Cancer is the most common cause of death worldwide. Annually, more than ten million new cancer cases are diagnosed, and more than six million deaths occur due to cancer. Nonetheless, over 80% of human cancer may be preventable through proper nutrition. Numerous nutritional compounds are effective in preventing cancer. Selenium and zinc are essential micronutrients that have important roles in reducing oxidative stress and protecting DNA from the attack of reactive oxygen species. Selenium is an essential trace element that possesses several functions in many cellular processes for cancer prevention. Meanwhile, zinc may have protective effects on tumor initiation and progression, and it is an essential cofactor of several mammalian proteins. Results show that both selenium and zinc provide an effective progression of DNA repair system; thus, cancer development that originated from DNA damage is decreased. Results mostly focus on the separate effects of these two elements on different cell types, tissues, and organs, and their combined effects are largely unknown. This review aimed to emphasize the joint role of selenium and zinc specifically on DNA repair for cancer prevention.

Unlike results of previous studies, the study showed that increased MPV was an important prognostic factor in patients with NSCLC. Hence, an increased MPV level may be used as a prognostic biomarker to estimate for poor overall survival in patients with NSCLC.

Brain metastasis in colorectal cancer is highly rare. In the present study, we aimed to determine the frequency of brain metastasis in colorectal cancer patients and to establish prognostic characteristics of colorectal cancer patients with brain metastasis. In this cross-sectional study, the medical files of colorectal cancer patients with brain metastases who were definitely diagnosed by histopathologically were retrospectively reviewed. Brain metastasis was detected in 2.7 % (n = 133) of 4,864 colorectal cancer patients. The majority of cases were male (53 %), older than 65 years (59 %), with rectum cancer (56 %), a poorly differentiated tumor (70 %); had adenocarcinoma histology (97 %), and metachronous metastasis (86 %); received chemotherapy at least once for metastatic disease before brain metastasis developed (72 %), had progression with lung metastasis before (51 %), and 26 % (n = 31) of patients with extracranial disease at time the diagnosis of brain metastasis had both lung and bone metastases. The mean follow-up duration was 51 months (range 5-92), and the mean survival was 25.8 months (95 % CI 20.4-29.3). Overall survival rates were 81 % in the first year, 42.3 % in the third year, and 15.7 % in the fifth year. In multiple variable analysis, the most important independent risk factor for overall survival was determined as the presence of lung metastasis (HR 1.43, 95 % CI 1.27-4.14; P = 0.012). Brain metastasis develops late in the period of colorectal cancer and prognosis in these patients is poor. However, early screening of brain metastases in patients with lung metastasis may improve survival outcomes with new treatment modalities.

Hepatocellular carcinoma is the most common primary malignant tumor of the liver, and it is particularly prevalent in East and Southeast Asia. With surgical and/or local interventional treatment methods, survival rates for early-stage hepatocellular cancers have increased. However, it is not yet clear which staging systems are more applicable in hepatocellular carcinoma. Serum albumin level is already being used as a criterion in most staging systems. Albumin is an important serum protein in human bodily functions, but only 5 % of the daily amount needed is synthesized by the liver. The serum albumin level is affected by multifactorial situations, including capillary permeability, drugs, liver insufficiency, inflammation and/or infections, dehydration or overhydration, protein loosing disorders, and decreased nutrition intake in anorexia-malnutrition syndrome and cancer cachexia. Because of this complex situation, serum albumin level may affect many staging systems for hepatocellular carcinoma by leading to false-negative results. In this paper, the statuses of current staging systems are reviewed, and possible negative events regarding the serum albumin levels found in these staging systems are discussed.

We investigated the long-term effect of trastuzumab, a monoclonal antibody against the Her2 signalling pathway, on QT dispersion in female patients with early-stage breast cancer. A total of 46 eligible patients with early-stage breast cancer were divided into two groups according to whether they were treated with trastuzumab: Group 1 (n = 32, patients with Her2-positive tumours who were treated with trastuzumab) and Group 2 (n = 14, patients with Her2-negative tumours who were not treated with trastuzumab). The both groups were compared using QT interval measurements. Patients with breast cancer treated with trastuzumab after an anthracycline-based regimen exhibited a significantly higher QTd than non-treated patients (0.064 ± 0.023 s vs. 0.051 ± 0.016 s, respectively) (P = 0.034). The mean increases in QTd and QTcd for Group 1 patients after paclitaxel-trastuzumab combination treatment (0.021 ± 0.011 and 0.022 ± 0.014 s, respectively) are significantly different than the mean increases in QT and QTcd after an anthracycline-based regimen (0.005 ± 0.003 and 0.006 ± 0.008 s) in the same group (P = 0.0246), compared with initial measurements. It has been concluded that the relationship between increased QTd measurements and trastuzumab treatment for 12 weeks in an adjuvant setting for patients with early-stage breast cancer is independent from other study variables. We suggested that long-term treatment with trastuzumab significantly prolonged the QT interval and increased QTd in patients with breast cancer.