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Background: Obesity has been associated with improved response to immunotherapy in cancer patients. We investigated the role of body mass index (BMI) in patients from the ARON-1 study (NCT05287464) treated by dual immuno-oncology agents (IO+IO) or a combination of immuno-oncology drug and a tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKI) as first-line therapy for metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC). Patients and methods: Medical records of patients with documented mRCC treated by immuno-oncology combinations were reviewed at 47 institutions from 16 countries. Patients were assessed for overall survival (OS), progression-free survival (OS), and overall clinical benefit (OCB), defined as the sum of the rate of partial/complete responses and stable disease. Univariate and multivariate analyses were used to explore the association of variables of interest with survival. Results: A total of 675 patients were included; BMI was >25 kg/m2 in 345 patients (51%) and was associated with improved OS (55.7 vs. 28.4 months, P < .001). The OCB of patients with BMI >25 kg/m2 versus those with BMI ≤25 kg/m2 was significantly higher only in patients with nonclear cell histology (81% vs. 65%, P = .011), and patients with liver metastases (76% vs. 58%, P = .007), Neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio >4 (77% vs 62%, P = .022) or treated by nivolumab plus ipilimumab (77% vs. 64%, P=.044). In the BMI ≤25 kg/m2 subgroup, significant differences were found between patients with NLR >4 versus ≤4 (62% vs. 82%, P = .002) and patients treated by IO+IO versus IO+TKIs combinations (64% vs. 83%, P = .002). Conclusion: Our study suggests that the prognostic significance and the association of BMI with treatment outcome varies across clinico-pathological mRCC subgroups.

Patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC) are often elderly and have various comorbidities, including cardiovascular diseases. Although these patients have extensive co-exposure to targeted therapy and cardiovascular drugs, the impact of this co-exposure on outcomes for patients with mRCC remains unclear. Our objective was to evaluate the association between the use of cardiovascular medication and survival of patients with mRCC. The study included 343 consecutive patients with mRCC treated with sunitinib or pazopanib in the first line. Clinical data obtained from the Renal Cell Carcinoma Information System (RENIS) clinical registry and hospital information systems were retrospectively analyzed. Progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) were compared according to the use of common medications, including antihypertensives (i.e., β-blockers [BBs], angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors, angiotensin II receptor blockers, calcium channel blockers, and diuretics), acetylsalicylic acid (aspirin), statins, and proton pump inhibitors. The univariate Cox analysis evaluating the impact of the assessed comedications on patient survival revealed that only BBs were significantly associated with PFS (hazard ratio [HR] 0.533, p

The liquid biopsy has the potential to improve current clinical practice in oncology by providing real-time personalized information about a patient’s disease status and response to treatment. In this study, we evaluated 161 peripheral blood (PB) samples that were collected around surgical resection from 47 metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) patients using the High-Definition Single Cell Assay (HDSCA) workflow. In conjunction with the standard circulating tumor cell (CTC) enumeration, cellular morphology and kinetics between time-points of collection were considered in the survival analysis. CTCs, CTC-Apoptotic, and CTC clusters were found to indicate poor survival with an increase in cell count from pre-resection to post-resection. This study demonstrates that CTC subcategorization based on morphological differences leads to nuanced results between the subtypes, emphasizing the heterogeneity within the CTC classification. Furthermore, we show that factoring in the time-point of each blood collection is critical, both for its static enumeration and for the change in cell populations between draws. By integrating morphology and time-based analysis alongside standard CTC enumeration, liquid biopsy platforms can provide greater insight into the pathophysiology of mCRC by highlighting the complexity of the disease across a patient’s treatment.

