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Aim: Description of patient characteristics, effectiveness and safety in Turkish patients treated with pazopanib for metastatic soft tissue sarcoma (STS). Patients and methods: This multicenter study is based on retrospective review of hospital medical records of patients (≥ 18 years) treated with pazopanib for non-adipocytic metastatic STS at 37 Oncology clinics across Turkey. Objective response rate (ORR), disease control rate (DCR), progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) were evaluated with further analysis of data on the three most common histological subtypes (leiomyosarcoma [LMS], undifferentiated pleomorphic sarcoma [UPS], synovial sarcoma [SS]) in the cohort. Results: Data of 552 adults (57.6% women, median age: 52 years) were analyzed. DCR and ORR were 43.1% and 30.8%, respectively. Median PFS was 6.7 months and OS was 13.8 months. For LMS, UPS and SS, median PFSs were 6.1, 5.9 and 7.53 months and median OSs were 15.03, 12.87 and 12.27 months, respectively. ECOG ≥ 2 was associated with poor PFS and OS. Liver metastasis was only a factor for progression. Second-line use of pazopanib (vs. front-line) was associated with better PFS, its use beyond third line predicted worse OS. Adverse events (AE) occurred in 82.7% of patients. Most common AEs were fatigue (58.3%) and anorexia (52.3%) which were graded as ≥ 3 in 8.2% and 7.4% of patients, respectively. Conclusion: Pazopanib is effective and well-tolerated in treatment of non-adipocytic metastatic STS. Its earlier use (at second-line), good performance status may result in better outcomes. Worldwide scientific collaborations are important to gain knowledge on rarer STS subtypes by conducting studies in larger patient populations.

Objective:Unlike left testicular vein, right testicular vein drains into inferior vena cava. Consequently, the systemic spread of testicular cancers in each side is expected to differ based on the vascular structures of the right and left testis. In this study, we investigated the effect of tumour localization on survival of nonseminomatous testicular cancer patients.Materials and Methods:We included three hundred and twenty-one (321) non-seminomatous testicular cancer patients who were followed-up at Gülhane Training and Research Hospital between January 1981 and December 2015.Results:The primary tumour found in the left testis in 152 (47.2%) patients, while 170 (52.8%) patients had the primary tumour in the right testis. The lungs (n=62, 42.5%) was the most common site of metastasis. During follow-up and primary treatment, 74 (23.1%) patients had recurrence, which was common in retroperitoneal lymph nodes (10.3%) and lung (5%). Median follow-up period was 88.3 (range: 1-386) months, while median survival was 337 months in all cases. Median 10 year survival rate was 74.1%, while median 20 year survival rate was 70.7%. We found that survival of patients with the primary tumour was significantly different between the left and right testis (337.6 months vs denotes not reached, p=0.001). The recurrence rate was significantly higher (84.7% vs 68.2%; p=0.002) in patients with right testicular tumour when compared to patients with left testicular tumour.Conclusion:The survival of the patients with tumour localized in the right testis was higher than patients with tumour localized in the left testis.

Purpose: Taxane-containing combinations are recommended for the first-line therapy of advanced gastric cancer. It is not known which chemotherapy regimen is the best with trastuzumab for HER2-positive patients. The aim of this study was to compare taxane-containing intensified chemotherapy versus standard chemotherapy in combination with trastuzumab in the first-line treatment of HER2-positive advanced gastric adenocarcinoma. Methods: This study is a retrospective multicenter study of the Turkish Oncology Group. A total of 130 HER2-positive patients with inoperable locally advanced, recurrent, or metastatic gastric adenocarcinoma being given chemotherapy plus trastuzumab as the first-line treatment were included from 16 different oncology centers. Trastuzumab combination with intensified chemotherapy including taxane or standard chemotherapy was compared in terms of progression-free survival (PFS), overall survival (OS), and toxicity. Results: There were 108 patients in the standard and 22 patients in the intensified chemotherapy group. PFS of the standard and intensified group were 5.6 months (95% confidence interval [CI] 4.8–6.4) and 5.3 months (95% CI 2.6–8), respectively ( p = 0.70). OS of the standard and intensified group were 11.1 months (95% CI 8.3–13.9) and 15.2 months (95% CI 12.7–17.7), respectively ( p = 0.03). Repeated analysis excluding patients given any previous therapy revealed similar results. The intensified group had more fever and febrile neutropenia. Conclusion: Trastuzumab combination with intensified chemotherapy provides better OS in first-line treatment of HER2-positive advanced gastric cancer. Further large-scale studies should be performed in HER2-positive patients.

