In this study, we aimed to assess the cancer risk among patients with periodontal disease. Materials and methods: Patients diagnosed with periodontal diseases at Hacettepe University between 2007 and 2012 were included and data on the diagnosis of any cancer after periodontal disease were collected from patient files. The age-and sex-standardized incidence rates (SIRs) were calculated using Turkish National Cancer Registry 2013 data. Results: A total of 5199 patients were included. Median follow-up was 7.2 years. Patients with periodontal diseases had 17% increased risk of cancer compared with the expected counts for the corresponding age and sex groups (SIR: 1.17; 95% CI: 1.04-1.3, P = 0.006). The increased cancer risk was statistically significant in women (SIR: 1.24; 95% CI: 1.05-1.45, P = 0.008) but not in men. Among women with periodontal disease, the risks of breast cancer (SIR: 2.19) and head and neck cancer (SIR: 4.71) were significantly increased. Among men, the risks of prostate cancer (SIR: 1.84), head and neck cancer (SIR: 3.55), and hematological cancers (SIR: 1.76) were significantly increased. Conclusion: This study showed that periodontal diseases were associated with increased risk of several cancers. Besides other wellknown benefits for health, the provision of oral/dental health should be considered and employed as a cancer prevention measure.

Background: The albumin levels may potentially be used as a prognostic biomarker in patients with cancertreated with immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) due to its close relationship with nutritional and inflammatory status. However, the available data is limited with heterogeneous patient cohorts, sample sizes and variable cut-offs. Therefore, we conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to evaluate the association between survival outcomes and albumin levels in patients treated with ICIs.Methods: We conducted a systematic review using the PubMed, Web of Science, and Embase databases to filter the published studies up to 1 June 2022. The meta-analyses were performed with the generic inverse-variance method with a random-effects model due to the high degree of heterogeneity. The primary outcome measure was hazard ratio (HR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI). The study protocol was registered with the PROSPERO registry (Registration Number: CRD42022337746).Results: Thirty-six studies encompassing 8406 cancer patients with advanced disease were included in the meta-analyses. Almost half of the studies were conducted in NSCLC cohorts (n = 15), and 3.5 gr/dL was the most frequently used albumin cut-off in the included studies (n = 20). Patients with lower albumin levels had a significantly increased risk of death (HR: 1.65, 95% CI: 1.52–1.80, p < 0.0001) than patients with higher albumin levels. Subgroup analyses for study location, sample size, tumor type and albumin cut-off were demonstrated consistent results. Furthermore, in the subgroup analysis of eight studies using albumin levels as a continuous prognostic factor, every 1 gr/dL decrease in albumin levels was associated with significantly increased risk of death by a factor of 10% (HR: 1.10, 95% CI: 1.05–1.16, p = 0.0002). Similar to analyses with overall survival, the patients with lower albumin levels had an increased risk of progression or death compared to patients with higher albumin levels (HR: 1.76, 95% CI: 1.40–2.21, p < 0.001).Conclusion: The available evidence demonstrates that albumin levels may be a prognostic biomarker in advanced cancer patients treated with ICIs. Further research is needed to delineate the role of albumin levels in patients treated with ICIs in the adjuvant setting, as well as the possible benefit of therapeutic approaches to improve hypoalbuminemia.

In this study, we aimed to assess the cancer risk among patients with periodontal disease. Materials and methods: Patients diagnosed with periodontal diseases at Hacettepe University between 2007 and 2012 were included and data on the diagnosis of any cancer after periodontal disease were collected from patient files. The age-and sex-standardized incidence rates (SIRs) were calculated using Turkish National Cancer Registry 2013 data. Results: A total of 5199 patients were included. Median follow-up was 7.2 years. Patients with periodontal diseases had 17% increased risk of cancer compared with the expected counts for the corresponding age and sex groups (SIR: 1.17; 95% CI: 1.04-1.3, P = 0.006). The increased cancer risk was statistically significant in women (SIR: 1.24; 95% CI: 1.05-1.45, P = 0.008) but not in men. Among women with periodontal disease, the risks of breast cancer (SIR: 2.19) and head and neck cancer (SIR: 4.71) were significantly increased. Among men, the risks of prostate cancer (SIR: 1.84), head and neck cancer (SIR: 3.55), and hematological cancers (SIR: 1.76) were significantly increased. Conclusion: This study showed that periodontal diseases were associated with increased risk of several cancers. Besides other wellknown benefits for health, the provision of oral/dental health should be considered and employed as a cancer prevention measure.

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Chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) is genetically characterized by the presence of the reciprocal translocation t(9;22) with the formation of Philadelphia (Ph) chromosome. Sometimes, the Ph translocation is generated by variant rearrangements. The prognostic impact of the variant translocations is still controversial. Among the 180 patients with Ph-positive CML who were treated in Hacettepe University Faculty of Medicine Division of Hematology, variant translocations were detected, and retrospectively clinical and prognostic features were described. Also we performed a comprehensive literature review on the prognosis of such variant cases before and after tyrosine kinase inhibitor era. Five patients (2.7%) had variant Ph chromosomes, involved in the rearrangements were chromosomes 2 (2 cases), 11, 14 and 15. Patients were treated with imatinib or dasatinib. All patients reached a stable major molecular response suggesting a prognosis not worse than standard translocation individuals. Our present data were compatible with the data of previous studies indicating no difference in the prognosis between standard and variant translocations in tyrosine kinase inhibitors era of CML.