Background Modern immunotherapy based on immune checkpoint inhibitors is an innovative treatment, which is already used in the treatment of a number of malignancies, and many other checkpoint inhibitors have been investigated in clinical trials. Monoclonal antibodies against CTLA-4 (cytotoxic T-lymphocyte antigen-4) and PD-1 (programmed cell death-1) or PD-L1 (programmed cell death-1 ligand) are the most commonly used agents. The side effects of these treatments are similar in nature to those of autoimmune diseases. Recently, increasing evidence has indicated that some adverse effects of immunotherapy are associated with the beneficial effect of this treatment. Purpose The aim of this review was to summarize current knowledge of the association between the adverse effects of checkpoint inhibitors and the outcomes of patients treated with this therapy. Conclusion The association between the effect of immunotherapy and the occurrence of adverse reactions has been identified in a number of studies. It has been best documented in patients with malignant melanoma, non-small cell lung cancer, and renal cell carcinoma. Many studies published so far are limited by the relatively low number of patients and their retrospective design, leaving many questions still unanswered. This work was supported by the National Sustainability Program I (NPU I) Nr. LO1503 provided by the Ministry of Education Youth and Sports of the Czech Republic and by the Charles University Research Fund (Progres Q39) and by the European Regional Development Fund-Project „Application of Modern Technologies in Medicine and Industry” (No. CZ.02.1.01/0.0/0.0/17_048/0007280). The authors declare they have no potential conflicts of interest concerning drugs, products, or services used in the study. The Editorial Board declares that the manuscript met the ICMJE recommendation for biomedical papers. Submitted: 3. 11. 2019 Accepted: 8. 12. 2019.

Východiska: Renalni karcinom (RCC) představuje nejcastějsi maligni nador ledvin u dospělých, jehož incidence dlouhodobě významně narůsta. Axitinib je antiangiogenni multikinazový inhibitor druhe generace blokujici kinazovou aktivitu VEGFR 1, VEGFR 2, VEGFR 3, PDGFR a c-KIT. Efektivita a bezpecnost axitinibu ve druhe linii lecby metastatickeho RCC byly potvrzeny v několika klinických studiich. Kazuistika: 70letý muž s vicecetnou generalizaci RCC byl, po selhani lecby sunitinibem v prvni lini, lecen axitinibem s velmi dobrým efektem. Při druholiniove lecbě axitinibem bylo dosaženo parcialni regrese nalezu a přežiti bez progrese v delce trvani teměř 16 měsiců. Lecba probihala s dobrou toleranci, bez významnějsich projevů toxicity. Zavěr: Axitinib představuje moderni preparat cilene lecby metastatickeho RCC uživaný ve druhe linii, s dobře prokazanou ucinnosti i bezpecnosti na urovni klinických studii i v běžne klinicke praxi.

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a genetically heterogeneous disorder and new putative disease genes are discovered constantly. Therefore, whole-exome sequencing could be an efficient approach to genetic testing in PD. To evaluate its performance in early-onset sporadic PD, we performed diagnostic exome sequencing in 80 individuals with manifestation of PD symptoms at age 40 or earlier and a negative family history of PD. Variants in validated and candidate disease genes and risk factors for PD and atypical Parkinson syndromes were annotated, followed by further analysis for selected variants. We detected pathogenic variants in Mendelian genes in 6.25% of cases and high-impact risk factor variants in GBA in 5% of cases, resulting in overall maximum diagnostic yield of 11.25%. One individual was compound heterozygous for variants affecting canonical splice sites in VPS13C, confirming the causal role of protein-truncating variants in this gene linked to autosomal-recessive early-onset PD. Despite the low diagnostic yield of exome sequencing in sporadic early-onset PD, the confirmation of the recently discovered VPS13C gene highlights its advantage over using predefined gene panels.

Wilson's disease (WD) is a hereditary disorder caused by ATP7B mutations resulting in systemic copper accumulation. WD may manifest as early-adulthood parkinsonism; and atypical cases may be difficult to distinguish from early-onset Parkinson's disease (EO-PD), a neurodegenerative disorder with onset ≤40 years of age. The aim of our study was to compare transcranial sonography (TCS)-magnetic resonance fusion imaging in WD and EO-PD and examine whether TCS can provide clinically useful information.We examined 22 WD, 16 EO-PD, and 24 healthy control subjects. We measured echogenicity and determined presence of MRI signal changes in T2-weighted images in the substantia nigra (SN) and lentiform nucleus (NL). TCS with the capability of magnetic resonance fusion and Virtual Navigator was used. The echogenicity indices of SN and NL were processed using digital image analysis to eliminate subjective evaluation errors.Mean SN echogenicity index in EO-PD (39.8 ± 5.9 [SD]) was higher compared to WD (28.0 ± 4.6, p 0.0001) and control subjects (28.8 ± 4.9, p 0.0001). Mean NL echogenicity index was higher in WD (117.5 ± 37.0) compared to EO-PD (61.6 ± 5.4, p 0.0001) and control subjects (54.9 ± 11.2, p 0.0001). The SN hyperechogenicity had sensitivity 93.8%, and specificity 90.9%, while the NL hyperechogenicity had sensitivity 95.5% and specificity 93.8% for differentiation of WD and EO-PD. NL hyperechogenicity was more pronounced in WD subjects with putaminal MRI T2 hyperintensity (p 0.05) but was also present in subjects without MRI abnormality.There are distinct TCS findings in WD and EO-PD complementary to MRI that can be utilized as highly sensitive and specific biomarkers of these disorders.

