Resistance to taxanes, related to limited efficacy of systemic therapy in cancer patients, is multifactorial. Among mechanisms of resistance to taxanes, those related to microtubule-associated proteins (MAP), including protein Tau, are of great importance. Protein Tau (50–64 kD) binds to beta-tubulin in the same place as paclitaxel. In preclinical studies, low expression of Tau in cancer cells was associated with increased sensitivity to paclitaxel. High expression of Tau protein in ER-positive breast cancers indicates resistance to taxane-containing chemotherapy and sensitivity to hormonal treatment. This article reviews current knowledge on predictive value of protein Tau in response to taxanes. Better understanding of its role may facilitate patients selection to this sort of treatment and lead to treatment optimization.

Inflammation plays a crucial role in cancer development. In this study, we evaluate the prognostic values of systemic inflammation markers such as neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR), and C-reactive protein (CRP) for the progression-free survival and overall survival in patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma treated with tyrosine kinase inhibitors. PubMed and the Cochrane Library databases were searched for published studies on the effect of NLR, PLR, and CRP in patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma treated with tyrosine kinase inhibitors. In the meta-analysis, NLR (hazard ratio [HR], 2.01; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.27-3.18; P = .003) and PLR (HR, 6.96; 95% CI, 5.04-9.62; P < .001) had a significant influence on progression-free survival, whereas all considered proinflammatory markers had a significant impact on overall survival: NLR (HR, 2.14; 95% CI, 1.67-2.73; P < .001), PLR (HR, 14.67; 95% CI, 11.10-19.57; P < .001), and CRP (HR, 1.96; 95% CI, 1.26-3.05; P = .003). Inflammation markers such as NLR, PLR, and CRP are predictors of clinical outcome and could provide additional information to individualize treatment.

Wnt/β-catenin pathway plays an important role in initiation and progression of colorectal oncogenesis. The aim of this study was to determine expression and localization of E-cadherin, β-catenin and Wnt-1 proteins in colorectal tumors. Expression of β-catenin, E-cadherin and Wnt-1 was determined by immunohistochemistry on advanced colorectal cancers. Abnormal expression of E-cadherin, β-catenin, Wnt-1 was observed. Additionally, we revealed correlations between levels of studied proteins and histoclinical data. In multivariate analysis nuclear β-catenin, higher carcinoembryonic antigen serum level before treatment, female sex and tumor localized in colon or rectum were independent unfavorable prognostic factors. These findings support the hypothesis that Wnt/β-catenin pathway plays an important role in advanced colorectal carcinoma.

The aim of the study was to evaluate predictive and prognostic significance of microtubule-associated protein Tau in epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) patients treated with paclitaxel and platinum-based chemotherapy.

Chromophobe renal cell carcinoma (ChRCC) is a subtype of renal cell carcinoma (RCC). ChRCC is diagnosed mainly in 6th decade of life. An incidence of ChRCC is similar in both men and woman. Eighty six percent of ChRCCs cases are diagnosed in stage 1 or 2. Prognosis of ChRCC is better than in other types of RCC. Five- and 10-year disease free survival (DFS) for ChRCC was 83.9% and 77.9%, respectively. Expression of immunohistological markers: cytokeratins (CK), vimentin, epithelial membrane antigen (EMA), CD10 could be potentially helpful in diagnosis of different subtypes of RCC. From all conventional RCC, CD 117 was detected (overexpression) in membrane of cells ChRCC.

The present study investigated the various features that might influence the overall survival (OS) of patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma (RCC) treated with first-line tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs). A retrospective analysis was performed of consecutive patients with metastatic RCC, in whom treatment with a first-line TKI was initiated from January 2010 to December 2014, at the Department of Oncology, Military Institute of Medicine (Warsaw, Poland). Cox proportional hazards regression was used to construct a prognostic model that included independent factors for OS. We validated the model using 2 bootstrap procedures and calculation of the bias-corrected concordance index. Of the 266 patients included in the study, 201, 45, and 20 received sunitinib, pazopanib, and sorafenib, respectively. The median OS for the whole cohort was 24.8 months (95% confidence interval, 20.2-29.4 months). Six factors were independently associated with poor survival: Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status > 0 (P < .0001), Fuhrman grade 3 to 4 (P < .0001), hemoglobin less than the lower limit of normal (P < .0001), lactate dehydrogenase greater than the upper limit of normal (P = .0011), neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio ≥ 4 (P < .0001), and > 2 metastatic sites (P = .0012). The bias-corrected concordance index was 0.751. Fuhrman grade and neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio are potential factors that affect the survival of patients with metastatic RCC treated with first-line TKIs. The presented prognostic model demonstrated satisfactory performance but requires external validation with a larger data set.