Bifunctional Fe-SBA-15-SO₃H Mesoporous Catalysts with Different Si/Fe Molar Ratios: Synthesis, Characterization and Catalytic Activity

Erdem, Sezer,Erdem, Beyhan,Oksuzoglu, Ramis Mustafa,Citak, Alime Korean Chemical Society 2013 Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society Vol.34 No.5

Bifunctional Fe-SBA-15-$SO_3H$ mesoporous materials with different Si/Fe molar ratios (3, 5, and 7) have been synthesized via a simple direct hydrothermal method and characterized by XRD, $N_2$-adsorption/desorption, TG/DTG and FT-IR techniques, and used as solid acid catalysts in the esterification of lactic acid with methanol. XRD and $N_2$ sorption characterizations show successful iron doping within the mesoporous channels of SBA-15-$SO_3H$. The FT-IR and TG/DTG characterizations also reveal the presence of iron. With the incorporation of Fe ions into the SBA-15-$SO_3H$, the acid sites substantially increased because of the self-separated acidity of the hydrolysis of $Fe^{3+}$ solutions. However, in the Si/Fe = 3 molar ratio, the catalytic conversion decreased which is caused by the reduced cooperation effect between the acid pairs due to the weakened hydrogen bonds and collapse of the pore structure. This further suggests that the mesoporous structure decreases with the decrease in Si/Fe ratio.

Risk Factors for Stage IV Breast Cancer at the Time of Presentation in Turkey

Uyeturk, Ummugul,Tatli, Ali Murat,Gucuk, Sebahat,Oksuzoglu, Berna,Ulas, Arife,Avci, Nilufer,Ozbay, Mehmet Fatih,Gunduz, Seyda,Akinci, Muhammed Bulent,Salim, Derya Kivrak,Sonmez, Ozlem Uysal,Akdag, Fat Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2013 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.14 No.12

Background: Breast cancer (BC) is the one of the most common cancers in women. It is also a leading cause of death. Unfortunately, some patients initially present with distant metastases and are diagnosed with stage IV disease that is nearly always, by then, incurable. This retrospective analysis investigated the risk factors for stage IV BC that may underlie such late presentation. Materials and Methods: In all, 916 patients with BC who visited the medical oncology polyclinic of eight different centres in Turkeybetween December 2011 and January 2013 were analysed. Results: A total of 115 patients (12.6%) presented with stage IV disease. In univariate analysis; to comparing these with patients at other stages, no statistical difference was found for median diagnosis age or age at menarche (p=0.611 and p=0.820), whereas age at menopause and age at first live birth were significant (p=0.018 and p=0.003). No difference was detected in terms of accompanying diseases, use of oral contraceptives and hormone replacement therapy, smoking, alcohol consumption and the rate of family history of BC between the patients (p=0.655, p=0.389, p=0.762, p=0.813, p=0.229, p=0.737). However, screening methods were employed less often, the rate of illiteracy was higher, and the rate of other cancers was higher in patients with stage IV BC (p=0.022, p=0.022, p=0.018). No statistical difference was observed between the patients in terms of tumour histopathology, and status of oestrogen receptor, progesterone receptor, or human epidermal growth factor-2 receptor (p=0.389, p=0.326, p=0.949, p=0.326). Grade 3 tumours were more frequent in patients with stage IV disease (p<0.001). On multivariate analysis, risk factors for stage IV breast cancer at the time of presentation were found to be age at first live birth and educational level (p=0.003 and p=0.047). Conclusions: Efforts should be made to perform mammography scans, in particular, at regular intervals through national training programs for all women, particularly those with family histories of breast and other types of cancer, and to establish early diagnosis of BC long before it proceeds to stage IV. Additionally, women's education had better be upgraded. In order to make women aware of BC, national education-programmes must be organised.

Detection of Circulating Tumor Cells in Breast Cancer Patients: Prognostic Predictive Role

Turker, Ibrahim,Uyeturk, Ummugul,Sonmez, Ozlem Uysal,Oksuzoglu, Berna,Helvaci, Kaan,Arslan, Ulku Yalcintas,Budakoglu, Burcin,Alkis, Necati,Aksoy, Sercan,Zengin, Nurullah Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2013 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.14 No.3