Forage kochia, a subshrub forage plant, grows naturally in the pastures of dry areas in Turkey. Their seeds grow slowly in nature, and being short duration of seed viability could be caused by limitations on the cultivation of forage kochia in Turkey. Forage kochia seedlings can be produced serially quickly with cutting propagation as vegetation propagation method. Therefore, forage kochia cuttings were exposed to 12 different IBA concentrations (250, 500, 1000, 1500, 2000, 2500, 3000, 4000, 5000, 6000, 10000, and 15000 mg kg-1) at four holding times (5, 30, 180, and 900 s) in this research carried out Completely Randomized Design in the greenhouse. We investigated the percentage of rooting, the number of the root, shoot and root length, shoot and root weight, dry root weight, and leave yellowing of these cutting. The best developments in the percentage of rooting (100%), number of roots (> 7), shoot length (> 20 cm), root length (>10 cm), root weight (>0.60 g), dry root weight (>0.1 g) and leave yellowing (score >1.60) were obtained from 500 mg kg-1 IBA at 900 s, 5000 mg kg-1 IBA at 180 s, and 10000 mg kg-1 IBA at 5 s interactions. As a result, we advised 500 mg kg-1 IBA at 900 s, 5000 mg kg-1 IBA at 180 s and 10000 mg kg-1 IBA at 5 s for the quick and economically cutting propagation of forage kochia., Yarı çalı bir yem bitkisi olan bozkır otu, Türkiye’nin kurak alanlarındaki meralarda doğal olarak yetişmektedir. Bozkır otunun doğada tohum ile büyümesi çok yavaş ve tohum canlılığı süresinin kısa olması ülkemizde bozkır otu tarımında kısıtlamaya neden olmaktadır. Vejetatif çoğaltma yöntemi olarak çelikle çoğaltma ile bozkır otu fidesi daha kısa sürede seri bir şekilde üretilebilir. Bu sebeple, Tesadüf Parselleri Deneme Desenine göre serada yürütülen bu çalışmada 4 adet sürede (5, 30, 180 ve 900 s) ve 12 farklı IBA konsantrasyonlarına (250, 500, 1000, 1500, 2000, 2500, 3000, 4000, 5000, 6000, 10000 ve 15000 mg kg-1) bozkır otu çelikleri maruz bırakıldı. Bu çeliklerin köklenme yüzdesi, kök sayısı, fide ve kök uzunluğu, yaş fide ve kök ağırlığı, kuru kök ağırlığı ve yaprak sararması incelenmiştir. Çeliklerde köklenme yüzdesi (%100), kök sayısı (>7 adet), fide uzunluğu (>20 cm), kök uzunluğu (>10 cm), kök ağırlığı (>0.60 g), kuru kök ağırlığı (>0.1 g) ve yaprak sararması (Skor >1.60) açısından en iyi gelişim 900 saniyede 500 mg kg-1 IBA, 180 saniyede 5.000 mg kg-1 IBA ve 5 saniyede 10.000 mg kg-1 IBA konsantrasyonlarından elde edilmiştir. Sonuç olarak bozkır otunun ekonomik ve hızlı bir şekilde çelikle çoğaltılması için 900 saniyede 500 mg kg-1 IBA, 180 saniyede 5.000 mg kg-1 IBA ve 5 saniyede 10.000 mg kg-1 IBA konsantrasyonları önerilmektedir.

