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BackgroundPaediatric respiratory tract infections are among the most common reasons for preschool and school absences and visits to physicians. The disease mainly involves the upper respiratory tract and is associated with fever, cough, sore throat, and running nose. Children with recurrent respiratory infections (RRI), which are defined as more than six serious diseases a year, are a difficult diagnostic challenge. The aim of this study was to assess immunological deviations in laboratory tests performed in children with RRI.Material and methodsIn the retrospective study 25 children suffering from recurrent respiratory tract infection, aged 4.1 ±2.3 years, 13 boys and 12 girls, were involved. For all children chemiluminescence of granulocytes and immunophenotyping of lymphocytes from peripheral blood were examined. An immunophenotype of peripheral blood lymphocytes involved evaluation of T cell, B cells, and NK cells, examined with flow cytometry.ResultsEleven of the studied children had decreased chemiluminescent response to stimulants, normal response was found for nine children, and five children had an increased result of the test. Five of the 25 children had decreased B cells number, and five had decreased number of T cells including decrease of CD4, as well as CD8 positive cells. Children with decreased chemiluminescence had more frequent neutropaenia than children with normal or increased chemiluminescent response, p < 0.05 (exact Fisher test).ConclusionsRecurrent respiratory tract infection could be associated with improper neutrophils response to pathogens, and immunological examination should be performed to find the reason for the increased number of infections in a year.

Nowadays, cancer immunotherapy is a promising strategy in solid tumour treatment. It has become a breakthrough in achieving long-term survival in many advanced cases. The essence of modern immunotherapy is to improve the host antitumour immune defence. Currently, it is critically important to determine the biomarkers that could be helpful in planning this type of individual therapy. It has turned out that an important prognostic factor is the evaluation of inflammatory infiltration of the tumour mass, including the characteristics of populations of lymphocytes and macrophages, and the expression of suppressive and regulatory molecules. For lung cancer, <30% of the tumours are resectable and available for a complete microscopic examination. In other cases, the material for the study of inflammatory infiltration may be a tumour biopsy, but this is of limited importance. A valuable way to evaluate the microenvironment of tumour growth is a bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluid examination. In the BAL fluid, the cellular and noncellular components determine the specific type of inflammatory response in an environment of developing cancer. BAL fluid analysis may be a valuable addition to peripheral blood analysis during qualification for modern immunomodulatory therapy. Moreover, it is important material to seek biomarkers of clinical significance.

Objectives Assessment of the maternal complications in molecularly confirmed diandric and digynic triploid pregnancies. Methods Sonographic features, biochemical results, and clinical presentation were analyzed. Beta-hCG level was controlled after diandric triploidy. Results The study included nine diandric and twelve digynic triploid pregnancies at the mean gestational age at diagnosis of 14.9 and 18.0 weeks, respectively (p = 0.0391). Mean value of total-hCG was 979 703.6 U/ml in diandric cases and 5 455.4 U/ml in digynic ones (p < 0.000). Maternal complications occurred in 88.9% of diandric triploid pregnancies, including: thecalutein cysts (44.4%), hyperemesis gravidarum (44.4%), symptomatic hyperthyreosis (33.3%), early onset gestational hypertension (22.2%) and vaginal bleeding (11.1%). No case of proteinuria, preeclampsia or HELLP syndrome was observed. Only maternal complication observed in digynic triploidy was vaginal bleeding (50.0%). The mean time of beta-hCG normalization after diandric triploid pregnancies was 84 days (range 11–142 days). No case of gestational trophoblastic neoplasia (GTN) was observed. Conclusions Maternal complications (except for vaginal bleeding) are associated with diandric triploidy. The relatively low incidence of hypertensive maternal complications and their less severe course in our cohort may be attributed to the earlier prenatal diagnosis. The frequency of GTN after diandric triploidy may be lower than previously reported.

Lung cancer remains one of the most aggressive solid tumors with an overall poor prognosis. Molecular studies carried out on lung tumors during treatment have shown the phenomenon of clonal evolution, thereby promoting the occurrence of a temporal heterogeneity of the tumor. Therefore, the biology of lung cancer is interesting. Cancer stem cells (CSCs) are involved in tumor initiation and metastasis. Aging is still the most important risk factor for lung cancer development. Spontaneously occurring mutations accumulate in normal stem cells or/and progenitor cells by human life resulting in the formation of CSCs. Deepening knowledge of these complex processes and improving early recognition and markers of predictive value are of utmost importance. In this paper, we discuss the CSC hypothesis with an emphasis on age-related changes that initiate carcinogenesis. We analyze the current literature in the field, describe our own experience in CSC investigation and discuss the technical challenges with special emphasis on liquid biopsy.