Background Lung cancer occupies the leading position of cancer incidence and mortality worldwide, including in the Czech Republic. Despite significant advances in systemic oncology treatments, lung cancer still has the worst prognosis, which is driving the need for innovative therapies and methods to treat this disease. Immunotherapy is a developing area of systemic oncology treatment, which has recently begun to be significantly applied to patients with lung carcinoma. The most useful type of immunotherapy currently employs checkpoint inhibitors, including CTLA-4 inhibitors (ipilimumab and tremelimumab) and PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors (nivolumab, pembrolizumab, durvalumab, and avelumab). Except for monotherapy, different combinations of these inhibitors or combinations between one more of these inhibitors and chemotherapy or targeted treatment are being actively studied. Despite intensive investigations, anti-tumor vaccines and cytokines have not had an important impact on the treatment of lung cancer. Checkpoint inhibitors have yielded favorable results, especially for the treatment of advanced (i.e., stage IIIB and IV) non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and are being extensively investigated for the treatment of SCLC. Aim The aim of this review was to summarize the most important achievements, possibilities, and perspectives of modern immunotherapy for the treatment of patients with lung cancer. Conclusion Immunotherapy is an important tool in todays arsenal of oncology treatments, and for patients with lung cancer it offers the hope of prolonging life and img iprovints quality.Key words: immunotherapy - lung cancer - NSCLC - SCLC - checkpoint inhibitors This work was supported by National Sustainability Programme I No. LO1503 provided by Ministry of education, youth and sports and program No. 17-30748A devided by The Ministry of Health of the Czech Republic. The authors declare they have no potential conflicts of interest concerning drugs, products, or services used in the study. The Editorial Board declares that the manuscript met the ICMJE recommendation for biomedical papers.Submitted: 31. 8. 2017Accepted: 7. 9. 2017.

Pemetrexed is an intravenously administered antifolate cytostatic agent targeting several folate-dependent enzymatic pathways, widely used in the treatment of patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). It has been previously demonstrated that the superiority of pemetrexed is limited to patients with non-squamous histology. Aside from the non-squamous histology, there is still no available molecular biomarker predicting treatment efficacy of pemetrexed-based chemotherapy. The aim of our retrospective study was to evaluate the association of baseline serum levels of C-reactive protein (CRP) with outcomes in a large cohort of patients with non-squamous NSCLC treated with pemetrexed. Clinical data of 325 patients were analysed. Serum samples were collected within one week before the initiation of treatment. The median progression-free (PFS) and overall survival (OS) for patients with high CRP was 2.1 and 9.5 compared to 4.2 and 20.5 months for those with normal CRP (p=0.002 and p

Identifikace a kvantifikace nebezpecných vlastnosti chemických latek patři k zakladnim krokům procedury posuzovani a zvladani zdravotnich rizik v pracovnim prostředi. Ziskavani udajů z toxikologických a hygienických databazi býva někdy casově narocne a nemusi vždy naplňovat požadavek rychleho a komplexniho posouzeni rizikových vlastnosti latek. Prezentovana prace popisuje ceský program (toXie), umožňujici soucasne vyhledavani toxikologických informaci v internetových databazich miXie, NIOSH Pocket Guide, NIOSH IDLH, NIOSH ICSCs, CSST RT a ILO ICSC. Program ma za cil zvýseni operativnosti v situacich omezene doby pro rozhodovani a v procesu optimalizace výrobnich variant z hlediska bezpecnosti prace.