A determination of circulating tumor cell (CTC) effectiveness for prediction of progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) was conducted as an adjunct to standard treatment of care in breast cancer management. Between November 2008 and March 2009, 22 metastatic and 12 early stage breast carcinoma patients, admitted to Ankara Oncology Training and Research Hospital, were included in this prospective trial. Patients' characteristics, treatment schedules and survival data were evaluated. CTC was detected twice by CellSearch method before and 9-12 weeks after the initiation of chemotherapy. A cut-off value equal or greater than 5 cells per 7.5 ml blood sample was considered positive. All patients were female. Median ages were 48.0 (range: 29-65) and 52.5 (range: 35-66) in early stage and metastatic subgroups, respectively. CTC was positive in 3 (13.6%) patients before chemotherapy and 6 (27.3%) patients during chemotherapy in the metastatic subgroup whereas positive in only one patient in the early stage subgroup before and during chemotherapy. The median follow-up was 22.0 (range: 21-23) and 19.0 (range: 5-23) months in the early stage and metastatic groups, respectively. In the metastatic group, both median PFS and OS were significantly shorter in any time CTC positive patients compared to CTC negative patients (PFS: 4.0 vs 14.0 months, Log-Rank p=0.013; and OS: 8.0 months vs. 20.5 months, Log-Rank p<0.001). OS was affected from multiple visceral metastatic sites (p=0.055) and higher grade (p=0.044) besides CTC positivity (log rank p<0.001). Radiological response of chemotherapy was also correlated with better survival (p<0.001). As a result, CTC positivity was confirmed as a prospective marker even in a small patient population, in this single center study. Measurement of CTC by CellSearch method in metastatic breast carcinoma cases may allow indications of early risk of relapse or death with even as few as two measurements during a chemotherapy program, but this finding should be confirmed with prospective trials in larger study populations.

Association of ABO Blood Group and Risk of Lung Cancer in a Multicenter Study in Turkey

Urun, Yuksel,Utkan, Gungor,Cangir, Ayten Kayi,Oksuzoglu, Omur Berna,Ozdemir, Nuriye,Oztuna, Derya Gokmen,Kocaman, Gokhan,Coskun, Hasan Senol,Kaplan, Muhammet Ali,Yuksel, Cabir,Demirkazik, Ahmet,Icli, Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2013 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.14 No.5

Background: The ABO blood groups and Rh factor may affect the risk of lung cancer. Materials and Methods: We analyzed 2,044 lung cancer patients with serologically confirmed ABO/Rh blood group. A group of 3,022,883 healthy blood donors of Turkish Red Crescent was identified as a control group. We compared the distributions of ABO/Rh blood group between them. Results: The median age was 62 years (range: 17-90). There was a clear male predominance (84% vs. 16%). Overall distributions of ABO blood groups were significantly different between patients and controls (p=0.01). There were also significant differences between patients and controls with respect to Rh positive vs. Rh negative (p=0.04) and O vs. non-O (p=0.002). There were no statistically significant differences of blood groups with respect to sex, age, or histology. Conclusions: In the study population, ABO blood types were associated with the lung cancer. Having non-O blood type and Rh-negative feature increased the risk of lung cancer. However, further prospective studies are necessary to define the mechanisms by which ABO blood type may influence the lung cancer risk.

Bone Metastasis from Gastric Cancer: The Incidence, Clinicopathological Features, and Influence on Survival

Fatma Paksoy Turkoz,Mustafa Solak,Saadettin Kilickap,Arife Ulas,Onur Esbah,Berna Oksuzoglu,Suayib Yalcin 대한위암학회 2014 Journal of gastric cancer Vol.14 No.3

Purpose: To evaluate the incidence, clinicopathological characteristics, treatment outcomes, prognostic factors, and survival of gastriccancer patients with bone metastases. Materials and Methods: Of 4,617 gastric cancer patients who were treated between 2001 and 2013, 176 patients with bone metastaseswere analyzed. Results: The incidence of bone metastasis was 3.8%. The most common histopathological subtype was adenocarcinoma (79%) withpoor differentiation (60.8%). The median interval from the diagnosis to bone metastasis was 11 months. The median survival time afterbone metastasis was 5.4 months. Factors that were associated with longer median survival times included the following: isolated bonemetastasis (P=0.004), well-differentiated tumors (P=0.002), palliative chemotherapy (P=0.003), zoledronic acid treatment (P<0.001),no smoking history (P=0.007), and no metastatic gastric cancer at the time of diagnosis (P=0.01). On the other hand, high levels oflactate dehydrogenase (LDH) (hazard ratio [HR]: 1.86; P=0.015), carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) (HR: 2.04; P=0.002), and carbohydrateantigen (CA) 19-9 (HR: 2.94; P<0.001) were associated with shorter survival times. In multivariate analysis, receiving zoledronicacid (P<0.001) and performance status (P=0.013) were independent prognostic factors. Conclusions: Smoking history, poor performance status, poorly differentiated adenocarcinoma, and high levels of LDH, CEA, and CA19-9 were shown to be poor prognostic factors, while receiving chemotherapy and zoledronic acid were associated with prolonged survivalin gastric cancer patients with bone metastases.

