Purpose of the study. Determine the content of cancer stem cells (CSCs) in the tumor tissue (TT) and perifocal tissues (PT) in muscle-non-invasive bladder cancer.

Materials and methods. We’ve examined fragments of TT and PT of 7 muscle-non-invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC) after surgical intervention – transurethral resection of the urinary bladder (TUR). In tissue samples that were used to obtain cell suspension of TT and PT using the BD Medimachine apparatus (BD, USA) was treated with monoclonal antibodies CD45-APCCy7, CD44-FITC, CD133-РЕ, CD24-PE (BD, USA) and were assessed on flow cytometer FacsCantoII (BD, USA). The percentage of cells with CSC phenotypic markers was determined in the analysis sample: CD45-CD44+CD24+, CD45-CD44+, CD45-CD24+, CD45-CD133+, CD45-CD44+CD133+. The presence of significant differences in the groups was evaluated using the STATISTICA 13 software package and the differences between the samples were considered significant at p < 0.05. The percentage of cells of the corresponding phenotype was calculated relative to the total number of cells. The percentage of cells with the corresponding phenotype was calculated relative to the total number of cells.

Results. The relative numbers of cells with CSC phenotypic markers, such as CD24, CD44, were 77 % and 58 % higher in TT than in PT: 18.3 ± 3.5 vs. 4.3 ± 2.1, p ≤ 0.044 and 15.5 ± 5.3 vs. 6.5 ± 0.8, p ≤ 0.043, respectively. The number of CD133+ cells was 83 % higher in PT compared to TT – 41.6 ± 12.1 vs. 22.7 ± 7.6, p ≤ 0.047.

Conclusion. The study of CSCs is a promising direction for the study of oncogenesis and can be used to assess the nature of the further development of relapse and / or progression of the disease, as well as various therapeutic approaches that are aimed at eliminating with CSC phenotypic markers and blocking the pathways leading to the emergence and maintenance of this cell population in patients with NMIBC.

Purpose of the study. Evaluation of the effect of the benzimidazole derivative dihydrobromide‑2-(3,4‑dihydroxyphenyl)- 9‑diethylamino-ethylimidazo-[ 1,2‑a] benzimidazole (RU‑185) on the growth of Lewis lung epidermoid carcinoma and B16-F10 melanoma when administered intragastrically.

Materials and methods. For the experiment, we used female C57Bl/6j mice, which were inoculated subcutaneously with syngeneic tumors: Lewis lung carcinoma (LLC) and B16-F10 melanoma. RU‑185 was administered intragastrically to animals in a volume of 0.3 ml for 10 days, 1 time per day. For both tumors, depending on single doses of the substance for administration, groups were divided: 1st and 4th – 50 mg/kg, 2nd and 5th – 220 and 3rd and 6th – 500 mg/kg. The control groups were injected intragastrically with physiological saline in the same volumes and according to the same scheme. The following parameters were assessed: tumor volume, increase in life expectancy (T/S, %) and tumor growth inhibition index (TGI, %).

Results. For animals with LLC in the 2nd group there is an increase in the indicator of life expectancy (T/S 162.3 %), and in the 3rd group there is a tendency to an increase in the T/S indicator. On the 1st day after the end of treatment in the 2nd and 3rd groups TGI was 73.0 % and 30.1 %, respectively (р < 0.05). On the 7th and 14th days after the end of the use of RU‑185 in the 2nd and 3rd groups the volume of tumors is 3.5 and 1.4 times less (on the 7th day) and 2.3 and 1.3 times (on the 14th day), respectively than in the control group (р < 0.05). At a dose of 220 mg/kg, complete regression of LLC tumors was shown in 20 % of animals.

With the growth of B16-F10, the life expectancy of all groups did not differ. Intergroup differences in the dynamics of tumor growth are provided. Highlighted changes were found in the 5th group (on the 14th day after the end of the administration of RU‑185, TGI was 48.7 %).

Conclusion. The investigated chemical substance dihydrobromide‑2-(3,4‑dihydroxyphenyl)-9‑diethylamino-ethylimidazo- [1,2‑a] benzimidazole showed antitumor efficacy against syngeneic tumors: Lewis lung epidermoid carcinoma and B16-F10 melanoma when administered intragastrically which leads to further testing of RU‑185 as a potential drug for the treatment of malignant neoplasms.

Purpose of the study. Was to analyze our experience of surgical treatment of retroperitoneal neuroblastoma in children and the influence of radical surgical treatment on the disease outcomes.

Materials and methods. The study included 35 patients (14 girls and 21 boys, mean age 3.3 years) receiving treatment for retroperitoneal neuroblastoma at the Department of Pediatric Oncology, National Medical Research Centre for Oncology, in 2016–2018. 32 patients underwent surgical treatment. The disease progression during neoadjuvant polychemotherapy was registered in 3 patients. Initially, surgery was performed in 5 patients; the rest of the patients underwent percutaneous trepan biopsy with immunohistochemical testing and subsequent neoadjuvant polychemotherapy. No patients developed complications in the early postoperative period. In the article, we present our experience in the surgical treatment of pediatric patients with retroperitoneal neuroblastomas.