Erlotinib is an epidermal growth factor receptor tyrosine-kinase inhibitor. Clinical trials have shown its efficacy in advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). We conducted a large retrospective study based on clinical experience aiming to prove erlotinib’s efficacy and safety in patients with advanced-stage squamous cell NSCLC. Totally 375 patients with advanced-stage (IIIB, IV) squamous cell NSCLC were treated with erlotinib. Erlotinib was continued until disease progression or intolerable toxicity. 1 (0.3%) complete response (CR), 28 (7.5%) partial responses (PR) and 198 (52.8%) stable diseases (SD) were achieved. Overall response rate (ORR) and disease control rate (DCR) were 7.8% and 60.5%, respectively. Median progression-free survival (PFS) was 3.0 months and median overall survival (OS) was 7.6 months. PFS of patients with CR/PR, SD and PD were 7.6, 3.9 and 1.0 months, respectively (P

Background Data on the efficacy and safety of all targeted therapies for metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC) including sunitinib are collected in the Czech RENIS patient registry. RENIS thus provides a uniquely large sample of long-term effectiveness and prognostic data of sunitinib according to adverse/risk factors measured by the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) score. The aim of this study was to analyze the long-term overall (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) of sunitinib, when used as 1st line treatment, based on MSKCC risk group scores including MSKCC scores for two intermediate subgroups. Methods Data from mRCC patients treated using sunitinib in the 1st line were collected in RENIS between 06/2007 and 02/2018. OS/PFS were then stratified based on MSKCC scores: a) favorable risk (0 adverse factors (AF)), b) intermediate risk (pooled 1–2 AFs), and c) poor risk (3+ AFs). The OS/PFS of the intermediate risk group was further stratified into two subgroups: i) 1 AF and ii) 2 AFs. All OS/PFS data were analyzed using Kaplan-Meier estimates. Differences in OS/PFS between risk groups were assessed using median survival, 95% confidence intervals (CI), and the log-rank test. Then we assessed the OS/PFS for 1-, 3-, and 5-year survival. Results Over the 11-year follow-up, 2390 patients were treated using sunitinib with 806, 1450, and 134 patients in the favorable, intermediate, and poor MSKCC risk groups. The more favorable MSKCC risk group was accompanied by an improved OS and PFS (p Table . 957P OS and PFS results for sunitinib treatment based on MSKCC risk groups MSKCC favorable MSKCC intermediate MSKCC poor MSKCC intermediate All patients 1 AF 2 AFs Overall survival Median survival (95% CI) 44.7months (40.9-50.5) 24.1months (21.9-26.0) 9.5months (7.2-14.1) 28.2months (25.9-30.7) 16.2months (14.5-20.2) 28.5months (26.3-30.5) 1-year survival (95% CI) 85.0% (82.4-87.6) 69.1% (66.6-71.7) 44.3% (35.0-53.7) 74.3% (71.4-77.2) 58.0% (53.1-62.9) 73.3% (71.4-75.2) 3-year survival (95 %CI) 57.3% (53.4-61.3) 37.1% (34.1-40.1) 9.6% (3.1-16.2) 42.0% (38.3-45.7) 26.3% (21.4-31.2) 42.9% (40.5-45.2) 5-year survival (95% CI) 35.6% (31.2-40.1) 23.4% (20.4-26.4) 3.2% (0.0-8.8) 26.5% (22.7-30.3) 16.5% (11.8-21.2) 26.8% (24.3-29.2) n 806 1450 134 969 481 2390 Log-rank p-value - Progression-free survival Median survival (95% CI) 17.0months (15.4-18.8) 9.0months (8.3-9.5) 4.5months (3.9-6.1) 10.1months (9.4-11.4) 6.2months (5.5-7.5) 10.6months (9.9-11.5) 1-year survival (95% CI) 61.8% (58.3-65.3) 40.7% (38.0-43.4) 20.8% (13.1-28.5) 45.1% (41.8-48.4) 31.6% (27.1-36.1) 46.9% (44.7-49.0) 3-year survival (95 %CI) 25.1% (21.7-28.5) 13.0% (11.0-15.1) 1.8% (0.0-5.1) 15.9% (13.2-18.6) 7.0% (4.2-9.7) 16.6% (14.9-18.4) 5-year survival (95% CI) 10.4% (7.7-13.2) 8.0% (6.2-9.8) 1.8% (0.0-5.1) 9.7 (7.3-12.0) 4.5% (2.1-6.9) 8.4% (7.0-9.9) n 806 1450 134 969 481 2390 Log-rank p-value - Conclusions Better MSKCC risk scores were associated with significantly longer OS and PFS. To our knowledge, this is the largest published sunitinib mRCC cohort described relative to MSKCC risk groups. Legal entity responsible for the study The authors. Funding Has not received any funding. Disclosure J. Finek: Honoraria (self): Amgen; Honoraria (self): BMS; Honoraria (self): Roche; Honoraria (self): Bayer; Honoraria (self): Teva; Honoraria (self): MSD; Honoraria (self): Merck; Honoraria (self): Sanofi; Honoraria (self): Pierre Fabre. A. Poprach: Honoraria (self): Pfizer; Honoraria (self): Roche; Honoraria (self): Ipsen; Honoraria (self): Novartis; Honoraria (self): BMS; Honoraria (self): Bayer. B. Melichar: Honoraria (self): BMS; Honoraria (self): Merck; Honoraria (self): MSD; Honoraria (self): Roche; Honoraria (self): Novartis; Honoraria (self): Astellas Pharma; Honoraria (self): Pfizer; Honoraria (self): Bayer. J. Kopecky: Honoraria (self): BMS; Honoraria (self): Novartis; Honoraria (self): Pfizer. M. Zemanova: Advisory / Consultancy: Novartis; Honoraria (self): Eli Lilly; Travel / Accommodation / Expenses: MSD; Travel / Accommodation / Expenses: Boehringer Ingelheim. T. Buchler: Honoraria (self): Amgen; Honoraria (self): Roche; Honoraria (self): Novartis; Honoraria (self): Pfizer; Advisory / Consultancy: Roche; Advisory / Consultancy: BMS; Advisory / Consultancy: Pfizer; Travel / Accommodation / Expenses: Janssen. K. Kopeckova: Honoraria (self): Novartis; Travel / Accommodation / Expenses: Bayer; Travel / Accommodation / Expenses: Pfizer. T. Mlcoch: Full / Part-time employment: Value Outcomes. T. Dolezal: Full / Part-time employment: Value Outcomes. All other authors have declared no conflicts of interest.

