PURPOSE: The impact of time of surgery based on the menstrual cycle is a controversial issue. Two decades after the first interest in this topic, a number of studies with conflicting results have not helped to resolve this problem. This study aimed to prospectively evaluate the impact of timing of surgery based on the menstrual cycle on survival rates of breast cancer patients, and various clinical and hormonal classifications of the menstrual cycle were compared in order to determine the phase of the menstrual cycle which showed the highest degree of surgical survival. METHODS: Premenopausal breast cancer patients treated with curative surgery between 1998 and 2002 were prospectively included in this study. Patients were divided into different groups according to the first day of their last menstrual cycle using three different classifications (clinical, Hrushesky, Badwe), and were also grouped according to their serum hormone levels. Serum levels of follicle stimulating hormone, luteinizing hormone, estrogen, and progesterone were measured on the day of surgery. RESULTS: Ninety patients were included in the study. Median follow-up time was 90 months. Nineteen patients (21.1%) had loco-regional recurrence and/or distant metastases while 12 patients (13.3%) died during follow-up. Five-year (78.6% vs. 90.6%) and 10-year (66.7% vs. 90.6%) disease-free survival (DFS) rates of patients in the clinically defined follicular phase were significantly decreased compared to luteal phase. On the other hand, hormonally determined phases of the menstrual cycle and grouping of patients according to clinical classifications did not show an impact on prognosis. CONCLUSION: In the current study performing surgery in the follicular phase of the menstrual cycle decreased DFS in premenopausal patients. According to these results, performing surgery during the luteal phase of the menstrual cycle might have a beneficial effect on survival.
Breast ; Breast Neoplasms ; Disease-Free Survival ; Estrogens ; Female ; Follicle Stimulating Hormone ; Follicular Phase ; Follow-Up Studies ; Hand ; Humans ; Luteal Phase ; Luteinizing Hormone ; Menstrual Cycle ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Progesterone ; Prospective Studies ; Recurrence ; Survival Rate

BACKGROUND: We aimed to investigate the diagnostic utility of osteocalcin (OC), undercarboxylated osteocalcin (ucOC), and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) in pre- and postmenopausal women for femoral neck, L1-4, and L2-4 bone mineral density (BMD) values by taking into consideration their age, body mass index (BMI), and menopausal status. METHODS: Premenopausal (N=40) and postmenopausal cases (N=42) were classified as 25-34 or 35-45 yr of age and within the first 5 yr or 5 yr or more after the onset of menopause, respectively. RESULTS: Among the groups, statistical differences were found for age, BMI, OC, ucOC, ALP, femoral neck BMD, L1-4 BMD, and L2-4 BMD. The highest serum OC, ucOC, and ALP levels were observed in cases within the first 5 yr after the onset of menopause, probably due to a more rapid bone turnover rate. The best predictors for the femoral neck osteoporosis were ALP, OC, and calcium (areas under the ROC curve [AUC]=0.882, 0.829, and 0.761, respectively), and those for L1-4 and L2-4 osteoporosis were OC, ALP, and ucOC (AUC=0.949, 0.873, and 0.845; and 0.866, 0.819, and 0.814, respectively). Multiple logistic regression analysis revealed that the most discriminative parameter for osteoporosis was OC. CONCLUSIONS: These results indicate that serum OC levels, with or without ucOC and ALP, may be useful to monitor follow-up changes that currently cannot be assessed with BMD and to diagnose femoral neck, L1-4 spine, and L2-4 spine osteoporosis.
Adult ; Aged ; Alkaline Phosphatase/*blood ; Body Mass Index ; Bone Density ; Discriminant Analysis ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Logistic Models ; Middle Aged ; Osteocalcin/*blood ; Osteoporosis/blood/*diagnosis ; Osteoporosis, Postmenopausal/blood/diagnosis ; Postmenopause ; Premenopause

