Browsing by Author "Alacacioglu, A"

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    Cryptosporidium spp. during chemotherapy: a cross-sectional study of 94 patients with malignant solid tumor
    (K FAISAL SPEC HOSP RES CENTRE) Karabey, M; Can, H; Öner, TÖ; Döskaya, M; Alak, SE; Döskaya, AD; Karakavuk, M; Köseoglu, AE; Ün, C; Gürüz, AY; Alacacioglu, A; Pektas, B; Gül, A; Kaya, S; Gokmen, AA
    BACKGROUND: Cryptosporidium spp. is a protozoan parasite that infects many vertebrate animals, including humans. Since Cryptosporidium spp. can cause chronic life-threatening diarrhea and severe malabsorption in immunocompromised patients, we investigated the prevalence of this parasite among patients undergoing chemotherapy for malignant solid tumors. OBJECTIVE: Investigate the prevalence of Cryptosporidium spp. in stool samples. DESIGN: Cross-sectional. SETTING: Tertiary care. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Stool samples were collected from adult patients with malignant solid tumors receiving chemotherapy and diarrhea. Cryptosporidium spp. prevalence was determined using Ziehl-Neelsen staining, ELISA, and real-time PCR targeting of the COWP gene. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: The prevalence of Cryptosporidium spp. in patients undergoing chemotherapy for malignant solid tumors. SAMPLE SIZE: 94 RESULTS: The prevalence was 2.1% (2/94), 5.3% (5/94), and 5.3% (5/94) as detected by Ziehl-Neelsen staining, real-time PCR and ELISA, respectively. The prevalence reached 8.5% (8/94) using all results obtained from the three methods. Among eight positive stool samples, four were positive by at least two different methods (Ziehl-Neelsen staining-ELISA or ELISA-real-time PCR) whereas the remaining four were positive by either ELISA or real-time PCR. CONCLUSION: These findings show the risk of cryptosporidiosis in cancer patients and the necessity to use at least two diagnostic methods during the diagnosis of cryptosporidiosis to reach more accurate and trustworthy results. LIMITATIONS: Further studies with a larger sample size are recommended. CONFLICT OF INTEREST: None.
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    A multicentre, multinational study of clinical characteristics and prognosis of hepatocellular carcinoma
    (WHO EASTERN MEDITERRANEAN REGIONAL OFFICE) Dirican, A; Uncu, D; Sekacheva, M; Artac, M; Aladashvil, A; Erdogan, A; Kaplan, M; Alacacioglu, A; Boukovinas, I; Turhal, N
    Background: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a significant health problem, and the associated mortality rate is increasing.Aim: We aimed to determine the clinical characteristics and prognosis for HCC in member countries of the OncoBridge Study Group. Methods: We recruited 630 patients diagnosed with HCC between 2013 and 2019 from 4 countries (Turkiye, Russia, Georgia, and Greece). Univariate and multivariate analyses were conducted to investigate clinical and laboratory prognostic factors. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis was used to determine the prognostic value of the neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) value.Results: The 3 most common etiological factors were hepatitis B infection (39.7%), hepatitis C virus infection (17.0%) and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (9.0%). Median overall survival for the whole group was 25 [95% confidence interval (CI): 15.7-34.2] months. Cut-off values for AFP and NLR were accepted as 200 ng/mL and 3.45, respectively. The area under the ROC curve values for AFP, NLR and NLR+AFP were 0.625 (95% CI: 0.547-0.704), 0.589 (95% CI: 0.512-0.667) and 0.657 (95% CI: 0.583-0.731). From the multivariate analysis, advanced tumour size, lymph node involvement and metastasis (TNM) stage, presence of cirrhosis, high AFP, and high NLR values were associated with poor survival.Conclusion: AFP, NLR, advanced TNM, and presence of cirrhosis may predict prognosis in patients with HCC. Studies involving more countries are needed to corroborate these findings.
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    Predictive factors for the development of brain metastases in patients with malignant melanoma: a study by the Anatolian society of medical oncology
    (SPRINGER) Gumusay, O; Coskun, U; Akman, T; Ekinci, AS; Kocar, M; Erceleb, ÖB; Yazici, O; Kaplan, MA; Berk, V; Cetin, B; Taskoylu, BY; Yildiz, A; Goksel, G; Alacacioglu, A; Demirci, U; Algin, E; Uysal, M; Oztop, I; Oksuzoglu, B; Dane, F; Gumus, M; Buyukberber, S
    The development of brain metastases (BMs) was associated with poor prognosis in melanoma patients. Patients with BMs have a median survival of < 6 months. Melanoma is the third most common tumor to metastasize to the brain with a reported incidence of 10-40 %. Our aim was to identify factors predicting development of BMs and survival. We performed a retrospective analysis of 470 melanoma patients between 2000 and 2012. The logistic regression analyses were used to identify the clinicopathological features of primary melanoma that are predictive of BMs development and survival after a diagnosis of brain metastases. There were 52 patients (11.1 %) who developed melanoma BMs during the study period. The analysis of post-BMs with Kaplan-Meier curves has resulted in a median survival rate of 4.1 months (range 2.9-5.1 months). On logistic regression analysis site of the primary tumor on the head and neck (p = 0.002), primary tumor thickness (Breslow > 4 mm) (p = 0.008), ulceration (p = 0.007), and pathologically N2 and N3 diseases (p = 0.001) were found to be significantly associated with the development of BMs. In univariate analysis, tumor thickness and performance status had a significant influence on post-BMs survival. In multivariate analysis, these clinicopathologic factors were not remained as significant predictive factors. Our results revealed the importance of primary tumor characteristics associated with the development of BMs. Ulceration, primary tumor thickness, anatomic site, and pathologic a parts per thousand yenN2 disease were found to be significant predictors of BMs development.
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    Molecular prevalence and genotypes of Enterocytozoon bieneusi in cancer patients under chemotherapy in Aegean region of Turkiye
    (BMC) Gökmen, AA; Oner, TO; Alak, SE; Koçkaya, ES; Güvendi, M; Karabey, M; Alacacioglu, A; Pektas, B; Döskaya, AD; Karakavuk, M; Döskaya, M; Un, C; Gürüz, AY; Kaya, S; Can, H
    Background Enterocytozoon bieneusi is the most common species found in humans. Although E. bieneusi has been investigated in humans, genotype profile of E. bieneusi is not known in Turkiye. Methods In this study, we screened E. bieneusi in patients (n = 94) with different types of malignant solid tumors by Real Time PCR and then sequenced E. bieneusi positive samples. All cancer patients were undergoing chemotherapy and had diarrhea. Moreover, as control groups, we also screened E. bieneusi in patients with diarrhea (n = 50) and without diarrhea (n = 50). Results Among all patients analyzed, 33 (17%) were found to be E. bieneusi-positive. As the patients were categorized, the molecular prevalence of E. bieneusi increased to 25.5% among cancer patients with diarrhea. However, the molecular prevalence of E. bieneusi was found to be lower in patients with presenting only diarrhea (8%) and patients without diarrhea (10%). The high molecular prevalence value detected among cancer patients with diarrhea was also statistically significant compared to other patient groups (P = 0.00112 and P = 0.0269). Among the 33 Real Time PCR positive samples, 10 of them were amplified by nested PCR and among these 10 samples, 6 of them were successfully genotyped. The phylogenetic tree showed the presence of D and Type IV which were also identified in stray cats living in & Idot;zmir in our previous study. Conclusions High molecular prevalence value indicates the importance of screening stool samples of cancer patients with diarrhea for E. bieneusi and genotyping results indicate that D and Type IV are circulating between humans and cats.