ABO and Rh Blood Groups and Risk of Colorectal Adenocarcinoma

Urun, Yuksel,Ozdemir, Nuriye Yildirim,Utkan, Gungor,Akbulut, Hakan,Savas, Berna,Oksuzoglu, Berna,Oztuna, Derya Gokmen,Dogan, Izzet,Yalcin, Bulent,Senler, Filiz Cay,Onur, Handan,Demirkazik, Ahmet,Zengi Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2012 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.13 No.12

Background: Previous studies have observed an association between ABO blood group and risk for certain gastrointestinal malignancies, including pancreatic and gastric cancer. However, it is unclear whether there is such an association with colorectal cancer (CRC). In this study, possible relationships between ABO blood groups and Rh factor and KRAS status in patients with CRC were investigated. Materials and Methods: In 1,620 patients with CRC, blood group and Rh factor were examined and compared with the control group of 3,022,883 healthy volunteer blood donors of the Turkish Red Crescent between 2004 and 2011. The relationship of blood groups with wild type K-ras status was also evaluated. Results: Overall distributions of ABO blood groups as well as Rh factor were comparable between patients (45% A, 7.2% AB, 16.4% B, 31.4% O, and 87.2% Rh+) and controls (42.2% A, 7.6% AB, 16.3% B, 33.9% O, and 87.7% Rh+) (p=0.099). However, there were statistically significant difference between patients and controls with respect to O vs. non O blood group (p=0.033) and marginally significant difference for A vs. non-A blood group (p=0.052). Among patients, the median age was 62 (range 17-97), 58.1% were male. There were no statistically significant differences respect to sex and K-ras status. Conclusion: In present study, the ABO/Rh blood groups were statistically significantly associated with the risk of CRC. There were no relationship between K-ras status and ABO blood group and Rh factor. However further studies with larger numbers of patients are needed to establish the role of blood groups and to define t he mechanisms by which ABO blood type affect CRC.

Lung Cancer in Women, a Different Disease: Survival Differences by Sex in Turkey

Ulas, Arife,Tokluoglu, Saadet,Kos, Mehmet,Silay, Kamile,Akinci, Sema,Oksuzoglu, Berna,Alkis, Necati Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2015 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.16 No.2

Purpose: In this study, we aimed to evaluate the effects of sex-based non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) varieties on survival rates. Materials and Methods: A retrospective study was performed in patients with NSCLC who were diagnosed by histological methods between the years 2000 and 2010. A chi-square test was used to compare variables. Overall survival (OS) was estimated by the Kaplan-Meier method. Results: Of the 844 patients, 117 (13.9%) were women and 727 (86.1%) were men. Adenocarcinoma was more common in women than in men (p<0.0001). There were more women non-smokers than men (p<0.0001). There was no statistically significant difference in ECOG PS, weight loss>10%, stage, LDH, albumin and treatment between women and men. Women younger than 65 years (17.0 vs 12.0 months; p=0.03), who had adenocarcinoma histology (15.0 vs 10.0 months; p=0.006) and who had a hemoglobin level ${\geq}12g/dL$ (18.0 vs 12.0 months; p=0.01) were found to have a better median OS rate than men. Median OS rates were found to be 13.0 months in females and 12.0 months in males (p=0.14). Among metastatic patients, the median OS was 11.0 months in females and 8.0 months in males (p=0.005). Among stage IIIB and stage IV patients who had first line platinum-based chemotherapy, the median OS was 17.0 months in women and 11.0 months in men (p=0.002). The response rate of chemotherapy was higher in women than in men (p=0.03). Conclusions: In our study, we found that survival duration is longer and chemotherapy response is better in women with NSCLC who do not have anemia or comorbidities and who are mostly non-smokers with adenocarcinomas. Further studies regarding the causes of these differences may provide clarity on this subject.

Bone Metastasis from Gastric Cancer: The Incidence, Clinicopathological Features, and Influence on Survival

Turkoz, Fatma Paksoy,Solak, Mustafa,Kilickap, Saadettin,Ulas, Arife,Esbah, Onur,Oksuzoglu, Berna,Yalcin, Suayib The Korean Gastric Cancer Association 2014 Journal of gastric cancer Vol.14 No.3

