Background/Objectives: Mismatch repair (MMR) deficiency assessment has proven to be a valuable tool for prognostic evaluation and therapeutic management guidance in patients with colorectal cancer (CRC). Our study aimed to investigate the associations between MMR deficiency and a range of clinicopathological parameters. Methods: We conducted a retrospective observational study including 264 patients diagnosed with CRC, for whom immunohistochemical (IHC) data were available. Statistical analysis was performed using the Python 3.12.7 programming language within the Jupyter Notebook environment (Anaconda distribution). Results: MMR deficiency was identified in 18.18% of patients. It was significantly associated with younger age (<50 years), female sex, right-sided tumor location, poor tumor differentiation (G3), smoking, and loss of CDX2 expression (p < 0.001). MLH1 and PMS2 were the most frequently affected proteins, with concurrent loss in 77.08% of MMR-deficient cases. Loss of MLH1 expression correlated with female sex (p = 0.004), right-sided location (p < 0.001), poor differentiation (p < 0.001), and loss of CDX2 expression (p < 0.001). Additionally, the loss of PMS2 expression was associated with female sex (p = 0.015), right-sided tumor location (p = 0.003), and poor differentiation (p < 0.001). No significant associations were identified between MMR status and tumor stage, histological subtype, PLR, or NLR values. Conclusions: Gaining deeper insights into the clinical relevance of MMR status in CRC could contribute to improved testing rates and support the design of tailored management strategies that address the specific biological features of these tumors.

Colorectal cancer (CRC) remains one of the most important causes of cancer-related mortality worldwide, underscoring the need to better understand systemic inflammatory pathways across the colorectal neoplasia spectrum. In this exploratory case–control study, we characterized plasma levels of key inflammatory mediators in healthy individuals and patients with colorectal polyps or CRC. Healthy controls (n = 10), patients with colorectal polyps (CP, n = 16), early-onset CRC (EO-CRC, n = 11), and late-onset CRC (LO-CRC, n = 51) were prospectively enrolled. Plasma levels of sTNF-R, total TNF-α, PDGF-AA, IL-17A, and IL-1β were measured by ELISA. Group comparisons used Kruskal–Wallis tests with epsilon-squared effect sizes. PDGF-AA showed the strongest differences between controls and all neoplastic groups (ε² ≥ 0.15), and these comparisons remained significant after Benjamini–Hochberg false discovery rate correction. IL-17A levels were slightly higher in EO-CRC than in LO-CRC; however, this difference did not remain significant after adjustment for multiple testing. TNF-α and IL-1β showed no significant differences across groups. Overall, this study primarily provides descriptive and hypothesis-generating evidence of differential inflammatory patterns across colorectal neoplasia, with PDGF-AA emerging as the most robust signal in this exploratory dataset. These findings do not support immediate diagnostic application and require validation in larger, prospectively recruited cohorts.

Background: The mechanistic link between HERV-associated transcript expression and the inflammatory pathways involved in colorectal cancer (CRC), particularly the IL-17 axis, remains insufficiently characterized. We performed an exploratory paired-tissue study to investigate whether HERV-associated transcript deregulation in CRC aligns with a distinct local inflammatory signature, potentially consistent with endogenous retroviral re-expression linked to local immune activation and viral mimicry-related processes within the tumor microenvironment. Methods: Matched colorectal tumor tissue (T) and histologically tumor-free adjacent tissue (N) were obtained from 21 treatment-naive CRC patients. Expression of selected HERV-associated loci/transcripts (HERV-FRD, HERV-R, HERV-K, HERV-V1, HERV-1, HERV-H, and ERVWE1), HHLA1/HHLA2, IL-17 family members, and NFKB1 was assessed by RT–qPCR. Results: CRC tumors exhibited selective upregulation of HERV-FRD, HERV-R, HERV-K, HERV-V1, ERVWE1, HHLA1, and HHLA2, whereas HERV-1 and HERV-H showed no significant paired differences. IL-17E was also increased in tumor tissue, while NFKB1 did not show significant paired variation. Paired differential expression analysis [Δ(T−N)] identified a coordinated HERV/ERVWE1 signature that positively correlated with IL-17E after FDR correction, whereas HHLA1/HHLA2 displayed partially distinct behavior. No consistent associations were observed with clinicopathological variables. Conclusions: CRC appears to harbor a selective HERV/ERVWE1-associated transcriptional program linked to IL-17E, supporting a candidate inflammatory axis that may reflect a biologically relevant component of the tumor microenvironment. This expression pattern may also be compatible with a localized endogenous retroviral reactivation state linked to viral mimicry-related inflammatory signaling, although this interpretation remains indirect and requires mechanistic validation. These findings are associative and hypothesis-generating, but they provide a conceptual basis for future mechanistic validation and for exploring whether HERV-linked inflammatory signatures may have biomarker or therapeutic relevance in CRC.

Background/Objectives: Patient-centered care has become an important component of chronic disease management. Patients are increasingly involved in complex decisions about their treatment, while effective doctor–patient communication, access to clear medical information, and active involvement in decision-making can contribute to a better care experience. This study aimed to identify the main factors associated with patient participation in medical decision-making and to examine the relationship between participation and patient satisfaction. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 176 patients with chronic conditions. Data were collected using an online questionnaire. The proposed relationships between doctor–patient communication, trust in the doctor, ability to understand medical information, patient involvement in their own care, quality of information provided, participation in medical decision-making, and patient satisfaction were examined using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). Results: All five factors examined were positively and significantly associated with patient participation in medical decision-making. Doctor–patient communication showed the strongest association, followed by patient involvement in their own care and ability to understand medical information. The model explained 69.3% of the variance in participation in medical decision-making (R² = 0.693). Participation was strongly associated with patient satisfaction and explained 56.2% of its variance (R² = 0.562). Conclusions: The findings highlight the importance of actively involving patients with chronic conditions in medical decision-making. Greater patient participation was associated with higher satisfaction with the care received.

Background and Objectives: Biologic agents have emerged as the most important therapeutic weapon in the treatment of Crohn’s disease (CD). The aim of this study is to describe the population of patients who received different molecules as first-line therapy and their persistence on first-line therapy. Materials and Methods: 622 patients from six gastroenterology departments from Bucharest, Iasi and Cluj treated between 2006 and 2024 were included in the study. A total of 87 (14%) were excluded because they received only mesalazine. A total of 535 were included in the final analysis. The main outcomes were clinical response and remission at 12 weeks of treatment and serious adverse events. Results: Three groups of patients were identified based on the first-line treatment: 45% of patients received adalimumab, 40% were treated with infliximab, and in 12.6% ustekinumab was given. Regarding the clinical and demographic characteristics, there are significant differences among the three patient groups in terms of age, disease extent, disease phenotype, proportion of individuals with perianal fistulas, clinical severity and the proportion of patients who underwent surgery. Median therapy duration was 48 months (6 ÷ 330). The three biologics studied (adalimumab, infliximab and ustekinumab) had a similar rate of clinical remission of 80%, the non-response rate also being similar (6.5%), but persistence on therapy at 2 years was better for adalimumab (66%) and infliximab (60%) compared to ustekinumab (45%) (p = 0.06). Serious adverse events leading to therapy discontinuation were more frequent in those treated with infliximab (10%) compared to adalimumab (3%) and ustekinumab (6%) (p = NS). Conclusions: There were significant baseline differences between the treatment groups, so this study represents an unadjusted comparison between the results obtained with different biologics in first-line treatment for Crohn’s disease. All three biological agents used in real life for Crohn’s disease therapy show similar efficacy, with an early clinical remission rate of approximately 80% and a non-response rate of 6.5%.