA125 levels, even if the CTCs were not found in the peripheral blood. It suggests that hematogenous dissemination is fully represented by the CTCs while lymphogenic dissemination is represented by elevated CA125. In this context, easy access to CTCs provided by the method applied in our study, both at the time of diagnosis and relapse, may become an increasingly valuable tool in future. This methodology may provide an opportunity for more personalized medicine where treatment for OC may be guided by information from an individual's CTC molecular profile.

Streptokinase increases the sensitivity of colon cancer cells to chemotherapy by gemcitabine and cis-platine in vitro.

The aim was to determine the effect of fybrinolytic therapy by streptokinase on chemotherapy and radiation response in human colon cancer cells. The cells were treated with different concentrations of gemcitabine, cis-platine and streptokinase, at a single use or in combinations. Radiation was tested at a dose 0.5, 5 and 15 Gy in three different schedules. The chemotherapy showed higher cytotoxic effect in combination with streptokinase. On the other hand, the combination of chemotherapy with streptokinase and radiotherapy provide no improvement in sensitivity of cancer cells to treatment. The data suggest that fybrinolytic therapy could influence the effect of chemotherapy.