Background High-quality routine care data collected in the clinical registry play a significant role in improving the management of cancer patients. Clinical cancer registries record important data ...in the course of cancer diagnosis, treatment, follow-up and survival. Analyses of such comprehensive data pool make it possible to improve the quality of patients care and compare with other health care providers. Methods The first inquiry at the Department of Gynaecologic and Breast Oncology of the then General Hospital Maribor to follow breast cancer patients has been introduced in 1994. Based on our experience and new approaches in breast cancer treatment, the context of inquiry has been changed and extended to the present form, which served as a model for developing a relevant computer programme named Onko-Online in 2014. Results During the 25-year period, we collected data from about 3,600 breast cancer patients. The computer program Onko-Online allowed for quick and reliable collection, processing and analysis of 167 different data of breast cancer patients including general information, medical history, diagnostics, treatment, and follow-up. Conclusions The clinical registry for breast cancer Onko-Online provides data that help us to improve diagnostics and treatment of breast cancer patients, organize the daily practice and to compare the results of our treatment to the national and international standards. A limitation of the registry is the potentially incomplete or incorrect data input by different healthcare providers, involved in the treatment of breast cancer patients.
Clinical registries are designed to collect quality data about the care for cancer patients in order to improve it. They gather data that are generated during diagnosis and cancer treatment and also ...post-treatment follow-up. Analysis of collected data allows an improvement in the quality of patient care and a comparison with other health care providers. The aim of the present article is to describe the current version and practice of hospital-based cervical cancer registry in UKC Maribor.
The first questionnaire for monitoring patients with cervical cancer was introduced at the Department of Gynecologic and Breast Oncology of the Maribor General Hospital in 1994. Since then, the principles for treating cervical cancer have been revised on several occasions. Therefore, based on our experience and new approaches to treatment, we have frequently amended the questionnaire content. It was redesigned into a form that is currently in use and transformed into a Cervix-Online computer program in 2014.
Over the last 27 years, we have collected data on cervical cancer patients treated at the University Medical Centre Maribor and former Maribor General Hospital. The Cervix-Online computer program that was developed for this purpose enabled a rapid and reliable collection, processing and analysis of 116 different data of patients with cervical cancer, including general data, history, diagnostic procedures, histopathological examination results, treatment methods, and post-treatment follow-ups.
The hospital-based cervical cancer registry with Cervix-Online computer program enables the collection of data to enhance diagnosis and the treatment of cervical cancer patients, the organization of day-to-day service, as well as the comparison of our treatment results with national and international standards. Incomplete or incorrect data entry, however, might pose a limitation of the clinical registry, which depends on several healthcare professionals involved in the diagnostic procedures, treatment, and follow-up of cervical cancer patients.
Gynaecological cancers and their cell lines Skok, Kristijan; Gradišnik, Lidija; Maver, Uroš ...
Journal of Cellular and Molecular Medicine,
April 2021, Letnik:
25, Številka:
8
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
Cell lines are widely used for various research purposes including cancer and drug research. Recently, there have been studies that pointed to discrepancies in the literature and usage of cell lines. ...That is why we have prepared a comprehensive overview of the most common gynaecological cancer cell lines, their literature, a list of currently available cell lines, and new findings compared with the original studies. A literature review was conducted via MEDLINE, PubMed and ScienceDirect for reviews in the last 5 years to identify research and other studies related to gynaecological cancer cell lines. We present an overview of the current literature with reference to the original studies and pointed to certain inconsistencies in the literature. The adherence to culturing rulesets and the international guidelines helps in minimizing replication failure between institutions. Evidence from the latest research suggests that despite certain drawbacks, variations of cancer cell lines can also be useful in regard to a more diverse genomic landscape.
This review summarizes the recent findings of a vast array of studies conducted on androgen receptor-positive triple-negative breast cancer (AR-positive TNBC) to provide a better understanding of ...this specific breast cancer subgroup. AR expression is correlated with higher age, lower histological grade, lower proliferation index Ki-67, spiculated masses, and calcifications on mammography. Studies investigating the correlation between AR expression and lymph node metastasis are highly discordant. In addition, results regarding prognosis are highly contradictory. AR antagonists are a promising novel therapeutic approach in AR-positive TNBC. However, AR signaling pathways should be more investigated in order to understand the influence of AR expression on TNBC more thoroughly.