Goblet cell carcinoid (GCC) of the appendix is extremely rare, representing approximately 5% of all primary appendiceal neoplasms. Histologically there are three groups of GCC: group A (typical GCC), adenocarcinoma ex GCC signet ring cell type (group B), and adenocarcinoma ex GCC poorly differentiated carcinoma type (group C), which is the most aggressive. GCC metastasizes in 15-60% of cases, mainly to the ovaries, pelvis, abdominal cavity, ribs, vertebrae, and lymph nodes. Hematogenous metastasis to the liver or other parenchymal organs can occur, but this is very rare. The different organs metastases havent been described yet. The primary mode of treatment is radical surgical resection or debulking, followed by chemotherapy; however, patients with unresectable or recurrent GCC are candidates for systemic therapy. Here, we report a case of very aggressive GCC of the appendix, which had metastazed to the liver at the time of diagnosis and subsequently metastasized to the orbit.

Molecular targeted therapy based on tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKI), directed at epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) is one of the novel effective agents in management of advanced-stage of Non Small Cell Lung cancer (NSCLC). However several candidate predictors have been extensively studied, apart from activating EGFR gene mutations, no reliable biochemical or molecular predictors of response to erlotinib have been validated. The aim of our retrospective study was to evaluate the association of baseline serum albumin with outcomes in a large cohort of patients with advanced-stage NSCLC treated with erlotinib. Clinical data of 457 patients with locally-advanced (III B) or metastatic stage (IV) NSCLC treated with erlotinib were analysed. Serum samples were collected and the measurement was performed one day before the initiation of erlotinib treatment. Before the treatment initiation, low albumin was (

Prezentovaný přehledový clanek se zabýva možnostmi vybraných nastrojů a přistupů v procesu modelovani pracovnich expozic chemickým latkam. Popisuje tež kriticke prvky procesu efektivniho odhadu expozice v ramci procedur hodnoceni a zvladani zdravotnich rizik. Jsou diskutovany stavajici metody odhadů expozicnich hladin a jsou rozebirany jejich silne a slabe stranky. Je předložena strucna charakteristika konvencnich empirických modelů, statistických empirických modelů, fyzikalně-chemických modelů a bayesovských modelů (přistupů). Sirsi pozornost je věnovana matematickým a fyzikalnim vztahům a faktorům, ktere tvoři zaklad fyzikalně-chemických modelů.