Results. Patients have been observed during 12 to 24 months. 23 of 28 radically operated patients are alive and have no signs of the disease recurrence or progression. 2 patients developed tumor recurrence and received anti-recurrence PCT and DGT. Currently the patients are in remission. 3 patients showed systemic progression due to primarily advanced disease.

Conclusion. Administration of modern surgical techniques and instrumentation allows radical surgical treatment for a large percentage of patients with locally advanced neuroblastoma.

Purpose of the study. The purpose of the study was to analyze parameters of molecular markers of structural and cellular renal damage in localized renal cell carcinoma (RCC) with determining the nature of the initial abnormalities in the kidney functional state before the treatment.

Patients and methods. The study included 46 patients receiving elective surgical treatment for localized renal cancer in the Department of Oncourology, National Medical Research Centre for Oncology. The comparison group included the clinical and laboratory data of 13 healthy people comparable with the RCC patients in terms of age and gender. Cystatin C, IL‑18, KIM‑1, L-FABP, NGAL were determined in blood and urine in all patients.

Results. Evaluation of the kidney functional state of RCC patients showed that the initial values of serum creatinine and the glomerular filtration rate were similar to the reference levels in healthy people, but statistically significant differences were found in the ratios of cystatin C concentrations in the blood and urine in all patients, compared with normal values. Determination of L-FABP indices in RCC patients showed that their levels were 2.5 times higher than normal values, and the urine concentration of IL‑18 was 1.7 times higher than normal values (p < 0.05). Blood and urine levels of NGAL and KIM‑1 did not differ significantly from the comparison group.

Conclusions. The development of localized RCC is accompanied by the formation of tubulointerstitial dysfunction with impaired renal filtration capacity. All RCC patients showed elevated endogenous markers of structural and cellular renal damage – cystatin C, L-FABP, and IL‑18.

Purpose of the study. An analysis of sonography potential in the primary diagnosis and clinical staging of tongue cancer.

Patients and methods. The study included 18 patients aged 40–70 years with tongue tumors. The majority accounted males – 14 (77.7 %). Women were represented by 4 (22.2 %) examinees. Ultrasound examinations were performed using expert-class ultrasound systems with broadband linear multifrequency transducers. Transoral examination with linear transducers required tumor location in the anterior and lateral parts of the oral tongue. During ultrasound examinations we evaluated: tumor shape, tumor invasion depth; tumor sizes – width and thickness; tumor echogenicity and structure; tumor vascularization in Doppler modes. The results were compared with the data of histological examination.

Results. Transoral ultrasound examination of patients with tongue cancer allows clear visualization of the tumor and assessment of it’s spread. The study showed that the round shape of tongue tumors prevailed in 13 (72.2 %) patients, the tumor echo structure in 10 (55.5 %) was heterogeneous, the contours were even and clear in the majority of patients – 13 (72.2 %), all tumors showed a reduced acoustic density, the depth of invasion ranged from 2 to 6 mm in 8 (44.4 %) patients and exceeded 6 mm in 6 (33.3 %) patients, which corresponded to stages III and IV of the diseas. Doppler ultrasonography recorded intense intratumoral blood flow in 100 % of cases. In 8 (44.4 %) cases, metastatic lesions of the cervical lymph nodes were observed.

Conclusion. Transoral ultrasound diagnosis of tongue cancer is a highly informative, safe and modern method providing surgeons with information that helps in choosing the scope of surgical treatment and in determining the disease prognosis at the preoperative stage. The accuracy of the method was 87 %, the sensitivity was 85 %, and the specificity was 86.2 %.

Malignant soft tissue tumors localized in the skin, particularly leiomyosarcoma, are rare. Cutaneous leiomyosarcomas could have superficial and deep forms, while subcutaneous leiomyosarcomas are usually nodular. The tumor can spread to the underlying muscle fascia. The immunophenotype of leiomyosarcoma is determined by the following antibodies: ASMA, desmin, and N-caldeston; expression of PanCK is also possible. Researchers do not have any common opinion on the clinical course and biological behavior of cutaneous leiomyosarcomas. This is probably due to the tumor heterogeneity and the carcinogenesis specificity associated with molecular genetic changes. We detected these tumors at the histological examination which resulted in an analysis of the literature and our own material. We analyzed cutaneous tumors diagnosed in 2522 patients during 5 years (2016–2020). Squamous cell and basal cell histotypes were the most common ones. We did not diagnosed cutaneous leiomyosarcoma in our material during this period. This article presents two cases of cutaneous leiomyosarcoma localized in the scalp and calf skin. Morphological and immunohistochemical profiles of the tumors are described. The immunohistochemical analysis confirmed the morphological diagnosis and established the tumor immunophenotypes. The morphological diagnosis in one case was complicated due to the rarity of this pathology and the ambiguity of the interpretation of histological changes. Analysis of histological preparations and immunohistochemical study allowed verification of the tumor as leiomyosarcoma with its characteristic immunophenotype. All of the above demonstrate the need to perform morphological and immunohistochemical tests in specialized research cancer centers.