We are presenting the results of the Slovenian human papillomaviruses (HPV) self-sampling pilot study in colposcopy population of National Cervical Cancer Screening Programme ZORA for the first time. ...One-year and four-year follow-up results are presented for two different self-sampling devices.
A total of 209 women were enrolled in the study at colposcopy clinic. Prior to the gynaecological examination, all women performed self-collected vaginal swab at the clinic; 111 using Qvintip and 98 using HerSwab self-sampling device. After self-sampling, two cervical smears were taken by a clinician; first for conventional cytology and second for HPV test. After that, all women underwent colposcopy and a cervical biopsy if needed. We compared sensitivity, specificity, and predictive values of cytology (at the cut-off atypical squamous cells of undetermined significance or more ASC-US+) and HPV test (on self- and clinician-taken samples) for the detection of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia grade 2 or more (CIN2+) after one and four years of follow-up. Hybrid Capture 2 (HC2) assay was used for all HPV testing.
The mean age of 209 women was 37.6 years and HPV positivity rate 67.0% (140/209), 36.9 years and 70.3% (78/111) in the Qvintip group and 38.4 years and 63.3% (62/98) in the HerSwab group, respectively. Overall, percent agreement between self and clinician-taken samples was 81.8% (kappa 0.534) in the Qvintip and 77.1% (kappa 0.456) in the HerSwab group. In the Qvintip group, the longitudinal sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values were 71.8%, 75.0%, 83.6%, 60.0% for cytology; 83.1%, 51.3%, 75.6% and 62.5% for HPV test of self-taken samples and 94.4%, 57.5%, 79.8% and 85.2% for HPV test on clinician-taken samples. In the HerSwab group, the corresponding results were 71.7%, 46.7%, 61.3%, 58.3% for cytology; 75.0%, 47.7%, 62.9% and 61.8% for HPV test on self-taken samples and 94.3%, 44.4%, 66.7% and 87.0% for clinician-taken samples, respectively.
The results confirm that HPV self-sampling is not as accurate as clinician sampling when HC2 is used. All HPV tests showed a higher sensitivity in detecting CIN2+ compared to cytology. Due to non-inferior longitudinal sensitivity of HPV self-sampling compared to cytology, HPV self-sampling might be an option for non-attenders to the National Cancer Screening Programme.
Although the incidence of retained surgical items (RSIs) is low, it is nevertheless an important preventable cause of patient injury that can ultimately lead to the patient's death and to subsequent ...high medical and legal costs. Unintentional RSI is the cause of 70% of re-interventions, with a morbidity of 80% and mortality of 35%. The most common RSIs are sponges or gauze (gossypiboma or textiloma), while retained surgical instruments and needles are rare. Perioperative counting of equipment and materials is the most common method of screening for RSIs, while a diagnosis can later be confirmed by the clinical appearance and by imaging studies. We present a rare case of a 43-year-old patient who was admitted to our hospital because of two retained needles following a cesarean section, despite several subsequent laparotomies. One needle had been removed previously, but in addition to the remaining needle, we also removed a retained gauze. The diagnosis of RSIs is extremely important, and safe surgical practices including the addition of new imaging technologies should be encouraged to detect RSIs.
Endometrial cancer and its cell lines Skok, Kristijan; Maver, Uroš; Gradišnik, Lidija ...
Molecular biology reports,
02/2020, Letnik:
47, Številka:
2
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Endometrial cancer is one of the most common gynaecological malignancies worldwide. One type of research in this field is the growing of cell lines (CLs) and cultures, which can be used to explore ...the biological mechanisms of cancer. The purpose of this review is to offer an overview of the current literature and highlight the importance of correct CL studies. We carried out a literature analysis of more than 60 articles from the Pubmed, Medline databases that were almost exclusively published in indexed journals in the last 10 years as well as the primary originating scientific studies of specific CLs. We then summarized the newest findings and recommendations. Cell lines are becoming widely used as in vitro tumour models. Recent work has shown inconsistencies in nomenclature and culturing of CLs. Their genomic evolution leads to a high degree of variation across CL strains therefore it is of the utmost importance to recognize the variability within laboratory cancer models. Laboratories must adapt, incorporate additional characterisation techniques and view this situation as an opportunity to improve the reproducibility of pre-clinical cancer research. The authors offer a comprehensive literature review about endometrial cancer CLs, a review of the current literature and advice on culturing CLs.