Purpose: In the ToGA trial for HER2-positive advanced gastric cancer, cisplatin plus fluoropyrimidine was given for 6 cycles; trastuzumab was given until disease progression. However, there is a lack of real-life data about trastuzumab maintenance after 6 cycle chemotherapy. This study aims to present real-life data of trastuzumab ± capecitabine maintenance after 6 cycles of platinum, fluoropyrimidine, and trastuzumab in non-progressive patients. Methods: This is a retrospective multicenter study of the Turkish Oncology Group. A total of 35 HER2-positive, inoperable locally advanced, recurrent, or metastatic gastric adenocarcinoma patients being non-progressive at the end of 6 cycle chemotherapy and being given trastuzumab ± capecitabine as maintenance treatment were included from sixteen oncology centers. Baseline characteristics, objective tumor responses, progression free and overall survival data, and toxicities were determined. Results: About 68% of the patients were given CF, and 32% were given FOLFOX with trastuzumab as the first-line treatment. The best response in 6 cycle chemotherapy was complete 8 (22%), partial 24 (68%), and stable disease 3 (8%). All patients had trastuzumab maintenance (median cycle 13; range 7–51), and 49% of the patients had capecitabine with trastuzumab (median capecitabine cycle 6; range 2–30). The median PFS of the patients was 12.0 months (95% CI 10.3–13.7), and median OS was 17.4 months (95% CI 15.2–19.5). There were 2 patients with grade 1 cardiotoxicity. Conclusion: Trastuzumab maintenance ± capecitabine after 6 cycles of trastuzumab plus combined chemotherapy treatment revealed efficacy and safety in non-progressive HER2-positive advanced gastric cancer. © 2021, Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.

Purpose COVID-19 will continue to disrupt the diagnosis-treatment process of cancer patients. Dr. Abdurrahman Yurtaslan Ankara Oncology Hospital has been considered as a ‘non-pandemic’ center (‘clean’) in Ankara, the capital city of Turkey. The other state hospitals that also take care of cancer patients in Ankara were defined as ‘pandemic’ centers. This study aimed to evaluate hospital admission changes and the precautionary measures in clean and pandemic centers during the pandemic. The effect of these measures and changes on COVID-19 spreading among cancer patients was also evaluated. Methods The patients admitted to the medical oncology follow-up, new diagnosis, or chemotherapy (CT) outpatient clinics during the first quarter of pandemic period (March 15–June 1, 2020) of each center were determined and compared with the admissions of the same frame of previous year (March 15–June 1, 2019). COVID-19 PCR test results in clean and pandemic centers were compared with each other. Telemedicine was preffered in the clean hospital to keep on follow-up of the cancer patients as ‘noninfected’. Results In the clean hospital, COVID-19-infected patients that needed to be hospitalized were referred to pandemic hospitals. COVID-19 test positivity rate was eight-fold higher for outpatient clinic admissions in pandemic hospitals (p < 0.001). The number of patients admitted new diagnosis outpatient clinics in both clean and pandemic hospitals decreased significantly during the pandemic compared with the previous year. Conclusion We consider that local strategic modifications and defining ‘clean’ hospital model during infectious pandemic may contribute to protect and treat cancer patients during pandemic.

Due to recent increasing water demand, planning and projecting of water resources has resulted in increased costs. Therefore, it is important to obtain optimum results in project planning. In this study, dimensioning of open channels used especially for irrigation purposes has been studied using a particle swarm optimization algorithm to investigate optimum base width, channel height, and slope angles. The results are summarized in graphs and tables. In the study, it was found that the optimum slope angle varied between 0.2(0) (boolean OR) 0.45(0) . Furthermore, it was found that increasing the slope angle significantly increased costs. Finally, the increase in flow increases costs but the rate of increase diminishes.