Purpose: To evaluate the incidence, clinicopathological characteristics, treatment outcomes, prognostic factors, and survival of gastric cancer patients with bone metastases. Materials and Methods: Of 4,617 gastric cancer patients who were treated between 2001 and 2013, 176 patients with bone metastases were analyzed. Results: The incidence of bone metastasis was 3.8%. The most common histopathological subtype was adenocarcinoma (79%) with poor differentiation (60.8%). The median interval from the diagnosis to bone metastasis was 11 months. The median survival time after bone metastasis was 5.4 months. Factors that were associated with longer median survival times included the following: isolated bone metastasis (P=0.004), well-differentiated tumors (P=0.002), palliative chemotherapy (P=0.003), zoledronic acid treatment (P<0.001), no smoking history (P=0.007), and no metastatic gastric cancer at the time of diagnosis (P=0.01). On the other hand, high levels of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) (hazard ratio [HR]: 1.86; P=0.015), carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) (HR: 2.04; P=0.002), and carbohydrate antigen (CA) 19-9 (HR: 2.94; P<0.001) were associated with shorter survival times. In multivariate analysis, receiving zoledronic acid (P<0.001) and performance status (P=0.013) were independent prognostic factors. Conclusions: Smoking history, poor performance status, poorly differentiated adenocarcinoma, and high levels of LDH, CEA, and CA 19-9 were shown to be poor prognostic factors, while receiving chemotherapy and zoledronic acid were associated with prolonged survival in gastric cancer patients with bone metastases.

Clinicopathological Features in Bilateral Breast Cancer

Baykara, Meltem,Ozturk, Selcuk Cemil,Buyukberber, Suleyman,Helvaci, Kaan,Ozdemir, Nuriye,Alkis, Necati,Berk, Veli,Koca, Dogan,Coskun, Ugur,Oksuzoglu, Berna,Uncu, Dogan,Arpaci, Erkan,Ustaalioglu, Basak Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2012 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.13 No.9

Introduction and Purpose: The frequency of bilateral breast cancer is 1.4-11.0% among all breast cancers. It can present as synchronous (SC) or metachronous (MC). Data regarding clinical course of bilateral breast cancer are scarce. In this study, we therefore evaluated demographic, pathological and clinical characteristics, treatments and responses in bilateral breast cancer cases; making distinctions between metachronous-synchronous and comparing with historic one-sided data for the same parameters. Materials and Methods: One hundred fifty bilateral breast cancer cases from ten different centers between 2000 and 2011 were retrospectively scanned. Age of the cases, family history, menopausal status, pathological features, pathological stages, neoadjuvant, surgery, adjuvant and palliative chemotherapy/radiotherapy were examined in the context of the first and second occurrence and discussed with reference to the literature. Results: Metachronous and synchronous groups showed similar age, menopausal status, tumor type, HER2/neu expression; the family history tumor grade, tumor stage, ER-negativity rate, local and distant metastases rates, surgery, adjuvant chemotherapy application rates were identified as significantly different. Palliative chemotherapy response rate was greater in the metachronous group but median PFS rates did not differ between the groups. Conclusion: Although bilateral breast cancer is not frequent, MC breast cancer is different from SC breast cancer by having more advanced grade, stage, less ER expression, more frequent rates of local relapse and distant metastasis and better response to chemotherapy in case of relapse/metastasis.

Awareness of Cancer Screening During Treatment of Patients with Renal Failure: A Physician Survey in Turkey

Uysal-Sonmez, Ozlem,Tanriverdi, Ozgur,Uyeturk, Ummugul,Budakoglu, Isil Irem,Kazancioglu, Rumeyza,Turker, Ibrahim,Budakoglu, Burcin,Yalcintas-Arslan, Ulku,Oksuzoglu, Berna Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2014 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.15 No.5

Background: Today, survival rate of patients with chronic renal failure/hemodialysis has increased so that chronic illnesses are more likely to occur. Cancer is the main cause of morbidity and mortality in such patients. Aim: In this study, physician attitudes were examined about cancer screening in patients with renal failure. Materials and Methods: This study was done by face to face questionnaire in the $27^{th}$ National Nephrology Congress to determine if the physicians dealing with chronic renal failure, hemodialysis or renal transplanted patients, recommend cancer screening or not and the methods of screening for cervix, prostate, breast and colon cancer. Results: One hundred and fifty six physicians were included in the survey. A total of 105 (67%) participants were male and the age of responders was $48{\pm}9$ years. About 29% were specialists in nephrology, 28% internal medicine, and 5% were other areas of expertise. Some 48% of participants were hemodialysis certified general practitioners. Patients were grouped as compensated chronic renal failure, hemodialysis or renal transplanted. Of the 156 responders, 128 (82%) physicians recommended breast cancer screening and the most recommended subgroup was hemodialysis patients (15%). The most preferred methods of screening were combinations of mammography, self breast examination and physicianbreast examination. 112 (72%) physicians recommended cervix cancer screening, and the most preferred method of screening was pap-smear. Colon cancer screening was recommended by 102 (65%) physicians and prostate screening by 109 (70%) physicians. The most preferred methods of screening were fecal occult blood test and PSA plus rectal digital test, respectively. Conclusions: It is not obvious whether cancer screening in renal failure patients is different from the rest of society. There is a variety of screening methods. An answer can be found to these questions as a result of studies by a common follow-up protocol and cooperation of nephrologists and oncologists.