The goal of this paper is to present new extensions to our remote laboratory, which has been used for more than 4 years in undergraduate courses in the Department of Control Engineering. The remote lab serves as a means of a distant-programming environment, which provides users the possibility to use control systems, widely employed in industrial applications. We have reworked the remote lab completely, in line with our long-term experience from previous lab utilisation, while keeping in mind the current trends in mobile computing. Our unique combination of the access-control system, flexible management of the laboratory infrastructure and virtual remote desktops allows users to work absolutely independently of the place and time. The students can use simulation software (such as a programmable logic controller simulator), as well as remotely control the physical experiments placed in the lab. As a result of our work, the users of the lab gain a complex, while still simple-to-use, means to learn and practise on experiments, which would otherwise be inaccessible to them.

Patients with ephedrone parkinsonism (EP) show a complex, rapidly progressive, irreversible, and levodopa non-responsive parkinsonian and dystonic syndrome due to manganese intoxication. Eye movements may help to differentiate parkinsonian syndromes providing insights into which brain networks are affected in the underlying disease, but they have never been systematically studied in EP. Horizontal and vertical eye movements were recorded in 28 EP and compared to 21 Parkinson's disease (PD) patients, and 27 age- and gender-matched healthy subjects using standardized oculomotor tasks with infrared videooculography. EP patients showed slow and hypometric horizontal saccades, an increased occurrence of square wave jerks, long latencies of vertical antisaccades, a high error rate in the horizontal antisaccade task, and made more errors than controls when pro- and antisaccades were mixed. Based on oculomotor performance, a direct differentiation between EP and PD was possible only by the velocity of horizontal saccades. All remaining metrics were similar between both patient groups. EP patients present extensive oculomotor disturbances probably due to manganese-induced damage to the basal ganglia, reflecting their role in oculomotor system.

BACKGROUND Tapentadol is a µ -opioid receptors agonist as well as an inhibitor of noradrenaline reuptake. This pharmacologic profile of tapentadol makes it a suitable drug of choice in nociceptive and neuropathic pain control. CASE REPORT This clinical report pressents a 65year old man with poorly differentiated prostate cancer - Gleason score 8 (4 + 4) with metastatic bone disease. Besides the initial application of bisphosphonates, the patient had been treated with androgen deprivation therapy (cyproterone acetate + leuprolide acetate) for the period of 18 months. This therapy was terminated due to an increase of PSA levels. Subsequently, the patient underwent palliative docetaxelbased chemotherapy. There were eight cycles applied with positive clinical and laboratory effect. However, the further application was limited by the averse effects, namely the peripheral neuropathy manifested by pain in arms and legs. The peripheral neuropathy had progressive tendency even after the end of chemotherapy, and supportive treatment with gabapentin and amitryptiline failed to succeed. Four months after zoledronic acid monotherapy, the patient was started on tapentadol in 50-mg dose b.i.d., consequently escalated to 100 mg b.i.d. (to this point, 25 µg of transdermal fentanyl were used for pain management). Significant relief from neuropathic discomfort was observed three weeks from the onset of tapentadol therapy. Patients state of health normalized within three months after the initiation of therapy. Consequently, the patient was able to receive docetaxel chemotherapy again, without any neuropathic pain exacerbation on the maintenance dose of tapentadol 50 mg b.i.d. CONCLUSION Tapentadol administration resulted in stable and longtime relief from neuropathic pain which is a frequent side effect in the course of castrate-resistant prostate cancer therapy with taxanes.

