Browsing by Author "Koca D."

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    Environmental radioactivity and high incidence rates of stomach and esophagus cancer in the Van Lake Region: A causal relationship?
    (Asian Pacific Organization for Cancer Prevention, 2014) Akan Z.; Baskurt B.; Asliyuksek H.; Kam E.; Yilmaz A.; Yuksel M.B.; Biyik R.; Esen R.; Koca D.
    This study examined the incidence rates of cancer cases (averages for 2006-2010) and relationships with environmental radioactivity levels. Soil and water samples were collected from provincial and district centers of Van city and the outdoor gamma doses were determined using a portable gamma scintillation detector. Gross alpha and beta, (226)Ra, (232)Th, and (40)K activities were measured in both tap water and soil samples. Although high rates of stomach and esophagus cancers have been reported previously in Van the underlying reasons have not hitherto been defined. Incidences of cancers were highest in the Gurpinar (326.0) and Ozalp (377.1) counties (p<0.001). As to the results of the gross alpha and gross beta radioactivity measurements in the drinking water, these two counties also had high beta radionuclide levels: Gurpinar (140 mBq/dm3) and Ozalp (206 mBq/dm3). Even if within the normal range, a relation between the higher rate of the incidence of stomach and esophagus cancers with that of the higher rate of beta radionuclide activity was clear. On Spearman correlation analysis, the relation between higher beta radionuclide levels and cancer incidence was found to be statistically significant (p<0.01). According to the results of the analysis, Van residents receive an average 1.86 mSv/y annual dose from outdoor gamma radiation, ingestion of radionuclides in the drinking water, and indoor 222Rn activity. Moreover, gross alpha and beta activities were found to be extremely high in all of the lakes around the city of Van, Turkey. Further investigations with long-term detailed environmental radiation measurements are needed regarding the relationship between cancer cases and environmental radioactivity in the city of Van.
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    Effectiveness and safety of cabazitaxel chemotherapy for metastatic castration-resistant prostatic carcinoma on Turkish patients (The Anatolian Society of Medical Oncology)
    (Verduci Editore, 2016) Süner A.; Aydin D.; Hacioǧlu M.B.; Doǧu G.G.; Imamoǧlu G.I.; Menekşe S.; Pilanci K.N.; Yazici Ö.K.; Koca D.; Karaaǧaç M.; Akyol M.; Akman T.; Ergen S.; Avci N.; Kaçan T.; Bozkurt O.; Kefeli U.; Urakçi Z.; Araz M.; Arpaci E.; Harputlu H.; Sevinç A.
    OBJECTIVE: Prostate cancer is among the most common cancers in males. Prostate cancer is androgen dependent in the beginning, but as time progresses, it becomes refractory to androgen deprivation treatment. At this stage, docetaxel has been used as standard treatment for years. Cabazitaxel has become the first chemotherapeutic agent which has been shown to increase survival for patients with metastatic Castrate Resistant Prostate Cancer (mCRPC) that progresses after docetaxel. Phase 3 TROPIC study demonstrated that cabazitaxel prolongs survival. PATIENTS AND METHODS: In this study, we evaluated a total of 103 patients who took cabaz-itaxel chemotherapy for mCRPC diagnosis in 21 centers of Turkey, retrospectively. This study included patients who progressed despite doc-etaxel treatments, had ECOG performance score between 0-2, and used cabazitaxel treatment. Patients received cabazitaxel 25 mg/m2 at every 3 weeks, and prednisolone 5 mg twice a day. RESULTS: Median number of cabazitaxel cures was 5.03 (range: 1-17). Cabazitaxel response evaluation detected that 34% of the patients had a partial response, 22.3% had stable disease and 32% had a progressive disease. Grade 3-4 hema-tological toxicities were neutropenia (28.2%), neutropenic fever (14.5%), anemia (6.7%), and thrombocytopenia (3.8%). In our study, median progression-free survival (PFS) was 7.7 months and overall survival (OS) was 10.6 months. CONCLUSIONS: This study reflects toxicity profile of Turkish patients as a Caucasian race. We suggest that cabazitaxel is a safe and effective treatment option for mCRPC patients who progress after docetaxel. Moreover, ethnicity may play important roles both in treatment response and in toxicity profile.