Background: Some studies have indicated an inverse relationship between cancer risk and sunlight exposure. Others have reported that the prognosis of some cancers such as prostate, colon, ovarian and non melanoma skin cancer, were affected by the season in which the cancer was diagnosed. In our study, we evaluated whether season is prognostic in Turkish patients with breast cancer. Materials and Methods: A total of 517 patients from Kayseri Training and Research Hospital were analysed retrospectively. Patients were divided into 4 groups according to season of cancer diagnosis: winter, spring, summer and autumn. The prognostic factors for disease free survival and overall survival were investigated. Results: No significant differences were found among groups regarding prognostic factors overall. Only estrogen receptor status and lymphovascular invasion were independent prognostic factors (p=0.001 and p=0.001 respectively). We found significantly differences for mean disease free survival among groups (p=0.019). Winter group had better mean DFS while summer group had worse DFS. Mean overall survival was similar in the four groups (p=0.637). Conclusions: The season is not an independent predictive factor. However, due to interaction with other factors, we think that the season of cancer diagnosis is important for cancer prognosis.

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Introduction: Mesothelioma is a rare neoplasm arising from mesothelial surfaces with the malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) as the most common form. Secondline chemotherapy in MPM is still controversial and in this study we evaluated whether it is superior to best supportive care. Materials and Methods: A total of 51 patients with MPM from Acibadem Kayseri Hospital, Kayseri Training and Research Hospital and Erciyes University were analyzed retrospectively. The patients treated with secondline chemotherapies (SLCT) were compared with those treated with best supportive care (BSC) for overall survival. Results: The median overall survival (OS) for firstline chemotherapygSLCT and firstline chemotherapygBSC groups were 20.3 and 14.7 months respectively (p=0.079). After firstline chemotherapy the median OS for SLCT and BSC were 5.9 and 4.7 months (p=0.355). Discussion: Although there was a trend for improvement in overall survival in patients treated with secondline chemotherapy, the difference was not statistically significant. Our results do not support the proposal that secondline chemotherapy could be effective in patients with MPM.

Background: Some epidemiological studies reported that sunlight exposure and highvitamin D levels may decrease the morbidity and mortality related to cancer. We aimed to evaluate whether sunlight exposure has an impact on survival in patients with non small cell lung cancer. Materials and Methods: A total of 546 patients with NSCLC from two different regions (Kayseri and Adana) differing according to sunlight exposure were analysed retrospectively. Results: The median overall survival (OS) rates were 11. 6 (CI: 9.50-13.6) and 15.6 months (CI: 12.4-18.8) for Kayseri and Adana, respectively, in all patients (p=0.880). Conclusions: There were no differences between groups in terms of OS. While there is strong evidence regarding inverse relationship between cancer incidence and sunlight exposure, it is still controversial whether sunlight exposure is a good prognostic factor for survival in patients with lung cancer.

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