PURPOSE: Sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) in breast cancer patients with clinically negative axilla will ensure axillary dissection only for cases with lymph node metastasis and provide information about pathologic staging as accurate as the axillary dissection. It was shown that SLNB could be successfully performed regardless of the type of biopsy. The aim of this study was to investigate the feasibility of SLNB after excisional biopsy. METHODS: One hundred patients diagnosed with excisional biopsy or guide wire-localization and operated on with SLNB between February 2007 and March 2009 were retrospectively analyzed. SLNB was performed with 10 cc of 1% methylene blue alone or both methylene blue and 1 mCi of Tc-99m nanocolloid combination. Age, tumor localization and size, length of the biopsy incision, size of the biopsy specimen, multifocality, lymphovascular invasion, tumor grade, staining with methylene blue, localization, number and metastatic status of the lymph nodes stained, and success rate with a gamma probe were evaluated. RESULTS: Sentinel lymph node (SLN) could not be identified in 9 (16.9%) of patients in the methylene blue group (n=53). In the combination group (n=47), SLN could not be identified in one patient. Of 32 patients with negative SLNB, metastatic involvement was found to be present in 5 patients after axillary lymph node dissection (false negatives). The average numbers of SLNs found in the methylene blue group and combination group were 1.4 and 1.6, respectively. SLN detection and false negative rates in the methylene blue group were 83% and 15.7%, respectively. The rates for the combination group were 98% and 6.4%, respectively. None of the parameters related to patient, tumor or process were found to affect detection rates of SLN. CONCLUSION: Only SLNB using a combination method is a safe and reliable technique for breast cancer patients diagnosed with excisional biopsy.
Axilla ; Biopsy ; Breast ; Breast Neoplasms ; Dietary Sucrose ; Humans ; Lymph Node Excision ; Lymph Nodes ; Methylene Blue ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Nitriles ; Pyrethrins ; Retrospective Studies ; Sentinel Lymph Node Biopsy

Clinical and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) findings, histological appearances and surgical outcomes of 18 dogs and one cat with spinal tumors are presented. Medical records of the cases admitted for spinal disorders were reviewed, and cases of spinal tumors that were diagnosed by MRI and confirmed by histological examination were included in this study. T1 weighted, T2 weighted and contrast enhanced T1 weighted images were taken and interpreted to evaluate the spinal tumors. The tumors were diagnosed as: meningioma (n = 6), ependymoma (n = 1), nerve sheath tumor (n = 4), metastatic spinal tumor (n = 3), osteosarcoma (n = 2), osteoma (n = 1), rhabdomyosarcoma (n = 1), and nephroblastoma (n = 1). Thirteen cases underwent surgical operation and the remaining six cases were euthanized at the request of the owners. The neurological status of the surgical cases did not deteriorate, except for one dog that showed ependymoma in the early period after the operation. These results indicate the potential for surgical gross total tumor removal of vertebral tumors to provide better quality of life and surgical collection of histological specimens for definitive diagnosis. For effective case management, dedicated MRI examination is important to accurate evaluation of the spinal tumors, and surgical treatment is useful for extradural and intradural-extramedullary spinal tumors.
Animals ; Case Management ; Cats* ; Diagnosis ; Dogs* ; Ependymoma ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Medical Records ; Meningioma ; Osteoma ; Osteosarcoma ; Quality of Life ; Rhabdomyosarcoma ; Wilms Tumor

PURPOSE: To investigate the pathophysiological role of superoxide anion and total reactive oxygen species (ROS) production by the spermatozoa of men with varicocele and its relationship with varicocele grade and semen parameters. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This prospective study included 34 men with grade II–III varicocele, regardless of their fertility status. The control group consisted of 13 healthy men. Semen characteristics were examined according to the 2010 World Health Organization criteria. The swim-up method was used for sperm preparation. Total ROS and superoxide anion production was assayed by luminol- and lucigenin-dependent chemiluminescence (CL), respectively. RESULTS: The men with varicocele had significantly higher total ROS and superoxide anion levels than the healthy control subjects (2.9±0.4 relative light unit (RLU) vs. 2.4±0.1 RLU, p=0.001 for luminol-dependent CL and 2.8±0.4 RLU vs. 2.3±0.2 RLU, p=0.002 for lucigenin-dependent CL). Cases of grade III varicocele had significantly higher superoxide anion and total ROS levels than grade II cases and control subjects (p < 0.001). Superoxide anion and total ROS levels were negatively correlated with all semen parameters. CONCLUSIONS: The superoxide anion levels produced by spermatozoa were significantly higher in varicocele patients than in control subjects. ROS production was related to increased varicocele grade, impaired semen concentration, and abnormal morphology in men with varicocele. Our findings suggest that superoxide anion overproduction may be an important step in the cascade of ROS-related damage to spermatozoa, resulting in impaired semen parameters in patients with varicocele.
Fertility ; Humans ; Luminescence ; Male ; Methods ; Oxidative Stress ; Prospective Studies ; Reactive Oxygen Species ; Semen* ; Spermatozoa* ; Superoxides* ; Varicocele* ; World Health Organization