Objective
Clinical and pathological characteristics of triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) treatment are required for escalation or de-escalation of treatment because of a lack of druggable targets. ...This study aimed to identify the factors affecting the risk of disease recurrence and disease-related death in patients with TNBC.
Methods
Patients with TNBC who were treated at the University Medical Centre Maribor between January 2010 and December 2017 were studied. Clinical and pathological data were analyzed using multivariate analysis and non-parametric tests. Subgroup analysis was performed to examine additional factors that affect 5-year overall survival (OS) and recurrence-free survival.
Results
Multivariate analysis showed that tumor size and the lymph node ratio (LNR) were significant risks in our population. Better discrimination of patients at risk of a shorter recurrence-free survival and OS was achieved by using the LNR. Only lymphovascular invasion was significant for predicting 5-year OS.
Conclusion
For risk-based decision-making systems, the LNR is useful for discriminating between high- and low-risk patients with TNBC.
Urokinase plasminogen activator (uPA) and plasminogen activator inhibitor type-1 (PAI-1) play a key role in tumour invasion and metastasis. High levels of both proteolytic enzymes are associated with ...poor prognosis in breast cancer patients. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the correlation between traditional prognostic factors and uPA and PAI-1 expression in primary tumour of breast cancer patients.
606 primary breast cancer patients were enrolled in the prospective study in the Department of gynaecological oncology and breast oncology at the University Medical Centre Maribor between the years 2004 and 2010. We evaluated the traditional prognostic factors (age, menopausal status, tumour size, pathohistological type, histologic grade, lymph node status, lymphovascular invasion and hormone receptor status), together with uPA and PAI-1. We used Spearman’s rank correlation, Mann Whitney U test and χ
test for statistical analysis.
Our findings indicate a positive correlation between uPA and tumour size (p < 0.001), grade (p < 0.001), histological type (p < 0.001), lymphovascular invasion (p = 0.01) and a negative correlation between uPA and hormone receptor status (p < 0.001). They also indicate a positive correlation between PAI-1 and tumour size (p = 0.004), grade (p < 0.001), pathohistological type (p < 0.001) and negative correlation between PAI-1 and hormone receptor status (p = 0.002).
Our study showed a relationship between uPA and PAI-1 and traditional prognostic factors. Their role as prognostic and predictive factors remains to be further evaluated.
Breast cancer is increasingly diagnosed in the early stages without regional nodal involvement. The aim of the present study was to determine the 5-year overall (OS) and breast cancer specific ...survival (BCSS) for patients with node-negative breast cancer treated at the University Medical Centre Maribor, and compare it with survival at the national level.
Medical records were searched for information on patients with lymph node-negative invasive breast cancer who received primary treatment at the University Medical Centre Maribor in the period 2000-2009. Information on all Slovenian node-negative breast cancer patients diagnosed in the same period was obtained from the Cancer Registry of Republic of Slovenia. Time trends in survival were assessed by comparing the periods 2000-2004 and 2005-2009.
The 5-year OS and BCSS of patients treated in Maribor in the period 2000-2009 were 92.3% (95% CI, 90.5%- 94.1%) and 96.4% (95% CI, 95.2%-97.6%), respectively, and did not differ from the corresponding OS and BCSS for Slovenian patients. Although the improvement in OS for patients from Maribor diagnosed in the period 2005-2009 compared to 2000-2004 did not reach statistical significance (HR 0.73; 95% CI, 0.51-1.05; p=0.086), BCSS significantly improved over the same time periods (HR 0.53; 95% CI, 0.30-0.94; p=0.028).
Survival of node-negative breast cancer patients treated at the University Medical Centre Maribor is comparable to survival of corresponding patients at the national level. The rising number of long-term breast cancer survivors places additional importance on survivorship care.
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