Background Chylous ascites is a rare complication of the gastrointestinal neuroendocrine tumor. There are two mechanisms of its origin: mechanical obstruction by the tumor mass and fibrosis of the surrounding tissue due to overproduction of serotonin. Its presence restricts treatment options. Case We report a case of 66year old man suffering from recurrent diarrhoea and ascites. We found elevated tumor marker Chromogranin A and elevation of hydroxyindoleacetic acid (5- HIAA) in the urine. A subsequent whole body scintigraphy scan by octreoscan confirmed multinodal process with increased somatostatin receptors activity in the wall of the ileum, rectosigmoideum, lymph nodes of the retroperitoneum and mesenterium and left supraclavicular area. We performed bio-psy from the lymph node of supraclavicular area, and there was metastasis of the neuroendocrine tumor. Start of cytostatic therapy was repeatedly complicated by recurrent massive chylous ascites. The patient underwent only one series of palliative chemotherapy. Another procedure was again complicated by chylous ascites that caused hospitalization at the internal department, and the patient died four months after dia-gnosis. Conclusion Chylous ascites is a very rare complication of gastrointestinal neuroendocrine tumor. It is not only a marker of poor prognosis, but also a complication that makes systemic treatment very difficult.

Molecular targeted therapy based on tyrosine kinase inhibitors, directed at the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) is one of novel options for management of NSCLC. Erlotinib is EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitor used for treatment of the advanced NSCLC. This presented study is focused on comparison of erlotinib and chemotherapy efficacy in the second line treatment of the advanced NSCLC. DCR and PFS became the primary endpoints.Total number of patients was 290. A group treated with chemotherapy in the second line consisted of 150 patients and a group treated with erlotinib in the second line consisted of 140 patients. Comparison of DCR was performed using Fisher's exact test, visualization of PFS was performed using Kaplan-Meier survival curves and differences were tested using the log-rank test. Genetic testing was performed using PCR direct sequencing. In the group treated with chemotherapy 2 CR, 23 PR and 51 SD were achieved vs. 5 CR, 10 PR and 55 SD in the group treated with erlotinib in the second line. DCR in patients treated with chemotherapy was 54.0% vs. 51.3% in patients without EGFR mutation treated with erlotinib (p=0.707); in patients harboring EGFR mutation, treated with erlotinib (n=9) outstanding results were achieved: 4 CR, 2 PR and 3 SD (not tested). Median of PFS in patients treated with chemotherapy was 2.1 months vs. 1.9 months in patients without EGFR mutation (p=0.879) vs. 8.4 months in patients harboring EGFR mutation treated with erlotinib (p=0.017). Results of analysis show that even patients without EGFR mutation are able to benefit from erlotinib treatment in the second line. The efficacy (DCR, PFS) of erlotinib in patients without EGFR mutation was comparable with chemotherapy. The treatment efficacy in a subgroup of patients harbouring EGFR mutation treated with erlotinib was significantly better than in patients without EGFR mutation.

Objective To assess the differences in the serum levels of Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), interleukin 6 (IL-6), interleukin 8 (IL-8), interleukin 10 (IL-10) and epidermal growth factor (EGF) in oncology patients with symptoms of depression and in oncology patients without symptoms of depression. Methods We administered the following self – report questionnaires to the hospitalized oncology patients (n = 32): Zunǵs Self-Rating Depression Scale (ZSDS) and Symptom Check List Psychiatric Rating Scale (SCL 90). We also collected blood samples from these patients for the detection of the following factors: BDNF, IL-6, IL-8, IL-10 and EGF. The procedures had been fully explained to all patients and written informed consent had been obtained. The patients were divided into two groups according to the scores in ZSDS: a group with the presence of symptoms of depression (n = 20) and a group without the symptoms of depression (n = 12). The differences in the levels of BDNF, interleukins and EGF between the groups were statistically assessed by Wilcoxon rank-sum test. Results Oncology patients with the symptoms of depression showed significantly lower levels of BDNF (medians 1452.3 vs 3229.0 pg/ml, p = 0.014). There were no significant differences in the levels of IL-6, IL-8, IL-10 and EGF between the groups. Conclusion This result supports the hypothesis of diminished neuroplasticity in oncology patients with the symptoms of depression as measured by the serum levels of BDNF. This study was supported by research project MSM 0021620819. Disclosure All authors have declared no conflicts of interest.