İçme suyu ile kullanma suyunun temini, akarsulardaki kirlilik seviyesi ve baraj, bağlama gibi su yapılarının projelendirilmesi gibi çalışmalarda sediment miktarının tahmini çok önemlidir. Bu çalışmada, Fırat Havzası üzerindeki Göynük Çayı, Murat Nehri ve Peri Suyu gibi nehirler sediment taşınımı konusunda irdelenmiştir. Bölgedeki istasyonlar için yapay sinir ağları (YSA) ve uyarlamalı ağ tabanlı bulanık çıkarım sistemi (ANFIS) gibi yöntemler denenmiştir. Bu üç istasyona ait uygulamalarda debi(Q), sediment(Qs), sıcaklık(T) ve yağış(P) verilerinden faydalanılmıştır. Bu veriler ile üç istasyon için sediment tahmin modelleri oluşturulmuştur. Oluşturulan bu modeller hem eğitim hem de test aşamalarında regresyon katsayısı (R2) ve ortalama yüzde hatası (OYH) bakımından karşılaştırılmıştır. Regresyon katsayısı bakımından eğitim ve test aşamalarında en başarılı sonuç yapay sinir ağlarından elde edilmiştir. Ortalama yüzde hatası bakımından ise YSA ve ANFIS yöntemlerinden hem eğitim hem de test aşamalarında birbirlerine yakın sonuçlar elde edilmiştir.

Aims: Testicular tumors are one of the most common malignancies in males, between 15 and 35 years of age. Testicular cancer patients are treated with the combination of gemcitabine, oxaliplatin and paclitaxel (GOP) in relapsed and refractory disease, but the literature about the GOP treatment is limited. We aimed to demonstrate the real-life data of progressive testicular cancer patients who received GOP treatment. Methods: Medical records of 17 patients who received GOP treatment at the Gulhane Training and Research Hospital were reviewed retrospectively. Overall response rate (ORR), overall survival (OS) rate and progression-free survival (PFS) of the patients were evaluated. Results: Overall response was obtained in 58.8% (n=10), and a complete response was achieved in 11.2% (n=2) of the cases. OS time was 14.2 months and the OS rate in the first year was 73.1%. The PFS time was 7.6 months. In most of the patients, thrombocytopenia, anemia and leukopenia were observed during GOP treatment. Conclusions: GOP is a safe and effective treatment option for relapsed refractory testicular cancer patients with an acceptable ORR, OS and PFS time. Additionally, GOP treatment was associated with cognitive side effects in patients.

4th International Conference on Sustainable Agriculture and Environment (ICSAE) -- AUG 10-12, 2017 -- Surakarta, INDONESIA, WOS: 000447668100023, Heavy metal is one of the serious environmental pollutions for now days as impact of industrial development in several countries. Heavy metals give toxic effects on human health and cause several serious diseases. Several techniques have been using for removing heavy metal contaminants from the environmental but these techniques have limitations such as high cost, long time, logistical problems and mechanical complexity. Phytoremediation can be used as an alternative solution for heavy metal remediation process because of its advantages as a cost-effective, efficient, environment- and eco-friendly technology based on the use of metal-accumulating plants. According to previous studies, several plants have a high potential as heavy metals bioaccumulator and can be used for phytoremediation process of heavy metals.

This study was conducted to determine the effects of different mowing dates of plant top on tuber yield of Jerusalem artichoke (Helianthus tuberosus L) during 2005 and 2006 growing seasons. The experiment was designed according to the “split plots on randomized complete block” experimental design with three replications. Three different mowing dates [a: August 18 (before flowering), b: September 21 (beginning of flowering), c: October 20 (full flowering) and k: control (not-mowing)] and two varieties [red (K) and white (A) skin local Jerusalem artichoke] were taken as factors. Tuber yield and yield components were higher in the first mowing date and control than in the second and third mowing dates in 2005, 2006 and in the average of 2005 to 2006. Two years average maximum tuber yields per decare were 5149.78 kg in the control plots and 3327.27 kg in the plots of red skin of Jerusalem artichoke. The results suggest that first mowing date and control are suitable mowing times for tuber yield.Key words: Jerusalem artichoke, mowing dates, tuber yield, dry matter yield.