Purpose: To investigate serum vitamin D levels in patients newly diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma/diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (NHL-DLBCL), multiple myeloma (MM) and chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). Patients and methods: We measured serum levels of vitamin D by ELISA in 103 patients prior to initiation of treatment, of whom 37 were diagnosed with MM, 32 with CLL and 34 with NHL-DLBCL. Results: Suboptimal serum vitamin D levels (<30 ng/mL) were observed in all 103 patients. In 14 patients, serum vitamin D levels were between 20 and 30 ng/mL, while all other patients had vitamin D deficiency (<20 ng/mL). Severe vitamin D deficiency (<10 ng/mL) was observed in 32.3% of NHL-DLBCL patients, 28.1% of CLL patients and 81% of MM patients. Conclusion: We observed low serum vitamin D levels in the majority of patients newly diagnosed with NHL-DLBCL, CLL and MM.

Aim: То investigate the serum levels of vitamin D in newly diagnosed patients with multiple myeloma. Patients and methods: In this study we measured the serum levels of vitamin D in 37 patients (19 women, 18 men) at a median age of 68 years and a diagnosis of MM according to the International Myeloma Working Group (IMWG) criteria. The immunoassay tests used for the quantification of 25 (OH) – Vitamin D were original ELISA kits Immundiagnostic and the measurement was done before starting the treatment. Results: Serum levels below the optimum (<30 ng/ml) were recorded in all 37 patients. The median value of vitamin D was 4.3±6.5 mg/ml, the maximum value measured was 24.7 mg/ml, which is below the lower limit of the reference value for deficiency. Conclusions: In this study, we found extremely low serum vitamin D levels in most of the newly diagnosed MM patients.

According to statistics, the 5-year overall survival in metastatic prostate cancer is about 21 months. We present a case of a patient with castration-resistant prostate cancer with proven bone lesions 2 years after the onset of the disease and the current survival of over 9 years.

The influence of accelerated electrons on neuronal structures is scarcely explored compared to gamma and X-rays. This study aims to investigate the effects of accelerated electron radiation on some pivotal neurotransmitter circuits (cholinergic and serotonergic) of rats’ myenteric plexus. Male Wistar rats were irradiated with an electron beam (9 MeV, 5 Gy) generated by a multimodality linear accelerator. The contractile activity of isolated smooth muscle samples from the gastric corpus was measured. Furthermore, an electrical stimulation (200 μs, 20 Hz, 50 s, 60 V) was performed on the samples and an assessment of the cholinergic and serotonergic circuits was made. Five days after irradiation, the recorded mechanical responses were biphasic—contraction/relaxation in controls and contraction/contraction in irradiated samples. The nature of the contractile phase of control samples was cholinergic with serotonin involvement. The relaxation phase involved ACh-induced nitric oxide release from gastric neurons. There was a significant increase in serotonergic involvement during the first and second contractile phases of the irradiated samples, along with a diminished role of acetylcholine in the first phase. This study demonstrates an increased involvement of serotonergic neurotransmitter circuits in the gastric myenteric plexus caused by radiation with accelerated electrons.

Nephrotoxicity is a common complication during antineoplastic therapy, particularly when platinum-based medications are used. Early detection of this condition is crucial for improving risk stratification and management, thereby enhancing decision-making in kidney disease treatment. However, traditional biomarkers for renal assessment lack sensitivity in identifying early or subclinical damage, underscoring the need for novel and more precise markers. This study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of urinary KIM-1, clusterin, nephrin, and serum cystatin C in detecting nephrotoxicity associated with platinum-based therapies. A total of 43 patients with different oncological diseases participated in the prospective study, divided into two groups based on the nephrotoxic potential of the administered drugs: patients treated with cisplatin (high-risk group for nephrotoxicity) and patients treated with oxaliplatin/carboplatin (low-to-moderate risk group for nephrotoxicity). The results showed that nephrotoxicity, determined as a decrease in eGFR of >10 mL/min/1.73 m² at the sixth month after initiation of platinum-based therapy, occurred in 54.3% of cases, with 80% of these attributable to cisplatin-based therapy. Conventional renal biomarkers, such as the serum creatinine and urine albumin-creatinine ratio, have shown controversial results in the course of the study. In contrast, the patients treated with cisplatin, as well as those who developed nephrotoxicity, showed significant increases in the mean values of cystatin C (p < 0.001, respectively, p < 0.001), urinary KIM-1 (p = 0.005, respectively, p = 0.002), and urinary clusterin (p = 0.001, respectively, p = 0.001). Among the group with a low to moderate risk of nephrotoxicity including those treated with oxaliplatin/carboplatin, no statistically significant changes over time were observed in any of the biomarkers. These findings suggest that the aforementioned biomarkers can be used for the early detection of cisplatin-induced eGFR decline.

Accelerated electron beam, gastric smooth muscles, contractile activity, 5-НТ